Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1888 — AMERICAN PROGRESS. [ARTICLE]

AMERICAN PROGRESS.

Epitome-of Various Department Reports of Interest. • _« wkSmv ~. —————— The Condition of the Navy--Annual Report of Ute I ter-St.t > Commerce Cumm .. The reports of the various departments were made public Monday. Theirprincipal facts and recommendations are included in the summary of the President’s message. The Secretary of the Interior shows that during the year there were j 47,180 land patentsTssued, covering an ■area of 7,500,000 acres. The receipts j from rales of public lands were $13,522,- | 000. There are at present«246,o9s InI dians in the country, a decrease of only 6,000 in ten years. There was an increase of 69,252 in the number of pensioners last year, and the outlav for pensions was $56;707.22(), an increase of $3,882,< 00. The Labor Bureau reports 1,411 strikes in the country during the ye;<r in 9,861 establishments, with , 499,489 men involved. Secretary Whitney presented his annual report to the President on.the 30th. After giving a brief review of the condition of the navy as it will exist on the 4th day of March, . 1889,comparison with the same as it existed on the 4th day of March, 1885, and furnishing a list of armed vessels heretofore authorized by congress, the secretary says: “So far as armed ships are concerned, the subject is yet to be treated in a broad way by the department and by congress. The efforts of the department in ship construction have necessarily, since March. 1885, been devoted to unarmed vessels: and as to these, the department is able to report that when the ships in course of construction, and those authorize shall have been completed, the United States will rank second among the nations in the possession of armed cruisers, or ‘commercedestroyers,’ having the highest characteristics, viz.: of a size 3,<HiO tons and upward, and possessing a speed of nineteen knots and upward. » “We cannot at present protect our coast,” says the secretary, “but we can return blow for blow, for we shall soon be in condition to launch a fleet of large and fast cruisers against the commerce of an enemy, able to inflict the most serious and lasting injury thereon.” “It is gratifying to be'able o report,” continues the report, “th.it, notwithstanding the large expenditures for the new navy in the last three years, the reduction in other directions has made the total expenditures of the department less for these years than for the three years ending June 30, 1884. the ordinary expenses < f the department having been reduced over 20 per cent.” Und r the head of “Coast and Harbor Defense Vessels’* the secretary states that in the last annual report of the department the considerations were given leading to the conclusion that it would be unwise for the department to follow the course of the European powers in building unprotected torpedo boats, and in the present uncertainty regarding the practicability of submarine boats, and while waiting- the practical trial of the dynamite gunboat, it has been deemed wise for the department to build one light draught, heavily armored harbor defense floating battery or ram, for which designs have been prepared by the bureau of construction and steam engineers, in consultation with the chief of the bureau of ordnace. The advertisements for this vessel call for the submission of bids in

the month of February next. The business methods of the department are discussed at some length and a history given of the efforts being made to simplify, systemize and improve them. The report says that by careful watching of the disbursements on foreign stations and calling the attention of pay officers to the subject of their drafts, by which greatly improved rates have been procured, the department is able to report that on the items ot commission, interest and exchange, whereas a net loss of *108,493 was made in the two years and ten months ending April 24, 1885, for the three years ending J une 3.’, A chapter is devoted to naval progress at home and abroad, and in it is a statement made that the necessity, for increased numbers of fast protected cruisers, whether for the purposes of protecting or destroying commerce, or for seivice with a fleet as scouts, has been emphasized during the naval maneuvers of the year, and is fully recoginized by all naval powers. The secretary considers the subject of improved powder, projectiles and tor-pedo-boats, saying in regard to the latter tnat the recent naval maneuvers abroad have shown that they must still he regarded as most useful for coast and harbor defense. The estimate for the 'navy and marine corps for the fiscal year amounts to $23,693,624; those for the next fiscal year amount to $26,767,677, a difference of $3,764,053. The appropriations for the current fiscal year amount to $19,942,481, being $6,825196 less than the estimates for the next fiscal year-?/ The secretary closes by* giving the main points submitted by the admiral of the navy, the chiefs of the va>ious naval bureaus, and the board of visitors to the U. 8. naval academy. tiie country’s railroads. The annual report of the Inter-State Commerce Commission is now in type, and the complete volume will be ready for distribution in a few days. The following summary of its contents is given: From the best information now available the railroad mileage of the country on the 30th day of June, 1888, is estimated at 152,781 miles, of which 2.312 miles had been completed and brought into operation within the six months preceding that day. The railway construction of 1886 was 8,471 miles; in 14-87 it was 12,688 miles. The number of corporations represented in the mileage is 1,251, but by reason of leases or other contract arrangements, many corporations hold control of, and operate one or more roads owned by other corporations, and the whole number making reports bToperation at the date named was 665. - A summary of the formal complaints is as follows: Of a total of 107 cases submitted, the record is: Heard and decided, fifty; not yet decided, six; hearing, but not completed, nine; withdrawn or settled, twenty-three; suspended by request, ten; assigned for hearing, nine After referring briefly to the “long and short haul” clause of the law, the report

— ; , ! takes r p the subject of the effect of the inter-state commerce act upon common carriers, and says that, although some railroad managers have declared it to have had a damaging effect, the commission is possessed of no evidence showing that the general result has been i otherwise than beneficial. Railroad but-iness has suffered in ' the I past year not because ofthernter-stJtre commerce act, but owing to strikes, new parallel lines and rate wars. The making of unreasonably low rates, the report intimates, is often for stock-fobbing purposes or to compel the purchase of the road by competing lines. Persons having control of railroads may deliberately make insufficient rates in the expection I of profits to be indirectly and iinproperly derived therefrom. Every case of rate war may be regarded os one of this charJU*.tnr. ■• " ■ ■ The danger of committing the ratemaking power to subordinates whose I training and experience have not generally fitted them to deal with matters that involve questions of policy istouchledupon. | The report then takes up the question of railrad interests and, says: “It is reasonable to expect carriers of the cqunr try will, where practicable, make such joint arrangements that the public shall find an arrangement with one adequate for the purposes of any single transaction. There should be some means of enforcing among carriers-the obligations, moral or legal, that would grow out of such arrangements. The only effectual means by which good faith could be enforced was tbe pooling of freight or earnings, b’*t pooling is now out of the power, being forbidden by law. The tendency among tbe railroads seems likely to be ia the direction of consolidation as the only means of mutual protection against rate wars. By anything equivalent to the creation of what is technically denominated as a trust could hardly be supposed possible, even if the parties were at liberty to form it at pleasure. If the parties could come into harmony on the subject, an arrangement of the sort would be so powerful in its control over the business interests of the country, and so susceptible to uses for mischievous purposes, that public policy could not for a moment sanction it.” The report then adds: “Lacking concentration of authority, railroads can do much toward better relations with the public and do better service by first establishing better relations among themselves.” The report next considers the subject of the effect of tbe law upon cities, showing that the act has, in some cases, benefitted consuming interior cities and injuriously affected distributing points formerly favored in rates. The commission believes uniformity in classification as fast as possible, without serious mi chief, is desirable. Emmigrant transportation is next considered and various facts were developed upon the two investigations held in New York City. The commission favors joint tariffs and through rates and recommends that the carriers engaged independently in Inter-State traffic on the rivers, lakes and other navigable waters of the country be put in respect to the making, publishing and maintaining rates upon the same footing with Inter-State carriers by rail. So that the excuses now made by carriers by rail for great disparities in rates for correspondjng transportations as between pointe which are not affected by water competition would thereby to to a large extent be taken away.

The Postmaster General reports receipts of $52,695,476, and expenditures of $56,885,403, and estimates a deficiencv next year of $3,308,414. Attention is called to the abuse of the franking system, and legislation is asked on this subject. Recommendation is also made that at the termination of existing contracts for the manufacture of postage stamps, 'postal cards and stamped envelopes, the Government take the work into its own hands. The report of the War Department shows an expenditure for the year of $41,165, divided as follows: Salaries and contingent expenses, $1,978,890; • support of the army and Military Academy, $25,293,378; public works, including river and harbor improvements, $13,785,234; miscellaneous objects, $3,575,0u0. An appropriation of $2,840,0 0 as asked forecast defensesandsl,39o,ooo for working the sub-marine systems.