Department. Facilities have been furnished through these officers to most of the interior posts for the plotting of the routes of scouting and other military journeys, and an increased interest appears to have been taken by the officers and men in adding to our present knowledge of the interior of the continent, as is evidenced by the fact that in one of the departments-the Department of Missouri-23,000 miles have been covered by the military journals and sketches during the last year, while in the preceding year there were but 9,000 miles recorded in the department. Among the more important results during the last year may be mentioned the discovery of a new wagon-route from the line of the Union Pacific Railway to the Yellowstone Park and Montana; a reconnaissance in the country of the Ute tribe of Indians; the construction of a wagon-road from Santa Fé to Taos, New Mexico, and a survey of the Black Hills of Dakota by the engineer officer attached to the military expedition which was sent into that interesting country during the summer of 1874.

The commission of two engineer officers and one coast survey officer, organized under the act of Congress approved March 3, 1873, for the purpose of examining and reporting upon a system of irrigation of the San Joaquin, Tulare, and Sacramento Valleys, have completed their investigations and have made their report, the principal points of which are referred to in the report of the Chief of Engineers.

The estimates of the Chief of Engineers are submitted separately, as presented by that officer, viz:

Fortifications and other works of defense..

Public buildings and grounds, and Washington aqueduct.

Surveys......

Engineer depot at Willet's Point, New York

Office expenses.............

Improvement of rivers and harbors

Total......

$2, 108, 700

678, 410 50 399,000 00 9,000 00 35, 000 00 12,970, 500 00

16, 200, 630 50

ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT.

At the different arsenals, the operations during the year have been chiefly the erection of public buildings at the Benicia and Rock Island Arsenals, under specific appropriations; the care and preservation of the different arsenals, and of the ordnance and ordnance stores thereat; the manufacture of small-arms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores and supplies; the preparation of experimental cannon, and the supplying the Regular Army, the Marine Corps, and the whole body of the militia with arms, ammunition, and materials.

The adoption of the Springfield breech-loading system by a board of officers convened under congressional enactment, and its subsequent establishment by law as the only system to be used in the manufacture of arms, enables the Department to continue the manufacture upon a secure basis, and provide an arm with no superior, that may probably

not be superseded by any more perfect invention for many years to

come.

The production of rifles and carbines upon the adopted plan has been pushed forward at the National Armory with energy and success, and the new arms issued to the troops will no doubt give great satisfaction. Their issue has been retarded by the lack of ammunition, the small appropriation not supplying the number of cartridges per man deemed indispensable by the commanding generals of departments.

That the troops might be trained to more accurate firing, orders have been issued by the Department authorizing the annual issue of 120 ballcartridges per man, being ten per month for each man. This certainly does not appear to be too much, but when a calculation is made of the number and the cost, it is found that this limited issue will require 3,000,000 cartridges, which would absorb the whole of the appropriation of $75,000 for the manufacture of metallic ammunition for the fiscal year. It is evident, therefore, that a larger appropriation for this purpose should be made, and I trust the matter will receive the favorable consideration of Congress.

The appropriation of $100,000 made by Congress at its last session for the manufacture of arms, had to be supplemented from the permanent appropriation for "arming and equipping the militia," in order to work economically, to keep the cost of the arms within proper limits, and enable the Department to supply the wants of the Army and militia. Not less than half a million of dollars should be annually expended at the National Armory, not only as a measure of economy in producing the best arm for the least money, but in the interest of the country to make a gradual but sure accumulation of the best weapons as a reserve in case of war. In again urging this important matter upon the attention of Congress, I am actuated solely by a sense of public duty, and an earnest desire to have the nation brought to a keen realization of the necessities of the country and the gravity of the subject, and do not hesitate to express my decided conviction that a liberal expenditure at present will prove to be the greatest economy in the future. Every nation that aspires to the dignity of a first-class power has cast aside its obsolete muzzle-loading arms, and at immense cost has been and is providing the newest and most approved models by hundreds of thousands. The sudden occurrences that end in war, and the startling rapidity with which wars are waged and terminated, demand complete preparation in time of peace. With us the want of a large standing army can only be compensated by keeping on hand, ready for any emergency, a complete supply of every description of war material. Arms and ammunition are of the first importance when an army is to be improvised, and the country should place its dependence at such a juncture on the reserve supplies stored in its arsenals. Certainly not less than half a million of the best arms should be manufactured as rapidly as the monetary condition of the

country will permit. The experience of the past is the surest and safest guide in making preparation for the future.

An increase in the annual appropriation for arming and equipping the whole body of the militia is again brought to the attention of Congress, with the hope of some legislation thereon. Not only should the appropriation be largely increased to meet the wants of our ever-growing population, but some legislative action should be taken to relieve many of the States and Territories from charges for arms issued to them during the rebellion, and which should not in fairness have been so charged. This subject has been so often referred to in previous reports, and so largely dwelt upon, that a more extended reference to it at this time is deemed unnecessary.

In October, 1873, consideration was given to the necessity of changes that should be made in the horse-equipments, accouterments, tools, and materials for cavalry service in the field, and the determination of a standard table of supply. A board of calvary officers was appointed, to give the Department the benefit of its knowledge and experience. Its report is appended to that of the Chief of Ordnance.

The recommendations, when executed, will undoubtedly add greatly to the efficiency of the cavalry service, and every detail will be carefully carried out as fast as funds will permit, and with due regard to the utilization of the stock on hand.

For several years past I have directed attention to the large number of arsenals east of the Mississippi River scattered through the country, the consequent lack of concentration of work in the interest of economy and perfection of product, and the undoubted necessity of disposing of several of these national establishments, and the building up of a grand arsenal on the Atlantic seaboard. In order to facilitate intelligent action on the subject, by the collection of all necessary data for the information of the Department and of Congress, a board of ordnance officers was appointed some months since, to make a comprehensive and exhaustive study of the subject, and also of the question of a proper location for a powder-depot and of an experimental ground for the testing of heavy ordnance. After several months of patient and careful investigation the board has made its report, which is herewith transmitted. It strongly recommends the retention of the Springfield Armory and the Frankford Arsenal, and the establishment of a grand arsenal in the vicinity of New York City for manufacturing purposes; retaining also the Indianapolis Arsenal, Indiana; Kennebec Arsenal, Maine; Fortress Monroe Arsenal, Virginia, and Augusta Arsenal, Georgia, as places for storage and repair. It recom mends the sale of the Allegheny, Columbus, Detroit, Pikesville, Watervliet, Watertown, and Washington Arsenals, the sales to be made as rapidly as circumstances may permit, the proceeds to be devoted to the purchase of a site and the erection of buildings for the grand arsenal. I

eration on the part of Congress. Some such definite policy must be inaugurated and steadily pursued. That such establishments demand the fostering care of the country calls for no argument, and that the number of our arsenals must be reduced seems to be the conclusion reached by Congress in the past two years, judging from the very small appropriations made for their care and preservation-appropriations not sufficient to keep the buildings from running to decay. These seemingly large reductions by sale will, when accomplished, leave thirteen arsenals and the armory; a number amply sufficient, when liberally sustained, to meet all the demands of the nation, and all this can be effected from the sales of arsenals, and without the expenditure of a single dollar out of the national Treasury.

The establishment of a powder-depot and an experimental ground for heavy cannon are also discussed by the board, and its recommendations are approved. An estimate for these very important and desirable objects has been made, which it is earnestly urged that Congress take favorable action upon. The great-gun problem cannot be solved without continued experiments, considerable expenditure, and all the facilities of a well-appointed experimental and proving ground. The improvements in modern gunnery are as much the result of the hourly demonstrations on the experimental ground as in the success of mechanical manipulation and skill in the workshop, and certainly no exercise of theoretical knowledge and research will avail without the tests of experimental proof.

Much legislation affecting the Ordnance Department, originating in the earlier days of the Republic, and which had in the course of years fallen into disuse, has been revived and incorporated in the Revised Statutes of the United States. Some of it, in matter of detail, is mandatory in its language, and, being interwoven with more recent legislation, based on the constantly-changing exigencies of service, renders the execution of the letter of the law incompatible with the best interests of the service.

It is not presumed that Congress intended to revive what may be. considered obsolete details, but such is the effect of some of the enactments in the Revised Statutes, and I would therefore suggest that, as far as it affects the Ordnance Department, the subject receive the attention of Congress.

BUREAU OF MILITARY JUSTICE.

At the last session of Congress a bill to confer jurisdiction upon military tribunals over military persons charged with murder or other felonies was submitted to Congress. It passed the House, but failed in the Senate. In the case which was the immediate inducement of that application for legislation a soldier had gone to the camp of Indians. living on a Government reservation in California, and had there wantonly shot dead one of them as he lay asleep in his tent. The Bureau

of Military Justice decided that a court-martial had no jurisdiction, and earnest applications to the civil authorities of the proper county failed to secure the indictment of the murderer. A recurrence of a like crime under similar circumstances, with the same impunity, might at some time, by provoking natural retaliation, involve the Government in a costly and unnecessary war.

It seems to me that some remedial law could be devised containing such safeguards for subordination to civil authority as would relieve the public mind of the jealousy of military power, which is apparently the obstacle to an enlargement of the jurisdiction of military tribunals. As courts-martial have now the power to impose the death penalty for the military crime of a soldier striking his superior officer while in the execution of his office, why should they not be authorized to impose such a punishment for the murder of a comrade, or a defenseless Indian, or a frontiersman?

SIGNAL OFFICE.

The regular instruction in military signaling and telegraphy, meteorology, and the signal-service duties at stations of observation, together with the drills of the signal soldiers with arms, has continued at the school of instruction and practice at Fort Whipple, Virginia. The course of instruction and practice is intended to furnish a force of selected enlisted men at once disciplined as soldiers, and fitted by special instruction for the different duties of the signal-service. Working-parties have been organized at the last named for the construction of the telegraphic lines of the sea-coast service and on the frontier.

The act approved June 16, 1874, maintaining the signal-service at a force providing for 150 sergeants and 30 corporals, and privates in the proportion of two for each sergeant, has been productive of good results. The men who have enlisted under it are of superior quality.

During the year 23 stations of observation have been added to those from which reports are deemed necessary to enable proper warnings to be given of the approach and force of storms aud of other meteoric changes for the benefit of agricultural and commercial interests.

The daily exchange of telegraphic reports with the Dominion of Canada has been maintained, and warnings of threatened danger have been regularly sent, to be displayed at the ports of the Dominion.

A series of daily telegraphic reports has been received from stations in the West Indies, extending from Cuba, by Jamaica, to Barbadoes and the Windward Islands. The most eastern station thus established, and in the course of possible cyclones, lies 2,300 miles to the southward and eastward of Washington.

The issue of the official deductions had at the office of the SignalOfficer from the reports there received has continued during the year. A minute examination of these deductions, and a comparison with the meteoric changes afterward occurring within the time and within