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Show By W. U. Telegraph. BELKNAP'S REPORT. New York, 8. The annual report 1 of the secretary of war received here by specials is quite brief. He compliments com-pliments congress for such completeness complete-ness in last year's legislation that there is little room for farther legislation. Ho reoommends the establishment of military prisons in place of the present system of sending army convicts to the State ponitcijtiarics, also tho cnaot-ment cnaot-ment of a code of specific punishment for army offences. Desertions are reported greatly fallen off the past year. He renews the recommendation that extia officers to each regiment bo dispensed with as vacancies-occur, vacancies-occur, thus saving 8 160,000. per annum. He advises raising the intellectual standard of admission at West Point, also the Bale of a large number of now useless arsenals in the south and elsewhere, tbo establishment establish-ment of a general arsenal of construction construc-tion on tho Atlantic Slope and another on the Pacific. These arsenals, with that already at Rock Island, in the M issisfippi valley, would efficiently meet tho wants of the service in time of need. Progress in experiment with improved navy ordnance and breech-loading breech-loading email arms is slow. He considers con-siders channel obstructions and torpedoes torpe-does proteoted by heavy batteries as valuable for harbor defences, and experiments ex-periments with torpedoes have been successful in determining the kind to be used and the secretary reoommends i he storago of torpedoes for the defence de-fence of New York and other harbors. Tho new system of inspecting disbursing disburs-ing olBoers' aoconnta is in full operation. opera-tion. Ho concludes by regretting that one sixth of the army is still detained in the southern States east of the Mississippi Missis-sippi river. He hopes that the improving social condition will soon release that force for frontier service and says military mili-tary expenditures are on a descending sale. |