n
accordance with the act referred to will be duly submitted to the
Congress.

I deem it my duty to call to the attention of Congress the condition of
the present building occupied by the Department of Justice. The business
of that Department has increased very greatly since it was established
in its present quarters. The building now occupied by it is neither
large enough nor of suitable arrangement for the proper accommodation of
the business of the Department. The Supervising Architect has pronounced
it unsafe and unsuited for the use to which it is put. The
Attorney-General in his report states that the library of the Department
is upon the fourth floor, and that all the space allotted to it is so
crowded with books as to dangerously overload the structure. The first
floor is occupied by the Court of Claims. The building is of an old and
dilapidated appearance, unsuited to the dignity which should attach to
this important Department.

A proper regard for the safety, comfort, and convenience of the officers
and employees would justify the expenditure of a liberal sum of money in
the erection of, a new building of commodious proportions and handsome
appearance upon the very advantageous site already secured for that
purpose, including the ground occupied by the present structure and
adjoining vacant lot, comprising in all a frontage of 201 feet on
Pennsylvania avenue and a depth of 136 feet.

In this connection I may likewise refer to the inadequate accommodations
provided for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wisdom of
making provision for the erection of a separate building for the court
and its officers and library upon available ground near the Capitol.

The postal service of the country advances with extraordinary growth.
Within twenty years both the revenues and the expenditures of the
Post-Office Department have multiplied threefold. In the last ten years
they have nearly doubled. Our postal business grows much more rapidly
than our population. It now involves an expenditure of $100,000,000 a
year, numbers 73,000 post-offices, and enrolls 200,000 employees. This
remarkable extension of a service which is an accurate index of the
public conditions presents gratifying evidence of the advancement of
education, of the increase of communication and business activity, and
of the improvement of mail facilities leading to their constantly
augmenting use.

The war with Spain laid new and exceptiona