The principal questions to-day concerning the War Department are the advisability of strengthening our coast defences, and the lessening of the desertions in the army, which amount yearly to from ten to fifteen per cent, of the total strength of the army. _#The Navy Department.#_--The Navy Department was established April 30, 1798. There is one assistant secretary. The routine work of the department is distributed among eight bureaus: (1) of Yards and Docks, (2) of Equipment and Recruiting, (3) of Navigation, (4) of Ordinance, (5) of Construction and Repair, (6) of Steam Engineering, (7) of Provisions and Clothing, (8) of Medicine and Surgery. The chiefs of the bureaus are officers of the United States Navy. There is a hydrographic office attached to the bureau of navigation, which prepares maps, charts and nautical books relating to navigation, and makes investigations concerning marine meteorology. This Department has charge of the Naval Observatory for which a new set of buildings is now being built at Washington. The Department publishes yearly, for the guidance of seamen, the nautical almanac, the preparation of which is intrusted to a separate bureau. The department also compiles and publishes naval records of the recent war, and has charge of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. The Officers of the Navy upon the active list include one admiral, one vice-admiral, six rear-admirals, and ten commodores. The naval force includes 10,000 officers and men, together with 2,000 marines. The number of vessels of the United States Navy when all the ships now authorized are completed, excluding those which by the process of decay and the operation of law will by that date have been condemned, will comprise 11 armored and 31 unarmored vessels. The five stations maintained are the Asiatic, European, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific. The chief matter of present public interest concerning this department is the creation of a new navy by the construction of modern steel vessels. This new policy was begun in 1882. _#The Interior Department.#_--The Interior Department was created in 1849, to take charge of various duties not properly belonging to any of the existing departments. There are two assistant secretaries. The chiefs of the bureaus into which this department is divided, and their respective duties are as follows: _The Commissioner of the General Land Office_ has charge of all the public land of the government, its care, supervision, and sale or distribution. In another chapter we give further details concerning the operations of this important bureau.