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by James D. Richardson

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Title: Messages and Papers of Rutherford B. Hayes
       A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents

Author: James D. Richardson

Release Date: July 25, 2004 [EBook #13021]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON




Rutherford B. Hayes

March 4, 1877, to March 4, 1881




Rutherford B. Hayes


Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Delaware: Ohio, October 4, 1822.
His father had died in July, 1822, leaving his mother in modest
circumstances. He attended the common schools, and began early the
study of Latin and Greek with Judge Sherman Finch, of Delaware.
Prepared for college at an academy at Norwalk, Ohio, and at a school
in Middletown, Conn. In the autumn of 1838 entered Kenyon College,
at Gambier, Ohio. Excelled in logic, mental and moral philosophy,
and mathematics, and also made his mark as a debater in the literary
societies. On his graduation, in August, 1842, was awarded the
valedictory oration, with which he won much praise. Soon afterwards
began the study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, at Columbus,
Ohio, and then attended a course of law lectures at Harvard
University, entering the law school August 22, 1843, and finishing his
studies there in January, 1845. As a law student he had the advantage
of friendly intercourse with Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf, and
also attended the lectures of Longfellow on literature and of Agassiz
on natural science, pursuing at the same time the study of French and
German. In May, 1845, was admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio
as an attorney and counselor at law. Established himself first at
Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), where in April, 1846, he formed a law
partnership with Ralph P. Buckland, then a Member of Congress. In the
winter of 1849-50 established himself at Cincinnati. His practice at
first being light, continued his studies in law and literature, and
also became identified with various literary societies, among them
the literary club of Cincinnati, where he met Salmon P. Chase, Thomas
Ewing, Thomas Corwin, Stanley Matthews, Moncure D. Conway, Manning F.
Force, and others of note. December 30, 1852, married Miss Lucy Ware
Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, a physician of Chillicothe, Ohio. In
January, 1854, formed a law partnership with H.W. Corwine and William
K. Rogers. In 1856 was nominated for the office of common pleas judge,
but declined. In 1858 was elected city solicitor by the city council
of Cincinnati to fill a vacancy, and in the following year was
elected to the same office at a popular election, but was defeated
for reelection in 1861. After becoming a voter he acted with the Whig
party, voting for Henry Clay in 1844, for General Taylor in 1848, and
for General Scott in 1852. Having from his youth cherished antislavery
feelings, he joined the Republican party as soon as it was organized,
and earnestly advocated the election of Fremont in 1856 and of Lincoln
in 1860. At a great mass meeting held in Cincinnati immediately
after the firing on Fort Sumter was made chairman of a committee on
resolutions. His literary club formed a military company, of which he
was elected captain. June 7, 1861, was appointed by the governor of
Ohio major of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. September 19, 1861,
was appointed by General Rosecrans judge-advocate of the Department
of the Ohio. October 24, 1861, was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel. In the battle of South Mountain, September 14,
1862, distinguished himself by gallant conduct in leading a charge and
in holding a position at the head of his troops after being severely
wounded in his left arm. October 24, 1862, was appointed colonel
of the Twenty-third Ohio. In July, 1863, while with the army in
southwestern Virginia, caused an expedition of two regiments and a
section of artillery under his command to be dispatched to Ohio for
the purpose of checking the raid of the Confederate general John
Morgan, and aided materially in preventing the raiders from recrossing
the Ohio River and in compelling Morgan to surrender. In the spring
of 1864 commanded a brigade in General Crook's expedition to cut the
principal lines of communication between Richmond and the Southwest.
Distinguished himself by conspicuous bravery at the head of his
brigade in storming a fortified position on the crest of Cloyd
Mountain. Commanded a brigade in the first battle of Winchester. Took
a creditable part in the engagement at Berryville, and at the second
battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864, performed a feat of great
bravery. Leading an assault upon a battery on an eminence, he found in
his way a morass over 50 yards wide. Being at the head of his brigade,
he plunged in first, and, his horse becoming mired at once, he
dismounted and waded across alone under the enemy's fire. Signaled his
men to come over, and when about 40 had joined him he rushed upon the
battery and captured it after a hand-to-hand fight. At Fishers Hill,
September 22, 1864, being then in command of a division, executed a
brilliant flank movement over mountains and through woods, took many
pieces of artillery, and routed the enemy. At the battle of Cedar
Creek, October 19, 1864, his conduct attracted so much attention that
his commander, General Crook, commended him, saying, "Colonel, from
this day you will be a brigadier-general." The commission reached him
a few days afterwards. March 13, 1865, received the rank of brevet
major-general "for gallant and distinguished services during the
campaign of 1864 in West Virginia, and particularly at the battles of
Fishers Hill and Cedar Creek, Virginia." In August, 1864, while in the
field, was nominated for Congress and elected. After the war, returned
to civil life, and took his seat in Congress December 4, 1865. Voted
with his party on questions connected with the reconstruction of the
Southern States; supported a resolution declaring the sacredness of
the public debt and denouncing repudiation, and also one commending
President Johnson for declining to accept presents and condemning the
practice; opposed a resolution favoring an increase of pay of members
of Congress; introduced in a Republican caucus resolutions declaring
that the only mode of obtaining from the States lately in rebellion
irreversible guaranties was by constitutional amendment, and that
an amendment basing representation upon voters instead of population
ought to be acted upon without delay. In August, 1866, was renominated
for Congress by acclamation, and was reelected. Supported the
impeachment of President Johnson. In June, 1867, was nominated for
governor of Ohio, and at the election defeated Judge Allen G. Thurman.
In June, 1869, was again nominated for governor, and at the election
defeated George H. Pendleton. At the expiration of his term as
governor declined to be a candidate for the United States Senate
against John Sherman. In 1872 was again nominated for Congress, but at
the election was defeated. Declined the office of assistant treasurer
of the United States at Cincinnati. In 1873 established his home at
Fremont with the intention of retiring from public life. In 1875 was
again nominated for governor of Ohio, and at the election defeated
William Allen. Was nominated for President of the United States at
the national Republican convention at Cincinnati on June 16, 1876. The
Democrats selected as their candidate Samuel J. Tilden, of New York.
The result of the election became the subject of acrimonious dispute.
Each party charged fraud upon the other, and both parties claimed to
have carried the States of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida.
To avoid a deadlock, which might have happened if the canvass of
the electoral votes had been left to the two Houses of Congress
(the Senate having a Republican and the House of Representatives a
Democratic majority), an act, advocated by members of both parties,
was passed to refer all contested cases to a commission composed of
five Senators, five Representatives, and five Justices of the Supreme
Court, the decision of this commission to be final unless set aside
by a concurrent vote of the two Houses of Congress. The commission,
refusing to go behind the certificates of the governors, decided in
each contested case by a vote of 8 to 7 in favor of the Republican
electors, beginning with Florida on February 7, and on March 2 Mr.
Hayes was declared duly elected President of the United States. Was
inaugurated March 5, 1877. At the expiration of his term returned to
his home at Fremont, Ohio. Was the recipient of various distinctions.
The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Kenyon College, Harvard
University, Yale College, and Johns Hopkins University. Was made
senior vice-commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion,
commander of the Ohio commandery of the same order, first president
of the Society of the Army of West Virginia, and president of the
Twenty-third Regiment Ohio Volunteers Association. Was president of
the trustees of the John F. Slater education fund; one of the trustees
of the Peabody education fund; president of the National Prison
Reform Association; an active member of the National Conference
of Corrections and Charities; a trustee of the Western Reserve
University, at Cleveland, Ohio, of the Wesleyan University, of
Delaware, Ohio, of Mount Union College, at Alliance, Ohio, and of the
Ohio State University. He died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893, and
was buried there.




INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

FELLOW-CITIZENS: We have assembled to repeat the public ceremonial,
begun by Washington, observed by all my predecessors, and now a
time-honored custom, which marks the commencement of a new term of
the Presidential office. Called to the duties of this great trust,
I proceed, in compliance with usage, to announce some of the leading
principles, on the subjects that now chiefly engage the public
attention, by which it is my desire to be guided in the discharge of
those duties. I shall not undertake to lay down irrevocably principles
or measures of administration, but rather to speak of the motives
which should animate us, and to suggest certain important ends to
be attained in accordance with our institutions and essential to the
welfare of our country.

At the outset of the discussions which preceded the recent
Presidential election it seemed to me fitting that I should fully make
known my sentiments in regard to several of the important questions
which then appeared to demand the consideration of the country.
Following the example, and in part adopting the language, of one of my
predecessors, I wish now, when every motive for misrepresentation has
passed away, to repeat what was said before the election, trusting
that my countrymen will candidly weigh and understand it, and that
they will feel assured that the sentiments declared in accepting the
nomination for the Presidency will be the standard of my conduct in
the path before me, charged, as I now am, with the grave and difficult
task of carrying them out in the practical administration of the
Government so far as depends, under the Constitution and laws, on the
Chief Executive of the nation.

The permanent pacification of the country upon such principles and
by such measures as will secure the complete protection of all its
citizens in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional rights is
now the one subject in our public affairs which all thoughtful and
patriotic citizens regard as of supreme importance.

Many of the calamitous effects of the tremendous revolution which
has passed over the Southern States still remain. The immeasurable
benefits which will surely follow, sooner or later, the hearty and
generous acceptance of the legitimate results of that revolution have
not yet been realized. Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us
at the threshold of this subject. The people of those States are
still impoverished, and the inestimable blessing of wise, honest,
and peaceful local self-government is not fully enjoyed. Whatever
difference of opinion may exist as to the cause of this condition of
things, the fact is clear that in the progress of events the time has
come when such government is the imperative necessity required by all
the varied interests, public and private, of those States. But it must
not be forgotten that only a local government which recognizes and
maintains inviolate the rights of all is a true self-government.

With respect to the two distinct races whose peculiar relations to
each other have brought upon us the deplorable complications and
perplexities which exist in those States, it must be a government
which guards the interests of both races carefully and equally.
It must be a government which submits loyally and heartily to the
Constitution and the laws--the laws of the nation and the laws of
the States themselves--accepting and obeying faithfully the whole
Constitution as it is.

Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the superstructure
of beneficent local governments can be built up, and not otherwise.
In furtherance of such obedience to the letter and the spirit of the
Constitution, and in behalf of all that its attainment implies, all
so-called party interests lose their apparent importance, and party
lines may well be permitted to fade into insignificance. The question
we have to consider for the immediate welfare of those States of the
Union is the question of government or no government; of social order
and all the peaceful industries and the happiness that belong to it,
or a return to barbarism. It is a question in which every citizen of
the nation is deeply interested, and with respect to which we ought
not to be, in a partisan sense, either Republicans or Democrats, but
fellow-citizens and fellow-men, to whom the interests of a common
country and a common humanity are dear.

The sweeping revolution of the entire labor system of a large portion
of our country and the advance of 4,000,000 people from a condition
of servitude to that of citizenship, upon an equal footing with their
former masters, could not occur without presenting problems of the
gravest moment, to be dealt with by the emancipated race, by their
former masters, and by the General Government, the author of the
act of emancipation. That it was a wise, just, and providential
act, fraught with good for all concerned, is now generally conceded
throughout the country. That a moral obligation rests upon the
National Government to employ its constitutional power and influence
to establish the rights of the people it has emancipated, and to
protect them in the enjoyment of those rights when they are infringed
or assailed, is also generally admitted.

The evils which afflict the Southern States can only be removed or
remedied by the united and harmonious efforts of both races, actuated
by motives of mutual sympathy and regard; and while in duty bound and
fully determined to protect the rights of all by every constitutional
means at the disposal of my Administration, I am sincerely anxious to
use every legitimate influence in favor of honest and efficient
local _self_-government as the true resource of those States for the
promotion of the contentment and prosperity of their citizens. In
the effort I shall make to accomplish this purpose I ask the cordial
cooperation of all who cherish an interest in the welfare of the
country, trusting that party ties and the prejudice of race will be
freely surrendered in behalf of the great purpose to be accomplished.
In the important work of restoring the South it is not the political
situation alone that merits attention. The material development
of that section of the country has been arrested by the social and
political revolution through which it has passed, and now needs and
deserves the considerate care of the National Government within the
just limits prescribed by the Constitution and wise public economy.

But at the basis of all prosperity, for that as well as for every
other part of the country, lies the improvement of the intellectual
and moral condition of the people. Universal suffrage should rest
upon universal education. To this end, liberal and permanent
provision should be made for the support of free schools by the State
governments, and, if need be, supplemented by legitimate aid from
national authority.

Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern States that it is my
earnest desire to regard and promote their truest interests--the
interests of the white and of the colored people both and equally--and
to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will
forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line and the
distinction between North and South, to the end that we may have not
merely a united North or a united South, but a united country.

I ask the attention of the public to the paramount necessity of reform
in our civil service--a reform not merely as to certain abuses and
practices of so-called official patronage which have come to have the
sanction of usage in the several Departments of our Government, but
a change in the system of appointment itself; a reform that shall
be thorough, radical, and complete; a return to the principles and
practices of the founders of the Government. They neither expected
nor desired from public officers any partisan service. They meant that
public officers should owe their whole service to the Government and
to the people. They meant that the officer should be secure in his
tenure as long as his personal character remained untarnished and the
performance of his duties satisfactory. They held that appointments to
office were not to be made nor expected merely as rewards for partisan
services, nor merely on the nomination of members of Congress, as
being entitled in any respect to the control of such appointments.

The fact that both the great political parties of the country, in
declaring their principles prior to the election, gave a prominent
place to the subject of reform of our civil service, recognizing and
strongly urging its necessity, in terms almost identical in their
specific import with those I have here employed, must be accepted as
a conclusive argument in behalf of these measures. It must be regarded
as the expression of the united voice and will of the whole country
upon this subject, and both political parties are virtually pledged
to give it their unreserved support.

The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to
office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party,
the members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential
importance the principles of their party organization; but he should
strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best
who serves the country best.

In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other important respects
a change of great importance, I recommend an amendment to the
Constitution prescribing a term of six years for the Presidential
office and forbidding a reelection.

With respect to the financial condition of the country, I shall not
attempt an extended history of the embarrassment and prostration which
we have suffered during the past three years. The depression in all
our varied commercial and manufacturing interests throughout the
country, which began in September, 1873, still continues. It is very
gratifying, however, to be able to say that there are indications all
around us of a coming change to prosperous times.

Upon the currency question, intimately connected, as it is, with this
topic, I may be permitted to repeat here the statement made in my
letter of acceptance, that in my judgment the feeling of uncertainty
inseparable from an irredeemable paper currency, with its fluctuation
of values, is one of the greatest obstacles to a return to prosperous
times. The only safe paper currency is one which rests upon a coin
basis and is at all times and promptly convertible into coin.

I adhere to the views heretofore expressed by me in favor of
Congressional legislation in behalf of an early resumption of specie
payments, and I am satisfied not only that this is wise, but that
the interests, as well as the public sentiment, of the country
imperatively demand it.

Passing from these remarks upon the condition of our own country
to consider our relations with other lands, we are reminded by the
international complications abroad, threatening the peace of Europe,
that our traditional rule of noninterference in the affairs of foreign
nations has proved of great value in past times and ought to be
strictly observed.

The policy inaugurated by my honored predecessor, President Grant, of
submitting to arbitration grave questions in dispute between ourselves
and foreign powers points to a new, and incomparably the best,
instrumentality for the preservation of peace, and will, as I believe,
become a beneficent example of the course to be pursued in similar
emergencies by other nations.

If, unhappily, questions of difference should at any time during the
period of my Administration arise between the United States and any
foreign government, it will certainly be my disposition and my hope to
aid in their settlement in the same peaceful and honorable way, thus
securing to our country the great blessings of peace and mutual good
offices with all the nations of the world.

Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a political contest
marked by the excitement which usually attends the contests between
great political parties whose members espouse and advocate with
earnest faith their respective creeds. The circumstances were,
perhaps, in no respect extraordinary save in the closeness and the
consequent uncertainty of the result.

For the first time in the history of the country it has been deemed
best, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case, that the
objections and questions in dispute with reference to the counting of
the electoral votes should be referred to the decision of a tribunal
appointed for this purpose.

That tribunal--established by law for this sole purpose; its members,
all of them, men of long-established reputation for integrity and
intelligence, and, with the exception of those who are also members of
the supreme judiciary, chosen equally from both political parties; its
deliberations enlightened by the research and the arguments of able
counsel--was entitled to the fullest confidence of the American
people. Its decisions have been patiently waited for, and accepted
as legally conclusive by the general judgment of the public. For the
present, opinion will widely vary as to the wisdom of the several
conclusions announced by that tribunal. This is to be anticipated
in every instance where matters of dispute are made the subject of
arbitration under the forms of law. Human judgment is never unerring,
and is rarely regarded as otherwise than wrong by the unsuccessful
party in the contest.

The fact that two great political parties have in this way settled a
dispute in regard to which good men differ as to the facts and the
law no less than as to the proper course to be pursued in solving the
question in controversy is an occasion for general rejoicing.

Upon one point there is entire unanimity in public sentiment--that
conflicting claims to the Presidency must be amicably and peaceably
adjusted, and that when so adjusted the general acquiescence of the
nation ought surely to follow.

It has been reserved for a government of the people, where the right
of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first example in
history of a great nation, in the midst of the struggle of opposing
parties for power, hushing its party tumults to yield the issue of
the contest to adjustment according to the forms of law.

Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the destinies
of nations and individuals are shaped, I call upon you, Senators,
Representatives, judges, fellow-citizens, here and everywhere, to
unite with me in an earnest effort to secure to our country the
blessings, not only of material prosperity, but of justice, peace, and
union--a union depending not upon the constraint of force, but upon
the loving devotion of a free people; "and that all things may be
so ordered and settled upon the best and surest foundations that
peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be
established among us for all generations."

MARCH 5, 1877.




PROCLAMATIONS.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the final adjournment of the Forty-fourth Congress without
making the usual appropriations for the support of the Army for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, presents an extraordinary occasion
requiring the President to exercise the power vested in him by the
Constitution to convene the Houses of Congress in anticipation of the
day fixed by law for their next meeting:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do, by virtue of the power to this end in me vested by the
Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress to assemble at their
respective chambers at 12 o'clock noon on Monday, the 15th day of
October next, then and there to consider and determine such measures
as in their wisdom their duty and the welfare of the people may seem
to demand.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 5th day of May, A.D. 1877, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and
first.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States
that the United States shall protect every State in this Union,
on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the
legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas the governor of the State of West Virginia has represented
that domestic violence exists in said State at Martinsburg, and at
various other points along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
in said State, which the authorities of said State are unable to
suppress; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that in all cases of
insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof,
whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, he
shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse
and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do hereby admonish all good citizens of the United States and
all persons within the territory and jurisdiction of the United
States against aiding, countenancing, abetting, or taking part in such
unlawful proceedings; and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or
connected with said domestic violence and obstruction of the laws to
disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before
12 o'clock noon of the 19th day of July instant.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of July, A.D. 1877, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred
and second.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  F.W. SEWARD,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States
that the United States shall protect every State in this Union,
on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the
legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas the governor of the State of Maryland has represented that
domestic violence exists in said State at Cumberland, and along the
line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in said State, which the
authorities of said State are unable to suppress; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that in all cases of
insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof,
whenever, in the judgment of the President, it becomes necessary to
use the military forces to suppress such insurrection or obstruction
to the laws, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such
insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes
within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do hereby admonish all good citizens of the United States and
all persons within the territory and jurisdiction of the United
States against aiding, countenancing, abetting, or taking part in such
unlawful proceedings; and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or
connected with said domestic violence and obstruction of the laws to
disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before
noon of the 22d day of July instant.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of July, A.D. 1877, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred
and second.

[SEAL.]

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States
that the United States shall protect every State in this Union,
on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the
legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas the governor of the State of Pennsylvania has represented that
domestic violence exists in said State which the authorities of said
State are unable to suppress; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that in all cases of
insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof,
whenever, in the judgment of the President, it becomes necessary to
use the military forces to suppress such insurrection or obstruction
to the laws, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such
insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes
within a limited time;

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do hereby admonish all good citizens of the United States and
all persons within the territory and jurisdiction of the United
States against aiding, countenancing, abetting, or taking part in such
unlawful proceedings; and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or
connected with said domestic violence and obstruction of the laws to
disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before
12 o'clock noon of the 24th day of July instant.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 23d day of July, A.D. 1877, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred
and second.

[SEAL.]

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 9, 1877_.

SIR:[1] The President directs me to say that the several Departments
of the Government will be closed on Wednesday, the 30th instant, to
enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of
the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

W.K. ROGERS, _Secretary_.

[Footnote 1: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 26, 1877_.

Hon. JOHN SHERMAN,
  _Secretary of the Treasury_.

MY DEAR SIR: I have read the partial report of the commission
appointed to examine the New York custom-house. I concur with the
commission in their recommendations. It is my wish that the collection
of the revenues should be free from partisan control, and organized on
a strictly business basis, with the same guaranties for efficiency and
fidelity in the selection of the chief and subordinate officers that
would be required by a prudent merchant. Party leaders should have
no more influence in appointments than other equally respectable
citizens. No assessments for political purposes on officers or
subordinates should be allowed. No useless officer or employee should
be retained. No officer should be required or permitted to take part
in the management of political organizations, caucuses, conventions,
or election campaigns. Their right to vote and to express their
views on public questions, either orally or through the press, is not
denied, provided it does not interfere with the discharge of their
official duties.

Respectfully,

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 22, 1877_,

SIR:[2] I desire to call your attention to the following paragraph
in a letter addressed by me to the Secretary of the Treasury on
the conduct to be observed by officers of the General Government in
relation to the elections:

  No officer should be required or permitted to take part in the
  management of political organizations, caucuses, conventions,
  or election campaigns. Their right to vote and to express
  their views on public questions, either orally or through the
  press, is not denied, provided it does not interfere with
  the discharge of their official duties. No assessment for
  political purposes on officers or subordinates should be
  allowed.


This rule is applicable to every department of the civil service. It
should be understood by every officer of the General Government that
he is expected to conform his conduct to its requirements.

Very respectfully,

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 2: Addressed to Federal officers generally.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 7, 1877_.

By virtue of authority conferred upon the President of the United
States by the provisions of section 2132, Revised Statutes of the
United States, as follows:

  The President is authorized, whenever in his opinion the
  public interest may require the same, to prohibit the
  introduction of goods, or of any particular article, into
  the country belonging to any Indian tribe, and to direct
  all licenses to trade with such tribe to be revoked and all
  applications therefor to be rejected. No trader to any other
  tribe shall, so long as such prohibition may continue, trade
  with any Indians of or for the tribe against which such
  prohibition is issued--


the introduction into the Indian country, for the purpose of sale or
exchange to or with Indians, of any breech-loading firearms, and of
any special ammunition adapted to such arms, and the sale and exchange
to Indians in the Indian country of any such arms or ammunition, is
hereby prohibited; and it is hereby directed that all authority under
any license to trade in such arms or ammunition is hereby revoked.

The introduction into the country or district occupied by any tribe of
hostile Indians, for the purpose of sale or exchange to them, of arms
or ammunition of any description, and the sale or exchange thereof to
or with such Indians, is hereby prohibited; and it is hereby directed
that all license to trade in arms or ammunition of any description
with such tribe be revoked.

By virtue of section 2150, Revised Statutes, as follows:

  The military forces of the United States may be employed in
  such manner and under such regulations as the President may
  direct--

     *       *       *       *       *

  Third. In preventing the introduction of persons and property
  into the Indian country contrary to law, which persons and
  property shall be proceeded against according to law.

     *       *       *       *       *

All military commanders are hereby charged with the duty of assisting
in the execution of the above order and of Executive order of November
23, 1876,[3] the provisions of which are extended to include all
Indian country within the Territories of Idaho, Utah, and Washington
and the States of Nevada and Oregon.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 3: See pp. 398-399.]




SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE.


WASHINGTON, _October 15, 1877._

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The adjournment of the last Congress without making appropriations
for the support of the Army for the present fiscal year has rendered
necessary a suspension of payments to the officers and men of the sums
due them for services rendered after the 30th day of June last.
The Army exists by virtue of statutes which prescribe its numbers,
regulate its organization and employment, and which fix the pay of its
officers and men and declare their right to receive the same at stated
periods. These statutes, however, do not authorize the payment of
the troops in the absence of specific appropriations therefor. The
Constitution has wisely provided that "no money shall be drawn from
the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law;" and
it has also been declared by statute that "no department of the
Government shall expend in any one fiscal year any sum in excess
of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year." We have,
therefore, an Army in service, authorized by law and entitled to be
paid, but no funds available for that purpose.

It may also be said, as an additional incentive to prompt action by
Congress, that since the commencement of the fiscal year the Army,
though without pay, has been constantly and actively employed in
arduous and dangerous service, in the performance of which both
officers and men have discharged their duty with fidelity and
courage and without complaint. These circumstances, in my judgment,
constituted an extraordinary occasion requiring that Congress be
convened in advance of the time prescribed by law for your meeting in
regular session. The importance of speedy action upon this subject
on the part of Congress is so manifest that I venture to suggest the
propriety of making the necessary appropriations for the support
of the Army for the current year at its present maximum numerical
strength of 25,000 men, leaving for future consideration all questions
relating to an increase or decrease of the number of enlisted men.
In the event of the reduction of the Army by subsequent legislation
during the fiscal year, the excess of the appropriation could not
be expended; and in the event of its enlargement the additional sum
required for the payment of the extra force could be provided in due
time. It would be unjust to the troops now in service, and whose pay
is already largely in arrears, if payment to them should be further
postponed until after Congress shall have considered all the questions
likely to arise in the effort to fix the proper limit to the strength
of the Army.

Estimates of appropriations for the support of the military
establishment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, were
transmitted to Congress by the former Secretary of the Treasury at the
opening of its session in December last. These estimates, modified by
the present Secretary so as to conform to present requirements, are
now renewed, amounting to $32,436,764.98, and, having been transmitted
to both Houses of Congress, are submitted for your consideration.

There is also required by the Navy Department $2,003,861.24. This sum
is made up of $1,446,688.16 due to officers and enlisted men for the
last quarter of the last fiscal year; $311,953.50 due for advances
made by the fiscal agent of the Government in London for the support
of the foreign service; $50,000 due to the naval-hospital fund;
$150,000 due for arrearages of pay to officers, and $45,219.58 for the
support of the Marine Corps.

There will also be needed an appropriation of $262,535.22 to defray
the unsettled expenses of the United States courts for the fiscal year
ending June 30 last, now due to attorneys, clerks, commissioners, and
marshals, and for rent of court rooms, the support of prisoners, and
other deficiencies.

A part of the building of the Interior Department was destroyed by
fire on the 24th of last month. Some immediate repairs and temporary
structures have in consequence become necessary, estimates for which
will be transmitted to Congress immediately, and an appropriation of
the requisite funds is respectfully recommended.

The Secretary of the Treasury will communicate to Congress, in
connection with the estimates for the appropriations for the support
of the Army for the current fiscal year, estimates for such other
deficiencies in the different branches of the public service as
require immediate action and can not without inconvenience be
postponed until the regular session.

I take this opportunity also to invite your attention to the propriety
of adopting at your present session the necessary legislation
to enable the people of the United States to participate in the
advantages of the International Exhibition of Agriculture, Industry,
and the Fine Arts which is to be held at Paris in 1878, and in which
this Government has been invited by the Government of France to take
part.

This invitation was communicated to this Government in May, 1876,
by the minister of France at this capital, and a copy thereof was
submitted to the proper committees of Congress at its last session,
but no action was taken upon the subject.

The Department of State has received many letters from various parts
of the country expressing a desire to participate in the exhibition,
and numerous applications of a similar nature have also been made at
the United States legation at Paris.

The Department of State has also received official advice of the
strong desire on the part of the French Government that the United
States should participate in this enterprise, and space has hitherto
been and still is reserved in the exhibition buildings for the use of
exhibitors from the United States, to the exclusion of other parties
who have been applicants therefor.

In order that our industries may be properly represented at the
exhibition, an appropriation will be needed for the payment of
salaries and expenses of commissioners, for the transportation of
goods, and for other purposes in connection with the object in view;
and as May next is the time fixed for the opening of the exhibition,
if our citizens are to share the advantages of this international
competition for the trade of other nations the necessity of immediate
action is apparent.

To enable the United States to cooperate in the international
exhibition which was held at Vienna in 1873, Congress then passed a
joint resolution making an appropriation of $200,000 and authorizing
the President to appoint a certain number of practical artisans and
scientific men who should attend the exhibition and report their
proceedings and observations to him. Provision was also made for the
appointment of a number of honorary commissioners.

I have felt that prompt action by Congress in accepting the invitation
of the Government of France is of so much interest to the people of
this country and so suitable to the cordial relations between the
Governments of the two countries that the subject might properly be
presented for attention at your present session.

The Government of Sweden and Norway has addressed an official
invitation to this Government to take part in the International Prison
Congress to be held at Stockholm next year. The problem which the
congress proposes to study--how to diminish crime--is one in which
all civilized nations have an interest in common, and the congress
of Stockholm seems likely to prove the most important convention ever
held for the study of this grave question. Under authority of a joint
resolution of Congress approved February 16, 1875, a commissioner was
appointed by my predecessor to represent the United States upon that
occasion, and the Prison Congress having been, at the earnest desire
of the Swedish Government, postponed to 1878, his commission was
renewed by me. An appropriation of $8,000 was made in the sundry civil
act of 1875 to meet the expenses of the commissioner. I recommend
the reappropriation of that sum for the same purpose, the former
appropriation having been covered into the Treasury and being no
longer available for the purpose without further action by Congress.
The subject is brought to your attention at this time in view of
circumstances which render it highly desirable that the commissioner
should proceed to the discharge of his important duties immediately.

As the several acts of Congress providing for detailed reports from
the different Departments of the Government require their submission
at the beginning of the regular annual session, I defer until that
time any further reference to subjects of public interest.

R.B. HAYES.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., October 17, 1877_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of a board of inquiry
appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to examine into the causes
of the fire which destroyed a part of the Interior Department building
on the 24th of last month.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., October 17, 1877_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of
the Navy, setting forth the particulars with reference to the existing
deficiencies in the Navy Department.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _November 12, 1877_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st
instant, I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of War, with their accompanying papers.[4]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 4: Correspondence relative to Mexican border troubles.]



WASHINGTON, _November 12, 1877_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th
instant, I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of the Treasury, with their accompanying documents.[5]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 5: Correspondence relative to the imposition of a
differential duty of 50 cents per ton upon Spanish vessels entering
ports of the United States.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 12, 1877_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 16th of
October, 1877, I have the honor to transmit herewith a statement of
the appropriations and expenditures by the Navy Department from the
4th of March, 1789, to June 30, 1876.

A similar statement for the War Department is being prepared as
rapidly as the limited clerical force in the Treasury Department will
permit, and when completed will be transmitted to the Senate.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 12, 1877_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 30th of
October, 1877, I have the honor to transmit herewith a statement of
the annual appropriations and expenditures for army and navy pensions,
showing also the repayments, the amounts carried to the surplus fund,
and the net expenditures under each appropriation from March 4, 1789,
to June 30, 1876.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _November 14, 1877_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, I
transmit herewith a report[6] from the Secretary of State.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 6: Stating that the information relative to the forcible
rescue of two prisoners from the jail of Starr County, Tex., by an
armed band of Mexicans had been transmitted by the President to the
House of Representatives on the 12th instant.]



WASHINGTON, D.C., _November 15, 1887_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to its
resolution of the 12th instant, a report[7] from the Secretary of
State.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 7: Relating to the indemnity paid by Spain on account of the
execution of General Ryan and others at Santiago de Cuba.]



WASHINGTON, _November 20, 1877_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a joint resolution of the House of Representatives of the
6th instant, requesting the opinions of the heads of the Departments
respecting the obligatory use of the metrical system of weights and
measures, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _November 27, 1877_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a declaration between the United States and the
Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, for the reciprocal protection of the marks of
manufacture and trade in the two countries, signed on the 24th of
October, 1877.

R.B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATION.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

The completed circle of summer and winter, seedtime and harvest,
has brought us to the accustomed season at which a religious people
celebrates with praise and thanksgiving the enduring mercy of Almighty
God. This devout and public confession of the constant dependence of
man upon the divine favor for all the good gifts of life and health
and peace and happiness, so early in our history made the habit of
our people, finds in the survey of the past year new grounds for its
joyful and grateful manifestation.

In all the blessings which depend upon benignant seasons, this has
indeed been a memorable year. Over the wide territory of our country,
with all its diversity of soil and climate and products, the earth has
yielded a bountiful return to the labor of the husbandman. The
health of the people has been blighted by no prevalent or widespread
diseases. No great disasters of shipwreck upon our coasts or to our
commerce on the seas have brought loss and hardship to merchants or
mariners and clouded the happiness of the community with sympathetic
sorrow.

In all that concerns our strength and peace and greatness as a nation;
in all that touches the permanence and security of our Government and
the beneficent institutions on which it rests; in all that affects
the character and dispositions of our people and tests our capacity
to enjoy and uphold the equal and free condition of society, now
permanent and universal throughout the land, the experience of the
last year is conspicuously marked by the protecting providence of God
and is full of promise and hope for the coming generations.

Under a sense of these infinite obligations to the Great Ruler of
Times and Seasons and Events, let us humbly ascribe it to our own
faults and frailties if in any degree that perfect concord and
happiness, peace and justice, which such great mercies should diffuse
through the hearts and lives of our people do not altogether and
always and everywhere prevail. Let us with one spirit and with one
voice lift up praise and thanksgiving to God for His manifold goodness
to our land, His manifest care for our nation.

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do appoint Thursday, the 29th day of November next, as a day
of national thanksgiving and prayer; and I earnestly recommend that,
withdrawing themselves from secular cares and labors, the people of
the United States do meet together on that day in their respective
places of worship, there to give thanks and praise to Almighty God for
His mercies and to devoutly beseech their continuance.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 29th day of October, A.D.
1877, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
second.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDER.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., November 2, 1877_.

I lament the sad occasion which makes it my duty to testify the public
respect for the eminent citizen and distinguished statesman whose
death yesterday at his home in Indianapolis has been made known to the
people by telegraphic announcement.

The services of Oliver P. Morton to the nation in the difficult and
responsible administration of the affairs of the State of Indiana
as its governor at a critical juncture of the civil war can never be
overvalued by his countrymen. His long service in the Senate has shown
his great powers as a legislator and as a leader and chief counselor
of the political party charged with the conduct of the Government
during that period.

In all things and at all times he has been able, strenuous, and
faithful in the public service, and his fame with his countrymen rests
upon secure foundations.

The several Executive Departments will be closed on the day of his
funeral, and appropriate honors should be paid to the memory of the
deceased statesman by the whole nation.

R.B. HAYES.




FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 3, 1877.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:_

With devout gratitude to the bountiful Giver of All Good, I
congratulate you that at the beginning of your first regular session
you find our country blessed with health and peace and abundant
harvests, and with encouraging prospects of an early return of general
prosperity.

To complete and make permanent the pacification of the country
continues to be, and until it is fully accomplished must remain, the
most important of all our national interests. The earnest purpose of
good citizens generally to unite their efforts in this endeavor is
evident. It found decided expression in the resolutions announced in
1876 by the national conventions of the leading political parties of
the country. There was a widespread apprehension that the momentous
results in our progress as a nation marked by the recent amendments
to the Constitution were in imminent jeopardy; that the good
understanding which prompted their adoption, in the interest of a
loyal devotion to the general welfare, might prove a barren truce, and
that the two sections of the country, once engaged in civil strife,
might be again almost as widely severed and disunited as they were
when arrayed in arms against each other.

The course to be pursued, which, in my judgment, seemed wisest in
the presence of this emergency, was plainly indicated in my inaugural
address. It pointed to the time, which all our people desire to see,
when a genuine love of our whole country and of all that concerns
its true welfare shall supplant the destructive forces of the mutual
animosity of races and of sectional hostility. Opinions have differed
widely as to the measures best calculated to secure this great end.
This was to be expected. The measures adopted by the Administration
have been subjected to severe and varied criticism. Any course
whatever which might have been entered upon would certainly have
encountered distrust and opposition. These measures were, in my
judgment, such as were most in harmony with the Constitution and
with the genius of our people, and best adapted, under all the
circumstances, to attain the end in view. Beneficent results, already
apparent, prove that these endeavors are not to be regarded as a
mere experiment, and should sustain and encourage us in our efforts.
Already, in the brief period which has elapsed, the immediate
effectiveness, no less than the justice, of the course pursued is
demonstrated, and I have an abiding faith that time will furnish
its ample vindication in the minds of the great majority of my
fellow-citizens. The discontinuance of the use of the Army for the
purpose of upholding local governments in two States of the Union was
no less a constitutional duty and requirement, under the circumstances
existing at the time, than it was a much-needed measure for the
restoration of local self-government and the promotion of national
harmony. The withdrawal of the troops from such employment was
effected deliberately, and with solicitous care for the peace and good
order of society and the protection of the property and persons and
every right of all classes of citizens.

The results that have followed are indeed significant and encouraging.
All apprehension of danger from remitting those States to local
self-government is dispelled, and a most salutary change in the minds
of the people has begun and is in progress in every part of that
section of the country once the theater of unhappy civil strife,
substituting for suspicion, distrust, and aversion, concord,
friendship, and patriotic attachment to the Union. No unprejudiced
mind will deny that the terrible and often fatal collisions which for
several years have been of frequent occurrence and have agitated and
alarmed the public mind have almost entirely ceased, and that a spirit
of mutual forbearance and hearty national interest has succeeded.
There has been a general reestablishment of order and of the orderly
administration of justice. Instances of remaining lawlessness have
become of rare occurrence; political turmoil and turbulence have
disappeared; useful industries have been resumed; public credit in
the Southern States has been greatly strengthened, and the encouraging
benefits of a revival of commerce between the sections of the country
lately embroiled in civil war are fully enjoyed. Such are some of
the results already attained, upon which the country is to be
congratulated. They are of such importance that we may with confidence
patiently await the desired consummation that will surely come with
the natural progress of events.

It may not be improper here to say that it should be our fixed and
unalterable determination to protect by all available and proper means
under the Constitution and the laws the lately emancipated race in
the enjoyment of their rights and privileges; and I urge upon those
to whom heretofore the colored people have sustained the relation of
bondmen the wisdom and justice of humane and liberal local legislation
with respect to their education and general welfare. A firm adherence
to the laws, both national and State, as to the civil and political
rights of the colored people, now advanced to full and equal
citizenship; the immediate repression and sure punishment by the
national and local authorities, within their respective jurisdictions,
of every instance of lawlessness and violence toward them, is required
for the security alike of both races, and is justly demanded by the
public opinion of the country and the age. In this way the restoration
of harmony and good will and the complete protection of every citizen
in the full enjoyment of every constitutional right will surely be
attained. Whatever authority rests with me to this end I shall not
hesitate to put forth.

Whatever belongs to the power of Congress and the jurisdiction of the
courts of the Union, they may confidently be relied upon to provide
and perform; and to the legislatures, the courts, and the executive
authorities of the several States I earnestly appeal to secure, by
adequate, appropriate, and seasonable means, within their borders,
these common and uniform rights of a united people which loves
liberty, abhors oppression, and reveres justice. These objects are
very dear to my heart. I shall continue most earnestly to strive
for their attainment. The cordial cooperation of all classes, of
all sections of the country and of both races, is required for this
purpose; and with these blessings assured, and not otherwise, we
may safely hope to hand down our free institutions of government
unimpaired to the generations that will succeed us.

Among the other subjects of great and general importance to the people
of this country, I can not be mistaken, I think, in regarding as
preeminent the policy and measures which are designed to secure the
restoration of the currency to that normal and healthful condition in
which, by the resumption of specie payments, our internal trade
and foreign commerce may be brought into harmony with the system of
exchanges which is based upon the precious metals as the intrinsic
money of the world. In the public judgment that this end should be
sought and compassed as speedily and securely as the resources of the
people and the wisdom of their Government can accomplish, there is
a much greater degree of unanimity than is found to concur in the
specific measures which will bring the country to this desired end or
the rapidity of the steps by which it can be safely reached.

Upon a most anxious and deliberate examination, which I have felt it
my duty to give to the subject, I am but the more confirmed in
the opinion which I expressed in accepting the nomination for the
Presidency, and again upon my inauguration, that the policy of
resumption should be pursued by every suitable means, and that no
legislation would be wise that should disparage the importance or
retard the attainment of that result. I have no disposition, and
certainly no right, to question the sincerity or the intelligence
of opposing opinions, and would neither conceal nor undervalue the
considerable difficulties, and even occasional distresses, which may
attend the progress of the nation toward this primary condition to its
general and permanent prosperity. I must, however, adhere to my most
earnest conviction that any wavering in purpose or unsteadiness
in methods, so far from avoiding or reducing the inconvenience
inseparable from the transition from an irredeemable to a redeemable
paper currency, would only tend to increased and prolonged disturbance
in values, and unless retrieved must end in serious disorder,
dishonor, and disaster in the financial affairs of the Government and
of the people.

The mischiefs which I apprehend and urgently deprecate are confined
to no class of the people, indeed, but seem to me most certainly to
threaten the industrious masses, whether their occupations are of
skilled or common labor. To them, it seems to me, it is of prime
importance that their labor should be compensated in money which is
itself fixed in exchangeable value by being irrevocably measured by
the labor necessary to its production. This permanent quality of
the money of the people is sought for, and can only be gained by
the resumption of specie payments. The rich, the speculative, the
operating, the money-dealing classes may not always feel the mischiefs
of, or may find casual profits in, a variable currency, but the
misfortunes of such a currency to those who are paid salaries or wages
are inevitable and remediless.

Closely connected with this general subject of the resumption of
specie payments is one of subordinate, but still of grave, importance;
I mean the readjustment of our coinage system by the renewal of
the silver dollar as an element in our specie currency, endowed by
legislation with the quality of legal tender to a greater or less
extent.

As there is no doubt of the power of Congress under the Constitution
"to coin money and regulate the value thereof," and as this power
covers the whole range of authority applicable to the metal, the
rated, value and the legal-tender quality which shall be adopted for
the coinage, the considerations which should induce or discourage a
particular measure connected with the coinage, belong clearly to the
province of legislative discretion and of public expediency. Without
intruding upon this province of legislation in the least, I have
yet thought the subject of such critical importance, in the actual
condition of our affairs, as to present an occasion for the
exercise of the duty imposed by the Constitution on the President of
recommending to the consideration of Congress "such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient."

Holding the opinion, as I do, that neither the interests of the
Government nor of the people of the United States would be promoted by
disparaging silver as one of the two precious metals which furnish the
coinage of the world, and that legislation which looks to maintaining
the volume of intrinsic money to as full a measure of both metals as
their relative commercial values will permit would be neither unjust
nor inexpedient, I must ask your indulgence to a brief and definite
statement of certain essential features in any such legislative
measure which I feel it my duty to recommend.

I do not propose to enter the debate, represented on both sides by
such able disputants in Congress and before the people and in the
press, as to the extent to which the legislation of any one nation
can control this question, even within its own borders, against the
unwritten laws of trade or the positive laws of other governments. The
wisdom of Congress in shaping any particular law that may be presented
for my approval may wholly supersede the necessity of my entering into
these considerations, and I willingly avoid either vague or intricate
inquiries. It is only certain plain and practical traits of such
legislation that I desire to recommend to your attention.

In any legislation providing for a silver coinage, regulating its
value, and imparting to it the quality of legal tender, it seems to me
of great importance that Congress should not lose sight of its action
as operating in a twofold capacity and in two distinct directions.
If the United States Government were free from a public debt, its
legislative dealing with the question of silver coinage would be
purely sovereign and governmental, under no restraints but those of
constitutional power and the public good as affected by the proposed
legislation. But in the actual circumstances of the nation, with a
vast public debt distributed very widely among our own citizens and
held in great amounts also abroad, the nature of the silver-coinage
measure, as affecting this relation of the Government to the holders
of the public debt, becomes an element, in any proposed legislation,
of the highest concern. The obligation of the public faith
transcends all questions of profit or public advantage otherwise.
Its unquestionable maintenance is the dictate as well of the highest
expediency as of the most necessary duty, and will ever be carefully
guarded by Congress and people alike.

The public debt of the United States to the amount of $729,000,000
bears interest at the rate of 6 per cent, and $708,000,000 at the rate
of 5 per cent, and the only way in which the country can be relieved
from the payment of these high rates of interest is by advantageously
refunding the indebtedness. Whether the debt is ultimately paid in
gold or in silver coin is of but little moment compared with the
possible reduction of interest one-third by refunding it at such
reduced rate. If the United States had the unquestioned right to pay
its bonds in silver coin, the little benefit from that process would
be greatly overbalanced by the injurious effect of such payment
if made or proposed against the honest convictions of the public
creditors.

All the bonds that have been issued since February 12, 1873, when
gold became the only unlimited legal-tender metallic currency of the
country, are justly payable in gold coin or in coin of equal value.
During the time of these issues the only dollar that could be or was
received by the Government in exchange for bonds was the gold dollar.
To require the public creditors to take in repayment any dollar of
less commercial value would be regarded by them as a repudiation
of the full obligation assumed. The bonds issued prior to 1873 were
issued at a time when the gold dollar was the only coin in circulation
or contemplated by either the Government or the holders of the bonds
as the coin in which they were to be paid. It is far better to
pay these bonds in that coin than to seem to take advantage of the
unforeseen fall in silver bullion to pay in a new issue of silver coin
thus made so much less valuable. The power of the United States
to coin money and to regulate the value thereof ought never to be
exercised for the purpose of enabling the Government to pay its
obligations in a coin of less value than that contemplated by the
parties when the bonds were issued. Any attempt to pay the national
indebtedness in a coinage of less commercial value than the money
of the world would involve a violation of the public faith and work
irreparable injury to the public credit.

It was the great merit of the act of March, 1869, in strengthening
the public credit, that it removed all doubt as to the purpose of the
United States to pay their bonded debt in coin. That act was accepted
as a pledge of public faith. The Government has derived great benefit
from it in the progress thus far made in refunding the public debt at
low rates of interest. An adherence to the wise and just policy of
an exact observance of the public faith will enable the Government
rapidly to reduce the burden of interest on the national debt to an
amount exceeding $20,000,000 per annum, and effect an aggregate saving
to the United States of more than $300,000,000 before the bonds can be
fully paid.

In adapting the new silver coinage to the ordinary uses of currency in
the everyday transactions of life and prescribing the quality of legal
tender to be assigned to it, a consideration of the first importance
should be so to adjust the ratio between the silver and the gold
coinage, which now constitutes our specie currency, as to accomplish
the desired end of maintaining the circulation of the two metallic
currencies and keeping up the volume of the two precious metals as our
intrinsic money. It is a mixed question, for scientific reasoning
and historical experience to determine, how far and by what methods a
practical equilibrium can be maintained which will keep both metals in
circulation in their appropriate spheres of common use.

An absolute equality of commercial value, free from disturbing
fluctuations, is hardly attainable, and without it an unlimited
legal tender for private transactions assigned to both metals would
irresistibly tend to drive out of circulation the dearer coinage and
disappoint the principal object proposed by the legislation in view.
I apprehend, therefore, that the two conditions of a near approach to
equality of commercial value between the gold and silver coinage of
the same denomination and of a limitation of the amounts for which the
silver coinage is to be a legal tender are essential to maintaining
both in circulation. If these conditions can be successfully observed,
the issue from the mint of silver dollars would afford material
assistance to the community in the transition to redeemable paper
money, and would facilitate the resumption of specie payment and its
permanent establishment. Without these conditions I fear that only
mischief and misfortune would flow from a coinage of silver
dollars with the quality of unlimited legal tender, even in private
transactions.

Any expectation of temporary ease from an issue of silver coinage to
pass as a legal tender at a rate materially above its commercial value
is, I am persuaded, a delusion. Nor can I think that there is any
substantial distinction between an original issue of silver dollars
at a nominal value materially above their commercial value and the
restoration of the silver dollar at a rate which once was, but has
ceased to be, its commercial value. Certainly the issue of our gold
coinage, reduced in weight materially below its legal-tender value,
would not be any the less a present debasement of the coinage by
reason of its equaling, or even exceeding, in weight a gold
coinage which at some past time had been commercially equal to the
legal-tender value assigned to the new issue.

In recommending that the regulation of any silver coinage which may be
authorized by Congress should observe these conditions of commercial
value and limited legal tender, I am governed by the feeling that
every possible increase should be given to the volume of metallic
money which can be kept in circulation, and thereby every possible aid
afforded to the people in the process of resuming specie payments. It
is because of my firm conviction that a disregard of these conditions
would frustrate the good results which are desired from the proposed
coinage, and embarrass with new elements of confusion and uncertainty
the business of the country, that I urge upon your attention these
considerations.

I respectfully recommend to Congress that in any legislation providing
for a silver coinage and imparting to it the quality of legal tender
there be impressed upon the measure a firm provision exempting the
public debt heretofore issued and now outstanding from payment, either
of principal or interest, in any coinage of less commercial value than
the present gold coinage of the country.

The organization of the civil service of the country has for a number
of years attracted more and more of the public attention. So general
has become the opinion that the methods of admission to it and
the conditions of remaining in it are unsound that both the great
political parties have agreed in the most explicit declarations of the
necessity of reform and in the most emphatic demands for it. I have
fully believed these declarations and demands to be the expression of
a sincere conviction of the intelligent masses of the people upon the
subject, and that they should be recognized and followed by earnest
and prompt action on the part of the legislative and executive
departments of the Government, in pursuance of the purpose indicated.

Before my accession to office I endeavored to have my own views
distinctly understood, and upon my inauguration my accord with
the public opinion was stated in terms believed to be plain and
unambiguous. My experience in the executive duties has strongly
confirmed the belief in the great advantage the country would find in
observing strictly the plan of the Constitution, which imposes upon
the Executive the sole duty and responsibility of the selection of
those Federal officers who by law are appointed, not elected, and
which in like manner assigns to the Senate the complete right to
advise and consent to or to reject the nominations so made, whilst
the House of Representatives stands as the public censor of the
performance of official duties, with the prerogative of investigation
and prosecution in all cases of dereliction. The blemishes and
imperfections in the civil service may, as I think, be traced in most
cases to a practical confusion of the duties assigned to the several
Departments of the Government. My purpose in this respect has been
to return to the system established by the fundamental law, and to
do this with the heartiest cooperation and most cordial understanding
with the Senate and House of Representatives.

The practical difficulties in the selection of numerous officers for
posts of widely varying responsibilities and duties are acknowledged
to be very great. No system can be expected to secure absolute freedom
from mistakes, and the beginning of any attempted change of custom
is quite likely to be more embarrassed in this respect than any
subsequent period. It is here that the Constitution seems to me to
prove its claim to the great wisdom accorded to it. It gives to
the Executive the assistance of the knowledge and experience of the
Senate, which, when acting upon nominations as to which they may be
disinterested and impartial judges, secures as strong a guaranty of
freedom from errors of importance as is perhaps possible in human
affairs.

In addition to this, I recognize the public advantage of making all
nominations, as nearly as possible, impersonal, in the sense of being
free from mere caprice or favor in the selection; and in those offices
in which special training is of greatly increased value I believe such
a rule as to the tenure of office should obtain as may induce men of
proper qualifications to apply themselves industriously to the task of
becoming proficients. Bearing these things in mind, I have endeavored
to reduce the number of changes in subordinate places usually made
upon the change of the general administration, and shall most heartily
cooperate with Congress in the better systematizing of such methods
and rules of admission to the public service and of promotion within
it as may promise to be most successful in making thorough competency,
efficiency, and character the decisive tests in these matters.

I ask the renewed attention of Congress to what has already been done
by the Civil Service Commission, appointed, in pursuance of an act
of Congress, by my predecessor, to prepare and revise civil-service
rules. In regard to much of the departmental service, especially at
Washington, it may be difficult to organize a better system than
that which has thus been provided, and it is now being used to a
considerable extent under my direction. The Commission has still a
legal existence, although for several years no appropriation has been
made for defraying its expenses. Believing that this Commission
has rendered valuable service and will be a most useful agency in
improving the administration of the civil service, I respectfully
recommend that a suitable appropriation, to be immediately available,
be made to enable it to continue its labors.

It is my purpose to transmit to Congress as early as practicable a
report by the chairman of the Commission, and to ask your attention
to such measures on this subject as in my opinion will further promote
the improvement of the civil service.

During the past year the United States have continued to maintain
peaceful relations with foreign powers.

The outbreak of war between Russia and Turkey, though at one time
attended by grave apprehension as to its effect upon other European
nations, has had no tendency to disturb the amicable relations
existing between the United States and each of the two contending
powers. An attitude of just and impartial neutrality has been
preserved, and I am gratified to state that in the midst of their
hostilities both the Russian and the Turkish Governments have shown an
earnest disposition to adhere to the obligations of all treaties with
the United States and to give due regard to the rights of American
citizens.

By the terms of the treaty defining the rights, immunities, and
privileges of consuls, between Italy and the United States, ratified
in 1868, either Government may, after the lapse of ten years,
terminate the existence of the treaty by giving twelve months' notice
of its intention. The Government of Italy, availing itself of this
faculty, has now given the required notice, and the treaty will
accordingly end on the 17th of September, 1878. It is understood,
however, that the Italian Government wishes to renew it in its general
scope, desiring only certain modifications in some of its articles.
In this disposition I concur, and shall hope that no serious obstacles
may intervene to prevent or delay the negotiation of a satisfactory
treaty.

Numerous questions in regard to passports, naturalization, and
exemption from military service have continued to arise in cases of
emigrants from Germany who have returned to their native country. The
provisions of the treaty of February 22, 1868, however, have proved to
be so ample and so judicious that the legation of the United States at
Berlin has been able to adjust all claims arising under it, not only
without detriment to the amicable relations existing between the two
Governments, but, it is believed, without injury or injustice to any
duly naturalized American citizen. It is desirable that the treaty
originally made with the North German Union in 1868 should now be
extended so as to apply equally to all the States of the Empire of
Germany.

The invitation of the Government of France to participate in the
Exposition of the Products of Agriculture, Industry, and the Fine
Arts to be held at Paris during the coming year was submitted for
your consideration at the extra session. It is not doubted that its
acceptance by the United States, and a well-selected exhibition of the
products of American industry on that occasion, will tend to stimulate
international commerce and emigration, as well as to promote the
traditional friendship between the two countries.

A question arose some time since as to the proper meaning of the
extradition articles of the treaty of 1842 between the United States
and Great Britain. Both Governments, however, are now in accord in
the belief that the question is not one that should be allowed to
frustrate the ends of justice or to disturb the friendship between
the two nations. No serious difficulty has arisen in accomplishing
the extradition of criminals when necessary. It is probable that all
points of disagreement will in due time be settled, and, if need be,
more explicit declarations be made in a new treaty.

The Fishery Commission under Articles XVIII to XXV of the treaty of
Washington has concluded its session at Halifax. The result of the
deliberations of the commission, as made public by the commissioners,
will be communicated to Congress.

A treaty for the protection of trade-marks has been negotiated
with Great Britain, which has been submitted to the Senate for its
consideration.

The revolution which recently occurred in Mexico was followed by the
accession of the successful party to power and the installation of its
chief, General Porfirio Diaz, in the Presidential office. It has been
the custom of the United States, when such changes of government have
heretofore occurred in Mexico, to recognize and enter into official
relations with the _de facto_ government as soon as it should appear
to have the approval of the Mexican people and should manifest a
disposition to adhere to the obligations of treaties and international
friendship. In the present case such official recognition has been
deferred by the occurrences on the Rio Grande border, the records
of which have been already communicated to each House of Congress in
answer to their respective resolutions of inquiry. Assurances
have been received that the authorities at the seat of the Mexican
Government have both the disposition and the power to prevent and
punish such unlawful invasions and depredations. It is earnestly to be
hoped that events may prove these assurances to be well founded. The
best interests of both countries require the maintenance of peace upon
the border and the development of commerce between the two Republics.

It is gratifying to add that this temporary interruption of official
relations has not prevented due attention by the representatives of
the United States in Mexico to the protection of American citizens, so
far as practicable; nor has it interfered with the prompt payment of
the amounts due from Mexico to the United States under the treaty of
July 4, 1868, and the awards of the joint commission. While I do not
anticipate an interruption of friendly relations with Mexico, yet I
can not but look with some solicitude upon a continuance of border
disorders as exposing the two countries to initiations of popular
feeling and mischances of action which are naturally unfavorable to
complete amity. Firmly determined that nothing shall be wanting on my
part to promote a good understanding between the two nations, I yet
must ask the attention of Congress to the actual occurrences on the
border, that the lives and property of our citizens may be adequately
protected and peace preserved.

Another year has passed without bringing to a close the protracted
contest between the Spanish Government and the insurrection in the
island of Cuba. While the United States have sedulously abstained from
any intervention in this contest, it is impossible not to feel that
it is attended with incidents affecting the rights and interests of
American citizens. Apart from the effect of the hostilities upon
trade between the United States and Cuba, their progress is inevitably
accompanied by complaints, having more or less foundation, of
searches, arrests, embargoes, and oppressive taxes upon the property
of American residents, and of unprovoked interference with American
vessels and commerce. It is due to the Government of Spain to say that
during the past year it has promptly disavowed and offered reparation
for any unauthorized acts of unduly zealous subordinates whenever
such acts have been brought to its attention. Nevertheless, such
occurrences can not but tend to excite feelings of annoyance,
suspicion, and resentment, which are greatly to be deprecated, between
the respective subjects and citizens of two friendly powers.

Much delay (consequent upon accusations of fraud in some of the
awards) has occurred in respect to the distribution of the limited
amounts received from Venezuela under the treaty of April 25, 1866,
applicable to the awards of the joint commission created by that
treaty. So long as these matters are pending in Congress the Executive
can not assume either to pass upon the questions presented or to
distribute the fund received. It is eminently desirable that definite
legislative action should be taken, either affirming the awards to be
final or providing some method for reexamination of the claims. Our
relations with the Republics of Central and South America and with the
Empire of Brazil have continued without serious change, further than
the temporary interruption of diplomatic intercourse with Venezuela
and with Guatemala. Amicable relations have already been fully
restored with Venezuela, and it is not doubted that all grounds of
misunderstanding with Guatemala will speedily be removed. From all
these countries there are favorable indications of a disposition on
the part of their Governments and people to reciprocate our efforts in
the direction of increased commercial intercourse.

The Government of the Samoan Islands has sent an envoy, in the person
of its secretary of state, to invite the Government of the United
States to recognize and protect their independence, to establish
commercial relations with their people, and to assist them in their
steps toward regulated and responsible government. The inhabitants
of these islands, having made considerable progress in Christian
civilization and the development of trade, are doubtful of their
ability to maintain peace and independence without the aid of some
stronger power. The subject is deemed worthy of respectful attention,
and the claims upon our assistance by this distant community will be
carefully considered.

The long commercial depression in the United States has directed
attention to the subject of the possible increase of our foreign trade
and the methods for its development, not only with Europe, but with
other countries, and especially with the States and sovereignties of
the Western Hemisphere. Instructions from the Department of State
were issued to the various diplomatic and consular officers of the
Government, asking them to devote attention to the question of methods
by which trade between the respective countries of their official
residence and the United States could be most judiciously fostered.
In obedience to these instructions, examinations and reports upon this
subject have been made by many of these officers and transmitted to
the Department, and the same are submitted to the consideration of
Congress.

The annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the
finances presents important questions for the action of Congress, upon
some of which I have already remarked.

The revenues of the Government during the fiscal year ending June 30,
1877, were $269,000,586.62; the total expenditures for the same period
were $238,660,008.93, leaving a surplus revenue of $30,340,577.69.
This has substantially supplied the requirements of the sinking fund
for that year. The estimated revenues of the current fiscal year are
$265,500,000, and the estimated expenditures for the same period are
$232,430,643.72. If these estimates prove to be correct, there will be
a surplus revenue of $33,069,356.28--an amount nearly sufficient for
the sinking fund for that year. The estimated revenues for the next
fiscal year are $269,250,000. It appears from the report that during
the last fiscal year the revenues of the Government, compared with the
previous year, have largely decreased. This decrease, amounting to the
sum of $18,481,452.54, was mainly in customs duties, caused partly
by a large falling off of the amount of imported dutiable goods and
partly by the general fall of prices in the markets of production of
such articles as pay _ad valorem_ taxes.

While this is felt injuriously in the diminution of the revenue, it
has been accompanied with a very large increase of exportations. The
total exports during the last fiscal year, including coin, have
been $658,637,457, and the imports have been $492,097,540, leaving a
balance of trade in favor of the United States amounting to the sum of
$166,539,917, the beneficial effects of which extend to all branches
of business.

The estimated revenue for the next fiscal year will impose upon
Congress the duty of strictly limiting appropriations, including the
requisite sum for the maintenance of the sinking fund, within the
aggregate estimated receipts.

While the aggregate of taxes should not be increased, amendments
might be made to the revenue laws that would, without diminishing the
revenue, relieve the people from unnecessary burdens. A tax on tea and
coffee is shown by the experience not only of our own country, but
of other countries, to be easily collected, without loss by
undervaluation or fraud, and largely borne in the country of
production. A tax of 10 cents a pound on tea and 2 cents a pound on
coffee would produce a revenue exceeding $12,000,000, and thus enable
Congress to repeal a multitude of annoying taxes yielding a revenue
not exceeding that sum. The internal-revenue system grew out of the
necessities of the war, and most of the legislation imposing taxes
upon domestic products under this system has been repealed. By the
substitution of a tax on tea and coffee all forms of internal taxation
may be repealed, except that on whisky, spirits, tobacco, and beer.
Attention is also called to the necessity of enacting more vigorous
laws for the protection of the revenue and for the punishment of
frauds and smuggling. This can best be done by judicious provisions
that will induce the disclosure of attempted fraud by undervaluation
and smuggling. All revenue laws should be simple in their provisions
and easily understood. So far as practicable, the rates of taxation
should be in the form of specific duties, and not _ad valorem_,
requiring the judgment of experienced men to ascertain values and
exposing the revenue to the temptation of fraud.

My attention has been called during the recess of Congress to abuses
existing in the collection of the customs, and strenuous efforts
have been made for their correction by Executive orders. The
recommendations submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury by a
commission appointed to examine into the collection of customs duties
at the port of New York contain many suggestions for the modification
of the customs laws, to which the attention of Congress is invited.

It is matter of congratulation that notwithstanding the severe
burdens caused by the war the public faith with all creditors has been
preserved, and that as the result of this policy the public credit has
continuously advanced and our public securities are regarded with the
highest favor in the markets of the world. I trust that no act of the
Government will cast a shadow upon its credit.

The progress of refunding the public debt has been rapid and
satisfactory. Under the contract existing when I entered upon the
discharge of the duties of my office, bonds bearing interest at the
rate of 4-1/2 per cent were being rapidly sold, and within three
months the aggregate sales of these bonds had reached the sum of
$200,000,000. With my sanction the Secretary of the Treasury entered
into a new contract for the sale of 4 per cent bonds, and within
thirty days after the popular subscription for such bonds was opened
subscriptions were had amounting to $75,496,550, which were paid for
within ninety days after the date of subscription. By this process,
within but little more than one year, the annual interest on the
public debt was reduced in the sum of $3,775,000.

I recommended that suitable provision be made to enable the people to
easily convert their savings into Government securities, as the best
mode in which small savings may be well secured and yield a moderate
interest. It is an object of public policy to retain among our own
people the securities of the United States. In this way our country is
guarded against their sudden return from foreign countries, caused by
war or other disturbances beyond our limits.

The commerce of the United States with foreign nations, and especially
the export of domestic productions, has of late years largely
increased; but the greater portion of this trade is conducted in
foreign vessels. The importance of enlarging our foreign trade, and
especially by direct and speedy interchange with countries on this
continent, can not be overestimated; and it is a matter of great
moment that our own shipping interest should receive, to the utmost
practical extent, the benefit of our commerce with other lands. These
considerations are forcibly urged by all the large commercial cities
of the country, and public attention is generally and wisely attracted
to the solution of the problems they present. It is not doubted that
Congress will take them up in the broadest spirit of liberality
and respond to the public demand by practical legislation upon this
important subject.

The report of the Secretary of War shows that the Army has been
actively employed during the year, and has rendered very important
service in suppressing hostilities in the Indian country and in
preserving peace and protecting life and property in the interior as
well as along the Mexican border. A long and arduous campaign has been
prosecuted, with final complete success, against a portion of the Nez
Perce tribe of Indians. A full account of this campaign will be found
in the report of the General of the Army. It will be seen that in
its course several severe battles were fought, in which a number of
gallant officers and men lost their lives. I join with the Secretary
of War and the General of the Army in awarding to the officers and men
employed in the long and toilsome pursuit and in the final capture of
these Indians the honor and praise which are so justly their due.

The very serious riots which occurred in several of the States in July
last rendered necessary the employment of a considerable portion of
the Army to preserve the peace and maintain order. In the States of
West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Illinois these disturbances
were so formidable as to defy the local and State authorities, and
the National Executive was called upon, in the mode provided by the
Constitution and laws, to furnish military aid. I am gratified to be
able to state that the troops sent in response to these calls for aid
in the suppression of domestic violence were able, by the influence
of their presence in the disturbed regions, to preserve the peace
and restore order without the use of force. In the discharge of this
delicate and important duty both officers and men acted with great
prudence and courage, and for their services deserve the thanks of the
country.

Disturbances along the Rio Grande in Texas, to which I have already
referred, have rendered necessary the constant employment of a
military force in that vicinity. A full report of all recent military
operations in that quarter has been transmitted to the House of
Representatives in answer to a resolution of that body, and it will
therefore not be necessary to enter into details. I regret to say that
these lawless incursions into our territory by armed bands from the
Mexican side of the line, for the purpose of robbery, have been of
frequent occurrence, and in spite of the most vigilant efforts of
the commander of our forces the marauders have generally succeeded in
escaping into Mexico with their plunder. In May last I gave orders for
the exercise of the utmost vigilance on the part of our troops for the
suppression of these raids and the punishment of the guilty parties,
as well as the recapture of property stolen by them. General Ord,
commanding in Texas, was directed to invite the cooperation of the
Mexican authorities in efforts to this end, and to assure them that I
was anxious to avoid giving the least offense to Mexico. At the same
time, he was directed to give notice of my determination to put an
end to the invasion of our territory by lawless bands intent upon the
plunder of our peaceful citizens, even if the effectual punishment of
the outlaws should make the crossing of the border by our troops in
their pursuit necessary. It is believed that this policy has had
the effect to check somewhat these depredations, and that with
a considerable increase of our force upon that frontier and the
establishment of several additional military posts along the Rio
Grande, so as more effectually to guard that extensive border, peace
may be preserved and the lives and property of our citizens in Texas
fully protected.

Prior to the 1st day of July last the Army was, in accordance with
law, reduced to the maximum of 25,000 enlisted men, being a reduction
of 2,500 below the force previously authorized. This reduction was
made, as required by law, entirely from the infantry and artillery
branches of the service, without any reduction of the cavalry. Under
the law as it now stands it is necessary that the cavalry regiments
be recruited to 100 men in each company for service on the Mexican
and Indian frontiers. The necessary effect of this legislation is to
reduce the infantry and artillery arms of the service below the number
required for efficiency, and I concur with the Secretary of War in
recommending that authority be given to recruit all companies of
infantry to at least 50 men and all batteries of artillery to at least
75 men, with the power, in case of emergency, to increase the former
to 100 and the latter to 122 men each.

I invite your special attention to the following recommendations of
the Secretary of War:

First. That provision be made for supplying to the Army a more
abundant and better supply of reading matter.

Second. That early action be taken by Congress looking to a complete
revision and republication of the Army Regulations.

Third. That section 1258 of the Revised Statutes, limiting the number
of officers on the retired list, be repealed.

Fourth. That the claims arising under the act of July 4, 1864, for
supplies taken by the Army during the war, be taken from the offices
of the Quartermaster and Commissary Generals and transferred to the
Southern Claims Commission, or some other tribunal having more time
and better facilities for their prompt investigation and decision than
are possessed by these officers.

Fifth. That Congress provide for an annuity fund for the families
of deceased soldiers, as recommended by the Paymaster-General of the
Army.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows that we have six
squadrons now engaged in the protection of our foreign commerce
and other duties pertaining to the naval service. The condition and
operations of the Department are also shown. The total expenditures
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, were $16,077,974.54. There
are unpaid claims against the Department chargeable to the last year,
which are presented to the consideration of Congress by the report of
the Secretary. The estimates for the fiscal year commencing July 1,
1878, are $16,233,234.40, exclusive of the sum of $2,314,231
submitted for new buildings, repairs, and improvements at the several
navy-yards. The appropriations for the present fiscal year, commencing
July 1, 1877, are $13,592,932.90. The amount drawn from the Treasury
from July 1 to November 1, 1877, is $5,343,037.40, of which there is
estimated to be yet available $1,029,528.30, showing the amount of
actual expenditure during the first four months of the present fiscal
year to have been $4,313,509.10.

The report of the Postmaster-General contains a full and clear
statement of the operations and condition of the Post-Office
Department. The ordinary revenues of the Department for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1877, including receipts from the money-order
business and from official stamps and stamped envelopes, amounted
to the sum of $27,531,585.26. The additional sum of $7,013,000 was
realized from appropriations from the general Treasury for various
purposes, making the receipts from all sources $34,544,885.26. The
total expenditures during the fiscal year amounted to $33,486,322.44,
leaving an excess of total receipts over total expenditures of
$1,058,562.82, and an excess of total expenditures over ordinary
receipts of $5,954,737.18. Deducting from the total receipts the
sum of $63,261.84, received from international money orders of the
preceding fiscal year, and deducting from the total expenditures the
sum of $1,163,818.20, paid on liabilities incurred in previous fiscal
years, the expenditures and receipts appertaining to the business of
the last fiscal year were as follows:

  Expenditures                                        $32,322,504.24
  Receipts (ordinary, from money-order business
    and from official postage stamps)                  27,468,323.42
                                                       _____________
  Excess of expenditures                                4,854,180.82


The ordinary revenues of the Post-Office Department for the year
ending June 30, 1879, are estimated at an increase of 3 per cent over
those of 1877, making $29,034,098.28, and the expenditures for
the same year are estimated at $36,427,771, leaving an estimated
deficiency for the year 1879 of $7,393,672.72. The additional
legislation recommended by the Postmaster-General for improvements of
the mail service and to protect the postal revenues from the abuses
practiced under existing laws is respectfully commended to the careful
consideration of Congress.

The report of the Attorney-General contains several suggestions as to
the administration of justice, to which I invite your attention.
The pressure of business in the Supreme Court and in certain circuit
courts of the United States is now such that serious delays, to the
great injury, and even oppression, of suitors, occur, and a remedy
should be sought for this condition of affairs. Whether it will be
found in the plan briefly sketched in the report, of increasing the
number of judges of the circuit courts, and, by means of this addition
to the judicial force, of creating an intermediate court of errors and
appeals, or whether some other mode can be devised for obviating the
difficulties which now exist, I leave to your mature consideration.

The present condition of the Indian tribes in the territory of the
United States and our relations with them are fully set forth in
the reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs. After a series of most deplorable conflicts--the
successful termination of which, while reflecting honor upon the
brave soldiers who accomplished it, can not lessen our regret at their
occurrence--we are now at peace with all the Indian tribes within our
borders. To preserve that peace by a just and humane policy will be
the object of my earnest endeavors. Whatever may be said of their
character and savage propensities, of the difficulties of introducing
among them the habits of civilized life, and of the obstacles they
have offered to the progress of settlement and enterprise in certain
parts of the country, the Indians are certainly entitled to our
sympathy and to a conscientious respect on our part for their claims
upon our sense of justice. They were the aboriginal occupants of the
land we now possess. They have been driven from place to place. The
purchase money paid to them in some cases for what they called their
own has still left them poor. In many instances, when they had settled
down upon land assigned to them by compact and begun to support
themselves by their own labor, they were rudely jostled off and thrust
into the wilderness again. Many, if not most, of our Indian wars have
had their origin in broken promises and acts of injustice upon our
part, and the advance of the Indians in civilization has been slow
because the treatment they received did not permit it to be faster
and more general. We can not expect them to improve and to follow our
guidance unless we keep faith with them in respecting the rights they
possess, and unless, instead of depriving them of their opportunities,
we lend them a helping hand.

I cordially approve the policy regarding the management of Indian
affairs outlined in the reports of the Secretary of the Interior and
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The faithful performance of
our promises is the first condition of a good understanding with the
Indians. I can not too urgently recommend to Congress that prompt and
liberal provision be made for the conscientious fulfillment of all
engagements entered into by the Government with the Indian tribes.
To withhold the means necessary for the performance of a promise
is always false economy, and is apt to prove disastrous in its
consequences. Especial care is recommended to provide for Indians
settled on their reservations cattle and agricultural implements, to
aid them in whatever efforts they may make to support themselves, and
by the establishment and maintenance of schools to bring them under
the control of civilized influences. I see no reason why Indians who
can give satisfactory proof of having by their own labor supported
their families for a number of years, and who are willing to detach
themselves from their tribal relations, should not be admitted to the
benefit of the homestead act and the privileges of citizenship, and
I recommend the passage of a law to that effect. It will be an act
of justice as well as a measure of encouragement. Earnest efforts
are being made to purify the Indian service, so that every dollar
appropriated by Congress shall redound to the benefit of the Indians,
as intended. Those efforts will have my firm support. With an improved
service and every possible encouragement held out to the Indians
to better their condition and to elevate themselves in the scale of
civilization, we may hope to accomplish at the same time a good work
for them and for ourselves.

I invite the attention of Congress to the importance of the statements
and suggestions made by the Secretary of the Interior concerning the
depredations committed on the timber lands of the United States and
the necessity for the preservation of forests. It is believed that
the measures taken in pursuance of existing laws to arrest those
depredations will be entirely successful if Congress, by an
appropriation for that purpose, renders their continued enforcement
possible. The experience of other nations teaches us that a country
can not be stripped of its forests with impunity, and we shall
expose ourselves to the gravest consequences unless the wasteful
and improvident manner in which the forests in the United States
are destroyed be effectually checked. I earnestly recommend that
the measures suggested by the Secretary of the Interior for the
suppression of depredations on the public timber lands of the United
States, for the selling of timber from the public lands, and for the
preservation of forests be embodied in a law, and that, considering
the urgent necessity of enabling the people of certain States and
Territories to purchase timber from the public lands in a legal
manner, which at present they can not do, such a law be passed without
unavoidable delay. I would also call the attention of Congress to
the statements made by the Secretary of the Interior concerning the
disposition that might be made of the desert lands, not irrigable,
west of the one hundredth meridian. These lands are practically
unsalable under existing laws, and the suggestion is worthy of
consideration that a system of leasehold tenure would make them
a source of profit to the United States, while at the same time
legalizing the business of cattle raising which is at present carried
on upon them.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture contains the gratifying
announcement of the extraordinary success which has rewarded the
agricultural industry of the country for the past year. With the fair
prices which obtain for the products of the soil, especially for the
surplus which our people have to export, we may confidently turn to
this as the most important of all our resources for the revival of the
depressed industries of the country. The report shows our agricultural
progress during the year, and contains a statement of the work done
by this Department for the advancement of agricultural industry, upon
which the prosperity of our people so largely depends. Matters of
information are included of great interest to all who seek, by the
experience of others, to improve their own methods of cultivation.
The efforts of the Department to increase the production of important
articles of consumption will, it is hoped, improve the demand for
labor and advance the business of the country, and eventually result
in saving some of the many millions that are now annually paid to
foreign nations for sugar and other staple products which habitual use
has made necessary in our domestic everyday life.

The board on behalf of the United States Executive Departments at the
International Exhibition of 1876 has concluded its labors. The final
report of the board was transmitted to Congress by the President
near the close of the last session. As these papers are understood to
contain interesting and valuable information, and will constitute
the only report emanating from the Government on the subject of the
exhibition, I invite attention to the matter and recommend that the
report be published for general information.

Congress is empowered by the Constitution with the authority of
exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia, in which the seat
of Government of the nation is located. The interests of the District,
having no direct representation in Congress, are entitled to especial
consideration and care at the hands of the General Government. The
capital of the United States belongs to the nation, and it is natural
that the American people should take pride in the seat of their
National Government and desire it to be an ornament to the country.
Much has been done to render it healthful, convenient, and attractive,
but much remains to be done, which its permanent inhabitants are not
able and ought not to be expected to do. To impose upon them a large
proportion of the cost required for public improvements, which are
in a great measure planned and executed for the convenience of the
Government and of the many thousands of visitors from all parts of
the country who temporarily reside at the capital of the nation, is an
evident injustice. Special attention is asked by the Commissioners of
the District in their report, which is herewith transmitted, to the
importance of a permanent adjustment by Congress of the financial
relations between the United States and the District, involving
the regular annual contribution by the United States of its just
proportion of the expenses of the District government and of the
outlay for all needed public improvements, and such measure of
relief from the burden of taxation now resting upon the people of the
District as in the wisdom of Congress may be deemed just.

The report of the Commissioners shows that the affairs of the District
are in a condition as satisfactory as could be expected in view of the
heavy burden of debt resting upon it and its very limited means for
necessary expenses.

The debt of the District is as follows:

  Old funded debt                                         $8,379,691.96
  3.65 bonds, guaranteed by the United States             13,743,250.00
                                                          _____________
  Total bonded debt                                       22,122,941.96

  To which should be added certain outstanding claims,
    as explained in the report of the Commissioners        1,187,204.52
                                                          _____________
  Making the total debt of the District                   23,310,146.48


The Commissioners also ask attention to the importance of the
improvement of the Potomac River and the reclamation of the marshes
bordering the city of Washington, and their views upon this subject
are concurred in by the members of the board of health, whose report
is also herewith transmitted. Both the commercial and sanitary
interests of the District will be greatly promoted, I doubt not,
by this improvement.

Your attention is invited to the suggestion of the Commissioners and
of the board of health for the organization of a board of charities,
to have supervision and control of the disbursement of all moneys for
charitable purposes from the District treasury. I desire also to ask
your especial attention to the need of adding to the efficiency of the
public schools of the District by supplemental aid from the National
Treasury. This is especially just, since so large a number of those
attending these schools are children of employees of the Government.
I earnestly commend to your care the interests of the people of
the District, who are so intimately associated with the Government
establishments, and to whose enterprise the good order and
attractiveness of the capital are largely due; and I ask your
attention to the request of the Commissioners for legislation in
behalf of the interests intrusted to their care. The appropriations
asked for the care of the reservations belonging to the Government
within the city, by the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds,
are also commended to your favorable consideration.

The report of the joint commission created by the act approved 2d of
August, 1876, entitled "An act providing for the completion of the
Washington Monument," is also herewith transmitted, with accompanying
documents. The board of engineer officers detailed to examine the
monument, in compliance with the second section of the act, have
reported that the foundation is insufficient. No authority exists for
making the expenditure necessary to secure its stability. I therefore
recommend that the commission be authorized to expend such portion of
the sum appropriated by the act as may be necessary for the purpose.
The present unfinished condition of the monument, begun so long ago,
is a reproach to the nation. It can not be doubted that the patriotic
sense of the country will warmly respond to such prompt provision
as may be made for its completion at an early day, and I urge upon
Congress the propriety and necessity of immediate legislation for this
purpose.

The wisdom of legislation upon the part of Congress, in aid of the
States, for the education of the whole people in those branches of
study which are taught in the common schools of the country is no
longer a question. The intelligent judgment of the country goes still
further, regarding it as also both constitutional and expedient for
the General Government to extend to technical and higher education,
such aid as is deemed essential to the general welfare and to our due
prominence among the enlightened and cultured nations of the world.
The ultimate settlement of all questions of the future, whether of
administration or finance or of true nationality of sentiment, depends
upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. It is vain to hope
for the success of a free government without the means of insuring
the intelligence of those who are the source of power. No less than
one-seventh of the entire voting population of our country are yet
unable to read and write.

It is encouraging to observe, in connection with the growth of
fraternal feeling in those States in which slavery formerly existed,
evidences of increasing interest in universal education, and I shall
be glad to give my approval to any appropriate measures which may be
enacted by Congress for the purpose of supplementing with national aid
the local systems of education in those States and in all the States;
and, having already invited your attention to the needs of the
District of Columbia with respect to its public-school system, I here
add that I believe it desirable, not so much with reference to the
local wants of the District, but to the great and lasting benefit
of the entire country, that this system should be crowned with a
university in all respects in keeping with the national capital, and
thereby realize the cherished hopes of Washington on this subject.

I also earnestly commend the request of the Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution that an adequate appropriation be made for
the establishment and conduct of a national museum under their
supervision.

The question of providing for the preservation and growth of the
Library of Congress is also one of national importance. As the
depository of all copyright publications and records, this library has
outgrown the provisions for its accommodation; and the erection, on
such site as the judgment of Congress may approve, of a fireproof
library building, to preserve the treasures and enlarge the usefulness
of this valuable collection, is recommended. I recommend also such
legislation as will render available and efficient for the purposes
of instruction, so far as is consistent with the public service, the
cabinets or museums of invention, of surgery, of education, and
of agriculture, and other collections the property of the National
Government.

The capital of the nation should be something more than a mere
political center. We should avail ourselves of all the opportunities
which Providence has here placed at our command to promote the general
intelligence of the people and increase the conditions most favorable
to the success and perpetuity of our institutions.

R.B. HAYES.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 10, 1877_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a copy of the
report of the commission appointed by me on the 27th of September,
1877, to examine the several public buildings in this city
and determine the nature and extent of their security against
conflagrations and the measures to be taken to guard the buildings and
their contents from destruction or damage by fire.

The records of the Government constitute a most valuable collection
for the country, whether we consider their pecuniary value or their
historical importance; and it becomes my duty to call your attention
to the means suggested for securing these valuable archives, as well
as the buildings in which they are stored. The commissioners
have performed their duties intelligently and faithfully. Their
recommendations are fully concurred in by me and commended to the
favorable consideration of Congress.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 10, 1877_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith an additional report (and an
accompanying statement) addressed to me by the commissioners appointed
under the act of Congress approved July 19, 1876, authorizing the
repavement of that part of Pennsylvania avenue lying between the
Treasury Department and the Capitol Grounds.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 13, 1877_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a special report upon the subject of forestry by
the Commissioner of Agriculture, with the accompanying documents.

R.B. HAYES.

[A similar message was sent to the Senate.]



WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d
ultimo, requesting to be furnished with the correspondence between the
Government of Venezuela and that of the United States had since the
adjournment of the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress in
relation to the Venezuela Mixed Claims Commission, I transmit the
report of the Secretary of State, together with its accompanying
documents.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 14, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received the following resolution of the Senate:

  IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
  _December 11, 1877._

  _Resolved_, That the President be respectfully requested
  to inform the Senate, with the view to the transaction of
  its executive business, whether in any of the instances of
  nominations hitherto sent to the Senate stated to be for
  appointment in place of officers removed such removals had
  been made at the time of sending such nominations to the
  Senate.


In reply I would respectfully inform the Senate that in the instances
referred to removals had not been made at the time the nominations
were sent to the Senate. The form used for such nominations was one
found to have been in existence and heretofore used in some of
the Departments, and was intended to inform the Senate that if the
nomination proposed were approved it would operate to remove an
incumbent whose name was indicated.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 13th November last
calling for information concerning the cause, numbers engaged, number
of lives lost, and probable cost of the late so-called Nez Perce War,
I have the honor to submit the accompanying communication from the
General of the Army and an extract from the annual report of that
officer. Upon the subject of the cost of the Nez Perce War, I submit
reports from the Quartermaster-General and the Commissary-General of
Subsistence.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty of friendship and commerce between the United
States and the Government of the Samoan Islands, signed on the 17th
instant.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 6, 1877, I
inclose a report made to me by the Attorney-General, the results
of which seem to be correct, and which affords the information[8]
requested.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 8: Operation of the Union Pacific Railroad and its branches.]

[A similar message was sent to the House of Representatives, in answer
to a resolution of that body of November 27, 1877.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of November 16, 1877,
I transmit reports[9] made to me by the Attorney-General and the
Secretary of the Navy.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 9: Relating to the seizure of logs, lumber, and naval stores
suspected or having been taken from the public lands.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 29, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to a resolution of the Senate of the 10th ultimo, I
transmit herewith copies of reports[10] of the Commissioners of
Indian Affairs and General Land Office, dated 9th and 21st instant,
respectively.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 10: Relating to payments to the Ute Indians under the fourth
article of the agreement of September 13, 1873, and to the occupancy
of lands ceded by said Indians.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1878_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The commission appointed under the act of Congress approved March
3, 1873, entitled "An act to authorize inquiries into the causes of
steam-boiler explosions," have addressed a report of progress, made to
date thereof, to the Secretaries of the Treasury and Navy Departments,
which has been transmitted to me by these officers. The commission
also present a copy of a report dated February 27, 1877, which they
say "was mislaid and did not reach the President." These reports are
respectfully submitted for the information of Congress.



WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1878_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of
the 6th of December last, a report from the Secretary of State and its
accompanying papers.[11]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 11: Correspondence relative to the Franco-German War.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 11, 1878_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of Congress entitled "Joint
resolution accepting a painting[12] tendered to Congress by Mrs.
Elizabeth Thompson," approved by me on the 1st instant, I have this
day caused a copy of the resolution to be delivered to Mrs. Thompson.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 12: Carpenter's painting of President Lincoln and his Cabinet
at the time of his first reading of the Proclamation of Emancipation.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 30, 1878,
I transmit herewith a report,[13] dated the 16th instant, from the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 13: Relating to the survey of lands in the Indian Territory,
etc.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate dated December 7, 1877,
I transmit herewith reports from the General of the Army, the
Quartermaster-General, the Commissary-General of Subsistence, and the
Chief of Ordnance, showing what has been the cost (estimated) of the
late war with the Sioux Indians, and what the casualties of rank and
file among the soldiers engaged in said Sioux War.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 27, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate, the reply of
the Commissioner of Agriculture to a resolution of the Senate of the
20th instant, "relative to the disease prevailing among swine," etc.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1878_.

_To the Senate_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 11th of March
instant, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State,
with accompanying documents.[14]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 14: Correspondence relative to the appointment of a third
commissioner under the twenty-third article of the treaty with Great
Britain of May 8, 1871, on the question of the fisheries.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 25, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In further answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 7,
1877, as to the cost of the Sioux War, I transmit copies of additional
reports on the subject received from the Military Division of the
Missouri.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 27, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the Senate's resolution of the 14th ultimo, requesting to
be furnished with a copy of correspondence between the Government of
the United States and that of China respecting the "Ward" claims and
the claim of Charles E. Hill, I herewith submit a letter from the
Secretary of State, together with its accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 21st ultimo, a report from the Secretary of
State and its accompanying papers.[15]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 15: Correspondence with Spain relative to the seizure of the
steamer _Virginius_, etc.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 2, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of April 16, 1878,1 transmit
herewith reports[16] made to me by the Secretary of the Treasury and
the Attorney-General.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 16: Relating to the defalcations of William R. Whitaker while
collector of internal revenue for the first district of Louisiana and
while assistant treasurer of the United States at New Orleans.]



WASHINGTON, _May 10, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention defining the rights, immunities, and
privileges of consular officers, between the United States and His
Majesty the King of Italy, signed on the 8th instant.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _May 14, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 29th ultimo, I
transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with its
accompanying papers.[17]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 17: Correspondence relative to the terms and conditions under
which the Cuban insurgents surrendered and to the policy of Spain in
the government of Cuba.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 17, 1878_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit, for your appropriate action, a communication
from the Secretary of State, on the subject of the result of the
deliberations of the Fishery Commission appointed under certain
provisions of the treaty of Washington, with the accompanying
documents.

Article XXII of the treaty provides that any sum of money which the
commissioners may award shall be paid by the United States Government
in a gross sum within twelve months after such award shall have been
given.

The commission announced the result of its deliberations on the 23d
day of November last year, and an appropriation at the present session
of Congress will be necessary to enable the Government to make the
payment provided for in the treaty.

I respectfully submit to the consideration of Congress the record
of the transaction as presented upon the papers, and recommend an
appropriation of the necessary sum, with such discretion to the
executive government in regard to its payment as in the wisdom of
Congress the public interests may seem to require.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _May 25, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to its
ratification, a consular convention between the United States and the
Netherlands, signed on the 23d instant.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
27th May ultimo, I transmit the response of the Secretary of State,
accompanied by a copy of the papers[18] called for by the resolution.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 18: Relating to the convention of May 20, 1875, for the
establishment of an international bureau of weights and measures.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 12, 1878_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In transmitting herewith to Congress a communication from the
Secretary of State on the subject of the conference provided for
in the act of February 28, 1878, entitled "An act to authorize the
coinage of the standard silver dollar and to restore its legal-tender
character," I respectfully recommend that an adequate appropriation be
made for certain expenses of the conference and of the commissioners
attending the same on behalf of the United States, as suggested in the
communication of the Secretary of State.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 15, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of the board for
testing iron, steel, and other metals, as requested in the resolution
of the House of Representatives dated April 27, 1878.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _June,7, 1878_.

_To the Senate_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of May ultimo,
I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying documents.[19]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 19: Correspondence, etc., relative to the selection of M.
Maurice Delfosse as one of the commissioners under the treaty with
Great Britain of May 8, 1871, on the fisheries question.]




VETO MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

After a very careful consideration of the House bill No. 1093,
entitled "An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver
dollar and to restore its legal-tender character," I feel compelled
to return it to the House of Representatives, in which it originated,
with my objections to its passage.

Holding the opinion, which I expressed in my annual message, that
"neither the interests of the Government nor of the people of the
United States would be promoted by disparaging silver as one of the
two precious metals which furnish the coinage of the world, and that
legislation which looks to maintaining the volume of intrinsic money
to as full a measure of both metals as their relative commercial
values will permit would be neither unjust nor inexpedient," it has
been my earnest desire to concur with Congress in the adoption of such
measures to increase the silver coinage of the country as would not
impair the obligation of contracts, either public or private, nor
injuriously affect the public credit. It is only upon the conviction
that this bill does not meet these essential requirements that I feel
it my duty to withhold from it my approval.

My present official duty as to this bill permits only an attention to
the specific objections to its passage which seem to me so important
as to justify me in asking from the wisdom and duty of Congress that
further consideration of the bill for which the Constitution has in
such cases provided.

The bill provides for the coinage of silver dollars of the weight of
412-1/2 grains each, of standard silver, to be a legal tender at their
nominal value for all debts and dues, public and private, except where
otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. It is well known that
the market value of that number of grains of standard silver during
the past year has been from 90 to 92 cents as compared with the
standard gold dollar. Thus the silver dollar authorized by this bill
is worth 8 to 10 per cent less than it purports to be worth, and
is made a legal tender for debts contracted when the law did not
recognize such coins as lawful money.

The right to pay duties in silver or in certificates for silver
deposits will, when they are issued in sufficient amount to circulate,
put an end to the receipt of revenue in gold, and thus compel the
payment of silver for both the principal and interest of the public
debt. One billion one hundred and forty-three million four hundred
and ninety-three thousand four hundred dollars of the bonded debt now
outstanding was issued prior to February, 1873, when the silver dollar
was unknown in circulation in this country, and was only a convenient
form of silver bullion for exportation; $583,440,350 of the funded
debt has been issued since February, 1873, when gold alone was the
coin for which the bonds were sold, and gold alone was the coin in
which both parties to the contract understood that the bonds would
be paid. These bonds entered into the markets of the world. They were
paid for in gold when silver had greatly depreciated, and when no one
would have bought them if it had been understood that they would be
paid in silver. The sum of $225,000,000 of these bonds has been sold
during my Administration for gold coin, and the United States received
the benefit of these sales by a reduction of the rate of interest to
4 per cent. During the progress of these sales a doubt was suggested
as to the coin in which payment of these bonds would be made. The
public announcement was thereupon authorized that it was "not to be
anticipated that any future legislation of Congress or any action
of any department of the Government would sanction or tolerate the
redemption of the principal of these bonds or the payment of the
interest thereon in coin of less value than the coin authorized by law
at the time of the issue of the bonds, being the coin exacted by the
Government in exchange for the same." In view of these facts it will
be justly regarded as a grave breach of the public faith to undertake
to pay these bonds, principal or interest, in silver coin worth in the
market less than the coin received for them.

It is said that the silver dollar made a legal tender by this bill
will under its operation be equivalent in value to the gold dollar.
Many supporters of the bill believe this, and would not justify an
attempt to pay debts, either public or private, in coin of inferior
value to the money of the world. The capital defect of the bill
is that it contains no provision protecting from its operation
preexisting debts in case the coinage which it creates shall continue
to be of less value than that which was the sole legal tender when
they were contracted. If it is now proposed, for the purpose of taking
advantage of the depreciation of silver in the payment of debts, to
coin and make a legal tender a silver dollar of less commercial value
than any dollar, whether of gold or paper, which is now lawful money
in this country, such measure, it will hardly be questioned, will,
in the judgment of mankind, be an act of bad faith. As to all debts
heretofore contracted, the silver dollar should be made a legal tender
only at its market value. The standard of value should not be changed
without the consent of both parties to the contract. National promises
should be kept with unflinching fidelity. There is no power to compel
a nation to pay its just debts. Its credit depends on its honor. The
nation owes what it has led or allowed its creditors to expect. I can
not approve a bill which in my judgment authorizes the violation of
sacred obligations. The obligation of the public faith transcends
all questions of profit or public advantage. Its unquestionable
maintenance is the dictate as well of the highest expediency as of
the most necessary duty, and should ever be carefully guarded by the
Executive, by Congress, and by the people.

It is my firm conviction that if the country is to be benefited by a
silver coinage it can be done only by the issue of silver dollars of
full value, which will defraud no man. A currency worth less than it
purports to be worth will in the end defraud not only creditors, but
all who are engaged in legitimate business, and none more surely than
those who are dependent on their daily labor for their daily bread.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 6, 1878._

_To the House of Representatives:_

I return herewith House bill No. 3072, entitled "An act to authorize
a special term of the circuit court of the United States for the
southern district of Mississippi to be held at Scranton, in Jackson
County," with the following objections to its becoming a law:

The act provides that a special term of the circuit court of the
United States for the southern district of Mississippi shall be held
at Scranton, in Jackson County, Miss., to begin on the second Monday
in March, 1878, and directs the clerk of said court to "cause notice
of said special term of said court to be published in a newspaper in
Jackson, Miss., and also in a newspaper in Scranton, at least ten days
before the beginning thereof."

The act can not be executed, inasmuch as there is not sufficient time
to give the notice of the holding of the special term which Congress
thought proper to require.

The number of suits to be tried at the special term in which the
United States is interested is forty-nine, and the amount involved
exceeds $200,000. The Government can not prepare for trial at said
special term, because no fund appropriated by Congress can be made
available for that purpose. If, therefore, the Government is compelled
to go to trial at the special term provided for by this bill, the
United States must be defeated for want of time and means to make
preparation for the proper vindication of its rights.

The bill is therefore returned for the further consideration of
Congress.

R.B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATIONS.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the laws of the United States that whenever,
by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages of
persons, or rebellion against the authority of the Government of the
United States, it shall become impracticable, in the judgment of the
President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings
the laws of the United States within any State or Territory, it shall
be lawful for the President to call forth the militia of any or all
the States and to employ such parts of the land and naval forces of
the United States as he may deem necessary to enforce the faithful
execution of the laws of the United States or to suppress such
rebellion, in whatever State or Territory thereof the laws of the
United States may be forcibly opposed or the execution thereof
forcibly obstructed; and

Whereas it has been made to appear to me that, by reason of unlawful
combinations and assemblages of persons in arms, it has become
impracticable to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings the laws of the United States within the Territory of New
Mexico, and especially within Lincoln County therein, and that the
laws of the United States have been therein forcibly opposed and the
execution thereof forcibly resisted; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that whenever it may be
necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force
for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution of the laws of
the United States, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such
insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes
within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do hereby admonish all good citizens of the United States,
and especially of the Territory of New Mexico, against aiding,
countenancing, abetting, or taking part in any such unlawful
proceedings; and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or connected
with said obstruction of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to
their respective abodes on or before noon of the 13th day of October
instant.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of October, A.D. 1878,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
third.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  F.W. SEWARD,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

The recurrence of that season at which it is the habit of our people
to make devout and public confession of their constant dependence upon
the divine favor for all the good gifts of life and happiness and
of public peace and prosperity exhibits in the record of the year
abundant reasons for our gratitude and thanksgiving.

Exuberant harvests, productive mines, ample crops of the staples of
trade and manufactures, have enriched the country.

The resources thus furnished to our reviving industry and expanding
commerce are hastening the day when discords and distresses through
the length and breadth of the land will, under the continued favor
of Providence, have given way to confidence and energy and assured
prosperity.

Peace with all nations has been maintained unbroken, domestic
tranquillity has prevailed, and the institutions of liberty and
justice which the wisdom and virtue of our fathers established remain
the glory and defense of their children.

The general prevalence of the blessings of health through our wide
land has made more conspicuous the sufferings and sorrows which the
dark shadow of pestilence has cast upon a portion of our people. This
heavy affliction even the Divine Ruler has tempered to the suffering
communities in the universal sympathy and succor which have flowed to
their relief, and the whole nation may rejoice in the unity of spirit
in our people by which they cheerfully share one another's burdens.

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do appoint Thursday, the 28th day of November next, as a day
of national thanksgiving and prayer; and I earnestly recommend that,
withdrawing themselves from secular cares and labors, the people of
the United States do meet together on that day in their respective
places of worship, there to give thanks and praise to Almighty God for
His mercies and to devoutly beseech their continuance.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of October, A.D. 1878,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
third.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 31, 1877_.

JAMES H. COGGESHALL, Esq.,
  _Marshal of the United States for the
  District of Rhode Island, Providence, R.I._

SIR: By virtue of the authority conferred upon me by section 5287 of
the Revised Statutes of the United States, and in execution of the
same, you are hereby empowered and directed to take possession of the
steamer _Estelle_, now or lately lying at Bristol, in Rhode Island,
and to detain the same until further orders from me concerning the
same, and to employ such portion of the land and naval forces of the
United States as may be necessary for that purpose.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 27, 1878_.

SIR:[20] I am directed by the President to say that the several
Departments of the Government will be closed on Thursday, the 30th
instant, in respect to the memory of those who fell in defense of the
Union, and to enable the employees to participate in the commemorative
ceremonies of the day.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W.K. ROGERS, _Private Secretary_.

[Footnote 20: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]




SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 2, 1878_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Our heartfelt gratitude is due to the Divine Being who holds in His
hands the destinies of nations for the continued bestowal during the
last year of countless blessings upon our country.

We are at peace with all other nations. Our public credit has greatly
improved, and is perhaps now stronger than ever before. Abundant
harvests have rewarded the labors of those who till the soil, our
manufacturing industries are reviving, and it is believed that general
prosperity, which has been so long anxiously looked for, is at last
within our reach.

The enjoyment of health by our people generally has, however, been
interrupted during the past season by the prevalence of a fatal
pestilence (the yellow fever) in some portions of the Southern States,
creating an emergency which called for prompt and extraordinary
measures of relief. The disease appeared as an epidemic at New Orleans
and at other places on the Lower Mississippi soon after midsummer.
It was rapidly spread by fugitives from the infected cities and
towns, and did not disappear until early in November. The States of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee have suffered severely. About
100,000 cases are believed to have occurred, of which about 20,000,
according to intelligent estimates, proved fatal. It is impossible
to estimate with any approach to accuracy the loss to the country
occasioned by this epidemic. It is to be reckoned by the hundred
millions of dollars. The suffering and destitution that resulted
excited the deepest sympathy in all parts of the Union. Physicians and
nurses hastened from every quarter to the assistance of the afflicted
communities. Voluntary contributions of money and supplies, in every
needed form, were speedily and generously furnished. The Government
was able to respond in some measure to the call for help, by providing
tents, medicines, and food for the sick and destitute, the requisite
directions for the purpose being given in the confident expectation
that this action of the Executive would receive the sanction of
Congress. About 1,800 tents, and rations of the value of about
$25,000, were sent to cities and towns which applied for them,
full details of which will be furnished to Congress by the proper
Department.

The fearful spread of this pestilence has awakened a very general
public sentiment in favor of national sanitary administration, which
shall not only control quarantine, but have the sanitary supervision
of internal commerce in times of epidemics, and hold an advisory
relation to the State and municipal health authorities, with power
to deal with whatever endangers the public health, and which the
municipal and State authorities are unable to regulate. The national
quarantine act approved April 29, 1878, which was passed too late in
the last session of Congress to provide the means for carrying it into
practical operation during the past season, is a step in the direction
here indicated. In view of the necessity for the most effective
measures, by quarantine and otherwise, for the protection of our
seaports and the country generally from this and other epidemics,
it is recommended that Congress give to the whole subject early and
careful consideration.

The permanent pacification of the country by the complete protection
of all citizens in every civil and political right continues to be of
paramount interest with the great body of our people. Every step
in this direction is welcomed with public approval, and every
interruption of steady and uniform progress to the desired
consummation awakens general uneasiness and widespread condemnation.
The recent Congressional elections have furnished a direct and
trustworthy test of the advance thus far made in the practical
establishment of the right of suffrage secured by the Constitution to
the liberated race in the Southern States. All disturbing influences,
real or imaginary, had been removed from all of these States.

The three constitutional amendments which conferred freedom and
equality of civil and political rights upon the colored people of the
South were adopted by the concurrent action of the great body of good
citizens who maintained the authority of the National Government and
the integrity and perpetuity of the Union at such a cost of treasure
and life, as a wise and necessary embodiment in the organic law of the
just results of the war. The people of the former slaveholding States
accepted these results, and gave in every practicable form assurances
that the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, and laws
passed in pursuance thereof, should in good faith be enforced, rigidly
and impartially, in letter and spirit, to the end that the humblest
citizen, without distinction of race or color, should under them
receive full and equal protection in person and property and in
political rights and privileges. By these constitutional amendments
the southern section of the Union obtained a large increase of
political power in Congress and in the electoral college, and the
country justly expected that elections would proceed, as to
the enfranchised race, upon the same circumstances of legal and
constitutional freedom and protection which obtained in all the other
States of the Union. The friends of law and order looked forward to
the conduct of these elections as offering to the general judgment of
the country an important opportunity to measure the degree in which
the right of suffrage could be exercised by the colored people and
would be respected by their fellow-citizens; but a more general
enjoyment of freedom of suffrage by the colored people and a more just
and generous protection of that freedom by the communities of which
they form a part were generally anticipated than the record of the
elections discloses. In some of those States in which the colored
people have been unable to make their opinions felt in the elections
the result is mainly due to influences not easily measured or remedied
by legal protection; but in the States of Louisiana and South Carolina
at large, and in some particular Congressional districts outside
of those States, the records of the elections seem to compel the
conclusion that the rights of the colored voters have been overridden
and their participation in the elections not permitted to be either
general or free.

It will be for the Congress for which these elections were held to
make such examinations into their conduct as may be appropriate to
determine the validity of the claims of members to their seats. In
the meanwhile it becomes the duty of the executive and judicial
departments of the Government, each in its province, to inquire into
and punish violations of the laws of the United States which have
occurred. I can but repeat what I said in this connection in my last
message, that whatever authority rests with me to this end I shall not
hesitate to put forth; and I am unwilling to forego a renewed appeal
to the legislatures, the courts, the executive authorities, and the
people of the States where these wrongs have been perpetrated to
give their assistance toward bringing to justice the offenders and
preventing a repetition of the crimes. No means within my power will
be spared to obtain a full and fair investigation of the alleged
crimes and to secure the conviction and just punishment of the guilty.

It is to be observed that the principal appropriation made for the
Department of Justice at the last session contained the following
clause:

  And for defraying the expenses which may be incurred in the
  enforcement of the act approved February 28, 1871, entitled
  "An act to amend an act approved May 31, 1870, entitled 'An
  act to enforce the rights of citizens of the United States
  to vote in the several States of this Union, and for other
  purposes,'" or any acts amendatory thereof or supplementary
  thereto.


It is the opinion of the Attorney-General that the expenses of these
proceedings will largely exceed the amount which was thus provided,
and I rely confidently upon Congress to make adequate appropriations
to enable the executive department to enforce the laws.

I respectfully urge upon your attention that the Congressional
elections, in every district, in a very important sense, are justly a
matter of political interest and concern throughout the whole country.
Each State, every political party, is entitled to the share of power
which is conferred by the legal and constitutional suffrage. It is the
right of every citizen possessing the qualifications prescribed by
law to cast one unintimidated ballot and to have his ballot honestly
counted. So long as the exercise of this power and the enjoyment of
this right are common and equal, practically as well as formally,
submission to the results of the suffrage will be accorded loyally and
cheerfully, and all the departments of Government will feel the
true vigor of the popular will thus expressed. No temporary or
administrative interests of Government, however urgent or weighty,
will ever displace the zeal of our people in defense of the primary
rights of citizenship. They understand that the protection of liberty
requires the maintenance in full vigor of the manly methods of free
speech, free press, and free suffrage, and will sustain the full
authority of Government to enforce the laws which are framed to
preserve these inestimable rights. The material progress and welfare
of the States depend on the protection afforded to their citizens.
There can be no peace without such protection, no prosperity without
peace, and the whole country is deeply interested in the growth and
prosperity of all its parts.

While the country has not yet reached complete unity of feeling
and reciprocal confidence between the communities so lately and so
seriously estranged, I feel an absolute assurance that the tendencies
are in that direction, and with increasing force. The power of public
opinion will override all political prejudices and all sectional or
State attachments in demanding that all over our wide territory the
name and character of citizen of the United States shall mean one and
the same thing and carry with them unchallenged security and respect.

Our relations with other countries continue peaceful. Our neutrality
in contests between foreign powers has been maintained and respected.

The Universal Exposition held at Paris during the past summer has been
attended by large numbers of our citizens. The brief period allowed
for the preparation and arrangement of the contributions of our
citizens to this great exposition was well employed in energetic and
judicious efforts to overcome this disadvantage. These efforts, led
and directed by the commissioner-general, were remarkably successful,
and the exhibition of the products of American industry was creditable
and gratifying in scope and character. The reports of the United
States commissioners, giving its results in detail, will be duly laid
before you. Our participation in this international competition for
the favor and the trade of the world may be expected to produce useful
and important results--in promoting intercourse, friendship, and
commerce with other nations.

In accordance with the provisions of the act of February 28, 1878,
three commissioners were appointed to an international conference on
the subject of adopting a common ratio between gold and silver, for
the purpose of establishing internationally the use of bimetallic
money and securing fixity of relative value between those metals.

Invitations were addressed to the various governments which had
expressed a willingness to participate in its deliberations. The
conference held its meetings in Paris in August last. The report
of the commissioners, herewith submitted, will show its results.
No common ratio between gold and silver could be agreed upon by the
conference. The general conclusion was reached that it is necessary to
maintain in the world the monetary functions of silver as well as of
gold, leaving the selection of the use of one or the other of these
two metals, or of both, to be made by each state.

Congress having appropriated at its last session the sum of $5,500,000
to pay the award of the joint commission at Halifax, if, after
correspondence with the British Government on the subject of the
conformity of the award to the requirements of the treaty and to
the terms of the question thereby submitted to the commission, the
President shall deem it his duty to make the payment, communications
upon these points were addressed to the British Government through
the legation of the United States at London. Failing to obtain the
concurrence of the British Government in the views of this Government
respecting the award, I have deemed it my duty to tender the sum named
within the year fixed by the treaty, accompanied by a notice of the
grounds of the payment and a protest against any other construction
of the same. The correspondence upon this subject will be laid before
you.

The Spanish Government has officially announced the termination of
the insurrection in Cuba and the restoration of peace throughout that
island. Confident expectations are expressed of a revival of trade
and prosperity, which it is earnestly hoped may prove well founded.
Numerous claims of American citizens for relief for injuries
or restoration of property have been among the incidents of the
long-continued hostilities. Some of these claims are in process of
adjustment by Spain, and the others are promised early and careful
consideration.

The treaty made with Italy in regard to reciprocal consular privileges
has been duly ratified and proclaimed.

No questions of grave importance have arisen with any other of the
European powers.

The Japanese Government has been desirous of a revision of such parts
of its treaties with foreign powers as relate to commerce, and it is
understood has addressed to each of the treaty powers a request to
open negotiations with that view. The United States Government has
been inclined to regard the matter favorably. Whatever restrictions
upon trade with Japan are found injurious to that people can not but
affect injuriously nations holding commercial intercourse with them.
Japan, after a long period of seclusion, has within the past few years
made rapid strides in the path of enlightenment and progress, and, not
unreasonably, is looking forward to the time when her relations with
the nations of Europe and America shall be assimilated to those which
they hold with each other. A treaty looking to this end has been made,
which will be submitted for the consideration of the Senate.

After an interval of several years the Chinese Government has again
sent envoys to the United States. They have been received, and a
permanent legation is now established here by that Government. It is
not doubted that this step will be of advantage to both nations in
promoting friendly relations and removing causes of difference.

The treaty with the Samoan Islands, having been duly ratified and
accepted on the part of both Governments, is now in operation, and a
survey and soundings of the harbor of Pago-Pago have been made by a
naval vessel of the United States, with a view of its occupation as
a naval station if found desirable to the service.

Since the resumption of diplomatic relations with Mexico
correspondence has been opened and still continues between the two
Governments upon the various questions which at one time seemed to
endanger their relations. While no formal agreement has been reached
as to the troubles on the border, much has been done to repress and
diminish them. The effective force of United States troops on the Rio
Grande, by a strict and faithful compliance with instructions, has
done much to remove the sources of dispute, and it is now understood
that a like force of Mexican troops on the other side of the river is
also making an energetic movement against the marauding Indian tribes.
This Government looks with the greatest satisfaction upon every
evidence of strength in the national authority of Mexico, and upon
every effort put forth to prevent or to punish incursions upon our
territory. Reluctant to assume any action or attitude in the control
of these incursions by military movements across the border not
imperatively demanded for the protection of the lives and property
of our own citizens, I shall take the earliest opportunity consistent
with the proper discharge of this plain duty to recognize the ability
of the Mexican Government to restrain effectively violations of
our territory. It is proposed to hold next year an international
exhibition in Mexico, and it is believed that the display of the
agricultural and manufacturing products of the two nations will tend
to better understanding and increased commercial intercourse between
their people.

With Brazil and the Republics of Central and South America some
steps have been taken toward the development of closer commercial
intercourse. Diplomatic relations have been resumed with Colombia and
with Bolivia. A boundary question between the Argentine Republic and
Paraguay has been submitted by those Governments for arbitration
to the President of the United States, and I have, after careful
examination, given a decision upon it.

A naval expedition up the Amazon and Madeira rivers has brought back
information valuable both for scientific and commercial purposes. A
like expedition is about visiting the coast of Africa and the Indian
Ocean. The reports of diplomatic and consular officers in relation
to the development of our foreign commerce have furnished many facts
that have proved of public interest and have stimulated to practical
exertion the enterprise of our people.

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury furnishes a detailed
statement of the operations of that Department of the Government and
of the condition of the public finances.

The ordinary revenues from all sources for the fiscal year ended June
30, 1878, were $257,763,878.70; the ordinary expenditures for the same
period were $236,964,326.80, leaving a surplus revenue for the year of
$20,799,551.90. The receipts for the present fiscal year, ending June
30, 1879, actual and estimated, are as follows: Actual receipts for
the first quarter, commencing July 1, 1878, $73,389,743.43;
estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters of the year,
$191,110,256.57; total receipts for the current fiscal year, actual
and estimated, $264,500,000. The expenditures for the same period will
be, actual and estimated, as follows: For the quarter commencing July
1, 1878, actual expenditures, $73,344,573.27; and for the remaining
three quarters of the year the expenditures are estimated at
$166,755,426.73, making the total expenditures $240,100,000, and
leaving an estimated surplus revenue for the year ending June 30,
1879, of $24,400,000. The total receipts during the next fiscal year,
ending June 30, 1880, estimated according to existing laws, will be
$264,500,000, and the estimated ordinary expenditures for the same
period will be $236,320,412.68, leaving a surplus of $28,179,587.32
for that year.

In the foregoing statements of expenditures, actual and estimated,
no amount is allowed for the sinking fund provided for by the act
approved February 25, 1862, which requires that 1 per cent of the
entire debt of the United States shall be purchased or paid within
each fiscal year, to be set apart as a sinking fund. There has been,
however, a substantial compliance with the conditions of the law. By
its terms the public debt should have been reduced between 1862
and the close of the last fiscal year $518,361,806.28; the
actual reduction of the ascertained debt in that period has been
$720,644,739.61, being in excess of the reduction required by the
sinking fund act $202,282,933.33.

The amount of the public debt, less cash in the Treasury, November 1,
1878, was $2,024,200,083.18, a reduction since the same date last year
of $23,150,617.39.

The progress made during the last year in refunding the public debt at
lower rates of interest is very gratifying. The amount of 4 per cent
bonds sold during the present year prior to November 23, 1878, is
$100,270,900, and 6 per cent bonds, commonly known as five-twenties,
to an equal amount, have been or will be redeemed as calls mature.

It has been the policy of the Department to place the 4 per cent bonds
within easy reach of every citizen who desires to invest his savings,
whether small or great, in these securities. The Secretary of the
Treasury recommends that the law be so modified that small sums may
be invested, and that through the post-offices or other agents of the
Government the freest opportunity may be given in all parts of the
country for such investments.

The best mode suggested is that the Department be authorized to issue
certificates of deposit, of the denomination of $10, bearing interest
at the rate of 3.65 per cent per annum and convertible at any time
within one year after their issue into the 4 per cent bonds authorized
by the refunding act, and to be issued only in exchange for United
States notes sent to the Treasury by mail or otherwise. Such a
provision of law, supported by suitable regulations, would enable any
person readily, without cost or risk, to convert his money into an
interest-bearing security of the United States, and the money so
received could be applied to the redemption of 6 per cent bonds.

The coinage of gold during the last fiscal year was $52,798,980. The
coinage of silver dollars under the act passed February 28, 1878,
amounted on the 23d of November, 1878, to $19,814,550, of which amount
$4,984,947 are in circulation, and the balance, $14,829,603, is still
in the possession of the Government.

With views unchanged with regard to the act under which the coinage of
silver proceeds, it has been the purpose of the Secretary faithfully
to execute the law and to afford a fair trial to the measure.

In the present financial condition of the country I am persuaded that
the welfare of legitimate business and industry of every description
will be best promoted by abstaining from all attempts to make radical
changes in the existing financial legislation. Let it be understood
that during the coming year the business of the country will be
undisturbed by governmental interference with the laws affecting it,
and we may confidently expect that the resumption of specie payments,
which will take place at the appointed time, will be successfully and
easily maintained, and that it will be followed by a healthful and
enduring revival of business prosperity.

Let the healing influence of time, the inherent energies of our
people, and the boundless resources of our country have a fair
opportunity, and relief from present difficulties will surely follow.

The report of the Secretary of War shows that the Army has been well
and economically supplied; that our small force has been actively
employed and has faithfully performed all the service required of it.
The morale of the Army has improved and the number of desertions has
materially decreased during the year.

The Secretary recommends--

1. That a pension be granted to the widow of the late Lieutenant Henry
H. Benner, Eighteenth Infantry, who lost his life by yellow fever
while in command of the steamer _J.M. Chambers_, sent with supplies
for the relief of sufferers in the South from that disease.

2. The establishment of the annuity scheme for the benefit of the
heirs of deceased officers, as suggested by the Paymaster-General.

3. The adoption by Congress of a plan for the publication of the
records of the War of the Rebellion, now being prepared for that
purpose.

4. The increase of the extra per diem of soldier teachers employed in
post schools, and liberal appropriations for the erection of buildings
for schools and libraries at the different posts.

5. The repeal or amendment of the act of June 18, 1878, forbidding the
use of the Army "as a _posse comitatus_, or otherwise, for the
purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such
circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly
authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress."

6. The passage of a joint resolution of Congress legalizing the issues
of rations, tents, and medicines which were made for the relief of
sufferers from yellow fever.

7. That provision be made for the erection of a fireproof building for
the preservation of certain valuable records, now constantly exposed
to destruction by fire.

These recommendations are all commended to your favorable
consideration.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows that the Navy
has improved during the last fiscal year. Work has been done on
seventy-five vessels, ten of which have been thoroughly repaired
and made ready for sea. Two others are in rapid progress toward
completion. The total expenditures of the year, including the
amount appropriated for the deficiencies of the previous year, were
$17,468,392.65. The actual expenses chargeable to the year, exclusive
of these deficiencies, were $13,306,914.09, or $767,199.18 less than
those of the previous year, and $4,928,677.74 less than the expenses
including the deficiencies. The estimates for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1880, are $14,562,381.45, exceeding the appropriations of
the present year only $33,949.75, which excess is occasioned by the
demands of the Naval Academy and the Marine Corps, as explained in the
Secretary's report. The appropriations for the present fiscal year are
$14,528,431.70, which, in the opinion of the Secretary, will be ample
for all the current expenses of the Department during the year. The
amount drawn from the Treasury from July 1 to November 1, 1878, is
$4,740,544.14, of which $70,980.75 has been refunded, leaving as the
expenditure for that period $4,669,563.39, or $520,899.24 less than
the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

The report of the Postmaster-General embraces a detailed statement of
the operations of the Post-Office Department. The expenditures of
that Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1878, were
$34,165,084.49. The receipts, including sales of stamps, money-order
business, and official stamps, were $29,277,516.95. The sum of
$290,436.90, included in the foregoing statement of expenditures, is
chargeable to preceding years, so that the actual expenditures for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1878, are $33,874,647.59. The amount drawn
from the Treasury on appropriations, in addition to the revenues of
the Department, was $5,307,652.82. The expenditures for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1880, are estimated at $36,571,900 and the
receipts from all sources at $30,664,023.90, leaving a deficiency to
be appropriated out of the Treasury of $5,907,876.10. The report calls
attention to the fact that the compensation of postmasters and of
railroads for carrying the mail is regulated by law, and that the
failure of Congress to appropriate the amounts required for these
purposes does not relieve the Government of responsibility, but
necessarily increases the deficiency bills which Congress will be
called upon to pass.

In providing for the postal service the following questions are
presented: Should Congress annually appropriate a sum for its expenses
largely in excess of its revenues, or should such rates of postage be
established as will make the Department self-sustaining? Should the
postal service be reduced by excluding from the mails matter which
does not pay its way? Should the number of post routes be diminished?
Should other methods be adopted which will increase the revenues or
diminish the expenses of the postal service?

The International Postal Congress which met at Paris May 1, 1878, and
continued in session until June 4 of the same year, was composed of
delegates from nearly all the civilized countries of the world. It
adopted a new convention (to take the place of the treaty concluded
at Berne October 9, 1874), which goes into effect on the 1st of April,
1879, between the countries whose delegates have signed it. It was
ratified and approved, by and with the consent of the President,
August 13, 1878. A synopsis of this Universal Postal Convention will
be found in the report of the Postmaster-General, and the full text
in the appendix thereto. In its origin the Postal Union comprised
twenty-three countries, having a population of 350,000,000 people.
On the 1st of April next it will comprise forty-three countries and
colonies, with a population of more than 650,000,000 people, and will
soon, by the accession of the few remaining countries and colonies
which maintain organized postal services, constitute in fact as well
as in name, as its new title indicates, a universal union, regulating,
upon a uniform basis of cheap postage rates, the postal intercourse
between all civilized nations.

Some embarrassment has arisen out of the conflict between the customs
laws of this country and the provisions of the Postal Convention in
regard to the transmission of foreign books and newspapers to this
country by mail. It is hoped that Congress will be able to devise some
means of reconciling the difficulties which have thus been created, so
as to do justice to all parties involved.

The business of the Supreme Court and of the courts in many of the
circuits has increased to such an extent during the past year that
additional legislation is imperative to relieve and prevent the
delay of justice and possible oppression to suitors which is thus
occasioned. The encumbered condition of these dockets is presented
anew in the report of the Attorney-General, and the remedy suggested
is earnestly urged for Congressional action. The creation of
additional circuit judges, as proposed, would afford a complete
remedy, and would involve an expense, at the present rate of salaries,
of not more than $60,000 a year.

The annual reports of the Secretary of the Interior and of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs present an elaborate account of the
present condition of the Indian tribes and of that branch of the
public service which ministers to their interests. While the conduct
of the Indians generally has been orderly and their relations with
their neighbors friendly and peaceable, two local disturbances have
occurred, which were deplorable in their character, but remained,
happily, confined to a comparatively small number of Indians. The
discontent among the Bannocks, which led first to some acts of
violence on the part of some members of the tribe and finally to the
outbreak, appears to have been caused by an insufficiency of food
on the reservation, and this insufficiency to have been owing to the
inadequacy of the appropriations made by Congress to the wants of the
Indians at a time when the Indians were prevented from supplying the
deficiency by hunting. After an arduous pursuit by the troops of
the United States, and several engagements, the hostile Indians
were reduced to subjection, and the larger part of them surrendered
themselves as prisoners. In this connection I desire to call attention
to the recommendation made by the Secretary of the Interior, that
a sufficient fund be placed at the disposal of the Executive, to be
used, with proper accountability, at discretion, in sudden emergencies
of the Indian service.

The other case of disturbance was that of a band of Northern
Cheyennes, who suddenly left their reservation in the Indian Territory
and marched rapidly through the States of Kansas and Nebraska in the
direction of their old hunting grounds, committing murders and other
crimes on their way. From documents accompanying the report of the
Secretary of the Interior it appears that this disorderly band was as
fully supplied with the necessaries of life as the 4,700 other Indians
who remained quietly on the reservation, and that the disturbance
was caused by men of a restless and mischievous disposition among the
Indians themselves. Almost the whole of this band have surrendered to
the military authorities; and it is a gratifying fact that when some
of them had taken refuge in the camp of the Red Cloud Sioux, with whom
they had been in friendly relations, the Sioux held them as prisoners
and readily gave them up to the officers of the United States, thus
giving new proof of the loyal spirit which, alarming rumors to the
contrary notwithstanding, they have uniformly shown ever since the
wishes they expressed at the council of September, 1877, had been
complied with.

Both the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of War unite
in the recommendation that provision be made by Congress for the
organization of a corps of mounted "Indian auxiliaries," to be under
the control of the Army and to be used for the purpose of keeping the
Indians on their reservations and preventing or repressing disturbance
on their part. I earnestly concur in this recommendation. It is
believed that the organization of such a body of Indian cavalry,
receiving a moderate pay from the Government, would considerably
weaken the restless element among the Indians by withdrawing from it
a number of young men and giving them congenial employment under
the Government, it being a matter of experience that Indians in our
service almost without exception are faithful in the performance of
the duties assigned to them. Such an organization would materially
aid the Army in the accomplishment of a task for which its numerical
strength is sometimes found insufficient.

But while the employment of force for the prevention or repression
of Indian troubles is of occasional necessity, and wise preparation
should be made to that end, greater reliance must be placed on humane
and civilizing agencies for the ultimate solution of what is called
the Indian problem. It may be very difficult and require much
patient effort to curb the unruly spirit of the savage Indian to the
restraints of civilized life, but experience shows that it is not
impossible. Many of the tribes which are now quiet and orderly and
self-supporting were once as savage as any that at present roam
over the plains or in the mountains of the far West, and were then
considered inaccessible to civilizing influences. It may be impossible
to raise them fully up to the level of the white population of the
United States; but we should not forget that they are the aborigines
of the country, and called the soil their own on which our people have
grown rich, powerful, and happy. We owe it to them as a moral duty to
help them in attaining at least that degree of civilization which they
may be able to reach. It is not only our duty, it is also our interest
to do so. Indians who have become agriculturists or herdsmen, and feel
an interest in property, will thenceforth cease to be a warlike and
disturbing element. It is also a well-authenticated fact that Indians
are apt to be peaceable and quiet when their children are at school,
and I am gratified to know, from the expressions of Indians themselves
and from many concurring reports, that there is a steadily increasing
desire, even among Indians belonging to comparatively wild tribes, to
have their children educated. I invite attention to the reports of
the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
touching the experiment recently inaugurated, in taking fifty Indian
children, boys and girls, from different tribes, to the Hampton Normal
Agricultural Institute in Virginia, where they are to receive an
elementary English education and training in agriculture and other
useful works, to be returned to their tribes, after the completed
course, as interpreters, instructors, and examples. It is reported
that the officer charged with the selection of those children might
have had thousands of young Indians sent with him had it been possible
to make provision for them. I agree with the Secretary of the
Interior in saying that "the result of this interesting experiment,
if favorable, may be destined to become an important factor in the
advancement of civilization among the Indians."

The question whether a change in the control of the Indian service
should be made was at the last session of Congress referred to a
committee for inquiry and report. Without desiring to anticipate
that report, I venture to express the hope that in the decision of so
important a question the views expressed above may not be lost sight
of, and that the decision, whatever it may be, will arrest further
agitation of this subject, such agitation being apt to produce
a disturbing effect upon the service, as well as on the Indians
themselves.

In the enrollment of the bill making appropriations for sundry civil
expenses, at the last session of Congress, that portion which provided
for the continuation of the Hot Springs Commission was omitted. As
the commission had completed the work of taking testimony on the many
conflicting claims, the suspension of their labors, before determining
the rights of claimants, threatened for a time to embarrass the
interests, not only of the Government, but also of a large number
of the citizens of Hot Springs, who were waiting for final action on
their claims before beginning contemplated improvements. In order
to prevent serious difficulties, which were apprehended, and at
the solicitation of many leading citizens of Hot Springs and others
interested in the welfare of the town, the Secretary of the Interior
was authorized to request the late commissioners to take charge of
the records of their proceedings and to perform such work as could
properly be done by them under such circumstances to facilitate the
future adjudication of the claims at an early day and to preserve
the status of the claimants until their rights should be finally
determined. The late commissioners complied with that request, and
report that the testimony in all the cases has been written out,
examined, briefed, and so arranged as to facilitate an early
settlement when authorized by law. It is recommended that the
requisite authority be given at as early a day in the session
as possible, and that a fair compensation be allowed the late
commissioners for the expense incurred and the labor performed
by them since the 25th of June last.

I invite the attention of Congress to the recommendations made by
the Secretary of the Interior with regard to the preservation of the
timber on the public lands of the United States. The protection of
the public property is one of the first duties of the Government. The
Department of the Interior should therefore be enabled by sufficient
appropriations to enforce the laws in that respect. But this matter
appears still more important as a question of public economy. The
rapid destruction of our forests is an evil fraught with the gravest
consequences, especially in the mountainous districts, where the rocky
slopes, once denuded of their trees, will remain so forever. There
the injury, once done, can not be repaired. I fully concur with
the Secretary of the Interior in the opinion that for this reason
legislation touching the public timber in the mountainous States and
Territories of the West should be especially well considered, and
that existing laws in which the destruction of the forests is not
sufficiently guarded against should be speedily modified. A general
law concerning this important subject appears to me to be a matter of
urgent public necessity.

From the organization of the Government the importance of encouraging
by all possible means the increase of our agricultural productions
has been acknowledged and urged upon the attention of Congress and the
people as the surest and readiest means of increasing our substantial
and enduring prosperity.

The words of Washington are as applicable to-day as when, in his
eighth annual message, he said:

  It will not be doubted that, with reference either to
  individual or national welfare, agriculture is of primary
  importance. In proportion as nations advance in population
  and other circumstances of maturity this truth becomes more
  apparent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more and
  more an object of public patronage. Institutions for promoting
  it grow up, supported by the public purse; and to what object
  can it be dedicated with greater propriety? Among the means
  which have been employed to this end none have been attended
  with greater success than the establishment of boards
  (composed of proper characters) charged with collecting and
  diffusing information, and enabled by premiums and small
  pecuniary aids to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery
  and improvement. This species of establishment contributes
  doubly to the increase of improvement, by stimulating to
  enterprise and experiment, and by drawing to a common center
  the results everywhere of individual skill and observation
  and spreading them thence over the whole nation. Experience
  accordingly hath shewn that they are very cheap instruments of
  immense national benefits.


The preponderance of the agricultural over any other interest in the
United States entitles it to all the consideration claimed for it by
Washington. About one-half of the population of the United States is
engaged in agriculture. The value of the agricultural products of the
United States for the year 1878 is estimated at $3,000,000,000. The
exports of agricultural products for the year 1877, as appears from
the report of the Bureau of Statistics, were $524,000,000. The great
extent of our country, with its diversity of soil and climate, enables
us to produce within our own borders and by our own labor not only the
necessaries, but most of the luxuries, that are consumed in civilized
countries. Yet, notwithstanding our advantages of soil, climate, and
intercommunication, it appears from the statistical statements in the
report of the Commissioner of Agriculture that we import annually from
foreign lands many millions of dollars worth of agricultural products
which could be raised in our own country.

Numerous questions arise in the practice of advanced agriculture
which can only be answered by experiments, often costly and sometimes
fruitless, which are beyond the means of private individuals and are
a just and proper charge on the whole nation for the benefit of the
nation. It is good policy, especially in times of depression
and uncertainty in other business pursuits, with a vast area of
uncultivated, and hence unproductive, territory, wisely opened to
homestead settlement, to encourage by every proper and legitimate
means the occupation and tillage of the soil. The efforts of
the Department of Agriculture to stimulate old and introduce new
agricultural industries, to improve the quality and increase the
quantity of our products, to determine the value of old or establish
the importance of new methods of culture, are worthy of your careful
and favorable consideration, and assistance by such appropriations of
money and enlargement of facilities as may seem to be demanded by the
present favorable conditions for the growth and rapid development of
this important interest.

The abuse of animals in transit is widely attracting public attention.
A national convention of societies specially interested in the subject
has recently met at Baltimore, and the facts developed, both in regard
to cruelties to animals and the effect of such cruelties upon the
public health, would seem to demand the careful consideration of
Congress and the enactment of more efficient laws for the prevention
of these abuses.

The report of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Education shows
very gratifying progress throughout the country in all the interests
committed to the care of this important office. The report is
especially encouraging with respect to the extension of the advantages
of the common-school system in sections of the country where the
general enjoyment of the privilege of free schools is not yet
attained.

To education more than to any other agency we are to look as the
resource for the advancement of the people in the requisite knowledge
and appreciation of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and
I desire to repeat the suggestion contained in my former message in
behalf of the enactment of appropriate measures by Congress for
the purpose of supplementing with national aid the local systems of
education in the several States.

Adequate accommodations for the great library, which is overgrowing
the capacity of the rooms now occupied at the Capitol, should be
provided without further delay. This invaluable collection of books,
manuscripts, and illustrative art has grown to such proportions, in
connection with the copyright system of the country, as to demand the
prompt and careful attention of Congress to save it from injury in its
present crowded and insufficient quarters. As this library is national
in its character, and must from the nature of the case increase even
more rapidly in the future than in the past, it can not be doubted
that the people will sanction any wise expenditure to preserve it and
to enlarge its usefulness.

The appeal of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the means
to organize, exhibit, and make available for the public benefit the
articles now stored away belonging to the National Museum I heartily
recommend to your favorable consideration.

The attention of Congress is again invited to the condition of
the river front of the city of Washington. It is a matter of vital
importance to the health of the residents of the national capital,
both temporary and permanent, that the lowlands in front of the city,
now subject to tidal overflow, should be reclaimed. In their present
condition these flats obstruct the drainage of the city and are a
dangerous source of malarial poison. The reclamation will improve the
navigation of the river by restricting, and consequently deepening,
its channel, and is also of importance when considered in connection
with the extension of the public ground and the enlargement of the
park west and south of the Washington Monument. The report of the
board of survey, heretofore ordered by act of Congress, on
the improvement of the harbor of Washington and Georgetown, is
respectfully commended to consideration.

The report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia presents
a detailed statement of the affairs of the District.

The relative expenditures by the United States and the District for
local purposes is contrasted, showing that the expenditures by the
people of the District greatly exceed those of the General Government.
The exhibit is made in connection with estimates for the requisite
repair of the defective pavements and sewers of the city, which is
a work of immediate necessity; and in the same connection a plan is
presented for the permanent funding of the outstanding securities of
the District.

The benevolent, reformatory, and penal institutions of the District
are all entitled to the favorable attention of Congress. The Reform
School needs additional buildings and teachers. Appropriations which
will place all of these institutions in a condition to become models
of usefulness and beneficence will be regarded by the country as
liberality wisely bestowed.

The Commissioners, with evident justice, request attention to the
discrimination made by Congress against the District in the donation
of land for the support of the public schools, and ask that the same
liberality that has been shown to the inhabitants of the various
States and Territories of the United States may be extended to the
District of Columbia.

The Commissioners also invite attention to the damage inflicted upon
public and private interests by the present location of the depots and
switching tracks of the several railroads entering the city, and ask
for legislation looking to their removal. The recommendations and
suggestions contained in the report will, I trust, receive the careful
consideration of Congress.

Sufficient time has, perhaps, not elapsed since the reorganization
of the government of the District under the recent legislation
of Congress for the expression of a confident opinion as to its
successful operation, but the practical results already attained are
so satisfactory that the friends of the new government may well
urge upon Congress the wisdom of its continuance, without essential
modification, until by actual experience its advantages and defects
may be more fully ascertained.

R.B. HAYES.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to
ratification, a declaration respecting trade-marks between the United
States and Brazil, concluded and signed at Rio de Janeiro on the 24th
day of September last.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to
ratification, a convention revising certain portions of existing
commercial treaties and further extending commercial intercourse
between the United States and Japan, concluded and signed at
Washington on the 25th day of July last.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, together
with the copies of papers[21] therein referred to, in compliance with
the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of May last.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 21: Correspondence relative to claims of United States
citizens against Nicaragua.]



WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1878_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
5th instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State,
with its accompanying papers.[22]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 22: Correspondence relative to the expulsion from the German
Umpire of Julius Baumer, a naturalized citizen of the United States.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1878_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant,
requesting the transmission to the Senate of "any information which
may have been received by the Departments concerning postal and
commercial intercourse between the United States and South American
countries, together with any recommendations desirable to be submitted
of measures to be adopted for facilitating and improving such
intercourse," I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State
and the Postmaster-General, with accompanying papers.

The external commerce of the United States has for many years been
the subject of solicitude because of the outward drain of the precious
metals it has caused. For fully twenty years previous to 1877 the
shipment of gold was constant and heavy--so heavy during the entire
period of the suspension of specie payments as to preclude the hope of
resumption safely during its continuance. In 1876, however, vigorous
efforts were made by enterprising citizens of the country, and have
since been continued, to extend our general commerce with foreign
lands, especially in manufactured articles, and these efforts have
been attended with very marked success.

The importation of manufactured goods was at the same time reduced in
an equal degree, and the result has been an extraordinary reversal
of the conditions so long prevailing and a complete cessation of
the outward drain of gold. The official statement of the values
represented in foreign commerce will show the unprecedented magnitude
to which the movement has attained, and the protection thus secured to
the public interests at the time when commercial security has become
indispensable.

The agencies through which this change has been effected must be
maintained and strengthened if the future is to be made secure. A
return to excessive imports or to a material decline in export trade
would render possible a return to the former condition of adverse
balances, with the inevitable outward drain of gold as a necessary
consequence. Every element of aid to the introduction of the
products of our soil and manufactures into new markets should be made
available. At present such is the favor in which many of the products
of the United States are held that they obtain a remunerative
distribution, notwithstanding positive differences of cost resulting
from our defective shipping and the imperfection of our arrangements
in every respect, in comparison with those of our competitors, for
conducting trade with foreign markets.

If we have equal commercial facilities, we need not fear competition
anywhere.

The laws have now directed a resumption of financial equality with
other nations, and have ordered a return to the basis of coin values.
It is of the greatest importance that the commercial condition now
fortunately attained shall be made permanent, and that our rapidly
increasing export trade shall not be allowed to suffer for want of the
ordinary means of communication with other countries.

The accompanying reports contain a valuable and instructive summary of
information with respect to our commercial interests in South America,
where an inviting field for the enterprise of our people is presented.
They are transmitted with the assurance that any measures that may be
enacted in furtherance of these important interests will meet with my
cordial approval.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 7, 1879._

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th
of December last, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
State, with its accompanying papers.[23]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 23: Correspondence relative to commercial relations with
Mexico.]



WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1879._

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of June last,
requesting a copy of correspondence between this Government and that
of Her Britannic Majesty in regard to inviting other maritime powers
to accede to the three rules of neutrality laid down in Article VI
of the treaty of May 8, 1871, I transmit herewith a report of the
Secretary of State, together with its accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1879._

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 17th of June last,
requesting the Commissioner of Agriculture to send to the Senate
certain reports on sheep husbandry, copies of the same, with
accompanying papers, received from the Commissioner of Agriculture for
this purpose, are herewith transmitted.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1879._

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th
instant, requesting the Commissioner of Agriculture to forward to the
House any facts or statistics in his office on the subject of forestry
not heretofore reported, copies of the same, with accompanying
papers, received from the Commissioner for this purpose, are herewith
transmitted.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 23, 1879._

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the 25th of May last, requesting
information respecting the claim of Messrs. Carlos Butterfield & Co.
against the Government of Denmark, I transmit herewith to the House
of Representatives a report of the Secretary of State and its
accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.


WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th
instant, I transmit herewith a report[24] from the Secretary of State,
with its accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 24: Relating to the claim of John C. Landreau against the
Government of Peru.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 24, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, copies of
a report and accompanying papers received from the Secretary of the
Interior, upon a communication addressed to the President of the
United States in behalf of a certain claim of the Choctaw Nation
arising under the provisions of the Choctaw and Chickasaw treaty of
June 22, 1855.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, in
relation to the suspension of the late collector and naval officer of
the port of New York, with accompanying documents.

In addition thereto I respectfully submit the following observations:

The custom-house in New York collects more than two-thirds of all the
customs revenues of the Government. Its administration is a matter not
of local interest merely, but is of great importance to the people
of the whole country. For a long period of time it has been used to
manage and control political affairs.

The officers suspended by me are and for several years have been
engaged in the active personal management of the party politics of
the city and State of New York. The duties of the offices held by
them have been regarded as of subordinate importance to their partisan
work. Their offices have been conducted as part of the political
machinery under their control. They have made the custom-house a
center of partisan political management. The custom-house should be
a business office. It should be conducted on business principles.
General James, the postmaster of New York City, writing on this
subject, says:

The post-office is a business institution, and should be run as such.
It is my deliberate judgment that I and my subordinates can do more
for the party of our choice by giving the people of this city a
good and efficient postal service than by controlling primaries or
dictating nominations.

The New York custom-house should be placed on the same footing
with the New York post-office. But under the suspended officers the
custom-house would be one of the principal political agencies in the
State of New York. To change this, they profess to believe, would be,
in the language of Mr. Cornell in his response, "to surrender their
personal and political rights."

Convinced that the people of New York and of the country generally
wish the New York custom-house to be administered solely with a view
to the public interest, it is my purpose to do all in my power
to introduce into this great office the reforms which the country
desires.

With my information of the facts in the case, and with a deep sense
of the responsible obligation imposed upon me by the Constitution "to
take care that the laws be faithfully executed," I regard it as
my plain duty to suspend the officers in question and to make the
nominations now before the Senate, in order that this important office
may be honestly and efficiently administered.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a report from
the Secretary of State, with the accompanying papers therein referred
to, in relation to the proceedings of the International Monetary
Conference held at Paris in August, 1878.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, the report of
the commission appointed under the provisions of the act approved
May 3, 1878, entitled "An act authorizing the President of the United
States to make certain negotiations with the Ute Indians in the
State of Colorado," with copies of letters from the Secretary of the
Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and accompanying
documents.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 15, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith report from the Secretary of State, and
accompanying papers, in relation to proceedings of the International
Prison Congress of Stockholm, held in August last.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 18, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, dated the
17th instant, in relation to the destruction of the bark _Forest
Belle_ in Chinese waters in March last, submitted in compliance with
the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 4, 1879.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Referring to my communication to Congress under date of the 8th
instant, transmitting the report of the commission appointed under the
act entitled "An act authorizing the President of the United States
to make certain negotiations with the Ute Indians in the State of
Colorado," I submit herewith a copy of a letter from the Secretary of
the Interior and additional papers upon the same subject.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with its
accompanying papers, submitted in pursuance of a resolution of the
Senate of the 20th instant, in relation to railroads in Mexico.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1879._

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have received from the United States Centennial Commission their
final report, presenting a full exhibit of the result of the United
States Centennial Celebration and Exhibition of 1876, as required by
the act of June 1, 1872.

In transmitting this report for the consideration of Congress, I
express, I believe, the general judgment of the country, as well as my
own, in assigning to this exhibition a measure of success gratifying
to the pride and patriotism of our people and full of promise to the
great industrial and commercial interests of the nation. The very
ample and generous contributions which the foreign nations made to
the splendor and usefulness of the exhibition and the cordiality with
which their representatives took part in our national commemoration
deserve our profound acknowledgments. At this close of the great
services rendered by the United States Centennial Commission and the
Centennial board of finance, it gives me great pleasure to commend
to your attention and that of the people of the whole country the
laborious, faithful, and prosperous performances of their duties which
have marked the administration of their respective trusts.

R.B. HAYES.




VETO MESSAGE.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 1, 1879._

_To the House of Representatives_:

After a very careful consideration of House bill 2423, entitled "An
act to restrict the immigration of Chinese to the United States,"
I herewith return it to the House of Representatives, in which it
originated, with my objections to its passage.

The bill, as it was sent to the Senate from the House of
Representatives, was confined in its provisions to the object named
in its title, which is that of "An act to restrict the immigration of
Chinese to the United States." The only means adopted to secure the
proposed object was the limitation on the number of Chinese passengers
which might be brought to this country by any one vessel to fifteen;
and as this number was not fixed in any proportion to the size
or tonnage of the vessel or by any consideration of the safety or
accommodation of these passengers, the simple purpose and effect of
the enactment were to repress this immigration to an extent falling
but little short of its absolute exclusion.

The bill, as amended in the Senate and now presented to me, includes
an independent and additional provision which aims at and in terms
requires the abrogation by this Government of Articles V and VI of the
treaty with China commonly called the Burlingame treaty, through the
action of the Executive enjoined by this provision of the act.

The Burlingame treaty, of which the ratifications were exchanged at
Peking November 23, 1869, recites as the occasion and motive of its
negotiation by the two Governments that "since the conclusion of the
treaty between the United States of America and the Ta Tsing Empire
(China) of the 18th of June, 1858, circumstances have arisen showing
the necessity of additional articles thereto," and proceeds to
an agreement as to said additional articles. These negotiations,
therefore, ending by the signature of the additional articles July
28, 1868, had for their object the completion of our treaty rights
and obligations toward the Government of China by the incorporation
of these new articles as thenceforth parts of the principal treaty
to which they are made supplemental. Upon the settled rules of
interpretation applicable to such supplemental negotiations the text
of the principal treaty and of these "additional articles thereto"
constitute one treaty from the conclusion of the new negotiations, in
all parts of equal and concurrent force and obligation between the
two Governments, and to all intents and purposes as if embraced in one
instrument.

The principal treaty, of which the ratifications were exchanged August
16, 1859, recites that "the United States of America and the Ta Tsing
Empire, desiring to maintain firm, lasting, and sincere friendship,
have resolved to renew, in a manner clear and positive, by means of a
treaty or general convention of peace, amity, and commerce, the rules
which shall in future be mutually observed in the intercourse of their
respective countries," and proceeds in its thirty articles to lay out
a careful and comprehensive system for the commercial relations of our
people with China. The main substance of all the provisions of this
treaty is to define and secure the rights of our people in respect
of access to, residence and protection in, and trade with China. The
actual provisions in our favor in these respects were framed to be,
and have been found to be, adequate and appropriate to the interests
of our commerce, and by the concluding article we receive the
important guaranty that--

  Should at any time the Ta Tsing Empire grant to any nation, or the
  merchants or citizens of any nation, any right, privilege, or favor,
  connected either with navigation, commerce, political or other
  intercourse, which is not conferred by this treaty, such right,
  privilege, and favor shall at once freely inure to the benefit of
  the United States, its public officers, merchants, and citizens.


Against this body of stipulations in our favor and this permanent
engagement of equality in respect of all future concessions to foreign
nations the general promise of permanent peace and good offices on
our part seems to be the only equivalent. For this the first article
undertakes as follows:

  There shall be, as there have always been, peace and friendship
  between the United States of America and the Ta Tsing Empire, and
  between their people respectively. They shall not insult or oppress
  each other for any trifling cause, so as to produce an estrangement
  between them; and if any other nation should act unjustly or
  oppressively, the United States will exert their good offices, on
  being informed of the case, to bring about an amicable arrangement
  of the question, thus showing their friendly feelings.


At the date of the negotiation of this treaty our Pacific possessions
had attracted a considerable Chinese emigration, and the advantages
and the inconveniences felt or feared therefrom had become more or
less manifest; but they dictated no stipulations on the subject to be
incorporated in the treaty. The year 1868 was marked by the striking
event of a spontaneous embassy from the Chinese Empire, headed by
an American citizen, Anson Burlingame, who had relinquished his
diplomatic representation of his own country in China to assume that
of the Chinese Empire to the United States and the European nations.
By this time the facts of the Chinese immigration and its nature and
influences, present and prospective, had become more noticeable and
were more observed by the population immediately affected and by this
Government. The principal feature of the Burlingame treaty was its
attention to and its treatment of the Chinese immigration and the
Chinese as forming, or as they should form, a part of our population.
Up to this time our uncovenanted hospitality to immigration, our
fearless liberality of citizenship, our equal and comprehensive
justice to all inhabitants, whether they abjured their foreign
nationality or not, our civil freedom, and our religious toleration
had made all comers welcome, and under these protections the Chinese
in considerable numbers had made their lodgment upon our soil.

The Burlingame treaty undertakes to deal with this situation, and its
fifth and sixth articles embrace its most important provisions in this
regard and the main stipulations in which the Chinese Government has
secured an obligatory protection of its subjects within our territory.
They read as follows:

  ART. V. The United States of America and the Emperor of China
  cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to
  change his home and allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of
  the free migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects
  respectively from the one country to the other for purposes of
  curiosity, of trade, or as permanent residents. The high contracting
  parties therefore join in reprobating any other than an entirely
  voluntary emigration for these purposes. They consequently agree to
  pass laws making it a penal offense for a citizen of the United States
  or Chinese subjects to take Chinese subjects either to the United
  States or to any other foreign country, or for a Chinese subject or
  citizen of the United States to take citizens of the United States
  to China or to any other foreign country, without their free and
  voluntary consent, respectively.

  ART. VI. Citizens of the United States visiting or residing in China
  shall enjoy the same privileges, immunities, or exemptions in respect
  to travel or residence as may there be enjoyed by the citizens or
  subjects of the most favored nation, and, reciprocally, Chinese
  subjects visiting or residing in the United States shall enjoy the
  same privileges, immunities, and exemptions in respect to travel or
  residence as may there be enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the
  most favored nation. But nothing herein contained shall be held to
  confer naturalization upon citizens of the United States in China,
  nor upon the subjects of China in the United States.


An examination of these two articles in the light of the experience
then influential in suggesting their "necessity" will show that the
fifth article was framed in hostility to what seemed the principal
mischief to be guarded against, to wit, the introduction of Chinese
laborers by methods which should have the character of a forced and
servile importation, and not of a voluntary emigration of freemen
seeking our shores upon motives and in a manner consonant with the
system of our institutions and approved by the experience of the
nation. Unquestionably the adhesion of the Government of China to
these liberal principles of freedom in emigration, with which we were
so familiar and with which we were so well satisfied, was a great
advance toward opening that Empire to our civilization and religion,
and gave promise in the future of greater and greater practical
results in the diffusion throughout that great population of our arts
and industries, our manufactures, our material improvements, and the
sentiments of government and religion which seem to us so important to
the welfare of mankind. The first clause of this article secures this
acceptance by China of the American doctrines of free migration to and
fro among the peoples and races of the earth.

The second clause, however, in its reprobation of "any other than an
entirely voluntary emigration" by both the high contracting parties,
and in the reciprocal obligations whereby we secured the solemn and
unqualified engagement on the part of the Government of China "to pass
laws making it a penal offense for a citizen of the United States or
Chinese subjects to take Chinese subjects either to the United States
or to any other foreign country without their free and voluntary
consent," constitutes the great force and value of this article. Its
importance both in principle and in its practical service toward our
protection against servile importation in the guise of immigration can
not be overestimated. It commits the Chinese Government to active and
efficient measures to suppress this iniquitous system, where those
measures are most necessary and can be most effectual. It gives to
this Government the footing of a treaty right to such measures and
the means and opportunity of insisting upon their adoption and
of complaint and resentment at their neglect. The fifth article,
therefore, if it fall short of what the pressure of the later
experience of our Pacific States may urge upon the attention of this
Government as essential to the public welfare, seems to be in the
right direction and to contain important advantages which once
relinquished can not be easily recovered.

The second topic which interested the two Governments under the actual
condition of things which prompted the Burlingame treaty was adequate
protection, under the solemn and definite guaranties of a treaty,
of the Chinese already in this country and those who should seek
our shores. This was the object, and forms the subject of the sixth
article, by whose reciprocal engagement the citizens and subjects of
the two Governments, respectively, visiting or residing in the
country of the other are secured the same privileges, immunities,
or exemptions there enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most
favored nations. The treaty of 1858, to which these articles are made
supplemental, provides for a great amount of privilege and protection,
both of person and property, to American citizens in China, but it is
upon this sixth article that the main body of the treaty rights
and securities of the Chinese already in this country depends. Its
abrogation, were the rest of the treaty left in force, would leave
them to such treatment as we should voluntarily accord them by our
laws and customs. Any treaty obligation would be wanting to restrain
our liberty of action toward them, or to measure or sustain the right
of the Chinese Government to complaint or redress in their behalf.

The lapse of ten years since the negotiation of the Burlingame treaty
has exhibited to the notice of the Chinese Government, as well as to
our own people, the working of this experiment of immigration in great
numbers of Chinese laborers to this country, and their maintenance
here of all the traits of race, religion, manners, and customs,
habitations, mode of life, segregation here, and the keeping up of
the ties of their original home, which stamp them as strangers and
sojourners, and not as incorporated elements of our national life and
growth. This experience may naturally suggest the reconsideration of
the subject as dealt with by the Burlingame treaty, and may properly
become the occasion of more and circumspect recognition, in renewed
negotiations, of the difficulties surrounding this political and
social problem. It may well be that, to the apprehension of the
Chinese Government no less than our own, the simple provisions of the
Burlingame treaty may need to be replaced by more careful methods,
securing the Chinese and ourselves against a larger and more rapid
infusion of this foreign race than our system of industry and
society can take up and assimilate with ease and safety. This ancient
Government, ruling a polite and sensitive people, distinguished by
a high sense of national pride, may properly desire an adjustment of
their relations with us which would in all things confirm and in no
degree endanger the permanent peace and amity and the growing commerce
and prosperity which it has been the object and the effect of our
existing treaties to cherish and perpetuate.

I regard the very grave discontents of the people of the Pacific
States with the present working of the Chinese immigration, and their
still graver apprehensions therefrom in the future, as deserving
the most serious attention of the people of the whole country and a
solicitous interest on the part of Congress and the Executive. If this
were not my own judgment, the passage of this bill by both Houses of
Congress would impress upon me the seriousness of the situation, when
a majority of the representatives of the people of the whole country
had thought fit to justify so serious a measure of relief.

The authority of Congress to terminate a treaty with a foreign power
by expressing the will of the nation no longer to adhere to it is
as free from controversy under our Constitution as is the further
proposition that the power of making new treaties or modifying
existing treaties is not lodged by the Constitution in Congress, but
in the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, as
shown by the concurrence of two-thirds of that body. A denunciation of
a treaty by any government is confessedly justifiable only upon some
reason both of the highest justice and of the highest necessity. The
action of Congress in the matter of the French treaties in 1798, if
it be regarded as an abrogation by this nation of a subsisting treaty,
strongly illustrates the character and degree of justification which
was then thought suitable to such a proceeding. The preamble of the
act recites that the--

  Treaties concluded between the United States and France have been
  repeatedly violated on the part of the French Government, and the
  just claims of the United States for reparation of the injuries
  so committed have been refused, and their attempts to negotiate an
  amicable adjustment of all complaints between the two nations have
  been repelled with indignity.


And that--

  Under authority of the French Government there is yet pursued against
  the United States a system of predatory violence, infracting the said
  treaties and hostile to the rights of a free and independent nation.


The enactment, as a logical consequence of these recited facts,
declares--

  That the United States are of right freed and exonerated from the
  stipulations of the treaties and of the consular convention heretofore
  concluded between the United States and France, and that the same
  shall not henceforth be regarded as legally obligatory on the
  Government or citizens of the United States.


The history of the Government shows no other instance of an abrogation
of a treaty by Congress.

Instances have sometimes occurred where the ordinary legislation
of Congress has, by its conflict with some treaty obligation of the
Government toward a foreign power, taken effect as an _infraction_
of the treaty, and been judicially declared to be operative to that
result; but neither such legislation nor such judicial sanction of the
same has been regarded as an _abrogation_, even for the moment, of
the treaty. On the contrary, the treaty in such case still subsists
between the governments, and the casual infraction is repaired by
appropriate satisfaction in maintenance of the treaty.

The bill before me does not enjoin upon the President the abrogation
of the entire Burlingame treaty, much less of the principal treaty of
which it is made the supplement. As the power of modifying an existing
treaty, whether by adding or striking out provisions, is a part of
the treaty-making power under the Constitution, its exercise is not
competent for Congress, nor would the assent of China to this partial
abrogation of the treaty make the action of Congress in thus procuring
an amendment of a treaty a competent exercise of authority under the
Constitution. The importance, however, of this special consideration
seems superseded by the principle that a denunciation of a part of a
treaty not made by the terms of the treaty itself separable from
the rest is a denunciation of the whole treaty. As the other high
contracting party has entered into no treaty obligations except such
as include the part denounced, the denunciation by one party of the
part necessarily liberates the other party from the whole treaty.

I am convinced that, whatever urgency might in any quarter or by any
interest be supposed to require an instant suppression of further
immigration from China, no reasons can require the immediate
withdrawal of our treaty protection of the Chinese already in this
country, and no circumstances can tolerate an exposure of our citizens
in China, merchants or missionaries, to the consequences of so sudden
an abrogation of their treaty protection. Fortunately, however, the
actual recession in the flow of the emigration from China to the
Pacific Coast, shown by trustworthy statistics, relieves us from any
apprehension that the treatment of the subject in the proper course of
diplomatic negotiations will introduce any new features of discontent
or disturbance among the communities directly affected. Were such
delay fraught with more inconveniences than have ever been suggested
by the interests most earnest in promoting this legislation, I can not
but regard the summary disturbance of our existing treaties with
China as greatly more inconvenient to much wider and more permanent
interests of the country.

I have no occasion to insist upon the more general considerations of
interest and duty which sacredly guard the faith of the nation, in
whatever form of obligation it may have been given. These sentiments
animate the deliberations of Congress and pervade the minds of our
whole people. Our history gives little occasion for any reproach in
this regard; and in asking the renewed attention of Congress to this
bill I am persuaded that their action will maintain the public duty
and the public honor.

R.B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATION.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the final adjournment of the Forty-fifth Congress without
making the usual and necessary appropriations for the legislative,
executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1880, and without making the usual and necessary
appropriations for the support of the Army for the same fiscal year,
presents an extraordinary occasion requiring the President to exercise
the power vested in him by the Constitution to convene the Houses
of Congress in anticipation of the day fixed by law for their next
meeting:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do, by virtue of the power to this end in me vested by the
Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress to assemble at their
respective chambers at 12 o'clock noon on Tuesday, the 18th day of
March instant, then and there to consider and determine such measures
as in their wisdom their duty and the welfare of the people may seem
to demand.

[SEAL.]

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of March, A.D. 1879, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred
and third.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE.


WASHINGTON, _March 19, 1879_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:_

The failure of the last Congress to make the requisite appropriations
for legislative and judicial purposes, for the expenses of the several
Executive Departments of the Government, and for the support of
the Army has made it necessary to call a special session of the
Forty-sixth Congress.

The estimates of the appropriations needed which were sent to Congress
by the Secretary of the Treasury at the opening of the last session
are renewed, and are herewith transmitted to both the Senate and the
House of Representatives.

Regretting the existence of the emergency which requires a special
session of Congress at a time when it is the general judgment of the
country that the public welfare will be best promoted by permanency in
our legislation and by peace and rest, I commend these few necessary
measures to your considerate attention.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant,
calling for the reports of Gustavus Goward on the Samoan Islands,
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the
accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 18, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant, I
transmit herewith a copy of the report of the commission appointed by
the President on the 15th of March, 1872, relating to the different
interoceanic canal surveys and the practicability of the construction
of a ship canal across this continent.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 15, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to a resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant,
requesting information in reference to an alleged occupation of a
portion of the Indian Territory by white settlers, etc., I transmit
herewith a copy of my proclamation dated April 26, 1879;[25] also
copies of the correspondence and papers on file and of record in the
Department of the Interior and the War Department touching the subject
of the resolution.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 25: See pp. 547-548.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to a resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant,
I transmit herewith a communication[26] from the Secretary of the
Interior and accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 26: Relating to lands in the Indian Territory acquired by the
treaties of 1866.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 5, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the "proceedings and report" of the board of
officers convened by Special Orders, No. 78, Headquarters of the
Army, Washington, April 12, 1878, in the case of Fitz John Porter. The
report of the board was made in March last, but the official record of
the proceedings did not reach me until the 3d instant.

I have given to this report such examination as satisfies me that
I ought to lay the proceedings and conclusions of the board before
Congress. As I am without power, in the absence of legislation, to act
upon the recommendations of the report further than by submitting the
same to Congress, the proceedings and conclusions of the board are
transmitted for the information of Congress and such action as in your
wisdom shall seem expedient and just.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _June 13, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House
of Representatives of the 29th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of
State relative to the steps taken by this Government to promote the
establishment of an interoceanic canal across or near the Isthmus of
Darien.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate a report from the Secretary
of State, in response to a resolution of that body of the 20th
instant, calling for the proceedings and accompanying papers of
the International Silver Conference held in Paris in 1878.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 30, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The bill making provision for the payment of the fees of United States
marshals and their general deputies, which I have this day returned
to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with my
objections,[27] having upon its reconsideration by that body failed
to become a law, I respectfully call your attention to the immediate
necessity of making some adequate provision for the due and efficient
execution by the marshals and deputy marshals of the United States of
the constant and important duties enjoined upon them by the existing
laws. All appropriations to provide for the performance of these
indispensable duties expire to-day. Under the laws prohibiting public
officers from involving the Government in contract liabilities beyond
actual appropriations, it is apparent that the means at the disposal
of the executive department for executing the laws through the
regular ministerial officers will after to-day be left inadequate. The
suspension of these necessary functions in the orderly administration
of the first duties of government for the shortest period is
inconsistent with the public interests, and at any moment may prove
inconsistent with the public safety.

It is impossible for me to look without grave concern upon a state of
things which will leave the public service thus unprovided for and
the public interests thus unprotected, and I earnestly urge upon your
attention the necessity of making immediate appropriations for the
maintenance of the service of the marshals and deputy marshals for the
fiscal year which commences to-morrow.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

[Footnote 27: See pp. 545-547.]



WASHINGTON, _July 1, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 28th June, 1879,
requesting a copy of any correspondence which may have passed between
the Department of State and the Republic of Mexico in regard to the
proposed Austin-Topolovampo Railroad survey across the northern States
of that country, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of
State upon the subject.

R.B. HAYES.




VETO MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 29, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have maturely considered the important questions presented by the
bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of
the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for other
purposes," and I now return it to the House of Representatives, in
which it originated, with my objections to its approval.

The bill provides in the usual form for the appropriations required
for the support of the Army during the next fiscal year. If it
contained no other provisions, it would receive my prompt approval. It
includes, however, further legislation, which, attached, as it is, to
appropriations which are requisite for the efficient performance
of some of the most necessary duties of the Government, involves
questions of the gravest character. The sixth section of the bill is
amendatory of the statute now in force in regard to the authority of
persons in the civil, military, and naval service of the United States
"at the place where any general or special election is held in any
State." This statute was adopted February 25, 1865, after a protracted
debate in the Senate, and almost without opposition in the House
of Representatives, by the concurrent votes of both of the leading
political parties of the country, and became a law by the approval of
President Lincoln. It was reenacted in 1874 in the Revised Statutes of
the United States, sections 2002 and 5528, which are as follows:

  SEC. 2002. No military or naval officer, or other person
  engaged in the civil, military, or naval service of the United
  States, shall order, bring, keep, or have under his authority
  or control any troops or armed men at the place where any
  general or special election is held in any State, unless it be
  necessary to repel the armed enemies of the United States or
  to keep the peace at the polls.

  SEC. 5528. Every officer of the Army or Navy, or other person
  in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States,
  who orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or
  control any troops or armed men at any place where a general
  or special election is held in any State, unless such force
  be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States or
  to keep the peace at the polls, shall be fined not more than
  $5,000 and surfer imprisonment at hard labor not less than
  three months nor more than five years.


The amendment proposed to this statute in the bill before me omits
from both of the foregoing sections the words "or to keep the peace
at the polls," The effect of the adoption of this amendment may be
considered--

First. Upon the right of the United States Government to use military
force to keep the peace at the elections for Members of Congress; and

Second. Upon the right of the Government, by civil authority, to
protect these elections from violence and fraud.

In addition to the sections of the statute above quoted, the following
provisions of law relating to the use of the military power at the
elections are now in force:

  SEC. 2003. No officer of the Army or Navy of the United States
  shall prescribe or fix, or attempt to prescribe or fix, by
  proclamation, order, or otherwise, the qualifications of
  voters in any State, or in any manner interfere with the
  freedom of any election in any State, or with the exercise of
  the free right of suffrage in any State.

  SEC. 5529. Every officer or other person in the military or
  naval service who, by force, threat, intimidation, order,
  advice, or otherwise, prevents, or attempts to prevent, any
  qualified voter of any State from freely exercising the right
  of suffrage at any general or special election in such State
  shall be fined not more than $5,000 and imprisoned at hard
  labor not more than five years.

  SEC. 5530. Every officer of the Army or Navy who prescribes
  or fixes, or attempts to prescribe or fix, whether by
  proclamation, order, or otherwise, the qualifications of
  voters at any election in any State shall be punished as
  provided in the preceding section.

  SEC. 5531. Every officer or other person in the military or
  naval service who, by force, threat, intimidation, order, or
  otherwise, compels, or attempts to compel, any officer holding
  an election in any State to receive a vote from a person not
  legally qualified to vote, or who imposes, or attempts to
  impose, any regulations for conducting any general or special
  election in a State different from those prescribed by law, or
  who interferes in any manner with any officer of an election
  in the discharge of his duty, shall be punished as provided in
  section 5529.

  SEC. 5532. Every person convicted of any of the offenses
  specified in the five preceding sections shall, in addition to
  the punishments therein severally prescribed, be disqualified
  from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under
  the United States; but nothing in those sections shall be
  construed to prevent any officer, soldier, sailor, or marine
  from exercising the right of suffrage in any election district
  to which he may belong, if otherwise qualified according to
  the laws of the State in which he offers to vote.


The foregoing enactments would seem to be sufficient to prevent
military interference with the elections. But the last Congress, to
remove all apprehension of such interference, added to this body of
law section 15 of an act entitled "An act making appropriations for
the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879, and
for other purposes," approved June 18, 1878, which is as follows:

  SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not
  be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States,
  as a _posse comitatus_ or otherwise, for the purpose of
  executing the laws, except in such cases and under such
  circumstances as such employment of said force may be
  expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of
  Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used
  to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any
  troops in violation of this section; and any person willfully
  violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed
  guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be
  punished by fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not
  exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.


This act passed the Senate, after full consideration, without a single
vote recorded against it on its final passage, and, by a majority
of more than two-thirds, it was concurred in by the House of
Representatives.

The purpose of the section quoted was stated in the Senate by one of
its supporters as follows:

  Therefore I hope, without getting into any controversy about
  the past, but acting wisely for the future, that we shall
  take away the idea that the Army can be used by a general or
  special deputy marshal, or any marshal, merely for election
  purposes, as a posse, ordering them about the polls or
  ordering them anywhere else, when there is an election going
  on, to prevent disorders or to suppress disturbances that
  should be suppressed by the peace officers of the State; or,
  if they must bring others to their aid they should summon the
  unorganized citizens, and not summon the officers and men of
  the Army as _posse comitatus_ to quell disorders, and thus
  get up a feeling which will be disastrous to peace among the
  people of the country.


In the House of Representatives the object of the act of 1878 was
stated by the gentleman who had it in charge in similar terms. He
said:

  But these are all minor points and insignificant questions
  compared with the great principle which was incorporated by
  the House in the bill in reference to the use of the Army
  in time of peace. The Senate had already conceded what they
  called and what we might accept as the principle, but they
  had stricken out the penalty, and had stricken out the word
  "_expressly_" so that the Army might be used in all cases
  where _implied_ authority might be inferred. The House
  committee planted themselves firmly upon the doctrine that
  rather than yield this fundamental principle, for which for
  three years this House had struggled, they would allow
  the bill to fail, notwithstanding the reforms which we had
  secured, regarding these reforms as of but little consequence
  alongside the great principle that the Army of the United
  States, in time of peace, should be under the control of
  Congress and obedient to its laws. After a long and protracted
  negotiation, the Senate committee have conceded that principle
  in all its length and breadth, including the penalty, which
  the Senate had stricken out. We bring you back, therefore,
  a report, with the alteration of a single word, which the
  lawyers assure me is proper to be made, restoring to this bill
  the principle for which we have contended so long, and which
  is so vital to secure the rights and liberties of the people.

     *       *       *       *       *

  Thus have we this day secured to the people of this country
  the same great protection against a standing army which cost
  a struggle of two hundred years for the Commons of England to
  secure for the British people.


From this brief review of the subject it sufficiently appears that
under existing laws there can be no military interference with the
elections. No case of such interference has, in fact, occurred since
the passage of the act last referred to. No soldier of the United
States has appeared under orders at any place of election in any
State. No complaint even of the presence of United States troops has
been made in any quarter. It may therefore be confidently stated
that there is no necessity for the enactment of section 6 of the bill
before me to prevent military interference with the elections. The
laws already in force are all that is required for that end.

But that part of section 6 of this bill which is significant and
vitally important is the clause which, if adopted, will deprive the
civil authorities of the United States of all power to keep the peace
at the Congressional elections. The Congressional elections in every
district, in a very important sense, are justly a matter of political
interest and concern throughout the whole country. Each State, every
political party, is entitled to the share of power which is conferred
by the legal and constitutional suffrage. It is the right of every
citizen possessing the qualifications prescribed by law to cast one
unintimidated ballot and to have his ballot honestly counted. So long
as the exercise of this power and the enjoyment of this right are
common and equal, practically as well as formally, submission to the
results of the suffrage will be accorded loyally and cheerfully, and
all the departments of Government will feel the true vigor of the
popular will thus expressed.

Two provisions of the Constitution authorize legislation by Congress
for the regulation of the Congressional elections.

Section 4 of Article I of the Constitution declares--

  The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
  Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State
  by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time,
  by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the
  places of choosing Senators.


The fifteenth amendment of the Constitution is as follows:

  SEC. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
  shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
  servitude.

  SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
  by appropriate legislation.


The Supreme Court has held that this amendment invests the citizens of
the United States with a new constitutional right which is within
the protecting power of Congress. That right the court declares to
be exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective
franchise on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude. The power of Congress to protect this right by appropriate
legislation is expressly affirmed by the court.

National legislation to provide safeguards for free and honest
elections is necessary, as experience has shown, not only to secure
the right to vote to the enfranchised race at the South, but also to
prevent fraudulent voting in the large cities of the North. Congress
has therefore exercised the power conferred by the Constitution, and
has enacted certain laws to prevent discriminations on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and to punish fraud,
violence, and intimidation at Federal elections. Attention is called
to the following sections of the Revised Statutes of the United
States, viz:

Section 2004, which guarantees to all citizens the right to vote,
without distinction on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.

Sections 2005 and 2006, which guarantee to all citizens equal
opportunity, without discrimination, to perform all the acts required
by law as a prerequisite or qualification for voting.

Section 2022, which authorizes the United States marshal and
his deputies to keep the peace and preserve order at the Federal
elections.

Section 2024, which expressly authorizes the United States marshal
and his deputies to summon a _posse comitatus_ whenever they or any of
them are forcibly resisted in the execution of their duties under the
law or are prevented from executing such duties by violence.

Section 5522, which provides for the punishment of the crime of
interfering with the supervisors of elections and deputy marshals in
the discharge of their duties at the elections of Representatives in
Congress.

These are some of the laws on this subject which it is the duty of
the executive department of the Government to enforce. The intent and
effect of the sixth section of this bill is to prohibit all the civil
officers of the United States, under penalty of fine and imprisonment,
from employing any adequate civil force for this purpose at the place
where their enforcement is most necessary, namely, at the places
where the Congressional elections are held. Among the most valuable
enactments to which I have referred are those which protect the
supervisors of Federal elections in the discharge of their duties at
the polls. If the proposed legislation should become the law, there
will be no power vested in any officer of the Government to protect
from violence the officers of the United States engaged in the
discharge of their duties. Their rights and duties under the law will
remain, but the National Government will be powerless to enforce its
own statutes. The States may employ both military and civil power to
keep the peace and to enforce the laws at State elections. It is
now proposed to deny to the United States even the necessary civil
authority to protect the national elections. No sufficient reason has
been given for this discrimination in favor of the State and against
the national authority. If well-founded objections exist against the
present national election laws, all good citizens should unite in
their amendment. The laws providing the safeguards of the elections
should be impartial, just, and efficient. They should, if possible,
be so nonpartisan and fair in their operation that the minority--the
party out of power--will have no just grounds to complain. The present
laws have in practice unquestionably conduced to the prevention of
fraud and violence at the elections. In several of the States members
of different political parties have applied for the safeguards which
they furnish. It is the right and duty of the National Government to
enact and enforce laws which will secure free and fair Congressional
elections. The laws now in force should not be repealed except in
connection with the enactment of measures which will better accomplish
that important end. Believing that section 6 of the bill before me
will weaken, if it does not altogether take away, the power of the
National Government to protect the Federal elections by the civil
authorities, I am forced to the conclusion that it ought not to
receive my approval.

This section is, however, not presented to me as a separate and
independent measure, but is, as has been stated, attached to the bill
making the usual annual appropriations for the support of the Army. It
makes a vital change in the election laws of the country, which is in
no way connected with the use of the Army. It prohibits, under heavy
penalties, any person engaged in the civil service of the United
States from having any force at the place of any election, prepared to
preserve order, to make arrests, to keep the peace, or in any manner
to enforce the laws. This is altogether foreign to the purpose of
an Army appropriation bill. The practice of tacking to appropriation
bills measures not pertinent to such bills did not prevail until more
than forty years after the adoption of the Constitution. It has become
a common practice. All parties when in power have adopted it. Many
abuses and great waste of public money have in this way crept into
appropriation bills. The public opinion of the country is against it.
The States which have recently adopted constitutions have generally
provided a remedy for the evil by enacting that no law shall contain
more than one subject, which shall be plainly expressed in its
title. The constitutions of more than half of the States contain
substantially this provision. The public welfare will be promoted in
many ways by a return to the early practice of the Government and to
the true principle of legislation, which requires that every measure
shall stand or fall according to its own merits. If it were understood
that to attach to an appropriation bill a measure irrelevant to the
general object of the bill would imperil and probably prevent its
final passage and approval, a valuable reform in the parliamentary
practice of Congress would be accomplished. The best justification
that has been offered for attaching irrelevant riders to appropriation
bills is that it is done for convenience sake, to facilitate the
passage of measures which are deemed expedient by all the branches
of Government which participate in legislation. It can not be claimed
that there is any such reason for attaching this amendment of the
election laws to the Army appropriation bill. The history of the
measure contradicts this assumption. A majority of the House of
Representatives in the last Congress was in favor of section 6 of this
bill. It was known that a majority of the Senate was opposed to
it, and that as a separate measure it could not be adopted. It was
attached to the Army appropriation bill to compel the Senate to
assent to it. It was plainly announced to the Senate that the Army
appropriation bill would not be allowed to pass unless the proposed
amendments of the election laws were adopted with it. The Senate
refused to assent to the bill on account of this irrelevant section.
Congress thereupon adjourned without passing an appropriation bill for
the Army, and the present extra session of the Forty-sixth Congress
became necessary to furnish the means to carry on the Government.

The ground upon which the action of the House of Representatives is
defended has been distinctly stated by many of its advocates. A week
before the close of the last session of Congress the doctrine in
question was stated by one of its ablest defenders as follows:

  It is our duty to repeal these laws. It is not worth while
  to attempt the repeal except upon an appropriation bill.
  The Republican Senate would not agree to nor the Republican
  President sign a bill for such repeal. Whatever objection to
  legislation upon appropriation bills may be made in ordinary
  cases does not apply where free elections and the liberty of
  the citizens are concerned. * * * We have the power to vote
  money; let us annex conditions to it, and insist upon the
  redress of grievances.


By another distinguished member of the House it was said:

  The right of the Representatives of the people to withhold
  supplies is as old as English liberty. History records
  numerous instances where the Commons, feeling that the people
  were oppressed by laws that the Lords would not consent
  to repeal by the ordinary methods of legislation, obtained
  redress at last by refusing appropriations unless accompanied
  by relief measures.


That a question of the gravest magnitude, and new in this country, was
raised by this course of proceeding, was fully recognized also by its
defenders in the Senate. It was said by a distinguished Senator:

  Perhaps no greater question, in the form we are brought to
  consider it, was ever considered by the American Congress
  in time of peace; for it involves not merely the merits or
  demerits of the laws which the House bill proposes to repeal,
  but involves the rights, the privileges, the powers, the
  duties of the two branches of Congress and of the President
  of the United States. It is a vast question; it is a question
  whose importance can scarcely be estimated; it is a question
  that never yet has been brought so sharply before the American
  Congress and the American people as it may be now. It is
  a question which sooner or later must be decided, and the
  decision must determine what are the powers of the House of
  Representatives under the Constitution, and what is the duty
  of that House in the view of the framers of that Constitution,
  according to its letter and its spirit.

  Mr. President, I should approach this question, if I were in
  the best possible condition to speak and to argue it, with
  very grave diffidence, and certainly with the utmost anxiety;
  for no one can think of it as long and as carefully as I have
  thought of it without seeing that we are at the beginning,
  perhaps, of a struggle that may last as long in this country
  as a similar struggle lasted in what we are accustomed to call
  the mother land. There the struggle lasted for two centuries
  before it was ultimately decided. It is not likely to last so
  long here, but it may last until every man in this chamber is
  in his grave. It is the question whether or no the House of
  Representatives has a right to say, "We will grant supplies
  only upon condition that grievances are redressed. We are
  the representatives of the taxpayers of the Republic. We, the
  House of Representatives, alone have the right to originate
  money bills. We, the House of Representatives, have alone the
  right to originate bills which grant the money of the people.
  The Senate represents States; we represent the taxpayers
  of the Republic. We, therefore, by the very terms of the
  Constitution, are charged with the duty of originating the
  bills which grant the money of the people. We claim the right,
  which the House of Commons in England established after two
  centuries of contest, to say that we will not grant the money
  of the people unless there is a redress of grievances."


Upon the assembling of this Congress, in pursuance of a call for
an extra session, which was made necessary by the failure of the
Forty-fifth Congress to make the needful appropriations for the
support of the Government, the question was presented whether the
attempt made in the last Congress to ingraft by construction a new
principle upon the Constitution should be persisted in or not. This
Congress has ample opportunity and time to pass the appropriation
bills, and also to enact any political measures which may be
determined upon in separate bills by the usual and orderly methods
of proceeding. But the majority of both Houses have deemed it wise to
adhere to the principles asserted and maintained in the last Congress
by the majority of the House of Representatives. That principle is
that the House of Representatives has the sole right to originate
bills for raising revenue, and therefore has the right to withhold
appropriations upon which the existence of the Government may depend
unless the Senate and the President shall give their assent to any
legislation which the House may see fit to attach to appropriation
bills. To establish this principle is to make a radical, dangerous,
and unconstitutional change in the character of our institutions. The
various departments of the Government and the Army and the Navy
are established by the Constitution or by laws passed in pursuance
thereof. Their duties are clearly defined and their support is
carefully provided for by law. The money required for this purpose has
been collected from the people and is now in the Treasury, ready to
be paid out as soon as the appropriation bills are passed. Whether
appropriations are made or not, the collection of the taxes will go
on. The public money will accumulate in the Treasury. It was not the
intention of the framers of the Constitution that any single branch of
the Government should have the power to dictate conditions upon
which this treasure should be applied to the purpose for which it was
collected. Any such intention, if it had been entertained, would have
been plainly expressed in the Constitution.

That a majority of the Senate now concurs in the claim of the House
adds to the gravity of the situation, but does not alter the
question at issue. The new doctrine, if maintained, will result in
a consolidation of unchecked and despotic power in the House of
Representatives. A bare majority of the House will become the
Government. The Executive will no longer be what the framers of
the Constitution intended--an equal and independent branch of the
Government. It is clearly the constitutional duty of the President to
exercise his discretion and judgment upon all bills presented to him
without constraint or duress from any other branch of the Government.
To say that a majority of either or both of the Houses of Congress may
insist upon the approval of a bill under the penalty of stopping all
of the operations of the Government for want of the necessary supplies
is to deny to the Executive that share of the legislative power which
is plainly conferred by the second section of the seventh article
of the Constitution. It strikes from the Constitution the qualified
negative of the President. It is said that this should be done
because it is the peculiar function of the House of Representatives to
represent the will of the people. But no single branch or department
of the Government has exclusive authority to speak for the American
people. The most authentic and solemn expression of their will
is contained in the Constitution of the United States. By that
Constitution they have ordained and established a Government whose
powers are distributed among coordinate branches, which, as far as
possible consistently with a harmonious cooperation, are absolutely
independent of each other. The people of this country are unwilling to
see the supremacy of the Constitution replaced by the omnipotence of
any one department of the Government.

The enactment of this bill into a law will establish a precedent which
will tend to destroy the equal independence of the several branches
of the Government. Its principle places not merely the Senate and the
Executive, but the judiciary also, under the coercive dictation of
the House. The House alone will be the judge of what constitutes a
grievance, and also of the means and measure of redress. An act of
Congress to protect elections is now the grievance complained of; but
the House may on the same principle determine that any other act of
Congress, a treaty made by the President with the advice and consent
of the Senate, a nomination or appointment to office, or that a
decision or opinion of the Supreme Court is a grievance, and that the
measure of redress is to withhold the appropriations required for the
support of the offending branch of the Government.

Believing that this bill is a dangerous violation of the spirit and
meaning of the Constitution, I am compelled to return it to the House
in which it originated without my approval. The qualified negative
with which the Constitution invests the President is a trust that
involves a duty which he can not decline to perform. With a firm and
conscientious purpose to do what I can to preserve unimpaired the
constitutional powers and equal independence, not merely of the
Executive, but of every branch of the Government, which will be
imperiled by the adoption of the principle of this bill, I desire
earnestly to urge upon the House of Representatives a return to the
wise and wholesome usage of the earlier days of the Republic, which
excluded from appropriation bills all irrelevant legislation. By
this course you will inaugurate an important reform in the method of
Congressional legislation; your action will be in harmony with the
fundamental principles of the Constitution and the patriotic sentiment
of nationality which is their firm support, and you will restore to
the country that feeling of confidence and security and the
repose which are so essential to the prosperity of all of our
fellow-citizens.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



_To the House of Representatives_:

After a careful consideration of the bill entitled "An act to prohibit
military interference at elections," I return it to the House of
Representatives, in which it originated, with the following objections
to its approval:

In the communication sent to the House of Representatives on the 29th
of last month, returning to the House without my approval the bill
entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the Army
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for other purposes,"
I endeavored to show, by quotations from the statutes of the United
States now in force and by a brief statement of facts in regard to
recent elections in the several States, that no additional legislation
was necessary to prevent interference with the elections by the
military or naval forces of the United States. The fact was presented
in that communication that at the time of the passage of the act of
June 18, 1878, in relation to the employment of the Army as a _posse
comitatus_ or otherwise, it was maintained by its friends that it
would establish a vital and fundamental principle which would secure,
to the people protection against a standing army. The fact was also
referred to that since the passage of this act Congressional, State,
and municipal elections have been held throughout the Union, and
that in no instance has complaint been made of the presence of United
States soldiers at the polls.

Holding, as I do, the opinion that any military interference whatever
at the polls is contrary to the spirit of our institutions and would
tend to destroy the freedom of elections, and sincerely desiring to
concur with Congress in all of its measures, it is with very great
regret that I am forced to the conclusion that the bill before me is
not only unnecessary to prevent such interference, but is a dangerous
departure from long-settled and important constitutional principles.

The true rule as to the employment of military force at the elections
is not doubtful. No intimidation or coercion should be allowed to
control or influence citizens in the exercise of their right to vote,
whether it appears in the shape of combinations of evil-disposed
persons, or of armed bodies of the militia of a State, or of the
military force of the United States.

The elections should be free from all forcible interference, and, as
far as practicable, from all apprehensions of such interference.
No soldiers, either of the Union or of the State militia, should be
present at the polls to take the place or to perform the duties of the
ordinary civil police force. There has been and will be no violation
of this rule under orders from me during this Administration; but
there should be no denial of the right of the National Government to
employ its military force on any day and at any place in case such
employment is necessary to enforce the Constitution and laws of the
United States.

The bill before me is as follows:

  _Be it enacted, etc._, That it shall not be lawful to bring to
  or employ at any place where a general or special election
  is being held in a State any part of the Army or Navy of the
  United States, unless such force be necessary to repel the
  armed enemies of the United States or to enforce section 4,
  Article IV, of the Constitution of the United States and
  the laws made in pursuance thereof, on application of the
  legislature or executive of the State where such force is to
  be used; and so much of all laws as is inconsistent herewith
  is hereby repealed.


It will be observed that the bill exempts from the general prohibition
against the employment of military force at the polls two specified
cases. These exceptions recognize and concede the soundness of the
principle that military force may properly and constitutionally be
used at the place of elections when such use is necessary to enforce
the Constitution and the laws; but the excepted cases leave the
prohibition so extensive and far-reaching that its adoption will
seriously impair the efficiency of the executive department of the
Government.

The first act expressly authorizing the use of military power to
execute the laws was passed almost as early as the organization of
the Government under the Constitution, and was approved by President
Washington May 2, 1792. It is as follows:

  SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That whenever the laws
  of the United States shall be opposed or the execution thereof
  obstructed in any State by combinations too powerful to be
  suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or
  by the powers vested in the marshals by this act, the same
  being notified to the President of the United States by an
  associate justice or the district judge, it shall be lawful
  for the President of the United States to call forth the
  militia of such State to suppress such combinations and to
  cause the laws to be duly executed. And if the militia of a
  State where such combination may happen shall refuse or be
  insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the
  President, if the Legislature of the United States be not in
  session, to call forth and employ such numbers of the militia
  of any other State or States most convenient thereto as may be
  necessary; and the use of militia so to be called forth may be
  continued, if necessary, until the expiration of thirty days
  after the commencement of the ensuing session.


In 1795 this provision was substantially reenacted in a law which
repealed the act of 1792. In 1807 the following act became the law by
the approval of President Jefferson:

  That in all cases of insurrection or obstruction to the laws,
  either of the United States or of any individual State or
  Territory, where it is lawful for the President of the
  United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of
  suppressing such insurrection or of causing the laws to be
  duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ for the
  same purposes such part of the land or naval force of the
  United States as shall be judged necessary, having first
  observed all the prerequisites of the law in that respect.


By this act it will be seen that the scope of the law of 1795 was
extended so as to authorize the National Government to use not only
the militia, but the Army and Navy of the United States, in "causing
the laws to be duly executed."

The important provision of the acts of 1792, 1795, and 1807, modified
in its terms from time to time to adapt it to the existing emergency,
remained in force until, by an act approved by President Lincoln July
29, 1861, it was reenacted substantially in the same language in which
it is now found in the Revised Statutes, viz:

  SEC. 5298. Whenever, by reason of unlawful obstructions,
  combinations, or assemblages of persons, or rebellion against
  the authority of the Government of the United States, it shall
  become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to
  enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the
  laws of the United States within any State or Territory, it
  shall be lawful for the President to call forth the militia of
  any or all the States and to employ such parts of the land and
  naval forces of the United States as he may deem necessary
  to enforce the faithful execution of the laws of the United
  States or to suppress such rebellion, in whatever State
  or Territory thereof the laws of the United States may be
  forcibly opposed or the execution thereof forcibly obstructed.


This ancient and fundamental law has been in force from the foundation
of the Government. It is now proposed to abrogate it on certain days
and at certain places. In my judgment no fact has been produced which
tends to show that it ought to be repealed or suspended for a single
hour at any place in any of the States or Territories of the Union.
All the teachings of experience in the course of our history are in
favor of sustaining its efficiency unimpaired. On every occasion when
the supremacy of the Constitution has been resisted and the perpetuity
of our institutions imperiled the principle of this statute, enacted
by the fathers, has enabled the Government of the Union to maintain
its authority and to preserve the integrity of the nation.

At the most critical periods of our history my predecessors in the
executive office have relied on this great principle. It was on this
principle that President Washington suppressed the whisky rebellion in
Pennsylvania in 1794.

In 1806, on the same principle, President Jefferson broke up the Burr
conspiracy by issuing "orders for the employment of such force, either
of the regulars or of the militia, and by such proceedings of the
civil authorities, * * * as might enable them to suppress effectually
the further progress of the enterprise." And it was under the same
authority that President Jackson crushed nullification in South
Carolina and that President Lincoln issued his call for troops to save
the Union in 1861. On numerous other occasions of less significance,
under probably every Administration, and certainly under the present,
this power has been usefully exerted to enforce the laws, without
objection by any party in the country, and almost without attracting
public attention.

The great elementary constitutional principle which was the foundation
of the original statute of 1792, and which has been its essence in
the various forms it has assumed since its first adoption, is that the
Government of the United States possesses under the Constitution,
in full measure, the power of self-protection by its own agencies,
altogether independent of State authority, and, if need be, against
the hostility of State governments. It should remain embodied in
our statutes unimpaired, as it has been from the very origin of the
Government. It should be regarded as hardly less valuable or less
sacred than a provision of the Constitution itself.

There are many other important statutes containing provisions that are
liable to be suspended or annulled at the times and places of
holding elections if the bill before me should become a law. I do not
undertake to furnish a list of them. Many of them--perhaps the most of
them--have been set forth in the debates on this measure. They relate
to extradition, to crimes against the election laws, to quarantine
regulations, to neutrality, to Indian reservations, to the civil
rights of citizens, and to other subjects. In regard to them all it
may be safely said that the meaning and effect of this bill is to take
from the General Government an important part of its power to enforce
the laws.

Another grave objection to the bill is its discrimination in favor
of the State and against the national authority. The presence or
employment of the Army or Navy of the United States is lawful under
the terms of this bill at the place where an election is being held in
a State to uphold the authority of a State government then and there
in need of such military intervention, but unlawful to uphold the
authority of the Government of the United States then and there in
need of such military intervention. Under this bill the presence or
employment of the Army or Navy of the United States would be lawful
and might be necessary to maintain the conduct of a State election
against the domestic violence that would overthrow it, but would be
unlawful to maintain the conduct of a national election against the
same local violence that would overthrow it. This discrimination has
never been attempted in any previous legislation by Congress, and is
no more compatible with sound principles of the Constitution or the
necessary maxims and methods of our system of government on occasions
of elections than at other times. In the early legislation of 1792
and of 1795, by which the militia of the States was the only military
power resorted to for the execution of the constitutional powers
in support of State or national authority, both functions of the
Government were put upon the same footing. By the act of 1807 the
employment of the Army and Navy was authorized for the performance of
both constitutional duties in the same terms.

In all later statutes on the same subject-matter the same measure of
authority to the Government has been accorded for the performance
of both these duties. No precedent has been found in any previous
legislation, and no sufficient reason has been given for the
discrimination in favor of the State and against the national
authority which this bill contains.

Under the sweeping terms of the bill the National Government is
effectually shut out from the exercise of the right and from the
discharge of the imperative duty to use its whole executive power
whenever and wherever required for the enforcement of its laws at the
places and times when and where its elections are held. The employment
of its organized armed forces for any such purpose would be an offense
against the law unless called for by, and therefore upon permission
of, the authorities of the State in which the occasion arises. What is
this but the substitution of the discretion of the State governments
for the discretion of the Government of the United States as to the
performance of its own duties? In my judgment this is an abandonment
of its obligations by the National Government--a subordination of
national authority and an intrusion of State supervision over national
duties which amounts, in spirit and tendency, to State supremacy.

Though I believe that the existing statutes are abundantly adequate
to completely prevent military interference with the elections in the
sense in which the phrase is used in the title of this bill and is
employed by the people of this country, I shall find no difficulty in
concurring in any additional legislation limited to that object which
does not interfere with the indispensable exercise of the powers of
the Government under the Constitution and laws.

R.B. HAYES.

MAY 12, 1879.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

After mature consideration of the bill entitled "An act making
appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses
of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for
other purposes," I herewith return it to the House of Representatives,
in which it originated, with the following objections to its approval:

The main purpose of the bill is to appropriate the money required to
support during the next fiscal year the several civil departments
of the Government. The amount appropriated exceeds in the aggregate
$18,000,000.

This money is needed to keep in operation the essential functions of
all the great departments of the Government--legislative, executive,
and judicial. If the bill contained no other provisions, no objection
to its approval would be made. It embraces, however, a number of
clauses, relating to subjects of great general interest, which are
wholly unconnected with the appropriations which it provides for.
The objections to the practice of tacking general legislation to
appropriation bills, especially when the object is to deprive a
coordinate branch of the Government of its right to the free exercise
of its own discretion and judgment touching such general legislation,
were set forth in the special message in relation to House bill No. 1,
which was returned to the House of Representatives on the 29th of last
month. I regret that the objections which were then expressed to this
method of legislation have not seemed to Congress of sufficient weight
to dissuade from this renewed incorporation of general enactments in
an appropriation bill, and that my constitutional duty in respect of
the general legislation thus placed before me can not be
discharged without seeming to delay, however briefly, the necessary
appropriations by Congress for the support of the Government. Without
repeating these objections, I respectfully refer to that message for
a statement of my views on the principle maintained in debate by the
advocates of this bill, viz, that "to withhold appropriations is a
constitutional means for the redress" of what the majority of the
House of Representatives may regard as "a grievance."

The bill contains the following clauses, viz:

  _And provided further_, That the following sections of the
  Revised Statutes of the United States, namely, sections 2016,
  2018, and 2020, and all of the succeeding sections of said
  statutes down to and including section 2027, and also section
  5522, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; * * * and that
  all the other sections of the Revised Statutes, and all
  laws and parts of laws authorizing the appointment of
  chief supervisors of elections, special deputy marshals of
  elections, or general deputy marshals having any duties to
  perform in respect to any election, and prescribing their
  duties and powers and allowing them compensation, be, and the
  same are hereby, repealed.


It also contains clauses amending sections 2017, 2019, 2028, and 2031
of the Revised Statutes.

The sections of the Revised Statutes which the bill, if approved,
would repeal or amend are part of an act approved May 30, 1870, and
amended February 28, 1871, entitled "An act to enforce the rights of
citizens of the United States to vote in the several States of
this Union, and for other purposes." All of the provisions of the
above-named acts which it is proposed in this bill to repeal or modify
relate to the Congressional elections. The remaining portion of the
law, which will continue in force after the enactment of this measure,
is that which provides for the appointment, by a judge of the circuit
court of the United States, of two supervisors of election in each
election district at any Congressional election, on due application
of citizens who desire, in the language of the law, "to have such
election _guarded_ and _scrutinized_." The duties of the supervisors
will be to attend at the polls at all Congressional elections, and
to remain after the polls are open until every vote cast has been
counted; but they will "have no authority to make arrests or to
perform other duties than to be in the immediate presence of the
officers holding the election and to witness all their proceedings,
including the counting of the votes and the making of a return
thereof." The part of the election law which will be repealed by the
approval of this bill includes those sections which give authority
to the supervisors of elections "to personally scrutinize, count, and
canvass each ballot," and all the sections which confer authority upon
the United States marshals and deputy marshals in connection with the
Congressional elections. The enactment of this bill will also repeal
section 5522 of the criminal statutes of the United States, which was
enacted for the protection of United States officers engaged in the
discharge of their duties at the Congressional elections. This section
protects supervisors and marshals in the performance of their duties
by making the obstruction or the assaulting of these officers, or
any interference with them, by bribery or solicitation or otherwise,
crimes against the United States.

The true meaning and effect of the proposed legislation are plain. The
supervisors, with the authority to observe and witness the proceedings
at the Congressional elections, will be left, but there will be no
power to protect them, or to prevent interference with their duties,
or to punish any violation of the law from which their powers are
derived. If this bill is approved, only the shadow of the authority of
the United States at the national elections will remain; the substance
will be gone. The supervision of the elections will be reduced to a
mere inspection, without authority on the part of the supervisors to
do any act whatever to make the election a fair one. All that will be
left to the supervisors is the permission to have such oversight of
the elections as political parties are in the habit of exercising
without any authority of law, in order to prevent their opponents from
obtaining unfair advantages. The object of the bill is to destroy
any control whatever by the United States over the Congressional
elections.

The passage of this bill has been urged upon the ground that the
election of members of Congress is a matter which concerns the States
alone; that these elections should be controlled exclusively by
the States; that there are and can be no such elections as national
elections, and that the existing law of the United States regulating
the Congressional elections is without warrant in the Constitution.

It is evident, however, that the framers of the Constitution regarded
the election of members of Congress in every State and in every
district as in a very important sense justly a matter of political
interest and concern to the whole country. The original provision of
the Constitution on this subject is as follows (sec. 4, Art. I):

  The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
  Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State
  by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time,
  by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the
  places of choosing Senators.


A further provision has been since added, which is embraced in the
fifteenth amendment. It is as follows:

  SEC. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
  shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
  servitude.

  SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article
  by appropriate legislation.


Under the general provision of the Constitution (sec. 4, Art. I)
Congress in 1866 passed a comprehensive law which prescribed full and
detailed regulations for the election of Senators by the legislatures
of the several States. This law has been in force almost thirteen
years. In pursuance of it all the members of the present Senate of the
United States hold their seats. Its constitutionality is not called
in question. It is confidently believed that no sound argument can
be made in support of the constitutionality of national regulation of
Senatorial elections which will not show that the elections of members
of the House of Representatives may also be constitutionally regulated
by the national authority.

The bill before me itself recognizes the principle that the
Congressional elections are not State elections, but national
elections. It leaves in full force the existing statute under which
supervisors are still to be appointed by national authority to
"observe and witness" the Congressional elections whenever due
application is made by citizens who desire said elections to be
"guarded and scrutinized." If the power to supervise in any respect
whatever the Congressional elections exists under section 4, Article
I, of the Constitution, it is a power which, like every other power
belonging to the Government of the United States, is paramount and
supreme, and includes the right to employ the necessary means to carry
it into effect.

The statutes of the United States which regulate the election of
members of the House of Representatives, an essential part of which
it is proposed to repeal by this bill, have been in force about eight
years. Four Congressional elections have been held under them, two of
which were at the Presidential elections of 1872 and 1876. Numerous
prosecutions, trials, and convictions have been had in the courts of
the United States in all parts of the Union for violations of these
laws. In no reported case has their constitutionality been called in
question by any judge of the courts of the United States. The validity
of these laws is sustained by the uniform course of judicial action
and opinion.

If it is urged that the United States election laws are not necessary,
an ample reply is furnished by the history of their origin and of
their results. They were especially prompted by the investigation and
exposure of the frauds committed in the city and State of New York
at the elections of 1868. Committees representing both of the leading
political parties of the country have submitted reports to the House
of Representatives on the extent of those frauds. A committee of the
Fortieth Congress, after a full investigation, reached the conclusion
that the number of fraudulent votes cast in the city of New York alone
in 1868 was not less than 25,000. A committee of the Forty-fourth
Congress in their report, submitted in 1877, adopted the opinion that
for every 100 actual voters of the city of New York in 1868 108 votes
were cast, when in fact the number of lawful votes cast could not
have exceeded 88 per cent of the actual voters of the city. By this
statement the number of fraudulent votes at that election in the city
of New York alone was between thirty and forty thousand. These frauds
completely reversed the result of the election in the State of New
York, both as to the choice of governor and State officers and as to
the choice of electors of President and Vice-President of the United
States. They attracted the attention of the whole country. It was
plain that if they could be continued and repeated with impunity free
government was impossible. A distinguished Senator, in opposing the
passage of the election laws, declared that he had "for a long time
believed that our form of government was a comparative failure in the
larger cities." To meet these evils and to prevent these crimes the
United States laws regulating Congressional elections were enacted.

The framers of these laws have not been disappointed in their results.
In the large cities, under their provisions, the elections have been
comparatively peaceable, orderly, and honest. Even the opponents of
these laws have borne testimony to their value and efficiency and to
the necessity for their enactment. The committee of the Forty-fourth
Congress, composed of members a majority of whom were opposed to these
laws, in their report on the New York election of 1876, said:

  The committee would commend to other portions of the country
  and to other cities this remarkable system, developed through
  the agency of both local and Federal authorities acting in
  harmony for an honest purpose. In no portion of the world and
  in no era of time where there has been an expression of the
  popular will through the forms of law has there been a more
  complete and thorough illustration of republican institutions.
  Whatever may have been the previous habit or conduct of
  elections in those cities, or howsoever they may conduct
  themselves in the future, this election of 1876 will stand as
  a monument of what good faith, honest endeavor, legal forms,
  and just authority may do for the protection of the electoral
  franchise.


This bill recognizes the authority and duty of the United States
to appoint supervisors to guard and scrutinize the Congressional
elections, but it denies to the Government of the United States all
power to make its supervision effectual. The great body of the people
of all parties want free and fair elections. They do not think that
a free election means freedom from the wholesome restraints of law or
that the place of election should be a sanctuary for lawlessness
and crime. On the day of an election peace and good order are more
necessary than on any other day of the year. On that day the humblest
and feeblest citizens, the aged and the infirm, should be, and should
have reason to feel that they are, safe in the exercise of their
most responsible duty and their most sacred right as members of
society--their duty and their right to vote. The constitutional
authority to regulate the Congressional elections which belongs to the
Government of the United States, and which it is necessary to exert
to secure the right to vote to every citizen possessing the requisite
qualifications, ought to be enforced by appropriate legislation.
So far from public opinion in any part of the country favoring any
relaxation of the authority of the Government in the protection of
elections from violence and corruption, I believe it demands greater
vigor both in the enactment and in the execution of the laws framed
for that purpose. Any oppression, any partisan partiality, which
experience may have shown in the working of existing laws may well
engage the careful attention both of Congress and of the Executive,
in their respective spheres of duty, for the correction of these
mischiefs. As no Congressional elections occur until after the regular
session of Congress will have been held, there seems to be no public
exigency that would preclude a seasonable consideration at that
session of any administrative details that might improve the present
methods designed for the protection of all citizens in the complete
and equal exercise of the right and power of the suffrage at such
elections. But with my views, both of the constitutionality and of the
value of the existing laws, I can not approve any measure for their
repeal except in connection with the enactment of other legislation
which may reasonably be expected to afford wiser and more efficient
safeguards for free and honest Congressional elections.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

After careful examination of the bill entitled "An act making
appropriations for certain judicial expenses," I return it herewith
to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with the
following objections to its approval:

The general purpose of the bill is to provide for certain judicial
expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880,
for which the sum of $2,690,000 is appropriated. These appropriations
are required to keep in operation the general functions of the
judicial department of the Government, and if this part of the bill
stood alone there would be no objection to its approval. It contains,
however, other provisions, to which I desire respectfully to ask your
attention.

At the present session of Congress a majority of both Houses, favoring
a repeal of the Congressional election laws embraced in title 26 of
the Revised Statutes, passed a measure for that purpose, as part of
a bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the legislative,
executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1880, and for other purposes." Unable to concur with
Congress in that measure, on the 29th of May last I returned the bill
to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, without my
approval, for that further consideration for which the Constitution
provides. On reconsideration the bill was approved by less than
two-thirds of the House, and failed to become a law. The election laws
therefore remain valid enactments, and the supreme law of the land,
binding not only upon all private citizens, but also alike and equally
binding upon all who are charged with the duties and responsibilities
of the legislative, the executive, and the judicial departments of the
Government.

It is not sought by the bill before me to repeal the election laws.
Its object is to defeat their enforcement. The last clause of the
first section is as follows:

  And no part of the money hereby appropriated is appropriated
  to pay any salaries, compensation, fees, or expenses under
  or in virtue of title 26 of the Revised Statutes, or of any
  provision of said title.


Title 26 of the Revised Statutes, referred to in the foregoing clause,
relates to the elective franchise, and contains the laws now in force
regulating the Congressional elections.

The second section of the bill reaches much further. It is as follows:

  SEC. 2. That the sums appropriated in this act for the persons
  and public service embraced in its provisions are in full for
  such persons and public service for the fiscal year ending
  June 30, 1880; and no Department or officer of the Government
  shall during said fiscal year make any contract or incur any
  liability for the future payment of money under any of the
  provisions of title 26 of the Revised Statutes of the United
  States authorizing the appointment or payment of general
  or special deputy marshals for service in connection with
  elections or on election day until an appropriation sufficient
  to meet such contract or pay such liability shall have first
  been made by law.


This section of the bill is intended to make an extensive and
essential change in the existing laws. The following are the
provisions of the statutes on the same subject which are now in force:

  SEC. 3679. No Department of the Government shall expend in any
  one fiscal year any sum in excess of appropriations made by
  Congress for that fiscal year, or involve the Government in
  any contract for the future payment of money in excess of such
  appropriations.

  SEC. 3732. No contract or purchase on behalf of the United
  States shall be made unless the same is authorized by law or
  is under an appropriation adequate to its fulfillment, except
  in the War and Navy Departments, for clothing, subsistence,
  forage, fuel, quarters, or transportation, which, however,
  shall not exceed the necessities of the current year.


The object of these sections of the Revised Statutes is plain. It is,
first, to prevent any money from being expended unless appropriations
have been made therefor, and, second, to prevent the Government from
being bound by any contract not previously authorized by law, except
for certain necessary purposes in the War and Navy Departments.

Under the existing laws the failure of Congress to make the
appropriations required for the execution of the provisions of the
election laws would not prevent their enforcement. The right and duty
to appoint the general and special deputy marshals which they provide
for would still remain, and the executive department of the Government
would also be empowered to incur the requisite liability for
their compensation. But the second section of this bill contains a
prohibition not found in any previous legislation. Its design is to
render the election laws inoperative and a dead letter during the
next fiscal year. It is sought to accomplish this by omitting to
appropriate money for their enforcement and by expressly prohibiting
any Department or officer of the Government from incurring any
liability under any of the provisions of title 26 of the Revised
Statutes authorizing the appointment or payment of general or special
deputy marshals for service on election days until an appropriation
sufficient to pay such liability shall have first been made.

The President is called upon to give his affirmative approval to
positive enactments which in effect deprive him of the ordinary and
necessary means of executing laws still left in the statute book
and embraced within his constitutional duty to see that the laws are
executed. If he approves the bill, and thus gives to such positive
enactments the authority of law, he participates in the curtailment
of his means of seeing that the law is faithfully executed, while
the obligation of the law and of his constitutional duty remains
unimpaired.

The appointment of special deputy marshals is not made by the statute
a spontaneous act of authority on the part of any executive or
judicial officer of the Government, but is accorded as a popular right
of the citizens to call into operation this agency for securing the
purity and freedom of elections in any city or town having 20,000
inhabitants or upward. Section 2021 of the Revised Statutes puts it in
the power of any two citizens of such city or town to require of
the marshal of the district the appointment of these special deputy
marshals. Thereupon the duty of the marshal becomes imperative, and
its nonperformance would expose him to judicial mandate or punishment
or to removal from office by the President, as the circumstances of
his conduct might require. The bill now before me neither revokes this
popular right of the citizens, nor relieves the marshal of the duty
imposed by law, nor the President of his duty to see that this law is
faithfully executed.

I forbear to enter again upon any general discussion of the wisdom
and necessity of the election laws or of the dangerous and
unconstitutional principle of this bill--that the power vested in
Congress to originate appropriations involves the right to compel the
Executive to approve any legislation which Congress may see fit to
attach to such bills, under the penalty of refusing the means needed
to carry on essential functions of the Government. My views on these
subjects have been sufficiently presented in the special messages sent
by me to the House of Representatives during their present session.
What was said in those messages I regard as conclusive as to my
duty in respect to the bill before me. The arguments urged in those
communications against the repeal of the election laws and against
the right of Congress to deprive the Executive of that separate and
independent discretion and judgment which the Constitution confers and
requires are equally cogent in opposition to this bill. This
measure leaves the powers and duties of the supervisors of elections
untouched. The compensation of those officers is provided for under
permanent laws, and no liability for which an appropriation is now
required would therefore be incurred by their appointment. But the
power of the National Government to protect them in the discharge of
their duty at the polls would be taken away. The States may employ
both civil and military power at the elections, but by this bill even
the civil authority to protect Congressional elections is denied to
the United States. The object is to prevent any adequate control
by the United States over the national elections by forbidding
the payment of deputy marshals, the officers who are clothed with
authority to enforce the election laws.

The fact that these laws are deemed objectionable by a majority of
both Houses of Congress is urged as a sufficient warrant for this
legislation.

There are two lawful ways to overturn legislative enactments. One
is their repeal; the other is the decision of a competent tribunal
against their validity. The effect of this bill is to deprive the
executive department of the Government of the means to execute laws
which are not repealed, which have not been declared invalid, and
which it is therefore the duty of the executive and of every other
department of Government to obey and to enforce.

I have in my former message on this subject expressed a willingness
to concur in suitable amendments for the improvement of the election
laws; but I can not consent to their absolute and entire repeal, and I
can not approve legislation which seeks to prevent their enforcement.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 27, 1879_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return without approval Senate bill No. 595,[28] with the following
objection to its becoming a law:

Doubts have arisen upon consideration of the bill as to whether Major
Collins will be required under it to refund to the United States the
pay and allowances received by him at the time he was mustered out of
the service. Believing that it was not the intention of Congress to
require such repayment, the bill is returned without my signature to
the House in which it originated.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 28: "An act to amend 'An act for the relief of Joseph B.
Collins, approved March 3, 1879.'"]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 30, 1879_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return to the House of Representatives, in which it originated,
the bill entitled "An act making appropriations to pay fees of United
States marshals and their general deputies," with the following
objections to its becoming a law:

The bill appropriates the sum of $600,000 for the payment during the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, of United States marshals and their
general deputies. The offices thus provided for are essential to the
faithful execution of the laws. They were created and their powers and
duties defined by Congress at its first session after the adoption of
the Constitution in the judiciary act which was approved September
24, 1789. Their general duties, as defined in the act which originally
established them, were substantially the same as those prescribed in
the statutes now in force.

The principal provision on the subject in the Revised Statutes is as
follows:

  SEC. 787. It shall be the duty of the marshal of each district
  to attend the district and circuit courts when sitting
  therein, and to execute throughout the district all lawful
  precepts directed to him and issued under the authority of
  the United States; and he shall have power to command all
  necessary assistance in the execution of his duty.


The original act was amended February 28, 1795, and the amendment is
now found in the Revised Statutes in the following form:

  SEC. 788. The marshals and their deputies shall have in each
  State the same powers in executing the laws of the United
  States as the sheriffs and their deputies in such State may
  have by law in executing the laws thereof.


By subsequent statutes additional duties have been from time to time
imposed upon the marshals and their deputies, the due and regular
performance of which are required for the efficiency of almost every
branch of the public service. Without these officers there would be
no means of executing the warrants, decrees, or other process of
the courts, and the judicial system of the country would be fatally
defective. The criminal jurisdiction of the courts of the United
States is very extensive. The crimes committed within the maritime
jurisdiction of the United States are all cognizable only in the
courts of the United States. Crimes against public justice; crimes
against the operations of the Government, such as forging or
counterfeiting the money or securities of the United States; crimes
against the postal laws; offenses against the elective franchise,
against the civil rights of citizens, against the existence of the
Government; crimes against the internal-revenue laws, the customs
laws, the neutrality laws; crimes against laws for the protection of
Indians and of the public lands--all of these crimes and many others
can be punished only under United States laws, laws which, taken
together, constitute a body of jurisprudence which is vital to the
welfare of the whole country, and which can be enforced only by means
of the marshals and deputy marshals of the United States. In the
District of Columbia all of the process of the courts is executed by
the officers in question. In short, the execution of the criminal laws
of the United States, the service of all civil process in cases in
which the United States is a party, and the execution of the revenue
laws, the neutrality laws, and many other laws of large importance
depend on the maintenance of the marshals and their deputies. They are
in effect the only police of the United States Government. Officers
with corresponding powers and duties are found in every State of the
Union and in every country which has a jurisprudence which is worthy
of the name. To deprive the National Government of these officers
would be as disastrous to society as to abolish the sheriffs,
constables, and police officers in the several States. It would be a
denial to the United States of the right to execute its laws--a
denial of all authority which requires the use of civil force. The law
entitles these officers to be paid. The funds needed for the purpose
have been collected from the people and are now in the Treasury. No
objection is, therefore, made to that part of the bill before me which
appropriates money for the support of the marshals and deputy marshals
of the United States.

The bill contains, however, other provisions which are identical in
tenor and effect with the second section of the bill entitled "An act
making appropriations for certain judicial expenses," which on the 23d
of the present month was returned to the House of Representatives
with my objections to its approval. The provisions referred to are as
follows:

  SEC. 2. That the sums appropriated in this act for the persons
  and public service embraced in its provisions are in full for
  such persons and public service for the fiscal year ending
  June 30, 1880; and no Department or officer of the Government
  shall during said fiscal year make any contract or incur any
  liability for the future payment of money under any of the
  provisions of title 26 mentioned in section 1 of this act
  until an appropriation sufficient to meet such contract or pay
  such liability shall have first been made by law.


Upon a reconsideration in the House of Representatives of the bill
which contained these provisions it lacked a constitutional majority,
and therefore failed to become a law. In order to secure its
enactment, the same measure is again presented for my approval,
coupled in the bill before me with appropriations for the support of
marshals and their deputies during the next fiscal year. The object,
manifestly, is to place before the Executive this alternative: Either
to allow necessary functions of the public service to be crippled
or suspended for want of the appropriations required to keep them in
operation, or to approve legislation which in official communications
to Congress he has declared would be a violation of his constitutional
duty. Thus in this bill the principle is clearly embodied that by
virtue of the provision of the Constitution which requires that
"all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives" a bare majority of the House of Representatives has
the right to withhold appropriations for the support of the Government
unless the Executive consents to approve any legislation which may
be attached to appropriation bills. I respectfully refer to the
communications on this subject which I have sent to Congress during
its present session for a statement of the grounds of my conclusions,
and desire here merely to repeat that in my judgment to establish
the principle of this bill is to make a radical, dangerous, and
unconstitutional change in the character of our institutions.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATIONS.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has become known to me that certain evil-disposed persons
have within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States begun
and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible possession
of and settlement upon the lands of what is known as the Indian
Territory, west of the State of Arkansas, which Territory is
designated, recognized, and described by the treaties and laws of the
United States and by the executive authorities as Indian country, and
as such is only subject to occupation by Indian tribes, officers of
the Indian Department, military posts, and such persons as may be
privileged to reside and trade therein under the intercourse laws of
the United States; and

Whereas those laws provide for the removal of all persons residing and
trading therein without express permission of the Indian Department
and agents, and also of all persons whom such agents may deem to be
improper persons to reside in the Indian country:

Now, therefore, for the purpose of properly protecting the interests
of the Indian nations and tribes, as well as of the United States, in
said Indian Territory, and of duly enforcing the laws governing the
same, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, do
admonish and warn all such persons so intending or preparing to remove
upon said lands or into said Territory without permission of the
proper agent of the Indian Department against any attempt to so remove
or settle upon any of the lands of said Territory; and I do further
warn and notify any and all such persons who may so offend that they
will be speedily and immediately removed therefrom by the agent,
according to the laws made and provided; and if necessary the aid and
assistance of the military forces of the United States will be invoked
to carry into proper execution the laws of the United States herein
referred to.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 26th day of April, A.D. 1879, and
of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and third.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

At no recurrence of the season which the devout habit of a religious
people has made the occasion for giving thanks to Almighty God and
humbly invoking His continued favor has the material prosperity
enjoyed by our whole country been more conspicuous, more manifold, or
more universal.

During the past year, also, unbroken peace with all foreign nations,
the general prevalence of domestic tranquillity, the supremacy and
security of the great institutions of civil and religious freedom,
have gladdened the hearts of our people and confirmed their attachment
to their Government, which the wisdom and courage of our ancestors so
fitly framed and the wisdom and courage of their descendants have
so firmly maintained to be the habitation of liberty and justice to
successive generations.

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, do appoint Thursday, the 27th day of November instant, as a
day of national thanksgiving and prayer; and I earnestly recommend
that, withdrawing themselves from secular cares and labors, the people
of the United States do meet together on that day in their respective
places of worship, there to give thanks and praise to Almighty God for
His mercies and to devoutly beseech their continuance.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of November, A.D. 1879,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
fourth.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


[From the New-York Tribune, February 14, 1879.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 4, 1879._

General E.A. MERRITT.

MY DEAR GENERAL: I congratulate you on your confirmation. It is a
great gratification to me, very honorable to you, and will prove,
I believe, of signal service to the country. My desire is that the
office be conducted on strictly business principles, and according to
the rules for the civil service which were recommended by the Civil
Service Commission in the Administration of General Grant. I want
you to be perfectly independent of mere influence from any quarter.
Neither my recommendation, nor that of Secretary Sherman, nor of
any member of Congress or other influential person must be specially
regarded. Let appointments and removals be made on business principles
and according to rules. There must be, I assume, a few places filled
by those you personally know to be trustworthy, but restrict the area
of patronage to the narrowest limits. Let no man be put out merely
because he is a friend to Mr. Arthur, and no man put in merely because
he is our friend. The good of the service should be the sole end in
view. The best means yet presented, it seems to me, are the rules
recommended by the Civil Service Commission. I shall issue no new
order on the subject at present. I am glad you approve of the message,
and I wish you to see that all that is expressed or implied in it is
faithfully carried out.

Again congratulating you, and assuring you of my entire confidence,
I remain, sincerely,

R.B. HAYES.


Regulations to Prevent the Introduction of the "Plague" into the
United States.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
  OFFICE OF THE SURGEON-GENERAL,
    UNITED STATES MARINE HOSPITAL SERVICE,

_Washington, D.C., March 3, 1879._

_To Officers of the Customs Revenue, Medical Officers of the
  Marine-Hospital Service, and others whom it may concern_:

The act approved April 29, 1878, entitled "An act to prevent the
introduction of contagious or infectious diseases into the United
States," provides that no vessel coming from any foreign port or
country where any contagious or infectious disease exists, nor any
vessel conveying infected merchandise, shall enter any port of the
United States or pass the boundary line between the United States and
any foreign country except in such manner as may be prescribed under
said act.

Attention has been called to the prevalence of a dangerous epidemic
disease in southern Russia known as the "plague," and its extremely
virulent and contagious character, as manifested in the late outbreak,
leaves no doubt that it is similar to, if not identical with, the
"plague" which devastated the Old World in past centuries. Because,
therefore, of the danger which attaches to rags, furs, etc., as
carriers of infection, the following regulations are framed, under
the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and subject to the
approval of the President, for the protection of the health of the
people of the United States against the danger referred to:

Until further orders no vessel from any port of the Black Sea or the
Sea of Azof, conveying any rags, furs, skins, hair, feathers, boxed
or baled clothing or bedding, or any similar articles liable to convey
infection, nor any vessel from any port of the Mediterranean or Red
seas having on board such articles coming from southern Russia, shall
enter any port of the United States until such articles shall have
been removed from the vessel to open lighters or to some isolated
locality and the vessel disinfected and thoroughly ventilated; and the
suspected articles shall be disinfected, either by chemical agents and
exposure to free currents of air or by burning, as shall be determined
in each case by the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service.

The certificate of the State or municipal quarantine officer of health
may be accepted as satisfactory evidence of compliance with these
regulations on the part of the vessel.

JNO. M. WOODWORTH,
  _Surgeon-General United States Marine-Hospital Service._

Approved:

R.B. HAYES.



CUSTOM-HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY,
  _Collector's Office, February 26, 1879._

Hon. JOHN SHERMAN,
  _Secretary of the Treasury._

SIR: The President, by letter of 4th instant, having requested
that appointments and promotions in this office should be made in
accordance with the civil-service rules of 1872, and having also made
a similar request of the naval officer, it has been deemed best to
make, if practicable, the same rules applicable to all the offices
in this city included in the order of the Treasury Department dated
August 7, 1872.

With that view, and after several conferences, it has been agreed
by the assistant treasurer, naval officer, appraiser, surveyor, and
myself to submit the inclosed modifications of the rules of 1872, and
should they meet approval to put in operation forthwith the rules so
modified.

I am, very respectfully,

E.A. MERRITT, _Collector._



[The modifications submitted with the above letter are omitted,
and instead are inserted the following regulations, based upon said
modifications, approved by the President March 6, 1879, and amended
with his approval in January, 1880.]



Regulations Governing Appointments and Promotions in the Customs
Service and Subtreasury in the City of New York.

I. Every application for appointment to a vacancy in the lowest grade
of any group in the offices of the collector and the surveyor of
customs, the naval officer, the appraiser, and the assistant treasurer
of the United States in the city of New York must be made in the
handwriting of the applicant to the head of the office in which
employment is desired. It must state: (1) The position to which the
applicant desires to be appointed;[29] (2) place and date of birth;
(3) legal residence, and how long it has been such; (4) education; (5)
occupation, past and present; (6) whether ever employed in the civil
service, and, if so, when, how long, in what branch and capacity, and
reasons for leaving the service; (7) whether ever in the Regular or
Volunteer Army or Navy, and, if so, when and in what organization and
capacity; (8) applicant's name in full.

II. The applicant must certify to having composed and written the
application without assistance; to the truth of the statements which
it contains; to being a citizen of the United States, and faithful
to the Union and the Constitution; and, if ever in the Regular or
Volunteer Army or Navy, to having been honorably discharged.

III. Every application must be accompanied by a certificate, signed by
two trustworthy and responsible persons, well known in the community
in which they reside, that the applicant is personally well known to
them to be of good moral character and of temperate and industrious
habits, and to be faithful to the Union and the Constitution of the
United States.

IV. Every application must also be accompanied by the certificate of a
practicing physician as to the applicant's general health and physical
capacity to perform the duties of the position to which he desires to
be appointed: _Provided, however_, That no appointment will be made to
any position in active outdoor service unless a surgeon of the United
States Marine-Hospital Service shall certify that he has made a
physical examination of the applicant and found him fit for such
position. Such surgeon's examination may be postponed until required
by the nominating officer.

V. Applications filed previously to the adoption of these regulations
must be renewed or perfected in accordance therewith to entitle them
to consideration. No applications for appointment as day or night
inspectors in the custom-house from persons under 21 years of age,
or for other positions under these regulations from persons under 18
years of age, will be considered. In compliance with section 1031 of
the Treasury Regulations now in force, persons over 45 years of age
are not eligible to any group the lowest grade of which is confined
to persons receiving an annual salary of less than $1,800. This
prohibition, however, shall not be applied to those who have been
honorably discharged from the service and are otherwise qualified.

VI. All applications upon their receipt will be carefully examined
by the board of examiners, and those which do not conform in every
particular to the foregoing requirements, and such as show that the
applicants are manifestly not qualified for the duties of the position
desired, will be rejected and the applicants so notified. All other
applicants will be designated as eligible for examination, and will
be so notified. Inasmuch as applications are to be made in writing and
each case is to be decided upon its merits, personal importunity will
have no weight.

VII. Not less than five days prior to each examination a notification
to appear at a time and place to be stated will be mailed to the
eligible candidates, unless it shall be found impracticable to examine
all of them, in which case a practicable number will be selected under
the second regulation[30] for the civil service promulgated April 16,
1872, and notified to appear for examination. Those not selected for
examination will remain on the eligible list. If any person notified
to appear shall be unable to do so on account of sickness or other
causes, he must promptly advise the board of examiners, in person or
by mail, of his inability to attend, and his name will remain upon
the eligible list; but any person attending an examination will not be
allowed to subsequently plead sickness or other disabling causes as an
excuse for defects in examination.

VIII. All candidates for appointment to positions the annual salary
of which is $1,200 or more, who shall appear in accordance with such
notification, will be subjected to a competitive written examination
upon the following subjects:

(1) Copying from dictation; (2) arithmetic--fundamental rules,
fractions, proportion, percentage and interest, reduction; (3)
elements of accounts and bookkeeping; (4) geography, history, and
government--general questions, principally such as relate to the
United States; (5) elements of English grammar, chiefly orthography
and syntax; (6) writing and briefing letters; and (7) penmanship.

Candidates for appointment to positions the salary of which is
less than $1,200 will be examined in like manner upon the following
subjects: (1) Penmanship, (2) copying; (3) elements of English
grammar, chiefly orthography and syntax; and (4) fundamental rules of
arithmetic.

Proficiency in penmanship, orthography, and punctuation will be
determined principally by a review of the examination papers, and as
far as possible the examination in all the branches will be confined
to practical exercises.

In examinations for appointments to positions requiring special
or technical knowledge such additions may be made by the board of
examiners to the list of subjects as the nature of the case may
require.

For temporary employment to meet casual exigencies in the public
business, or for special services as experts, appointments may be made
without examination; but no such appointment shall be made for a term
exceeding three months, which may be specially extended for a similar
term only; and no such appointment shall be made to any regular or
permanent position.

IX. The various subjects of the examination may be subdivided, if
thought desirable, into classes, and to each subject or class a
relative weight, according to its importance in the examination, will
be assigned by each board of examiners. The mode of ascertaining the
result of the examination will be as follows: The degree of accuracy
with which each question shall be answered will first be marked by the
board on a scale of 100. The average of the marks given to the answers
to the questions in each subject or class will next be ascertained.
Each average will then be multiplied by the number indicating the
relative weight of the subject or class, and the sum of the products
will be divided by the sum of the relative weights. The quotient will
determine the candidate's standing in the examination. Relative weight
will be assigned not merely to the special qualifications of the
candidates, but to their general aptitude, as shown in the course of
examination. Candidates will be examined during office hours, and in
no case will their examination be continued more than one day.

X. The board of examiners will prepare a list of the persons examined
in the order of their excellence, as proved by such examination,
beginning with the highest, and will then certify to the head of the
office the names standing at the head of such list, not exceeding
three. When more than one appointment is to be made, the vacancies
will be numbered, and the first three names will be certified for
the first vacancy, the remaining two and the fourth for the second
vacancy, the remaining two and the fifth for the third vacancy, and so
on for the whole number of vacancies; but if, after selecting one
of any three certified for appointment, the head of the office shall
object to another presentation of either of the remaining names, it
shall not be again certified.

XI. The examination papers of any candidate who shall have passed a
minimum standard of 75 per cent, but who shall fail to be appointed,
will, if requested by the candidate, be brought into competition with
those candidates who shall compete for vacancies of the same class
and nature occurring within one year: _Provided, however_, That the
candidate shall not have been specially objected to by the head of
the office under the last preceding regulation. No candidate who upon
examination has been marked below the minimum will be allowed to again
compete within one year from the date of such examination, unless for
admission to a lower group.

XII. All examination papers will be filed, and will at all times be
open to the inspection of those interested, under such restrictions as
may be imposed by the head of the office.

XIII. There shall be one examining board for all appointments
and promotions under these rules in the offices of the collector,
surveyor, and naval officer, which shall consist of the surveyor and
one representative to be nominated each by the collector and the
naval officer, and three alternates, to be nominated one each by the
collector, the naval officer, and the surveyor: _Provided, however_,
That in examinations for positions in the surveyor's office the
surveyor's alternate shall act on such board. The examining boards in
the offices of the assistant treasurer and the appraiser shall consist
of three persons, with three alternates, to be nominated by the
assistant treasurer and the appraiser, respectively. All nominations
as members and alternates on the examining boards shall be submitted
to the Secretary of the Treasury for his approval. The heads of the
several offices shall constitute a board of revision and appeal,
which, upon appeal from any person examined or from any member of an
examining board, shall revise the decision of said board.

XIV. Whenever the head of an office shall notify the board of
examiners for such office that a vacancy which he desires to fill
exists in any grade above the lowest not excepted from the rules
and regulations for the civil service, the board will fix a time for
holding an examination for the purpose, and at least five days before
the same is to take place will cause a notice to be posted in a
conspicuous place in the office, stating the grade and group of the
vacancy, the date of the examination, and that the vacancy is to be
filled by a competitive examination of applicants from the next lower
grade, unless none in such lower grade be found qualified, when those
in the next lower grade may compete, or, if there be none in any of
the lower grades qualified, competition will be open to applicants. In
any examination for promotion, if the competitors from the next
lower grade shall not exceed three in number, the board may, at its
discretion, open the competition to the next lower grade or below, as
they may deem best; and furthermore, if such promotion would probably
occasion vacancies requiring other promotions, the board may combine
in one the necessary examinations for such promotions. No person who
has been examined in any grade for promotion and failed to receive
such promotion shall again be admitted to examination within six
months, but in the meantime his general average, as ascertained by
such examination, may be brought into competition, as provided in
Regulation XI.

XV. The examination will be held upon the general subjects fixed for
examinations for admission to the lowest grade of the group and upon
such other subjects as the general nature of the business of the
office and the special nature of the position to be filled may seem
to the board of examiners to require. Due weight will be given to the
efficiency with which the several candidates shall have previously
performed their duties in the office; but no one who shall fail to
pass a minimum standard of 75 per cent in the written examination will
be certified for appointment.

XVI. If no applicants from within the group shall be found competent,
an examination will be held of all who shall make application in
accordance with the regulations governing applications for admission
to the office, after due public notice by the head of the office. The
examination will be conducted in accordance with the provisions for
admission to the office, as required by the fourth rule[31] for the
civil service promulgated December 19, 1871, but the nature of the
examination will be the same as in any previous examination for the
same vacancy.

XVII. The list of names from which the appointment is to be made will
be prepared and certified in the manner provided for admission to the
lowest grade.

XVIII. Persons employed in any of the offices to which these rules are
applicable may be transferred without examination from one office to
a grade no higher in another office, with, the consent of the heads
of the respective offices and the approval of the Secretary of the
Treasury.

XIX. Under the provisions of rule 2[32] of August 5, 1873, and the
operation of these regulations, the power of suspension and of
recommendation for discharge from the service shall remain with the
nominating officer unrestricted. If, however, in his judgment it be
deemed advisable, he may direct any person in his department to be
cited before the regular examining board, and such board shall examine
into and report upon the qualifications, efficiency, and general
fitness for the position held, or for any position in the same or a
lower grade, of the person so cited to appear; and furthermore, any
person in the service engaged in active outdoor duties may be cited to
appear before a surgeon of the United States Marine-Hospital Service
and be examined by such surgeon as to the physical abilities of such
person to perform the duties of the position occupied or of a position
of less exposure, if otherwise qualified.

XX. The sessions of the examining boards shall not be open to the
public, but the board of revision and appeal may select such number
of prominent citizens as may be deemed advisable, who shall have
free access to the examining rooms, and who shall take no part in the
conduct of the examination, but may, by inspection and inquiry,
assure themselves regarding its thoroughness and impartiality, and may
publicly certify the results of their inspection.

    [Seventh rule for the civil service under the Executive order
    of April 16, 1872.[33]]

The appointment of all persons entering the civil service in
accordance with these regulations, excepting persons appointed by
the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
postmasters, and persons appointed to any position in a foreign
country, shall be made for a probationary term of six months, during
which the conduct and capacity of such persons shall be tested; and
if at the end of said probationary term satisfactory proofs of their
fitness shall have been furnished by the board of examiners to the
head of the Department in which they shall have been employed during
said term, they shall be reappointed.

    [Fourth regulation for the civil service under the Executive
    order of April 16, 1872[34]]

The appointment of persons to be employed exclusively in the
secret service of the Government, also of persons to be employed
as translators, stenographers, or private secretaries, * * * may be
excepted from the operation of the rules.

    [Ninth rule for the civil service under the Executive order of
    April 16, 1872. [35]]

Any person who, after long and faithful service in a Department,
shall be incapacitated by mental or bodily infirmity for the efficient
discharge of the duties of his position may be appointed by the
head of the Department, at his discretion, to a position of less
responsibility in the same Department.

    [Seventh rule for the civil service under the Executive order
    of August 5, 1873.[36]]

Applicants for appointment as cashiers of collectors of customs,
cashiers of assistant treasurers, cashiers of postmasters,
superintendents of money-order divisions in post-offices, and other
custodians of large sums of public money for whose fidelity another
officer has given official bonds maybe appointed at discretion; but
this rule shall not apply to any appointment to a position grouped
below the grade of assistant teller.

The amendments of the New York custom-house rules seem proper.


R.B.H.

[Footnote 29: The positions for which applications may be made in the
several offices are: Collector's and surveyor's office: (1) Inspector,
at salary of $4 per day; (2) clerk, at annual salary of $1,200; (3)
weigher's clerk, at annual salary of $1,200; (4) ganger's clerk, at
annual salary of $1,200; (5) night inspector, at a salary of $2.50 per
day, and clerk, at an annual salary of less than $1,200.

Naval office: (1) Clerk, at an annual salary of $1,200; (2) clerk, at
an annual salary of less than $1,200.

Assistant treasurer's office: (1) Clerk, at an annual salary of
$2,000; (2) clerk, at an annual salary of $1,200; (3) clerk, at an
annual salary of less than $1,200.

Appraiser's office: (1) Examiner, at an annual salary of $1,800; (2)
clerk, verifier, or sampler, at an annual salary of $1,200; (3) clerk,
verifier, or sampler, at an annual salary of less than $1,200; (4)
openers and packers, at a salary of $3 per day.]

[Footnote 30: See p. 181.]

[Footnote 31: See p. 158.]

[Footnote 32: See p. 231.]

[Footnote 33: See rule 7, promulgated December 19, 1871, p.158.]

[Footnote 34: See p. 181.]

[Footnote 35: See rule 9, promulgated December 19, 1871, p. 158.]

[Footnote 36: See p. 232.]



MARCH 6, 1879.

General E.A. MERRITT,
  _Collector of Customs, New York_

SIR: Your letter of the 26th ultimo, inclosing a draft of modification
of the civil-service rules, was duly received, and the rules have been
considered and approved by the President. You may therefore act upon
them.

Very respectfully,

JOHN SHERMAN,
  _Secretary_.


RULES GOVERNING APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION IN THE NEW YORK POST-OFFICE.

For the purpose of making it more certain that only persons of
good character and adequate capacity shall be selected from among
applicants too numerous for the postmaster to become informed of their
individual merits by personal investigation, the following rules are
established:

1. Hereafter all applications for clerical appointment at this
post-office must be made in accordance with a prescribed form, a copy
of which will be furnished to each applicant.

2. All appointments to clerical positions will be made to the lowest
grade, and no applications from persons under 16 or over 25 years of
age will be entertained.

3. On receipt of an application for appointment, and before further
action is taken in regard to it, the applicant will be referred to the
medical officer for examination as to his physical condition, as
being adequate for the service; and if the report is unfavorable the
application will be rejected. Should the report be favorable, the
application will be filed and registered in its regular order.

4. Every application must be accompanied by a certificate, signed by
not less than three nor more than five reputable citizens, stating
the time for which each has been acquainted with the applicant,
and testifying to his good character and reputation for integrity,
sobriety, and industry, and to the willingness of the signers to
furnish personally any further information they may possess concerning
the applicant, if so requested by the postmaster or the board of
examiners.

5. Applications not properly filled out as herein required, or which
are found to contain false statements, or which in any other manner
show the unfitness of the applicant for employment in the post-office,
will be rejected and the applicant notified of such rejection.

6. All examination papers, with the markings showing the relative
proficiency of the candidates, will be carefully preserved and filed.

7. The names of candidates which have been on the register for
one year without being reached for examination will be regarded as
removed, and will not be selected for examination unless again
placed on the register by a new application, after which they will be
selected when reached in order.

8. All applications duly received and filed shall, when reached in
order, be referred to a board of examiners, which is hereby appointed,
and which shall consist of the assistant postmaster, auditor, the
general superintendents of the fourth, fifth, and sixth divisions,
and the assistant general superintendent of the third division. The
postmaster's private secretary shall also act as secretary of said
board.

9. When vacancies occur in the lowest grade, the board of examiners
shall notify such number of applicants, not less than twenty, of
those first on the register of applicants to appear for a competitive
examination.

10. The questions to be asked and answered at such examinations shall
be such as will show the relative proficiency of the candidates,
first, in penmanship; second, in arithmetic; third, in geography;
fourth, in English grammar; fifth, in the history of the United States
and in matters of a public nature, to the extent that may be required
adequately to test general capacity or special fitness for the postal
service.

11. The board shall present to the postmaster a list of the names of
the successful candidates in the order of their excellence, as shown
by the examination, beginning with the highest; and the appointments
will be made from the three highest names on the list.

12. All further details in methods of examination will be left to
the discretion of the board, but subject to the instructions of the
postmaster, in conformity herewith.

13. All vacancies that may occur in the higher grades of any
department shall be filled by promotion from the lower grades by means
of competitive examinations, to which shall be admitted as competitors
such persons only as are already employed in the division in which the
vacancy exists or in divisions having analogous duties. The questions
in these examinations shall be restricted mainly to matters pertaining
to the ordinary business of that department. The examinations shall be
conducted by the general superintendent of the division to which the
department is attached, assisted by such one or more other officers
of the same as the postmaster may select; and they shall report the
result to the postmaster in the manner provided in rule 11, and the
vacancy will be filled by the promotion of some one of the three
standing highest in the competition. But whenever the vacancy to be
filled by promotion is that of a position requiring the exercise of
administrative authority the board may add such questions as will test
the degree to which the candidates possess special qualifications for
such position.

14. For positions as porters the examination will be confined to
questions intended to test the physical ability of the candidates and
their proficiency in reading, penmanship, and elementary arithmetic
only.

15. The postmaster reserves from the operation of the above rules for
original Appointment and promotion positions of especial pecuniary
trust, as well as those involving confidential relations, as private
secretary, etc.

THOMAS L. JAMES, _Postmaster_.

Approved. Let these rules go into effect May 1, 1879.

D.M. KEY, _Postmaster-General._


APRIL 3, 1879.

The foregoing rules are approved.

R.B. HAYES.



[From the Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 28, 1879.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 28, 1879_.

SIR:[37] I am directed by the President to say that the several
Departments of the Government will be closed on Friday, the 30th
instant, in remembrance of those who fell in defense of the nation,
and to enable the employees to participate in the commemorative
ceremonies of the day.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W.K. ROGERS, _Private Secretary_.

[Footnote 37: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments,
etc.]



TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
  OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL,
    UNITED STATES MARINE-HOSPITAL SERVICE,

_Washington, D.C., May 31, 1879_.

_To Medical Officers of the Marine-Hospital Service and others whom it
may concern:_

Official information having been received to the effect that the
"plague" which existed in southern Russia is now almost extinct, the
regulations issued March 3, 1879,[38] imposing certain restrictions
upon the importation of rags, etc., into the United States, are hereby
revoked.

By order of the Secretary of the Treasury:

J.B. HAMILTON,
  _Surgeon-General United States Marine-Hospital Service_.

Approved: R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 38: See pp. 549-550.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 1, 1879_.

The sad intelligence of the death of Zachariah Chandler, late
Secretary of the Interior, and during so many years a Senator from the
State of Michigan, has been communicated to the Government and to the
country, and in proper respect to his memory I hereby order that the
several Executive Departments be closed to public business and their
flags and those of their dependencies throughout the country be
displayed at half-mast on the day of his funeral.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 17, 1879_.

DEAR SIR:[39] I am directed by the President to say that the several
Departments of the Government will be closed on Wednesday, the 19th
instant, to enable the employees to participate in the ceremonies
attending the unveiling of the statue of the late General George H.
Thomas.

Very truly, yours,

W.K. ROGERS, _Private Secretary_.

[Footnote 39: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]




THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 1, 1879_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:_

The members of the Forty-sixth Congress have assembled in their first
regular session under circumstances calling for mutual congratulation
and grateful acknowledgment to the Giver of All Good for the large and
unusual measure of national prosperity which we now enjoy.

The most interesting events which have occurred in our public affairs
since my last annual message to Congress are connected with the
financial operations of the Government, directly affecting the
business interests of the country. I congratulate Congress on the
successful execution of the resumption act. At the time fixed, and
in the manner contemplated by law, United States notes began to
be redeemed in coin. Since the 1st of January last they have been
promptly redeemed on presentation, and in all business transactions,
public and private, in all parts of the country, they are received and
paid out as the equivalent of coin. The demand upon the Treasury
for gold and silver in exchange for United States notes has been
comparatively small, and the voluntary deposit of coin and bullion
in exchange for notes has been very large. The excess of the precious
metals deposited or exchanged for United States notes over the amount
of United States notes redeemed is about $40,000,000.

The resumption of specie payments has been followed by a very great
revival of business. With a currency equivalent in value to the
money of the commercial world, we are enabled to enter upon an equal
competition with other nations in trade and production. The increasing
foreign demand for our manufactures and agricultural products has
caused a large balance of trade in our favor, which has been paid in
gold, from the 1st of July last to November 15, to the amount of about
$59,000,000. Since the resumption of specie payments there has also
been a marked and gratifying improvement of the public credit. The
bonds of the Government bearing only 4 per cent interest have been
sold at or above par, sufficient in amount to pay off all of the
national debt which was redeemable under present laws. The amount of
interest saved annually by the process of refunding the debt since
March 1, 1877, is $14,297,177. The bonds sold were largely in small
sums, and the number of our citizens now holding the public securities
is much greater than ever before. The amount of the national debt
which matures within less than two years is $792,121,700, of which
$500,000,000 bear interest at the rate of 5 per cent, and the balance
is in bonds bearing 6 per cent interest. It is believed that this part
of the public debt can be refunded by the issue of 4 per cent bonds,
and, by the reduction of interest which will thus be effected, about
$11,000,000 can be annually saved to the Treasury. To secure this
important reduction of interest to be paid by the United States
further legislation is required, which it is hoped will be provided by
Congress during its present session.

The coinage of gold by the mints of the United States during the last
fiscal year was $40,986,912. The coinage of silver dollars since
the passage of the act for that purpose up to November 1, 1879, was
$45,000,850, of which $12,700,344 have been issued from the Treasury
and are now in circulation, and $32,300,506 are still in the
possession of the Government.

The pendency of the proposition for unity of action between the United
States and the principal commercial nations of Europe to effect a
permanent system for the equality of gold and silver in the recognized
money of the world leads me to recommend that Congress refrain from
new legislation on the general subject. The great revival of trade,
internal and foreign, will supply during the coming year its own
instructions, which may well be awaited before attempting further
experimental measures with the coinage. I would, however, strongly
urge upon Congress the importance of authorizing the Secretary of the
Treasury to suspend the coinage of silver dollars upon the present
legal ratio. The market value of the silver dollar being uniformly and
largely less than the market value of the gold dollar, it is obviously
impracticable to maintain them at par with each other if both are
coined without limit. If the cheaper coin is forced into circulation,
it will, if coined without limit, soon become the sole standard of
value, and thus defeat the desired object, which is a currency of both
gold and silver which shall be of equivalent value, dollar for dollar,
with the universally recognized money of the world.

The retirement from circulation of United States notes with the
capacity of legal tender in private contracts is a step to be taken
in our progress toward a safe and stable currency which should be
accepted as the policy and duty of the Government and the interest
and security of the people. It is my firm conviction that the issue of
legal-tender paper money based wholly upon the authority and credit of
the Government, except in extreme emergency, is without warrant in the
Constitution and a violation of sound financial principles. The issue
of United States notes during the late civil war with the capacity of
legal tender between private individuals was not authorized except as
a means of rescuing the country from imminent peril. The circulation
of these notes as paper money for any protracted period of time after
the accomplishment of this purpose was not contemplated by the
framers of the law under which they were issued. They anticipated the
redemption and withdrawal of these notes at the earliest practicable
period consistent with the attainment of the object for which they
were provided.

The policy of the United States, steadily adhered to from the adoption
of the Constitution, has been to avoid the creation of a national
debt; and when, from necessity in time of war, debts have been
created, they have been paid off, on the return of peace, as rapidly
as possible. With this view, and for this purpose, it is recommended
that the existing laws for the accumulation of a sinking fund
sufficient to extinguish the public debt within a limited period
be maintained. If any change of the objects or rates of taxation is
deemed necessary by Congress, it is suggested that experience has
shown that a duty can be placed on tea and coffee which will not
enhance the price of those articles to the consumer, and which will
add several millions of dollars annually to the Treasury.

The continued deliberate violation by a large number of the prominent
and influential citizens of the Territory of Utah of the laws of the
United States for the prosecution and punishment of polygamy demands
the attention of every department of the Government. This Territory
has a population sufficient to entitle it to admission as a State,
and the general interests of the nation, as well as the welfare of the
citizens of the Territory, require its advance from the Territorial
form of government to the responsibilities and privileges of a State.
This important change will not, however, be approved by the country
while the citizens of Utah in very considerable number uphold a
practice which is condemned as a crime by the laws of all civilized
communities throughout the world.

The law for the suppression of this offense was enacted with great
unanimity by Congress more than seventeen years ago, but has remained
until recently a dead letter in the Territory of Utah, because of the
peculiar difficulties attending its enforcement. The opinion widely
prevailed among the citizens of Utah that the law was in contravention
of the constitutional guaranty of religious freedom. This objection
is now removed. The Supreme Court of the United States has decided the
law to be within the legislative power of Congress and binding as a
rule of action for all who reside within the Territories. There is
no longer any reason for delay or hesitation in its enforcement.
It should be firmly and effectively executed. If not sufficiently
stringent in its provisions, it should be amended; and in aid of the
purpose in view I recommend that more comprehensive and more searching
methods for preventing as well as punishing this crime be provided. If
necessary to secure obedience to the law, the enjoyment and exercise
of the rights and privileges of citizenship in the Territories of the
United States may be withheld or withdrawn from those who violate or
oppose the enforcement of the law on this subject.

The elections of the past year, though occupied only with State
officers, have not failed to elicit in the political discussions which
attended them all over the country new and decisive evidence of the
deep interest which the great body of citizens take in the progress
of the country toward a more general and complete establishment, at
whatever cost, of universal security and freedom in the exercise of
the elective franchise. While many topics of political concern demand
great attention from our people, both in the sphere of national and
State authority, I find no reason to qualify the opinion I expressed
in my last annual message, that no temporary or administrative
interests of government, however urgent or weighty, will ever
displace the zeal of our people in defense of the primary rights of
citizenship, and that the power of public opinion will override all
political prejudices, and all sectional and State attachments in
demanding that all over our wide territory the name and character of
citizen of the United States shall mean one and the same thing and
carry with them unchallenged security and respect. I earnestly appeal
to the intelligence and patriotism of all good citizens of every part
of the country, however much they may be divided in opinions on other
political subjects, to unite in compelling obedience to existing laws
aimed at the protection of the right of suffrage. I respectfully urge
upon Congress to supply any defects in these laws which experience has
shown and which it is within its power to remedy. I again invoke the
cooperation of the executive and legislative authorities of the States
in this great purpose. I am fully convinced that if the public mind
can be set at rest on this paramount question of popular rights no
serious obstacle will thwart or delay the complete pacification of the
country or retard the general diffusion of prosperity.

In a former message I invited the attention of Congress to the
subject of the reformation of the civil service of the Government,
and expressed the intention of transmitting to Congress as early as
practicable a report upon this subject by the chairman of the Civil
Service Commission.

In view of the facts that during a considerable period the Government
of Great Britain has been dealing with administrative problems and
abuses in various particulars analogous to those presented in this
country, and that in recent years the measures adopted were understood
to have been effective and in every respect highly satisfactory, I
thought it desirable to have fuller information upon the subject, and
accordingly requested the chairman of the Civil Service Commission to
make a thorough investigation for this purpose. The result has been an
elaborate and comprehensive report.

The report sets forth the history of the partisan spoils system
in Great Britain, and of the rise and fall of the parliamentary
patronage, and of official interference with the freedom of elections.
It shows that after long trials of various kinds of examinations those
which are competitive and open on equal terms to all, and which are
carried on under the superintendence of a single commission, have,
with great advantage, been established as conditions of admission to
almost every official place in the subordinate administration of that
country and of British India. The completion of the report, owing to
the extent of the labor involved in its preparation and the omission
of Congress to make any provision either for the compensation or the
expenses of the Commission, has been postponed until the present time.
It is herewith transmitted to Congress.

While the reform measures of another government are of no authority
for us, they are entitled to influence to the extent to which their
intrinsic wisdom and their adaptation to our institutions and
social life may commend them to our consideration. The views I have
heretofore expressed concerning the defects and abuses in our civil
administration remain unchanged, except in so far as an enlarged
experience has deepened my sense of the duty both of officers and of
the people themselves to cooperate for their removal. The grave evils
and perils of a partisan spoils system of appointment to office and of
office tenure are now generally recognized. In the resolutions of
the great parties, in the reports of Departments, in the debates and
proceedings of Congress, in the messages of Executives, the gravity of
these evils has been pointed out and the need of their reform has been
admitted.

To command the necessary support, every measure of reform must be
based on common right and justice, and must be compatible with the
healthy existence of great parties, which are inevitable and essential
in a free state.

When the people have approved a policy at a national election,
confidence on the part of the officers they have selected and of the
advisers who, in accordance with our political institutions, should be
consulted in the policy which it is their duty to carry into effect
is indispensable. It is eminently proper that they should explain it
before the people, as well as illustrate its spirit in the performance
of their official duties.

Very different considerations apply to the greater number of those who
fill the subordinate places in the civil service. Their responsibility
is to their superiors in official position. It is their duty to obey
the legal instructions of those upon whom that authority is devolved,
and their best public service consists in the discharge of their
functions irrespective of partisan politics. Their duties are the
same whatever party is in power and whatever policy prevails. As a
consequence it follows that their tenure of office should not depend
on the prevalence of any policy or the supremacy of any party, but
should be determined by their capacity to serve the people most
usefully quite irrespective of partisan interests. The same
considerations that should govern the tenure should also prevail in
the appointment, discipline, and removal of these subordinates. The
authority of appointment and removal is not a perquisite, which may
be used to aid a friend or reward a partisan, but is a trust, to be
exercised in the public interest under all the sanctions which attend
the obligation to apply the public funds only for public purposes.

Every citizen has an equal right to the honor and profit of
entering the public service of his country. The only just ground of
discrimination is the measure of character and capacity he has to make
that service most useful to the people. Except in cases where,
upon just and recognized principles--as upon the theory of
pensions--offices and promotions are bestowed as rewards for past
services, their bestowal upon any theory which disregards personal
merit is an act of injustice to the citizen, as well as a breach of
that trust subject to which the appointing power is held.

In the light of these principles it becomes of great importance to
provide just and adequate means, especially for every Department and
large administrative office, where personal discrimination on the part
of its head is not practicable, for ascertaining those qualifications
to which appointments and removals should have reference. To fail to
provide such means is not only to deny the opportunity of ascertaining
the facts upon which the most righteous claim to office depends,
but of necessity to discourage all worthy aspirants by handing over
appointments and removals to mere influence and favoritism. If it is
the right of the worthiest claimant to gain the appointment and the
interest of the people to bestow it upon him, it would seem clear that
a wise and just method of ascertaining personal fitness for office
must be an important and permanent function of every just and wise
government. It has long since become impossible in the great offices
for those having the duty of nomination and appointment to personally
examine into the individual qualifications of more than a small
proportion of those seeking office, and with the enlargement of the
civil service that proportion must continue to become less.

In the earlier years of the Government the subordinate offices were so
few in number that it was quite easy for those making appointments
and promotions to personally ascertain the merits of candidates.
Party managers and methods had not then become powerful agencies of
coercion, hostile to the free and just exercise of the appointing
power.

A large and responsible part of the duty of restoring the civil
service to the desired purity and efficiency rests upon the President,
and it is my purpose to do what is within my power to advance such
prudent and gradual measures of reform as will most surely and rapidly
bring about that radical change of system essential to make our
administrative methods satisfactory to a free and intelligent people.
By a proper exercise of authority it is in the power of the Executive
to do much to promote such a reform. But it can not be too clearly
understood that nothing adequate can be accomplished without
cooperation on the part of Congress and considerate and intelligent
support among the people. Reforms which challenge the generally
accepted theories of parties and demand changes in the methods of
Departments are not the work of a day. Their permanent foundations
must be laid in sound principles and in an experience which
demonstrates their wisdom and exposes the errors of their adversaries.
Every worthy officer desires to make his official action a gain and an
honor to his country; but the people themselves, far more than their
officers in public station, are interested in a pure, economical, and
vigorous administration.

By laws enacted in 1853 and 1855, and now in substance incorporated
in the Revised Statutes, the practice of arbitrary appointments to the
several subordinate grades in the great Departments was condemned, and
examinations as to capacity, to be conducted by departmental boards of
examiners, were provided for and made conditions of admission to
the public service. These statutes are a decision by Congress that
examinations of some sort as to attainments and capacity are essential
to the well-being of the public service. The important questions since
the enactment of these laws have been as to the character of these
examinations, and whether official favor and partisan influence or
common right and merit were to control the access to the examinations.
In practice these examinations have not always been open to worthy
persons generally who might wish to be examined. Official favoritism
and partisan influence, as a rule, appear to have designated those
who alone were permitted to go before the examining boards, subjecting
even the examiners to a pressure from the friends of the candidates
very difficult to resist. As a consequence the standard of admission
fell below that which the public interest demanded. It was also almost
inevitable that a system which provided for various separate boards of
examiners, with no common supervision or uniform method of procedure,
should result in confusion, inconsistency, and inadequate tests of
capacity, highly detrimental to the public interest. A further and
more radical change was obviously required.

In the annual message of December, 1870, my predecessor declared
that--

  There is no duty which so much embarrasses the Executive and
  heads of Departments as that of appointments, nor is there
  any such arduous and thankless labor imposed on Senators and
  Representatives as that of finding places for constituents.
  The present system does not secure the best men, and often not
  even fit men, for public place. The elevation and purification
  of the civil service of the Government will be hailed with
  approval by the whole people of the United States.


Congress accordingly passed the act approved March 3, 1871, "to
regulate the civil service of the United States and promote the
efficiency thereof," giving the necessary authority to the Executive
to inaugurate a civil-service reform.

Acting under this statute, which was interpreted as intended to secure
a system of just and effectual examinations under uniform supervision,
a number of eminently competent persons were selected for the purpose,
who entered with zeal upon the discharge of their duties, prepared
with an intelligent appreciation of the requirements of the service
the regulations contemplated, and took charge of the examinations, and
who in their capacity as a board have been known as the "Civil Service
Commission." Congress for two years appropriated the money needed for
the compensation and for the expense of carrying on the work of the
Commission.

It appears from the report of the Commission submitted to the
President in April, 1874, that examinations had been held in various
sections of the country, and that an appropriation of about $25,000
would be required to meet the annual expenses, including salaries,
involved in discharging the duties of the Commission. The report was
transmitted to Congress by special message of April 18, 1874, with the
following favorable comment upon the labors of the Commission:

  If sustained by Congress, I have no doubt the rules can, after
  the experience gained, be so improved and enforced as to still
  more materially benefit the public service and relieve the
  Executive, members of Congress, and the heads of Departments
  from influences prejudicial to good administration. The
  rules, as they have hitherto been enforced, have resulted
  beneficially, as is shown by the opinions of the members of
  the Cabinet and their subordinates in the Departments, and in
  that opinion I concur.


And in the annual message of December of the same year similar views
are expressed and an appropriation for continuing the work of the
Commission again advised.

The appropriation was not made, and as a consequence the active work
of the Commission was suspended, leaving the Commission itself still
in existence. Without the means, therefore, of causing qualifications
to be tested in any systematic manner or of securing for the public
service the advantages of competition upon any extensive plan, I
recommended in my annual message of December, 1877, the making of an
appropriation for the resumption of the work of the Commission.

In the meantime, however, competitive examinations, under many
embarrassments, have been conducted within limited spheres in
the Executive Departments in Washington and in a number of the
custom-houses and post-offices of the principal cities of the country,
with a view to further test their effects, and in every instance they
have been found to be as salutary as they are stated to have been
under the Administration of my predecessor. I think the economy,
purity, and efficiency of the public service would be greatly promoted
by their systematic introduction, wherever practicable, throughout the
entire civil service of the Government, together with ample provision
for their general supervision in order to secure consistency and
uniform justice.

Reports from the Secretary of the Interior, from the
Postmaster-General, from the postmaster in the city of New York, where
such examinations have been some time on trial, and also from the
collector of the port, the naval officer, and the surveyor in that
city, and from the postmasters and collectors in several of the other
large cities, show that the competitive system, where applied, has in
various ways contributed to improve the public service.

The reports show that the results have been salutary in a marked
degree, and that the general application of similar rules can not fail
to be of decided benefit to the service.

The reports of the Government officers, in the city of New York
especially, bear decided testimony to the utility of open competitive
examinations in their respective offices, showing that--

  These examinations and the excellent qualifications of
  those admitted to the service through them have had a marked
  incidental effect upon the persons previously in the service,
  and particularly upon those aspiring to promotion. There has
  been on the part of these latter an increased interest in the
  work and a desire to extend acquaintance with it beyond the
  particular desk occupied, and thus the morale of the entire
  force has been raised. * * * The examinations have been
  attended by many citizens, who have had an opportunity to
  thoroughly investigate the scope and character of the tests
  and the method of determining the results, and those visitors
  have without exception approved the methods employed, and
  several of them have publicly attested their favorable
  opinion.


Upon such considerations I deem it my duty to renew the recommendation
contained in my annual message of December, 1877, requesting Congress
to make the necessary appropriation for the resumption of the work of
the Civil Service Commission. Economy will be promoted by authorizing
a moderate compensation to persons in the public service who may
perform extra labor upon or under the Commission, as the Executive may
direct.

I am convinced that if a just and adequate test of merit is enforced
for admission to the public service and in making promotions such
abuses as removals without good cause and partisan and official
interference with the proper exercise of the appointing power will in
large measure disappear.

There are other administrative abuses to which the attention
of Congress should be asked in this connection. Mere partisan
appointments and the constant peril of removal without cause very
naturally lead to an absorbing and mischievous political activity on
the part of those thus appointed, which not only interferes with the
due discharge of official duty, but is incompatible with the freedom
of elections. Not without warrant in the views of several of my
predecessors in the Presidential office, and directly within the law
of 1871, already cited, I endeavored, by regulation made on the 22d
day of June, 1877, to put some reasonable limits to such abuses. It
may not be easy, and it may never perhaps be necessary, to define with
precision the proper limit of political action on the part of Federal
officers. But while their right to hold and freely express their
opinions can not be questioned, it is very plain that they should
neither be allowed to devote to other subjects the time needed for the
proper discharge of their official duties nor to use the authority of
their office to enforce their own opinions or to coerce the political
action of those who hold different opinions.

Reasons of justice and public policy quite analogous to those which
forbid the use of official power for the oppression of the private
citizen impose upon the Government the duty of protecting its officers
and agents from arbitrary exactions. In whatever aspect considered,
the practice of making levies for party purposes upon the salaries
of officers is highly demoralizing to the public service and
discreditable to the country. Though an officer should be as free as
any other citizen to give his own money in aid of his opinions or his
party, he should also be as free as any other citizen to refuse to
make such gifts. If salaries are but a fair compensation for the time
and labor of the officer, it is gross injustice to levy a tax upon
them. If they are made excessive in order that they may bear the tax,
the excess is an indirect robbery of the public funds.

I recommend, therefore, such a revision and extension of present
statutes as shall secure to those in every grade of official life or
public employment the protection with which a great and enlightened
nation should guard those who are faithful in its service.

Our relations with foreign countries have continued peaceful.

With Great Britain there are still unsettled questions, growing out of
the local laws of the maritime provinces and the action of provincial
authorities deemed to be in derogation of rights secured by treaty
to American fishermen. The United States minister in London has been
instructed to present a demand for $105,305.02 in view of the damages
received by American citizens at Fortune Bay on the 6th day of
January, 1878. The subject has been taken into consideration by the
British Government, and an early reply is anticipated.

Upon the completion of the necessary preliminary examinations the
subject of our participation in the provincial fisheries, as regulated
by treaty, will at once be brought to the attention of the British
Government, with a view to an early and permanent settlement of the
whole question, which was only temporarily adjusted by the treaty of
Washington.

Efforts have been made to obtain the removal of restrictions found
injurious to the exportation of cattle to the United Kingdom.

Some correspondence has also occurred with regard to the rescue and
saving of life and property upon the Lakes, which has resulted in
important modifications of the previous regulations of the Dominion
government on the subject in the interest of humanity and commerce.

In accordance with the joint resolution of the last session of
Congress, commissioners were appointed to represent the United States
at the two international exhibitions in Australia, one of which is
now in progress at Sydney, and the other to be held next year
at Melbourne. A desire has been expressed by our merchants and
manufacturers interested in the important and growing trade with
Australia that an increased provision should be made by Congress for
the representation of our industries at the Melbourne exhibition of
next year, and the subject is respectfully submitted to your favorable
consideration.

The assent of the Government has been given to the landing on the
coast of Massachusetts of a new and independent transatlantic cable
between France, by way of the French island of St. Pierre, and this
country, subject to any future legislation of Congress on the subject.
The conditions imposed before allowing this connection with our shores
to be established are such as to secure its competition with any
existing or future lines of marine cable and preclude amalgamation
therewith, to provide for entire equality of rights to our Government
and people with those of France in the use of the cable, and prevent
any exclusive possession of the privilege as accorded by France to the
disadvantage of any future cable communication between France and the
United States which may be projected and accomplished by our citizens.
An important reduction of the present rates of cable communication
with Europe, felt to be too burdensome to the interests of our
commerce, must necessarily flow from the establishment of this
competing line.

The attention of Congress was drawn to the propriety of some general
regulation by Congress of the whole subject of transmarine cables by
my predecessor in his message of December 7, 1875, and I respectfully
submit to your consideration the importance of Congressional action in
the matter.

The questions of grave importance with Spain growing out of the
incidents of the Cuban insurrection have been for the most part
happily and honorably settled. It may reasonably be anticipated that
the commission now sitting in Washington for the decision of private
cases in this connection will soon be able to bring its labors to a
conclusion.

The long-standing question of East Florida claims has lately been
renewed as a subject of correspondence, and may possibly require
Congressional action for its final disposition.

A treaty with the Netherlands with respect to consular rights and
privileges similar to those with other powers has been signed and
ratified, and the ratifications were exchanged on the 31st of July
last. Negotiations for extradition treaties with the Netherlands and
with Denmark are now in progress.

Some questions with Switzerland in regard to pauper and convict
emigrants have arisen, but it is not doubted that they will be
arranged upon a just and satisfactory basis. A question has also
occurred with respect to an asserted claim by Swiss municipal
authorities to exercise tutelage over persons and property of Swiss
citizens naturalized in this country. It is possible this may require
adjustment by treaty.

With the German Empire frequent questions arise in connection with
the subjects of naturalization and expatriation, but the Imperial
Government has constantly manifested a desire to strictly maintain and
comply with all treaty stipulations in regard to them.

In consequence of the omission of Congress to provide for a diplomatic
representative at Athens, the legation to Greece has been withdrawn.
There is now no channel of diplomatic communication between the two
countries, and the expediency of providing for one in some form is
submitted to Congress.

Relations with Austria, Russia, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and Belgium
continue amicable, and marked by no incident of especial importance.

A change of the personal head of the Government of Egypt has taken
place. No change, however, has occurred in the relations between
Egypt and the United States. The action of the Egyptian Government in
presenting to the city of New York one of the ancient obelisks, which
possess such historic interest, is highly appreciated as a generous
mark of international regard. If prosperity should attend the
enterprise of its transportation across the Atlantic, its erection in
a conspicuous position in the chief commercial city of the nation will
soon be accomplished.

The treaty recently made between Japan and the United States in regard
to the revision of former commercial treaties it is now believed will
be followed by similar action on the part of other treaty powers. The
attention of Congress is again invited to the subject of the indemnity
funds received some years since from Japan and China, which, with
their accumulated interest, now amount to considerable sums. If any
part of these funds is justly due to American citizens, they should
receive it promptly; and whatever may have been received by this
Government in excess of strictly just demands should in some form be
returned to the nations to whom it equitably belongs.

The Government of China has signified its willingness to consider the
question of the emigration of its subjects to the United States with
a dispassionate fairness and to cooperate in such measures as may
tend to prevent injurious consequences to the United States. The
negotiations are still proceeding, and will be pressed with diligence.

A question having arisen between China and Japan about the Lew Chew
Islands, the United States Government has taken measures to inform
those powers of its readiness to extend its good offices for the
maintenance of peace if they shall mutually deem it desirable and find
it practicable to avail themselves of the proffer.

It is a gratification to be able to announce that, through the
judicious and energetic action of the military commanders of the two
nations on each side of the Rio Grande, under the instructions of
their respective Governments, raids and depredations have greatly
decreased, and in the localities where formerly most destructive
have now almost wholly ceased. In view of this result, I entertain a
confident expectation that the prevalence of quiet on the border will
soon become so assured as to justify a modification of the present
orders to our military commanders as to crossing the border, without
encouraging such disturbances as would endanger the peace of the two
countries.

The third installment of the award against Mexico under the claims
commission of July 4, 1868, was duly paid, and has been put in course
of distribution in pursuance of the act of Congress providing for the
same. This satisfactory situation between the two countries leads me
to anticipate an expansion of our trade with Mexico and an increased
contribution of capital and industry by our people to the development
of the great resources of that country. I earnestly commend to the
wisdom of Congress the provision of suitable legislation looking to
this result.

Diplomatic intercourse with Colombia is again fully restored by the
arrival of a minister from that country to the United States. This
is especially fortunate in view of the fact that the question of an
interoceanic canal has recently assumed a new and important aspect and
is now under discussion with the Central American countries through
whose territory the canal, by the Nicaragua route, would have to pass.
It is trusted that enlightened statesmanship on their part will see
that the early prosecution of such a work will largely inure to
the benefit, not only of their own citizens and those of the United
States, but of the commerce of the civilized world. It is not doubted
that should the work be undertaken under the protective auspices of
the United States, and upon satisfactory concessions for the right of
way and its security by the Central American Governments, the capital
for its completion would be readily furnished from this country and
Europe, which might, failing such guaranties, prove inaccessible.

Diplomatic relations with Chile have also been strengthened by the
reception of a minister from that country.

The war between Peru, Bolivia, and Chile still continues. The United
States have not deemed it proper to interpose in the matter further
than to convey to all the Governments concerned the assurance that
the friendly offices of the Government of the United States for the
restoration of peace upon an honorable basis will be extended in case
the belligerents shall exhibit a readiness to accept them.

Cordial relations continue with Brazil and the Argentine Republic, and
trade with those countries is improving. A provision for regular and
more frequent mail communication, in our own ships, between the
ports of this country and the nations of South America seems to me
to deserve the attention of Congress as an essential precursor of an
enlargement of our commerce with them and an extension of our carrying
trade.

A recent revolution in Venezuela has been followed by the
establishment of a provisional government. This government has not
yet been formally recognized, and it is deemed desirable to await
the proposed action of the people which is expected to give it the
sanction of constitutional forms.

A naval vessel has been sent to the Samoan Islands to make surveys and
take possession of the privileges ceded to the United States by Samoa
in the harbor of Pago-Pago. A coaling station is to be established
there, which will be convenient and useful to United States vessels.

The subject of opening diplomatic relations with Roumania and
Servia, now become independent sovereignties, is at present under
consideration, and is the subject of diplomatic correspondence.

There is a gratifying increase of trade with nearly all European and
American countries, and it is believed that with judicious action in
regard to its development it can and will be still more enhanced and
that American products and manufactures will find new and expanding
markets. The reports of diplomatic and consular officers upon this
subject, under the system now adopted, have resulted in obtaining
much valuable information, which has been and will continue to be laid
before Congress and the public from time to time.

The third article of the treaty with Russia of March 30, 1867,
by which Alaska was ceded to the United States, provides that
the inhabitants of the ceded territory, with the exception of the
uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all
the rights of citizens of the United States and shall be maintained
and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property,
and religion. The uncivilized tribes are subject to such laws and
regulations as the United States may from time to time adopt in regard
to the aboriginal tribes of that country.

Both the obligations of this treaty and the necessities of the people
require that some organized form of government over the Territory of
Alaska be adopted.

There appears to be no law for the arrest of persons charged with
common-law offenses, such as assault, robbery, and murder, and no
magistrate authorized to issue or execute process in such cases.
Serious difficulties have already arisen from offenses of this
character, not only among the original inhabitants, but among citizens
of the United States and other countries who have engaged in mining,
fishing, and other business operations within the territory. A bill
authorizing the appointment of justices of the peace and constables
and the arrest and detention of persons charged with criminal
offenses, and providing for an appeal to United States courts for
the district of Oregon in suitable cases, will at a proper time be
submitted to Congress.

The attention of Congress is called to the annual report of the
Secretary of the Treasury on the condition of the public finances.

The ordinary revenues from all sources for the fiscal year ended June
30, 1879, were $273,827,184.46; the ordinary expenditures for the same
period were $266,947,883.53, leaving a surplus revenue for the year of
$6,879,300.93.

The receipts for the present fiscal year, ending June 30, 1880, actual
and estimated, are as follows: Actual receipts for the first quarter,
commencing July 1, 1879, $79,843,663.61; estimated receipts for the
remaining three quarters of the year, $208,156,336.39; total receipts
for the current fiscal year, actual and estimated, $288,000,000.

The expenditures for the same period will be, actual and estimated, as
follows: For the quarter commencing July 1, 1879, actual expenditures,
$91,683,385.10; and for the remaining three quarters of the year
the expenditures are estimated at $172,316,614.90, making the total
expenditures $264,000,000, and leaving an estimated surplus revenue
for the year ending June 30, 1880, of $24,000,000. The total receipts
during the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1881, estimated according
to existing laws, will be $288,000,000, and the estimated ordinary
expenditures for the same period will be $278,097,364.39, leaving a
surplus of $9,902,635.61 for that year.

The large amount expended for arrears of pensions during the last and
the present fiscal year, amounting to $21,747,249.60, has prevented
the application of the full amount required by law to the sinking
fund for the current year; but these arrears having been substantially
paid, it is believed that the sinking fund can hereafter be maintained
without any change of existing law.

The Secretary of War reports that the War Department estimates for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, are $40,380,428.93, the same being
for a less sum of money than any annual estimate rendered to Congress
from that Department during a period of at least twelve years.

He concurs with the General of the Army in recommending such
legislation as will authorize the enlistment of the full number
of 25,000 men for the line of the Army, exclusive of the 3,463 men
required for detached duty, and therefore not available for service in
the field.

He also recommends that Congress be asked to provide by law for
the disposition of a large number of abandoned military posts and
reservations, which, though very valuable in themselves, have been
rendered useless for military purposes by the advance of civilization
and settlement.

He unites with the Quartermaster-General in recommending that an
appropriation be made for the construction of a cheap and perfectly
fireproof building for the safe storage of a vast amount of money
accounts, vouchers, claims, and other valuable records now in the
Quartermaster-General's Office, and exposed to great risk of total
destruction by fire.

He also recommends, in conformity with the views of the
Judge-Advocate-General, some declaratory legislation in reference
to the military statute of limitations as applied to the crime of
desertion.

In these several recommendations I concur.

The Secretary of War further reports that the work for the improvement
of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, under contract with Mr.
James B. Eads, made in pursuance of an act of Congress, has been
prosecuted during the past year with a greater measure of success in
the attainment of results than during any previous year. The channel
through the South Pass, which at the beginning of operations in June,
1875, had a depth of only 7-1/2 feet of water, had on the 8th of July,
1879, a minimum depth of 26 feet, having a width of not less than
200 feet and a central depth of 30 feet. Payments have been made in
accordance with the statute, as the work progressed, amounting in
the aggregate to $4,250,000; and further payments will become due, as
provided by the statute, in the event of success in maintaining the
channel now secured.

The reports of the General of the Army and of his subordinates
present a full and detailed account of the military operations for
the suppression of hostilities among the Indians of the Ute and
Apache tribes, and praise is justly awarded to the officers and troops
engaged for promptness, skill, and courage displayed.

The past year has been one of almost unbroken peace and quiet on the
Mexican frontier, and there is reason to believe that the efforts of
this Government and of Mexico to maintain order in that region will
prove permanently successful.

This Department was enabled during the past year to find temporary,
though crowded, accommodations and a safe depository for a portion of
its records in the completed east wing of the building designed for
the State, War, and Navy Departments. The construction of the north
wing of the building, a part of the structure intended for the use
of the War Department, is being carried forward with all possible
dispatch, and the work should receive from Congress such liberal
appropriations as will secure its speedy completion.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows continued improvement
in that branch of the service during the last fiscal year. Extensive
repairs have been made upon vessels, and two new ships have been
completed and made ready for sea.

The total expenditures of the year ended June 30, 1879, including
specific appropriations not estimated for by the Department, were
$13,555,710.09. The expenses chargeable to the year, after deducting
the amount of these specific appropriations, were $13,343,317.79; but
this is subject to a reduction of $283,725.99, that amount having been
drawn upon warrants, but not paid out during the year. The amount of
appropriations applicable to the last fiscal year was $14,538,646.17.
There was, therefore, a balance of $1,479,054.37 remaining unexpended
and to the credit of the Department on June 30, 1879. The estimates
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, are $14,864,147.95, which
exceeds the appropriations for the present fiscal year $361,897.28.
The reason for this increase is explained in the Secretary's
report. The appropriations available for the present fiscal year are
$14,502,250.67, which will, in the opinion of the Secretary, answer
all the ordinary demands of the service. The amount drawn from the
Treasury from July 1 to November 1, 1879 was $5,770,404.12, of which
$1,095,440.33 has been refunded, leaving as the expenditure for that
period $4,674,963.79. If the expenditures of the remaining two-thirds
of the year do not exceed the proportion for these four months, there
will remain unexpended at the end of the year $477,359.30 of the
current appropriations. The report of the Secretary shows the
gratifying fact that among all the disbursing officers of the Pay
Corps of the Navy there is not one who is a defaulter to the extent of
a single dollar. I unite with him in recommending the removal of the
observatory to a more healthful location. That institution reflects
credit upon the nation, and has obtained the approbation of scientific
men in all parts of the world. Its removal from its present location
would not only be conducive to the health of its officers and
professors, but would greatly increase its usefulness.

The appropriation for judicial expenses, which has heretofore been
made for the Department of Justice in gross, was subdivided at the
last session of Congress, and no appropriation whatever was made for
the payment of the fees of marshals and their deputies, either in the
service of process or for the discharge of other duties; and since
June 30 these officers have continued the performance of their duties
without compensation from the Government, taking upon themselves the
necessary incidental outlays, as well as rendering their own services.
In only a few unavoidable instances has the proper execution of the
process of the United States failed by reason of the absence of the
requisite appropriation. This course of official conduct on the part
of these officers, highly creditable to their fidelity, was advised
by the Attorney-General, who informed them, however, that they would
necessarily have to rely for their compensation upon the prospect of
future legislation by Congress. I therefore especially recommend that
immediate appropriation be made by Congress for this purpose.

The act making the principal appropriation for the Department of
Justice at previous sessions has uniformly contained the following
clause:

  And for defraying the expenses which may be incurred in the
  enforcement of the act approved February 28, 1871, entitled
  "An act to amend an act approved May 31, 1870, entitled 'An
  act to enforce the rights of citizens of the United States
  to vote in the several States of this Union, and for other
  purposes,'" or any acts amendatory thereof or supplementary
  thereto.


No appropriation was made for this purpose for the current year. As no
general election for Members of Congress occurred, the omission was
a matter of little practical importance. Such election will, however,
take place during the ensuing year, and the appropriation made for
the pay of marshals and deputies should be sufficient to embrace
compensation for the services they may be required to perform at such
elections.

The business of the Supreme Court is at present largely in arrears.
It can not be expected that more causes can be decided than are
now disposed of in its annual session, or that by any assiduity the
distinguished magistrates who compose the court can accomplish more
than is now done. In the courts of many of the circuits also the
business has increased to such an extent that the delay of justice
will call the attention of Congress to an appropriate remedy. It is
believed that all is done in each circuit which can fairly be expected
from its judicial force. The evils arising from delay are less heavily
felt by the United States than by private suitors, as its causes
are advanced by the courts when it is seen that they involve the
discussion of questions of a public character.

The remedy suggested by the Attorney-General is the appointment of
additional circuit judges and the creation of an intermediate court of
errors and appeals, which shall relieve the Supreme Court of a part
of its jurisdiction, while a larger force is also obtained for the
performance of circuit duties.

I commend this suggestion to the consideration of Congress. It would
seem to afford a complete remedy, and would involve, if ten additional
circuit judges are appointed, an expenditure, at the present rate of
salaries, of not more than $60,000 a year, which would certainly be
small in comparison with the objects to be attained.

The report of the Postmaster-General bears testimony to the general
revival of business throughout the country. The receipts of the
Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1879,
were $30,041,982.86, being $764,465.91 more than the revenues of the
preceding year. The amount realized from the sale of postage stamps,
stamped envelopes, and postal cards was $764,465.91 more than in the
preceding year, and $2,387,559.23 more than in 1877. The expenditures
of the Department were $33,449,899.45, of which the sum of $376,461.63
was paid on liabilities incurred in preceding years.

The expenditures during the year were $801,209.77 less than in the
preceding year. This reduction is to be attributed mainly to the
operation of the law passed June 17, 1878, changing the compensation
of postmasters from a commission on the value of stamps sold to a
commission on stamps canceled.

The amount drawn from the Treasury on appropriations, in addition to
the revenues of the Department, was $3,031,454.96, being $2,276,197.86
less than in the preceding year.

The expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, are
estimated at $39,920,900 and the receipts from all sources at
$32,210,000, leaving a deficiency to be appropriated for out of the
Treasury of $7,710,900.

The relations of the Department with railroad companies have been
harmonized, notwithstanding the general reduction by Congress of their
compensation by the appropriation for special facilities, and the
railway post-office lines have been greatly extended, especially in
the Southern States. The interests of the Railway Mail Service and
of the public would be greatly promoted and the expenditures could be
more readily controlled by the classification of the employees of the
Railway Mail Service as recommended by the Postmaster-General, the
appropriation for salaries, with respect to which the maximum limit is
already fixed by law, to be made in gross.

The Postmaster-General recommends an amendment of the law regulating
the increase of compensation for increased service and increased speed
on star routes, so as to enable him to advertise for proposals for
such increased service and speed. He also suggests the advantages to
accrue to the commerce of the country from the enactment of a general
law authorizing contracts with American-built steamers, carrying the
American flag, for transporting the mail between ports of the United
States and ports of the West Indies and South America, at a fixed
maximum price per mile, the amount to be expended being regulated by
annual appropriations, in like manner with the amount paid for the
domestic star service.

The arrangement made by the Postmaster-General and the Secretary of
the Treasury for the collection of duty upon books received in
the mail from foreign countries has proved so satisfactory in its
practical operation that the recommendation is now made that Congress
shall extend the provisions of the act of March 3, 1879, under which
this arrangement was made, so as to apply to all other dutiable
articles received in the mails from foreign countries.

The reports of the Secretary of the Interior and of the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, setting forth the present state of our relations
with the Indian tribes on our territory, the measures taken to advance
their civilization and prosperity, and the progress already achieved
by them, will be found of more than ordinary interest. The general
conduct of our Indian population has been so satisfactory that the
occurrence of two disturbances, which resulted in bloodshed and
destruction of property, is all the more to be lamented.

The history of the outbreak on the White River Ute Reservation, in
western Colorado, has become so familiar by elaborate reports in the
public press that its remarkable incidents need not be stated here
in detail. It is expected that the settlement of this difficulty will
lead to such arrangements as will prevent further hostile contact
between the Indians and the border settlements in western Colorado.

The other disturbance occurred at the Mescalero Agency, in New Mexico,
where Victoria, at the head of a small band of marauders, after
committing many atrocities, being vigorously chased by a military
force, made his way across the Mexican border and is now on foreign
soil.

While these occurrences, in which a comparatively small number of
Indians were engaged, are most deplorable, a vast majority of our
Indian population have fully justified the expectations of those who
believe that by humane and peaceful influences the Indian can be led
to abandon the habits of savage life and to develop a capacity for
useful and civilized occupations. What they have already accomplished
in the pursuit of agricultural and mechanical work, the remarkable
success which has attended the experiment of employing as freighters
a class of Indians hitherto counted among the wildest and most
intractable, and the general and urgent desire expressed by them for
the education of their children may be taken as sufficient proof that
they will be found capable of accomplishing much more if they continue
to be wisely and fairly guided. The "Indian policy" sketched in the
report of the Secretary of the Interior, the object of which is to
make liberal provision for the education of Indian youth, to settle
the Indians upon farm lots in severalty, to give them title in fee to
their farms, inalienable for a certain number of years, and when their
wants are thus provided for to dispose by sale of the lands on their
reservations not occupied and used by them, a fund to be formed out
of the proceeds for the benefit of the Indians, which will gradually
relieve the Government of the expenses now provided for by annual
appropriations, must commend itself as just and beneficial to the
Indians, and as also calculated to remove those obstructions which
the existence of large reservations presents to the settlement and
development of the country. I therefore earnestly recommend the
enactment of a law enabling the Government to give Indians a title in
fee, inalienable for twenty-five years, to the farm lands assigned to
them by allotment. I also repeat the recommendation made in my first
annual message, that a law be passed admitting Indians who can give
satisfactory proof of having by their own labor supported their
families for a number of years, and who are willing to detach
themselves from their tribal relations, to the benefit of the
homestead act, and to grant them patents containing the same provision
of inalienability for a certain period.

The experiment of sending a number of Indian children of both sexes to
the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, in Virginia, to receive
an elementary English education and practical instruction in farming
and other useful industries, has led to results so promising that it
was thought expedient to turn over the cavalry barracks at Carlisle,
in Pennsylvania, to the Interior Department for the establishment of
an Indian school on a larger scale. This school has now 158 pupils,
selected from various tribes, and is in full operation. Arrangements
are also made for the education of a number of Indian boys and girls
belonging to tribes on the Pacific Slope in a similar manner, at
Forest Grove, in Oregon. These institutions will commend themselves to
the liberality of Congress and to the philanthropic munificence of the
American people.

Last spring information was received of the organization of an
extensive movement in the Western States, the object of which was
the occupation by unauthorized persons of certain lands in the Indian
Territory ceded by the Cherokees to the Government for the purpose of
settlement by other Indian tribes.

On the 26th of April I issued a proclamation[40] warning all persons
against participation in such an attempt, and by the cooperation of a
military force the invasion was promptly checked. It is my purpose to
protect the rights of the Indian inhabitants of that Territory to the
full extent of the executive power; but it would be unwise to ignore
the fact that a territory so large and so fertile, with a population
so sparse and with so great a wealth of unused resources, will be
found more exposed to the repetition of such attempts as happened
this year when the surrounding States are more densely settled and the
westward movement of our population looks still more eagerly for
fresh lands to occupy. Under such circumstances the difficulty of
maintaining the Indian Territory in its present state will greatly
increase, and the Indian tribes inhabiting it would do well to prepare
for such a contingency. I therefore fully approve of the advice given
to them by the Secretary of the Interior on a recent occasion, to
divide among themselves in severalty as large a quantity of their
lands as they can cultivate; to acquire individual title in fee
instead of their present tribal ownership in common, and to consider
in what manner the balance of their lands may be disposed of by the
Government for their benefit. By adopting such a policy they would
more certainly secure for themselves the value of their possessions,
and at the same time promote their progress in civilization and
prosperity, than by endeavoring to perpetuate the present state of
things in the Territory.

The question whether a change in the control of the Indian service
should be made was in the Forty-fifth Congress referred to a joint
committee of both Houses for inquiry and report. In my last annual
message I expressed the hope that the decision of that question, then
in prospect, would "arrest further agitation of this subject, such
agitation being apt to produce a disturbing effect upon the service as
well as on the Indians themselves." Since then, the committee having
reported, the question has been decided in the negative by a vote in
the House of Representatives.

For the reasons here stated, and in view of the fact that further
uncertainty on this point will be calculated to obstruct other
much-needed legislation, to weaken the discipline of the service, and
to unsettle salutary measures now in progress for the government and
improvement of the Indians, I respectfully recommend that the decision
arrived at by Congress at its last session be permitted to stand.

The efforts made by the Department of the Interior to arrest the
depredations on the timber lands of the United States have been
continued, and have met with considerable success. A large number of
cases of trespass have been prosecuted in the courts of the United
States; others have been settled, the trespassers offering to make
payment to the Government for the value of the timber taken by them.
The proceeds of these prosecutions and settlements turned into the
Treasury far exceed in amount the sums appropriated by Congress for
this purpose. A more important result, however, consists in the fact
that the destruction of our public forests by depredation, although
such cases still occur, has been greatly reduced in extent, and it
is probable that if the present policy is vigorously pursued and
sufficient provision to that end is made by Congress such trespasses,
at least those on a large scale, can be entirely suppressed, except
in the Territories, where timber for the daily requirements of the
population can not, under the present state of the law, be otherwise
obtained. I therefore earnestly invite the attention of Congress to
the recommendation made by the Secretary of the Interior, that a law
be enacted enabling the Government to sell timber from the public
lands without conveying the fee, where such lands are principally
valuable for the timber thereon, such sales to be so regulated as to
conform to domestic wants and business requirements, while at the
same time guarding against a sweeping destruction of the forests. The
enactment of such a law appears to become a more pressing necessity
every day.

My recommendations in former messages are renewed in favor of
enlarging the facilities of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture
is the leading interest and the permanent industry of our people. It
is to the abundance of agricultural production, as compared with our
home consumption, and the largely increased and highly profitable
market abroad which we have enjoyed in recent years, that we are
mainly indebted for our present prosperity as a people. We must look
for its continued maintenance to the same substantial resource.
There is no branch of industry in which labor, directed by scientific
knowledge, yields such increased production in comparison with
unskilled labor, and no branch of the public service to which the
encouragement of liberal appropriations can be more appropriately
extended. The omission to render such aid is not a wise economy,
but, on the contrary, undoubtedly results in losses of immense sums
annually that might be saved through well-directed efforts by the
Government to promote this vital interest.

The results already accomplished with the very limited means
heretofore placed at the command of the Department of Agriculture is
an earnest of what may be expected with increased appropriations for
the several purposes indicated in the report of the Commissioner, with
a view to placing the Department upon a footing which will enable it
to prosecute more effectively the objects for which it is established.

Appropriations are needed for a more complete laboratory, for the
establishment of a veterinary division and a division of forestry, and
for an increase of force.

The requirements for these and other purposes, indicated in the report
of the Commissioner under the head of the immediate necessities of the
Department, will not involve any expenditure of money that the country
can not with propriety now undertake in the interests of agriculture.

It is gratifying to learn from the Bureau of Education the extent to
which educational privileges throughout the United States have been
advanced during the year. No more fundamental responsibility rests
upon Congress than that of devising appropriate measures of financial
aid to education, supplemental to local action in the States and
Territories and in the District of Columbia. The wise forethought of
the founders of our Government has not only furnished the basis for
the support of the common-school systems of the newer States, but laid
the foundations for the maintenance of their universities and colleges
of agriculture and the mechanic arts. Measures in accordance with this
traditional policy, for the further benefit of all these interests and
the extension of the same advantages to every portion of the country,
it is hoped will receive your favorable consideration.

To preserve and perpetuate the national literature should be among the
foremost cares of the National Legislature. The library gathered at
the Capitol still remains unprovided with any suitable accommodations
for its rapidly increasing stores. The magnitude and importance of the
collection, increased as it is by the deposits made under the law of
copyright, by domestic and foreign exchanges, and by the scientific
library of the Smithsonian Institution, call for building
accommodations which shall be at once adequate and fireproof. The
location of such a public building, which should provide for the
pressing necessities of the present and for the vast increase of the
nation's books in the future, is a matter which addresses itself to
the discretion of Congress. It is earnestly recommended as a measure
which should unite all suffrages and which should no longer be
delayed.

The joint commission created by the act of Congress of August 2, 1876,
for the purpose of supervising and directing the completion of the
Washington National Monument, of which commission the President is a
member, has given careful attention to this subject, and already the
strengthening of the foundation has so far progressed as to insure the
entire success of this part of the work. A massive layer of masonry
has been introduced below the original foundation, widening the base,
increasing the stability of the structure, and rendering it possible
to carry the shaft to completion. It is earnestly recommended that
such further appropriations be made for the continued prosecution
of the work as may be necessary for the completion of this national
monument at an early day.

In former messages, impressed with the importance of the subject,
I have taken occasion to commend to Congress the adoption of a
generous policy toward the District of Columbia. The report of
the Commissioners of the District, herewith transmitted, contains
suggestions and recommendations, to all of which I earnestly invite
your careful attention. I ask your early and favorable consideration
of the views which they express as to the urgent need of legislation
for the reclamation of the marshes of the Potomac and its Eastern
Branch within the limits of the city, and for the repair of the
streets of the capital, heretofore laid with wooden blocks and now by
decay rendered almost impassable and a source of imminent danger
to the health of its citizens. The means at the disposal of the
Commissioners are wholly inadequate for the accomplishment of these
important works, and should be supplemented by timely appropriations
from the Federal Treasury.

The filling of the flats in front of the city will add to the adjacent
lands and parks now owned by the United States a large and valuable
domain, sufficient, it is thought, to reimburse its entire cost, and
will also, as an incidental result, secure the permanent improvement
of the river for the purposes of navigation.

The Constitution having invested Congress with supreme and exclusive
jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, its citizens must of
necessity look to Congress alone for all needful legislation affecting
their interests; and as the territory of this District is the common
property of the people of the United States, who equally with its
resident citizens are interested in the prosperity of their capital,
I can not doubt that you will be amply sustained by the general voice
of the country in any measures you may adopt for this purpose.

I also invite the favorable consideration of Congress to the wants of
the public schools of this District, as exhibited in the report of the
Commissioners. While the number of pupils is rapidly increasing,
no adequate provision exists for a corresponding increase of school
accommodation, and the Commissioners are without the means to meet
this urgent need. A number of the buildings now used for school
purposes are rented, and are in important particulars unsuited for the
purpose. The cause of popular education in the District of Columbia is
surely entitled to the same consideration at the hands of the
National Government as in the several States and Territories, to which
munificent grants of the public lands have been made for the endowment
of schools and universities.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

[Footnote 40: See pp. 547-548.]




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1879_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a draft of a bill submitted
by the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia, entitled
"A bill to provide for the reclamation of the marshes in the harbors
of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and for other purposes,"
together with the accompanying letter of the president of the board
requesting its transmission to Congress.

The bill embraces a plan for the reclamation of the marshes of the
Potomac River and its Eastern Branch within the limits of the city
of Washington, and is carefully framed with a view to economy in the
prosecution of the work. The attention of Congress is again invited to
the urgent need of legislation for this important work, which has been
so long delayed.

The improvement contemplated is essential to the health of those who
reside, whether permanently or temporarily, at the capital, and to
the safe and convenient navigation of the waters in its vicinity by
vessels employed in the service of the Government and for the purposes
of commerce. It is a measure of more than local benefit. The capital
of the nation should be relieved from every disadvantage which it is
practicable to remove, and should possess every attraction with which
it can be invested by the intelligent and fostering care of those
who are intrusted with its immediate supervision. The people of the
country will sustain and approve the efforts of their representatives
in the discharge of this responsibility.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 7, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In reply to a resolution of the Senate of December 3, 1879, requesting
the President of the United States to inform the Senate whether
payments have been made to the Ute Indians in accordance with the
fourth article of an agreement made with said Indians September 3,
1873, I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior
and accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d
of December, 1879, relative to the consulate at Hongkong, I transmit
herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with its accompanying
papers.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor herewith to transmit the final report of the board
for testing iron, steel, and other metals, with the accompanying
papers. These papers constitute the remainder of the reports made
by the board, which were transmitted by me to the House of
Representatives on the 15th of June, 1878 (House Ex. Doc. No. 98,
Forty-fifth Congress, second session).

The United States testing machine at Watertown Arsenal, constructed
for the board, is reported as being of great value in the
determination of data and the solution of problems of interest to the
people of the whole country, and the special attention of Congress
is called to the necessity of an appropriation to enable the War
Department to make use of it. An estimate of $20,000 for the purpose
was submitted to Congress in the last Book of Estimates (see p. 82),
and an appropriation of that sum is respectfully recommended.

The act of July 31, 1876 (19 U.S. Statutes at Large, ch. 246, p. 119),
made an appropriation for completing the experiments in testing
iron, steel, and other metals, and provided that the board should
be discontinued from and after the expenditure of the amount
appropriated. In accordance with this legislation, the board ceased to
exist on the 30th of June, 1879.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 21, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States of America
and the French Republic for the settlement of certain claims of the
citizens of either country against the other.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 26, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st
instant, requesting the Commissioner of Agriculture to furnish all
information which he may have in his possession bearing upon the
culture of the sugar beet, etc., the accompanying letter and report,
received from the Acting Commissioner of Agriculture for this purpose,
are herewith transmitted.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 5, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d
instant, requesting the Commissioner of Agriculture to forward any
facts or statistics in his office on the subject of forestry not
heretofore published from his Department, the following report,
received from the Commissioner, upon this subject is hereby
transmitted.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 5th instant, calling for any information which I may have received
of the proceedings of the International Polar Congress convened in
Hamburg, Germany, October 1, 1879, I transmit herewith a report from
the Secretary of State on the subject.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 19th of
January, 1880, calling for information in relation to claims before
the American-Spanish Claims Commission and the proceedings of the
commission, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State
upon the subject.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 24, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Attorney-General, with
reference to the requisite appropriation for the current fiscal year
for the compensation, of the marshals of the United States, including
their reimbursement for necessary expenditures in the discharge of
their official duties.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1880_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a preliminary report and a draft
of a bill submitted by the Public Lands Commission authorized by the
act of Congress approved March 3, 1879.

The object of the report and of the bill accompanying it is of such
importance that I respectfully commend it to the prompt and earnest
consideration of Congress.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo,
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with
its papers, relating to the claim of Max. Bromberger against the
Government of Mexico.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a view
to ratification, a treaty between the Government of the United
States and His Highness Sultan Abdallah, King of Johanna, concerning
commercial intercourse with that independent East African island,
concluded at Johanna Town on the 4th day of October, 1879.

For your better understanding of the subject, I transmit also the
correspondence of Commodore Shufeldt with the Navy Department, which
accompanied the treaty, describing the condition and resources of the
island of Johanna and narrating the progress of the negotiation, which
was undertaken under the general instructions of the Department of
State.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1880_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I deem it proper to invite the attention of Congress to the subject of
the unsettled claims of Spanish inhabitants of East Florida during the
years of 1812 and 1813, generally known as the "East Florida claims,"
the settlement of which is provided for by a stipulation found in
Article IX of the treaty of February, 1819, between the United States
and Spain. The provision of the treaty in question which relates to
the subject is the following:

  The United States will cause satisfaction to be made for the
  injuries, if any, which by process of law shall be established
  to have been suffered by the Spanish officers and individual
  Spanish inhabitants by the late operations of the American
  army in Florida.


The act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1823 (3 U.S. Statutes at
Large, p. 768), to carry into effect the ninth article of the treaty
in question, provided for the examination and judicial ascertainment
of the claims by the judges of the superior courts established at St.
Augustine and Pensacola, and also made provision for the payment by
the Secretary of the Treasury of such claims as might be reported to
him by the said judges, upon his being satisfied that such claims were
just and equitable; and a subsequent act, approved the 26th of June,
1834 (6 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 569), gave further directions for
the payment, and also provided for the hearing and determination by
the judge of the superior court of St. Augustine of such claims as
had not then been already heard and determined. Under these acts
of Congress I understand that all claims presented to the judges in
Florida were passed upon and the result of the proceedings thus had
reported to the Secretary of the Treasury. It also appears that in
the computation of damages the judges adopted a rule of 5 per cent per
annum on the ascertained actual loss from the date of that loss to the
time of the rendition of their finding, and that the Secretary of the
Treasury in 1836, when the first reports were presented to him, not
deeming this portion of the claims covered by the 5 per cent rule
just and equitable within the meaning of the treaty and the acts of
Congress, refused to pay it, but did continue to pay the ascertained
amounts of actual loss. The demand for payment of this rejected
item has been pressed at various times and in various ways up to the
present time, but Mr. Woodbury's successors in the Treasury Department
have not felt at liberty to review that ruling.

Under these circumstances I have thought it proper to lay the subject
before Congress for its consideration and such action as may be deemed
necessary. The history of the proceedings already had in regard to the
matter is of record in the Treasury Department, and will be furnished
by the Secretary of the Treasury should Congress desire it.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 8, 1880_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State and the
accompanying papers, in response to the resolution adopted by the
Senate on the 11th day of February last, requesting copies of all
correspondence between this Government and any foreign government
since February, 1869, respecting a ship canal across the isthmus
between North America and South America, together with copies of any
_projet_ of treaties respecting the same which the Department of State
may have proposed or submitted since that date to any foreign power or
its diplomatic representative.

In further compliance with the resolution of the Senate, I deem it
proper to state briefly my opinion as to the policy of the United
States with respect to the construction of an interoceanic canal by
any route across the American Isthmus.

The policy of this country is a canal under American control. The
United States can not consent to the surrender of this control to any
European power or to any combination of European powers. If existing
treaties between the United States and other nations or if the rights
of sovereignty or property of other nations stand in the way of this
policy--a contingency which is not apprehended--suitable steps should
be taken by just and liberal negotiations to promote and establish the
American policy on this subject consistently with the rights of the
nations to be affected by it.

The capital invested by corporations or citizens of other countries in
such an enterprise must in a great degree look for protection to
one or more of the great powers of the world. No European power
can intervene for such protection without adopting measures on this
continent which the United States would deem wholly inadmissible. If
the protection of the United States is relied upon, the United States
must exercise such control as will enable this country to protect
its national interests and maintain the rights of those whose private
capital is embarked in the work.

An interoceanic canal across the American Isthmus will essentially
change the geographical relations between the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of the United States and between the United States and the rest
of the world. It would be the great ocean thoroughfare between our
Atlantic and our Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coast
line of the United States. Our merely commercial interest in it is
greater than that of all other countries, while its relations to our
power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defense, our unity,
peace, and safety, are matters of paramount concern to the people
of the United States. No other great power would under similar
circumstances fail to assert a rightful control over a work so closely
and vitally affecting its interest and welfare.

Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat, in
conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the United States
to assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any
interoceanic canal across the isthmus that connects North and South
America as will protect our national interests. This, I am quite sure,
will be found not only compatible with but promotive of the widest and
most permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

[A similar message was sent to the House of Representatives, in answer
to a resolution of that body of February 10.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 9, 1880_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report from the Secretary
of the Interior, containing an agreement signed by the chiefs and
headmen of the Ute Indians now present at the seat of Government. The
stipulations of this agreement appear to me so reasonable and just and
the object to be accomplished by its execution so eminently desirable
to both the white people of the United States and the Indians that it
has my cordial approval, and I earnestly commend it to Congress for
favorable consideration and appropriate legislative action.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 9, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a
view to ratification, a convention between the United States and His
Majesty the King of the Belgians, defining the rights, immunities, and
privileges of consular officers, concluded this day at Washington.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 9, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report, dated on the 9th instant, from the
Secretary of State, with the accompanying papers, in answer to
a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th ultimo,
requesting the President to transmit to that body, if not deemed
incompatible with the public interest, copies of such dispatches
as have recently been received by the Secretary of State from the
consul-general at Shanghai upon the subject of slavery in China and
those portions of the penal code of China which forbid expatriation.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of March 2,
1880, requesting the Secretary of State to communicate to the House
certain information in relation to the publication and circulation of
commercial reports, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
State, with its accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 29th of
January, 1880, calling for information in relation to the awards of
the mixed commission organized under the provisions of the treaty of
April 25, 1866, between the United States and Venezuela, I transmit
herewith a report from the Secretary of State upon the subject.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _April 12, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
12th of February last, on the subject of negotiations concerning the
immigration of Chinese to the United States, I transmit a report of
the Secretary of State, to whom the matter was referred.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of February
last, concerning the action had by the Executive with respect to the
investigation of certain cases in which awards were made by the late
United States and Mexican Commission, I transmit herewith a report of
the Secretary of State, to whom the matter was referred.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., April 16, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The board for testing iron, steel, and other metals, appointed under
the authority of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil
expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876,
and for other purposes," contracted with Mr. A.H. Emery, of New York,
for a testing machine, to be paid out of the appropriation made for
the purpose. That machine has been completed and accepted, and is now
in position at the Watertown Arsenal, Mass. It is spoken of by the
members composing the late board as the most perfect and reliable
machine in the world, embodying new mechanical principles and
combinations not heretofore used in any other constructions.

In designing, perfecting, and making this machine the contractor
has expended large sums of money over and above the contract
price, besides giving years of labor, for which he has received no
compensation. He now appeals to Congress for relief, and the papers
herewith exhibit a case that calls for Congressional action. It is
respectfully submitted to the House of Representatives, recommending
speedy and favorable consideration.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 22, 1880_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to inform Congress that Mr. J. Randolph Coolidge,
Dr. Algernon Coolidge, Mr. Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, and Mrs. Ellen
Dwight, of Massachusetts, the heirs of the late Joseph Coolidge,
jr., desire to present to the United States the desk on which the
Declaration of Independence was written. It bears the following
inscription in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson:

  Thomas Jefferson gives this writing desk to Joseph Coolidge,
  jr., as a memorial of his affection. It was made from
  a drawing of his own, by Ben. Randall, cabinetmaker of
  Philadelphia, with whom he first lodged on his arrival in that
  city in May, 1776, and is the identical one on which he wrote
  the Declaration of Independence.

  Politics, as well as religion, has its superstitions. These,
  gaining strength with time, may one day give imaginary value
  to this relic for its association with the birth of the great
  charter of our independence.

  Monticello, _November 18, 1825_.


The desk was placed in my possession by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, and
is herewith transmitted to Congress with the letter of Mr. Winthrop
expressing the wish of the donors "to offer it to the United States,
so that it may henceforth have a place in the Department of State in
connection with the immortal instrument which was written upon it in
1776."

I respectfully recommend that such action be taken by Congress as
may be deemed appropriate with reference to a gift to the nation
so precious in its history and for the memorable associations which
belong to it.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 14, 1880_.

His Excellency RUTHERFORD B. HAYES,
  _President of the United States_.

MY DEAR SIR: I have been privileged to bring with me from Boston, as a
present to the United States, a very precious historical relic. It is
the little desk on which Mr. Jefferson wrote the original draft of the
Declaration of Independence.

This desk was given by Mr. Jefferson himself to my friend, the late
Joseph Coolidge, of Boston, at the time of his marriage to Jefferson's
granddaughter, Miss Randolph, and it bears an autograph inscription
of singular interest, written by the illustrious author of the
Declaration in the very last year of his life.

On the recent death of Mr. Coolidge, whose wife had died a year or
two previously, the desk became the property of their children, Mr.
J. Randolph Coolidge, Dr. Algernon Coolidge, Mr. Thomas Jefferson
Coolidge, and Mrs. Ellen Dwight, who now desire to offer it to
the United States, so that it may henceforth have a place in the
Department of State in connection with the immortal instrument which
was written upon it in 1776.

They have done me the honor to make me the medium of this
distinguished gift, and I ask permission to place it in the hands of
the Chief Magistrate of the nation in their name and at their request.

Believe me, dear Mr. President, with the highest respect, very
faithfully, your obedient servant,

ROBT. C. WINTHROP.



WASHINGTON, _May 13, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, in response to their resolution of
the 24th of March last, in relation to the fulfillment of the ninth
article of the treaty of 1819 between the United States and Spain, a
report of the Secretary of State on the correspondence asked for by
the resolution, with its accompanying documents, and in connection
therewith a previous report from the Secretary of State and an opinion
of the Attorney-General on the subject of the East Florida claims.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _May 17, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 27th ultimo, calling for copies of the correspondence with the
Government of Great Britain in regard to the alleged outrage upon
American fishermen at Fortune Bay, in the Province of Newfoundland,
I transmit herewith the correspondence called for and a report from
the Secretary of State on the subject.

In transmitting this correspondence and the report I respectfully
ask the immediate and careful attention of Congress to the failure
of accord between the two Governments as to the interpretation and
execution of the fishery articles of the treaty of Washington, as
disclosed in this correspondence and elucidated by the exposition of
the subject by the Secretary of State.

I concur in the opinions of this report as to the measures proper to
be taken by this Government in maintenance of the rights accorded to
our fishermen by the British concession of the treaty and in providing
for suitable action toward securing an indemnity for the injury these
interests have already suffered.

Accordingly, I recommend to Congress the adoption of these measures,
with such attendant details of legislation as in the wisdom of
Congress shall seem expedient.

R.B. HAYES.

[The same message was sent to the Senate, in answer to a resolution of
that body of April 28.]



WASHINGTON, _May 24, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I submit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, the accompanying convention for the extradition of
criminals, concluded between the United States and the Government of
His Majesty the King of the Netherlands on the 22d instant.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 25, 1880_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication from the
Secretary of the Interior, with reference to the agreement made with
the chiefs of the Ute Indians recently in Washington, a copy of which
was submitted to Congress on the 9th of March last.

The special and immediate attention of Congress to the imminent danger
attending the postponement of appropriate legislation to carry into
effect the stipulations of this agreement is earnestly solicited.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 5, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to a resolution of the Senate of the 31st ultimo,
requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate whether any
supervisor or supervisors of the census appointed by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate have been removed from office by
him or with his consent," etc., I transmit herewith a report from the
Secretary of the Interior.

R.B. HAYES.




VETO MESSAGES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 4, 1880_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

After mature consideration of the bill entitled "An act making
appropriations to supply certain deficiencies in the appropriations
for the service of the Government for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1880, and for other purposes," I return it to the House of
Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its
passage.

The bill appropriates about $8,000,000, of which over $600,000 is for
the payment of the fees of United States marshals and of the general
and special deputy marshals earned during the current fiscal year,
and their incidental expenses. The appropriations made in the bill are
needed to carry on the operations of the Government and to fulfill its
obligations for the payment of money long since due to its officers
for services and expenses essential to the execution of their
duties under the laws of the United States. The necessity for these
appropriations is so urgent and they have been already so long
delayed that if the bill before me contained no permanent or general
legislation unconnected with these appropriations it would receive
my prompt approval. It contains, however, provisions which materially
change, and by implication repeal, important parts of the laws for the
regulation of the United States elections. These laws have for several
years past been the subject of vehement political controversy, and
have been denounced as unnecessary, oppressive, and unconstitutional.
On the other hand, it has been maintained with equal zeal and
earnestness that the election laws are indispensable to fair and
lawful elections, and are clearly warranted by the Constitution.
Under these circumstances, to attempt in an appropriation bill the
modification or repeal of these laws is to annex a condition to the
passage of needed and proper appropriations, which tends to deprive
the Executive of that equal and independent exercise of discretion and
judgment which the Constitution contemplates.

The objection to the bill, therefore, to which I respectfully ask your
attention is that it gives a marked and deliberate sanction, attended
by no circumstances of pressing necessity, to the questionable and,
as I am clearly of opinion, the dangerous practice of tacking upon
appropriation bills general and permanent legislation. This practice
opens a wide door to hasty, inconsiderate, and sinister legislation.
It invites attacks upon the independence and constitutional powers of
the Executive by providing an easy and effective way of constraining
Executive discretion. Although of late this practice has been resorted
to by all political parties when clothed with power, it did not
prevail until forty years after the adoption of the Constitution, and
it is confidently believed that it is condemned by the enlightened
judgment of the country. The States which have adopted new
constitutions during the last quarter of a century have generally
provided remedies for the evil. Many of them have enacted that no law
shall contain more than one subject, which shall be plainly expressed
in its title. The constitutions of more than half of the States
contain substantially this provision, or some other of like intent and
meaning. The public welfare will be promoted in many ways by a return
to the early practice of the Government and to the true rule of
legislation, which is that every measure should stand upon its own
merits.

I am firmly convinced that appropriation bills ought not to contain
any legislation not relevant to the application or expenditure of the
money thereby appropriated, and that by a strict adherence to this
principle an important and much needed reform will be accomplished.

Placing my objection to the bill on this feature of its frame,
I forbear any comment upon the important general and permanent
legislation which it contains, as matter for specific and independent
consideration.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 15, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

After mature consideration of the bill entitled "An act regulating the
pay and appointment of deputy marshals," I am constrained to withhold
from it my approval, and to return it to the Senate, in which it
originated, with my objections to its passage.

The laws now in force on the subject of the bill before me are
contained in the following sections of the Revised Statutes:

  SEC. 2021. Whenever an election at which Representatives or
  Delegates in Congress are to be chosen is held in any city
  or town of 20,000 inhabitants or upward, the marshal for the
  district in which the city or town is situated shall, on the
  application in writing of at least two citizens residing in
  such city or town, appoint special deputy marshals, whose
  duty it shall be, when required thereto, to aid and assist
  the supervisors of election in the verification of any list
  of persons who may have registered or voted; to attend in each
  election district or voting precinct at the times and places
  fixed for the registration of voters, and at all times
  or places when and where the registration may by law be
  scrutinized and the names of registered voters be marked
  for challenge; and also to attend, at all times for holding
  elections, the polls in such district or precinct.

  SEC. 2022. The marshal and his general deputies, and such
  special deputies, shall keep the peace and support and protect
  the supervisors of election in the discharge of their duties,
  preserve order at such places of registration and at such
  polls, prevent fraudulent registration and fraudulent voting
  thereat, or fraudulent conduct on the part of any officer of
  election, and immediately, either at the place of registration
  or polling place, or elsewhere, and either before or after
  registering or voting, to arrest and take into custody, with
  or without process, any person who commits, or attempts or
  offers to commit, any of the acts or offenses prohibited
  herein, or who commits any offense against the laws of the
  United States; but no person shall be arrested without process
  for any offense not committed in the presence of the marshal
  or his general or special deputies, or either of them, or of
  the supervisors of election, or either of them; and for
  the purposes of arrest or the preservation of the peace the
  supervisors of election shall, in the absence of the marshal's
  deputies, or if required to assist such deputies, have the
  same duties and powers as deputy marshals; nor shall any
  person, on the day of such election, be arrested without
  process for any offense committed on the day of registration.

  SEC. 2023. Whenever any arrest is made under any provision of
  this title, the person so arrested shall forthwith be brought
  before a commissioner, judge, or court of the United States
  for examination of the offenses alleged against him; and such
  commissioner, judge, or court shall proceed in respect thereto
  as authorized by law in case of crimes against the United
  States.

  SEC. 2024. The marshal or his general deputies, or such
  special deputies as are thereto specially empowered by him in
  writing, and under his hand and seal, whenever he or either
  or any of them is forcibly resisted in executing their duties
  under this title, or shall by violence, threats, or menaces
  be prevented from executing such duties or from arresting any
  person who has committed any offense for which the marshal
  or his general or his special deputies are authorized to make
  such arrest, are, and each of them is, empowered to summon
  and call to his aid the bystanders or _posse comitatus_ of his
  district.

  SEC. 2028. No person shall be appointed a supervisor of
  election or a deputy marshal under the preceding provisions
  who is not at the time of his appointment a qualified voter of
  the city, town, county, parish, election district, or voting
  precinct in which his duties are to be performed.

  SEC. 5521. If any person be appointed a supervisor of election
  or a special deputy marshal under the provisions of title "The
  elective franchise," and has taken the oath of office as such
  supervisor of election or such special deputy marshal, and
  thereafter neglects or refuses, without good and lawful
  excuse, to perform and discharge fully the duties,
  obligations, and requirements of such office until the
  expiration of the term for which he was appointed, he shall
  not only be subject to removal from office with loss of all
  pay or emoluments, but shall be punished by imprisonment for
  not less than six months nor more than one year, or by a fine
  of not less than $200 and not more than $500, or by both fine
  and imprisonment, and shall pay the costs of prosecution.

  SEC. 5522. Every person, whether with or without any
  authority, power, or process, or pretended authority, power,
  or process, of any State, Territory, or municipality, who
  obstructs, hinders, assaults, or by bribery, solicitation,
  or otherwise interferes with or prevents the supervisors of
  election, or either of them, or the marshal or his general or
  special deputies, or either of them, in the performance of any
  duty required of them, or either of them, or which he or they,
  or either of them, may be authorized to perform by any law of
  the United States, in the execution of process or otherwise,
  or who by any of the means before mentioned hinders or
  prevents the free attendance and presence at such places of
  registration, or at such polls of election, or full and free
  access and egress to and from any such place of registration
  or poll of election, or in going to and from any such place
  of registration or poll of election, or to and from any room
  where any such registration or election or canvass of votes,
  or of making any returns or certificates thereof, may be had,
  or who molests, interferes with, removes, or ejects from
  any such place of registration or poll of election, or
  of canvassing votes cast thereat, or of making returns or
  certificates thereof, any supervisor of election, the marshal
  or his general or special deputies, or either of them, or
  who threatens, or attempts or offers so to do, or refuses or
  neglects to aid and assist any supervisor of election, or the
  marshal or his general or special deputies, or either of them,
  in the performance of his or their duties, when required
  by him or them, or either of them, to give such aid and
  assistance, shall be liable to instant arrest without process,
  and shall be punished by imprisonment not more than two years,
  or by a fine of not more than $3,000, or by both such fine and
  imprisonment, and shall pay the cost of the prosecution.


The Supreme Court of the United States, in the recent case of _Ex
parte_ Siebold and others, decided at the October term, 1879, on
the question raised in the case as to the constitutionality of the
sections of the Revised Statutes above quoted, uses the following
language:

  These portions of the Revised Statutes are taken from the act
  commonly known as the enforcement act, approved May 31, 1870,
  and entitled "An act to enforce the right of citizens of the
  United States to vote in the several States of this Union,
  and for other purposes," and from the supplement to that
  act, approved February 28, 1871. They relate to elections of
  members of the House of Representatives, and were an assertion
  on the part of Congress of a power to pass laws for regulating
  and superintending said elections and for securing the purity
  thereof and the rights of citizens to vote thereat peaceably
  and without molestation.

  It must be conceded to be a most important power, and of a
  fundamental character. In the light of recent history and of
  the violence, fraud, corruption, and irregularity which have
  frequently prevailed at such elections, it may easily be
  conceived that the exertion of the power, if it exists, may be
  necessary to the stability of our form of government.

  The greatest difficulty in coming to a just conclusion arises
  from mistaken notions with regard to the relations which
  subsist between the State and National Governments. * * *

  It seems to be often overlooked that a national constitution
  has been adopted in this country, establishing a real
  government therein, operating upon persons and territory and
  things, and which, moreover, is, or should be, as dear to
  every American citizen as his State government is. Whenever
  the true conception of the nature of this Government is
  once conceded, no real difficulty will arise in the just
  interpretation of its powers; but if we allow ourselves to
  regard it as a hostile organization, opposed to the proper
  sovereignty and dignity of the State governments, we shall
  continue to be vexed with difficulties as to its jurisdiction
  and authority. No greater jealousy is required to be exercised
  toward this Government in reference to the preservation of
  our liberties than is proper to be exercised toward the State
  governments. Its powers are limited in number and clearly
  defined, and its action within the scope of those powers is
  restrained by a sufficiently rigid bill of rights for the
  protection of its citizens from oppression. The true interests
  of the people of this country require that both the National
  and State Governments should be allowed, without jealous
  interference on either side, to exercise all the powers which
  respectively belong to them according to a fair and practical
  construction of the Constitution. State rights and the rights
  of the United States should be equally respected. Both
  are essential to the preservation of our liberties and
  the perpetuity of our institutions. But in endeavoring to
  vindicate the one we should not allow our zeal to nullify or
  impair the other. * * *

  The true doctrine, as we conceive, is this, that while the
  States are really sovereign as to all matters which have not
  been granted to the jurisdiction and control of the United
  States, the Constitution and constitutional laws of the latter
  are, as we have already said, the supreme law of the land,
  and when they conflict with the laws of the States they are
  of paramount authority and obligation. This is the fundamental
  principle on which the authority of the Constitution is based,
  and unless it be conceded in practice as well as theory the
  fabric of our institutions, as it was contemplated by its
  founders, can not stand. The questions involved have respect
  not more to the autonomy and existence of the States than to
  the continued existence of the United States as a government
  to which every American citizen may look for security and
  protection in every part of the land. * * *

  Why do we have marshals at all if they can not physically lay
  their hands on persons and things in the performance of their
  proper duties? What functions can they perform if they can not
  use force? In executing the process of the courts must they
  call on the nearest constable for protection? Must they rely
  on him to use the requisite compulsion and to keep the peace
  while they are soliciting and entreating the parties and
  bystanders to allow the law to take its course? This is the
  necessary consequence of the positions that are assumed. If
  we indulge in such impracticable views as these, and keep
  on refining and re-refining, we shall drive the National
  Government out of the United States and relegate it to the
  District of Columbia, or perhaps to some foreign soil. We
  shall bring it back to a condition of greater helplessness
  than that of the old Confederation.

  The argument is based on a strained and impracticable view
  of the nature and powers of the National Government. It must
  execute its powers or it is no government. It must execute
  them on the land as well as on the sea, on things as well as
  on persons. And to do this it must necessarily have power to
  command obedience, preserve order, and keep the peace; and
  no person or power in this land has the right to resist or
  question its authority so long as it keeps within the bounds
  of its jurisdiction.


I have deemed it fitting and proper to quote thus largely from an
important and elaborate opinion of the Supreme Court because the bill
before me proceeds upon a construction of the Constitution as to the
powers of the National Government which is in direct conflict with the
judgment of the highest judicial tribunal of our country.

Under the sections of the present law above quoted officers of the
United States are authorized, and it is their duty in the case of
Congressional elections, to keep the peace at the polls and at the
places of registration; to arrest immediately any person who is guilty
of crimes against the United States election laws; to protect all
officers of elections in the performance of their duties; and
whenever an arrest is made to bring the person so arrested before a
commissioner, judge, or court of the United States for examination of
the offenses alleged against him. "Such special deputy marshals as are
specially empowered thereto by the marshal in writing," if forcibly
resisted, may call to their aid the bystanders or _posse comitatus_.
It is made a crime punishable with fine or imprisonment to hinder,
assault, or otherwise interfere with the marshal or "his special
deputies," or to threaten or to attempt so to do. If any person
appointed such special deputy marshal has taken the oath of office and
thereafter neglects or refuses to fully discharge the duties of such
office, he is punishable not only by removal from office, but by fine
and imprisonment. The functions of the special deputy marshals
now provided for by law being executive, they are placed under the
authority of the well-known chief executive officer of the courts
of the United States. They are in fact, and not merely in name, the
deputies of the marshal, and he and his bondsmen are responsible for
them. A civil force for the execution of the law is thus instituted in
accordance with long-established and familiar usage, which is simple,
effective, and under a responsible head. The necessity for the
possession of these powers by appropriate officers will not be called
in question by intelligent citizens who appreciate the importance of
peaceable, orderly, and lawful elections. Similar powers are conferred
and exercised under State laws with respect to State elections. The
executive officers of the United States under the existing laws have
no other or greater power to supervise and control the conduct of the
Congressional elections than the State executive officers exercise in
regard to State elections.

The bill before me changes completely the present law by substituting
for the special deputy marshals of the existing statutes new officers
hitherto unknown to the law, and who lack the power, responsibility,
and protection which are essential to enable them to act efficiently
as executive officers.

The bill under consideration is as follows:

  _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
  the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That
  from and after the passage of this act the pay of all deputy
  marshals for services in reference to any election shall be $5
  for each day of actual service, and no more.

  SEC. 2. That all deputy marshals to serve in reference to any
  election shall be appointed by the circuit court of the United
  States for the district in which such marshals are to perform
  their duties in each year; and the judges of the several
  circuit courts of the United States are hereby authorized to
  open their respective courts at any time for that purpose; and
  in case the circuit courts shall not be open for that purpose
  at least ten days prior to a registration, if there be one,
  or, if no registration be required, then at least ten days
  before such election, the judges of the district courts of
  the United States are hereby respectively authorized to cause
  their courts to be opened for the purpose of appointing such
  deputy marshals, who shall be appointed by the said district
  courts; and the officers so appointed shall be in equal
  numbers from the different political parties, and shall be
  well-known citizens, of good moral character, and actual
  residents of the voting precincts in which their duties are
  to be performed, and shall not be candidates for any office
  at such election; and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent
  with this act are hereby repealed: _Provided_, That the
  marshals of the United States for whom deputies shall be
  appointed by the court under this act shall not be liable for
  any of the acts of such deputies.


It will be observed that the deputy marshals proposed by the bill
before me are distinctly different officers from the special deputies
of the marshal, as such officers are now provided for in the statutes.
This bill does not connect the new officers with the existing laws
relating to special deputy marshals so as to invest the proposed
deputy marshals with the same powers, to impose upon them the same
duties, and to give them the same protection by means of the criminal
laws. When new officers are created, distinct in character and
appointed by different authority, although similar in name to
officers already provided for, such officers are not held by similar
responsibilities to the criminal law, do not possess the same powers,
and are not similarly protected unless it is expressly so provided by
legislation.

The so-called deputy marshals provided for in this bill will have no
executive head. The marshal can neither appoint nor remove them. He
can not control them, and he is not responsible for them. They will
have no authority to call to their aid, if resisted, the _posse
comitatus_. They are protected by no criminal statutes in the
performance of their duties. An assault upon one of these deputies
with the intent to prevent a lawful election will be no more than an
ordinary assault upon any other citizen. They can not keep the peace.
They can not make arrests when crimes are committed in their presence.
Whatever powers they have are confined to the precincts in which they
reside. Outside of the precincts for which they are appointed the
deputy marshals of this bill can not keep the peace, make arrests,
hold prisoners, take prisoners before a proper tribunal for hearing,
nor perform any other duty. No oaths of office are required of them,
and they give no bond. They have no superior who is responsible for
them, and they are not punishable for neglect of duty or misconduct in
office. In all these respects this bill makes a radical change between
the powers of the United States officers at national elections and the
powers uniformly possessed and exercised by State officers at State
elections. This discrimination against the authority of the United
States is a departure from the usage of the Government established by
precedents beginning with the earliest statutes on the subject, and
violates the true principles of the Constitution. The Supreme Court,
in the decision already referred to, says:

  It is argued that the preservation of peace and good order in
  society is not within the powers confided to the Government of
  the United States, but belongs exclusively to the States. Here
  again we are met with the theory that the Government of the
  United States does not rest upon the soil and territory of
  the country. We think that this theory is founded on an entire
  misconception of the nature and powers of that Government.
  We hold it to be an incontrovertible principle that the
  Government of the United States may, by means of physical
  force, exercised through its official agents, execute on every
  foot of American soil the powers and functions that belong to
  it. This necessarily involves the power to command obedience
  to its laws, and hence the power to keep the peace to that
  extent.

  This power to enforce its laws and to execute its functions
  in all places does not derogate from the power of the State to
  execute its laws at the same time and in the same places. The
  one does not exclude the other, except where both can not
  be executed at the same time. In that case the words of the
  Constitution itself show which is to yield. "This Constitution
  and all laws which shall be made in pursuance thereof * * *
  shall be the supreme law of the land."


In conclusion it is proper to say that no objection would be made to
the appointment of officers to act with reference to the elections by
the courts of the United States, and that I am in favor of appointing
officers to supervise and protect the elections without regard to
party; but the bill before me, while it recognizes the power and duty
of the United States to provide officers to guard and scrutinize the
Congressional elections, fails to adapt its provisions to the existing
laws so as to secure efficient supervision and protection. It is
therefore returned to the Senate, in which it originated, for that
further consideration which is contemplated by the Constitution.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATIONS.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has become known to me that certain evil-disposed persons
have within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States begun
and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible possession
of and settlement upon the lands of what is known as the Indian
Territory, west of the State of Arkansas, which Territory is
designated, recognized, and described by the treaties and laws of the
United States and by the executive authorities as Indian country, and
as such is only subject to occupation by Indian tribes, officers of
the Indian Department, military posts, and such persons as may be
privileged to reside and trade therein under the intercourse laws of
the United States; and

Whereas those laws provide for the removal of all persons residing and
trading therein without express permission of the Indian Department
and agents, and also of all persons whom such agents may deem to be
improper persons to reside in the Indian country; and

Whereas, in aid and support of such organized movement, it has been
represented that no further action will be taken by the Government to
prevent persons from going into said territory and settling therein,
but such representations are wholly without authority:

Now, therefore, for the purpose of properly protecting the interests
of the Indian nations and tribes, as well as of the United States, in
said Indian Territory, and of duly enforcing the laws governing the
same, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States, do
admonish and warn all such persons so intending or preparing to remove
upon said lands or into said Territory without permission of the
proper agent of the Indian Department against any attempt to so remove
or settle upon any of the lands of said Territory; and I do further
warn and notify any and all such persons who may so offend that they
will be speedily and immediately removed therefrom by the agent,
according to the laws made and provided, and that no efforts will be
spared to prevent the invasion of said Territory, rumors spread
by evil-disposed persons to the contrary notwithstanding; and if
necessary the aid and assistance of the military forces of the United
States will be invoked to carry into proper execution the laws of the
United States herein referred to.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of February, A.D. 1880,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
fourth.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

At no period in their history since the United States became a nation
has this people had so abundant and so universal reasons for joy and
gratitude at the favor of Almighty God or been subject to so profound
an obligation to give thanks for His loving kindness and humbly to
implore His continued care and protection.

Health, wealth, and prosperity throughout all our borders; peace,
honor, and friendship with all the world; firm and faithful adherence
by the great body of our population to the principles of liberty and
justice which have made our greatness as a nation, and to the wise
institutions and strong frame of government and society which will
perpetuate it--for all these let the thanks of a happy and united
people, as with one voice, ascend in devout homage to the Giver of All
Good.

I therefore recommend that on Thursday, the 25th day of November next,
the people meet in their respective places of worship to make their
acknowledgments to Almighty God for His bounties and His protection
and to offer to Him prayers for their continuance.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of November, A.D. 1880,
and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
fifth.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas satisfactory evidence has been given to me by the Government
of His Majesty the Emperor of China that no discriminating duties of
tonnage or imposts are imposed or levied in the ports of that nation
upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States, or
upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same:

Therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority in me vested by law, do hereby
declare and proclaim that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage
and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and
discontinued so far as respects the vessels of China and the produce,
manufactures, and merchandise imported therein into the United
States from China, or from any other foreign country, so long as
the exemption aforesaid on the part of China of vessels belonging to
citizens of the United States and their cargoes shall be continued and
no longer.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 23d day of November, A.D. 1880,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the one
hundred and fifth.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDER.


[From the Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 27, 1880.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., May 27, 1880_.

DEAR SIR:[41] I am directed by the President to say that the several
Departments of the Government will be closed on Saturday, the 29th
instant, in remembrance of those who fell in defense of the nation,
and to enable the employees to participate in the commemorative
ceremonies of the day.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

  W.K. ROGERS,
  _Private Secretary_.

[Footnote 41: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]




FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 6, 1880_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I congratulate you on the continued and increasing prosperity of our
country. By the favor of Divine Providence we have been blessed during
the past year with health, with abundant harvests, with profitable
employment for all our people, and with contentment at home, and
with peace and friendship with other nations. The occurrence of
the twenty-fourth election of Chief Magistrate has afforded another
opportunity to the people of the United States to exhibit to the world
a significant example of the peaceful and safe transmission of the
power and authority of government from the public servants whose terms
of office are about to expire to their newly chosen successors. This
example can not fail to impress profoundly thoughtful people of other
countries with the advantages which republican institutions afford.
The immediate, general, and cheerful acquiescence of all good citizens
in the result of the election gives gratifying assurance to our
country and to its friends throughout the world that a government
based on the free consent of an intelligent and patriotic people
possesses elements of strength, stability, and permanency not found in
any other form of government.

Continued opposition to the full and free enjoyment of the rights of
citizenship conferred upon the colored people by the recent amendments
to the Constitution still prevails in several of the late slaveholding
States. It has, perhaps, not been manifested in the recent election to
any large extent in acts of violence or intimidation. It has, however,
by fraudulent practices in connection with the ballots, with the
regulations as to the places and manner of voting, and with counting,
returning, and canvassing the votes cast, been successful in defeating
the exercise of the right preservative of all rights--the right
of suffrage--which the Constitution expressly confers upon our
enfranchised citizens.

It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that
sectionalism as a factor in our politics should disappear. They prefer
that no section of the country should be united in solid opposition
to any other section. The disposition to refuse a prompt and hearty
obedience to the equal-rights amendments to the Constitution is all
that now stands in the way of a complete obliteration of sectional
lines in our political contests. As long as either of these amendments
is flagrantly violated or disregarded, it is safe to assume that
the people who placed them in the Constitution, as embodying the
legitimate results of the war for the Union, and who believe them to
be wise and necessary, will continue to act together and to insist
that they shall be obeyed. The paramount question still is as to the
enjoyment of the right by every American citizen who has the requisite
qualifications to freely cast his vote and to have it honestly
counted. With this question rightly settled, the country will be
relieved of the contentions of the past; bygones will indeed be
bygones, and political and party issues, with respect to economy
and efficiency of administration, internal improvements, the tariff,
domestic taxation, education, finance, and other important subjects,
will then receive their full share of attention; but resistance to
and nullification of the results of the war will unite together in
resolute purpose for their support all who maintain the authority of
the Government and the perpetuity of the Union, and who adequately
appreciate the value of the victory achieved. This determination
proceeds from no hostile sentiment or feeling to any part of the
people of our country or to any of their interests. The inviolability
of the amendments rests upon the fundamental principle of our
Government. They are the solemn expression of the will of the people
of the United States.

The sentiment that the constitutional rights of all our citizens must
be maintained does not grow weaker. It will continue to control the
Government of the country. Happily, the history of the late election
shows that in many parts of the country where opposition to the
fifteenth amendment has heretofore prevailed it is diminishing, and is
likely to cease altogether if firm and well-considered action is taken
by Congress. I trust the House of Representatives and the Senate,
which have the right to judge of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of their own members, will see to it that every case
of violation of the letter or spirit of the fifteenth amendment is
thoroughly investigated, and that no benefit from such violation shall
accrue to any person or party. It will be the duty of the Executive,
with sufficient appropriations for the purpose, to prosecute
unsparingly all who have been engaged in depriving citizens of the
rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution.

It is not, however, to be forgotten that the best and surest guaranty
of the primary rights of citizenship is to be found in that capacity
for self-protection which can belong only to a people whose right to
universal suffrage is supported by universal education. The means
at the command of the local and State authorities are in many cases
wholly inadequate to furnish free instruction to all who need it.
This is especially true where before emancipation the education of the
people was neglected or prevented, in the interest of slavery. Firmly
convinced that the subject of popular education deserves the earnest
attention of the people of the whole country, with a view to wise
and comprehensive action by the Government of the United States, I
respectfully recommend that Congress, by suitable legislation and
with proper safeguards, supplement the local educational funds in
the several States where the grave duties and responsibilities of
citizenship have been devolved on uneducated people by devoting to
the purpose grants of the public lands and, if necessary, by
appropriations from the Treasury of the United States. Whatever
Government can fairly do to promote free popular education ought to be
done. Wherever general education is found, peace, virtue, and social
order prevail and civil and religious liberty are secure.

In my former annual messages I have asked the attention of Congress to
the urgent necessity of a reformation of the civil-service system
of the Government. My views concerning the dangers of patronage,
or appointments for personal or partisan considerations, have been
strengthened by my observation and experience in the Executive office,
and I believe these dangers threaten the stability of the Government.
Abuses so serious in their nature can not be permanently tolerated.
They tend to become more alarming with the enlargement of
administrative service, as the growth of the country in population
increases the number of officers and placemen employed.

The reasons are imperative for the adoption of fixed rules for the
regulation of appointments, promotions, and removals, establishing
a uniform method having exclusively in view in every instance the
attainment of the best qualifications for the position in question.
Such a method alone is consistent with the equal rights of all
citizens and the most economical and efficient administration of the
public business.

Competitive examinations in aid of impartial appointments and
promotions have been conducted for some years past in several of
the Executive Departments, and by my direction this system has been
adopted in the custom-houses and post-offices of the larger cities of
the country. In the city of New York over 2,000 positions in the civil
service have been subject in their appointments and tenure of place to
the operation of published rules for this purpose during the past
two years. The results of these practical trials have been very
satisfactory, and have confirmed my opinion in favor of this system of
selection. All are subjected to the same tests, and the result is free
from prejudice by personal favor or partisan influence. It secures for
the position applied for the best qualifications attainable among the
competing applicants. It is an effectual protection from the pressure
of importunity, which under any other course pursued largely exacts
the time and attention of appointing officers, to their great
detriment in the discharge of other official duties, preventing the
abuse of the service for the mere furtherance of private or party
purposes, and leaving the employee of the Government, freed from the
obligations imposed by patronage, to depend solely upon merit for
retention and advancement, and with this constant incentive to
exertion and improvement.

These invaluable results have been attained in a high degree in the
offices where the rules for appointment by competitive examination
have been applied.

A method which has so approved itself by experimental tests at
points where such tests may be fairly considered conclusive should be
extended to all subordinate positions under the Government. I believe
that a strong and growing public sentiment demands immediate measures
for securing and enforcing the highest possible efficiency in the
civil service and its protection from recognized abuses, and that
the experience referred to has demonstrated the feasibility of such
measures.

The examinations in the custom-houses and post-offices have been held
under many embarrassments and without provision for compensation for
the extra labor performed by the officers who have conducted them, and
whose commendable interest in the improvement of the public service
has induced this devotion of time and labor without pecuniary reward.
A continuance of these labors gratuitously ought not to be expected,
and without an appropriation by Congress for compensation it is not
practicable to extend the system of examinations generally throughout
the civil service. It is also highly important that all such
examinations should be conducted upon a uniform system and under
general supervision. Section 1753 of the Revised Statutes authorizes
the President to prescribe the regulations for admission to the civil
service of the United States, and for this purpose to employ suitable
persons to conduct the requisite inquiries with reference to "the
fitness of each candidate, in respect to age, health, character,
knowledge, and ability for the branch of service into which he seeks
to enter;" but the law is practically inoperative for want of the
requisite appropriation.

I therefore recommend an appropriation of $25,000 per annum to meet
the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by the President in
accordance with the terms of this section, whose duty it shall be
to devise a just, uniform, and efficient system of competitive
examinations and to supervise the application of the same throughout
the entire civil service of the Government. I am persuaded that the
facilities which such a commission will afford for testing the fitness
of those who apply for office will not only be as welcome a relief
to members of Congress as it will be to the President and heads of
Departments, but that it will also greatly tend to remove the causes
of embarrassment which now inevitably and constantly attend the
conflicting claims of patronage between the legislative and executive
departments. The most effectual check upon the pernicious competition
of influence and official favoritism in the bestowal of office will
be the substitution of an open competition of merit between the
applicants, in which everyone can make his own record with the
assurance that his success will depend upon this alone.

I also recommend such legislation as, while leaving every officer as
free as any other citizen to express his political opinions and to use
his means for their advancement, shall also enable him to feel as safe
as any private citizen in refusing all demands upon his salary for
political purposes. A law which should thus guarantee true liberty
and justice to all who are engaged in the public service, and likewise
contain stringent provisions against the use of official authority
to coerce the political action of private citizens or of official
subordinates, is greatly to be desired.

The most serious obstacle, however, to an improvement of the civil
service, and especially to a reform in the method of appointment and
removal, has been found to be the practice, under what is known as
the spoils system, by which the appointing power has been so largely
encroached upon by members of Congress. The first step in the reform
of the civil service must be a complete divorce between Congress and
the Executive in the matter of appointments. The corrupting
doctrine that "to the victors belong the spoils" is inseparable
from Congressional patronage as the established rule and practice of
parties in power. It comes to be understood by applicants for office
and by the people generally that Representatives and Senators are
entitled to disburse the patronage of their respective districts and
States. It is not necessary to recite at length the evils resulting
from this invasion of the Executive functions. The true principles of
Government on the subject of appointments to office, as stated in the
national conventions of the leading parties of the country, have again
and again been approved by the American people, and have not been
called in question in any quarter. These authentic expressions of
public opinion upon this all-important subject are the statement
of principles that belong to the constitutional structure of the
Government.

  Under the Constitution the President and heads of Departments
  are to make nominations for office. The Senate is to advise
  and consent to appointments, and the House of Representatives
  is to accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The best
  interest of the public service demands that these distinctions
  be respected; that Senators and Representatives, who may
  be judges and accusers, should not dictate appointments to
  office.


To this end the cooperation of the legislative department of the
Government is required alike by the necessities of the case and by
public opinion. Members of Congress will not be relieved from the
demands made upon them with reference to appointments to office until
by legislative enactment the pernicious practice is condemned and
forbidden.

It is therefore recommended that an act be passed defining the
relations of members of Congress with respect to appointment to office
by the President; and I also recommend that the provisions of section
1767 and of the sections following of the Revised Statutes, comprising
the tenure-of-office act of March 2, 1867, be repealed.

Believing that to reform the system and methods of the civil service
in our country is one of the highest and most imperative duties
of statesmanship, and that it can be permanently done only by the
cooperation of the legislative and executive departments of the
Government, I again commend the whole subject to your considerate
attention.

It is the recognized duty and purpose of the people of the United
States to suppress polygamy where it now exists in our Territories and
to prevent its extension. Faithful and zealous efforts have been made
by the United States authorities in Utah to enforce the laws against
it. Experience has shown that the legislation upon this subject, to be
effective, requires extensive modification and amendment. The longer
action is delayed the more difficult it will be to accomplish what
is desired. Prompt and decided measures are necessary. The Mormon
sectarian organization which upholds polygamy has the whole power of
making and executing the local legislation of the Territory. By its
control of the grand and petit juries it possesses large influence
over the administration of justice. Exercising, as the heads of this
sect do, the local political power of the Territory, they are able to
make effective their hostility to the law of Congress on the subject
of polygamy, and, in fact, do prevent its enforcement. Polygamy will
not be abolished if the enforcement of the law depends on those who
practice and uphold the crime. It can only be suppressed by taking
away the political power of the sect which encourages and sustains it.

The power of Congress to enact suitable laws to protect the
Territories is ample. It is not a case for halfway measures. The
political power of the Mormon sect is increasing. It controls now
one of our wealthiest and most populous Territories. It is extending
steadily into other Territories. Wherever it goes it establishes
polygamy and sectarian political power. The sanctity of marriage and
the family relation are the corner stone of our American society and
civilization. Religious liberty and the separation of church and state
are among the elementary ideas of free institutions. To reestablish
the interests and principles which polygamy and Mormonism have
imperiled, and to fully reopen to intelligent and virtuous immigrants
of all creeds that part of our domain which has been in a great degree
closed to general immigration by intolerant and immoral institutions,
it is recommended that the government of the Territory of Utah be
reorganized.

I recommend that Congress provide for the government of Utah by a
governor and judges, or commissioners, appointed by the President and
confirmed by the Senate--a government analogous to the provisional
government established for the territory northwest of the Ohio by
the ordinance of 1787. If, however, it is deemed best to continue the
existing form of local government, I recommend that the right to vote,
hold office, and sit on juries in the Territory of Utah be confined to
those who neither practice nor uphold polygamy. If thorough measures
are adopted, it is believed that within a few years the evils which
now afflict Utah will be eradicated, and that this Territory will in
good time become one of the most prosperous and attractive of the new
States of the Union.

Our relations with all foreign countries have been those of
undisturbed peace, and have presented no occasion for concern as to
their continued maintenance.

My anticipation of an early reply from the British Government to the
demand of indemnity to our fishermen for the injuries suffered by that
industry at Fortune Bay in January, 1878, which I expressed in my last
annual message, was disappointed. This answer was received only in the
latter part of April in the present year, and when received exhibited
a failure of accord between the two Governments as to the measure of
the inshore fishing privilege secured to our fishermen by the treaty
of Washington of so serious a character that I made it the subject of
a communication to Congress, in which I recommended the adoption of
the measures which seemed to me proper to be taken by this Government
in maintenance of the rights accorded to our fishermen under the
treaty and toward securing an indemnity for the injury these interests
had suffered. A bill to carry out these recommendations was under
consideration by the House of Representatives at the time of the
adjournment of Congress in June last.

Within a few weeks I have received a communication from Her Majesty's
Government renewing the consideration of the subject, both of the
indemnity for the injuries at Fortune Bay and of the interpretation
of the treaty in which the previous correspondence had shown the two
Governments to be at variance. Upon both these topics the disposition
toward a friendly agreement is manifested by a recognition of our
right to an indemnity for the transaction at Fortune Bay, leaving the
measure of such indemnity to further conference, and by an assent to
the view of this Government, presented in the previous correspondence,
that the regulation of conflicting interests of the shore fishery
of the provincial seacoasts and the vessel fishery of our fishermen
should be made the subject of conference and concurrent arrangement
between the two Governments.

I sincerely hope that the basis may be found for a speedy adjustment
of the very serious divergence of views in the interpretation of
the fishery clauses of the treaty of Washington, which, as the
correspondence between the two Governments stood at the close of the
last session of Congress, seemed to be irreconcilable.

In the important exhibition of arts and industries which was held last
year at Sydney, New South Wales, as well as in that now in progress
at Melbourne, the United States have been efficiently and honorably
represented. The exhibitors from this country at the former place
received a large number of awards in some of the most considerable
departments, and the participation of the United States was recognized
by a special mark of distinction. In the exhibition at Melbourne the
share taken by our country is no less notable, and an equal degree of
success is confidently expected.

The state of peace and tranquillity now enjoyed by all the nations
of the continent of Europe has its favorable influence upon our
diplomatic and commercial relations with them. We have concluded and
ratified a convention with the French Republic for the settlement of
claims of the citizens of either country against the other. Under this
convention a commission, presided over by a distinguished publicist,
appointed in pursuance of the request of both nations by His Majesty
the Emperor of Brazil, has been organized and has begun its sessions
in this city. A congress to consider means for the protection of
industrial property has recently been in session in Paris, to which
I have appointed the ministers of the United States in France and in
Belgium as delegates. The International Commission upon Weights and
Measures also continues its work in Paris. I invite your attention to
the necessity of an appropriation to be made in time to enable
this Government to comply with its obligations under the metrical
convention.

Our friendly relations with the German Empire continue without
interruption. At the recent International Exhibition of Fish
and Fisheries at Berlin the participation of the United States,
notwithstanding the haste with which the commission was forced to make
its preparations, was extremely successful and meritorious, winning
for private exhibitors numerous awards of a high class and for the
country at large the principal prize of honor offered by His Majesty
the Emperor. The results of this great success can not but be
advantageous to this important and growing industry. There have been
some questions raised between the two Governments as to the proper
effect and interpretation of our treaties of naturalization, but
recent dispatches from our minister at Berlin show that favorable
progress is making toward an understanding in accordance with the
views of this Government, which makes and admits no distinction
whatever between the rights of a native and a naturalized citizen of
the United States. In practice the complaints of molestation suffered
by naturalized citizens abroad have never been fewer than at present.

There is nothing of importance to note in our unbroken friendly
relations with the Governments of Austria-Hungary, Russia, Portugal,
Sweden and Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and Greece.

During the last summer several vessels belonging to the merchant
marine of this country, sailing in neutral waters of the West Indies,
were fired at, boarded, and searched by an armed cruiser of the
Spanish Government. The circumstances as reported involve not only a
private injury to the persons concerned, but also seemed too little
observant of the friendly relations existing for a century between
this country and Spain. The wrong was brought to the attention of
the Spanish Government in a serious protest and remonstrance, and the
matter is undergoing investigation by the royal authorities with a
view to such explanation or reparation as may be called for by the
facts.

The commission sitting in this city for the adjudication of claims of
our citizens against the Government of Spain is, I hope, approaching
the termination of its labors.

The claims against the United States under the Florida treaty with
Spain were submitted to Congress for its action at the late session,
and I again invite your attention to this long-standing question, with
a view to a final disposition of the matter.

At the invitation of the Spanish Government, a conference has recently
been held at the city of Madrid to consider the subject of protection
by foreign powers of native Moors in the Empire of Morocco. The
minister of the United States in Spain was directed to take part
in the deliberations of this conference, the result of which is
a convention signed on behalf of all the powers represented. The
instrument will be laid before the Senate for its consideration. The
Government of the United States has also lost no opportunity to urge
upon that of the Emperor of Morocco the necessity, in accordance with
the humane and enlightened spirit of the age, of putting an end to the
persecutions, which have been so prevalent in that country, of
persons of a faith other than the Moslem, and especially of the Hebrew
residents of Morocco.

The consular treaty concluded with Belgium has not yet been officially
promulgated, owing to the alteration of a word in the text by the
Senate of the United States, which occasioned a delay, during which
the time allowed for ratification expired. The Senate will be asked to
extend the period for ratification.

The attempt to negotiate a treaty of extradition with Denmark failed
on account of the objection of the Danish Government to the usual
clause providing that each nation should pay the expense of the arrest
of the persons whose extradition it asks.

The provision made by Congress at its last session for the expense
of the commission which had been appointed to enter upon negotiations
with the Imperial Government of China on subjects of great interest
to the relations of the two countries enabled the commissioners
to proceed at once upon their mission. The Imperial Government was
prepared to give prompt and respectful attention to the matters
brought under negotiation, and the conferences proceeded with such
rapidity and success that on the 17th of November last two treaties
were signed at Peking, one relating to the introduction of Chinese
into this country and one relating to commerce. Mr. Trescot, one of
the commissioners, is now on his way home bringing the treaties, and
it is expected that they will be received in season to be laid before
the Senate early in January.

Our minister in Japan has negotiated a convention for the reciprocal
relief of shipwrecked seamen. I take occasion to urge once more
upon Congress the propriety of making provision for the erection of
suitable fireproof buildings at the Japanese capital for the use of
the American legation and the court-house and jail connected with
it. The Japanese Government, with great generosity and courtesy, has
offered for this purpose an eligible piece of land.

In my last annual message I invited the attention of Congress to the
subject of the indemnity funds received some years ago from China and
Japan. I renew the recommendation then made that whatever portions of
these funds are due to American citizens should be promptly paid
and the residue returned to the nations, respectively, to which they
justly and equitably belong.

The extradition treaty with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has
been for some time in course of negotiation, has during the past year
been concluded and duly ratified.

Relations of friendship and amity have been established between the
Government of the United States and that of Roumania. We have sent
a diplomatic representative to Bucharest, and have received at this
capital the special envoy who has been charged by His Royal Highness
Prince Charles to announce the independent sovereignty of Roumania. We
hope for a speedy development of commercial relations between the two
countries.

In my last annual message I expressed the hope that the prevalence of
quiet on the border between this country and Mexico would soon become
so assured as to justify the modification of the orders then in force
to our military commanders in regard to crossing the frontier, without
encouraging such disturbances as would endanger the peace of the two
countries. Events moved in accordance with these expectations, and the
orders were accordingly withdrawn, to the entire satisfaction of our
own citizens and the Mexican Government. Subsequently the peace of the
border was again disturbed by a savage foray under the command of
the Chief Victoria, but by the combined and harmonious action of the
military forces of both countries his band has been broken up and
substantially destroyed.

There is reason to believe that the obstacles which have so long
prevented rapid and convenient communication between the United States
and Mexico by railways are on the point of disappearing, and that
several important enterprises of this character will soon be set on
foot, which can not fail to contribute largely to the prosperity of
both countries.

New envoys from Guatemala, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, and
Nicaragua have recently arrived at this capital, whose distinction and
enlightenment afford the best guaranty of the continuance of friendly
relations between ourselves and these sister Republics.

The relations between this Government and that of the United States of
Colombia have engaged public attention during the past year, mainly by
reason of the project of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of
Panama, to be built by private capital under a concession from
the Colombian Government for that purpose. The treaty obligations
subsisting between the United States and Colombia, by which we
guarantee the neutrality of the transit and the sovereignty and
property of Colombia in the Isthmus, make it necessary that the
conditions under which so stupendous a change in the region embraced
in this guaranty should be effected--transforming, as it would, this
Isthmus from a barrier between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans into a
gateway and thoroughfare between them for the navies and the merchant
ships of the world--should receive the approval of this Government, as
being compatible with the discharge of these obligations on our part
and consistent with our interests as the principal commercial power
of the Western Hemisphere. The views which I expressed in a special
message to Congress in March last in relation to this project I
deem it my duty again to press upon your attention. Subsequent
consideration has but confirmed the opinion "that it is the right and
duty of the United States to assert and maintain such supervision and
authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus that connects
North and South America as will protect our national interest."

The war between the Republic of Chile on the one hand and the allied
Republics of Peru and Bolivia on the other still continues. This
Government has not felt called upon to interfere in a contest that is
within the belligerent rights of the parties as independent states.
We have, however, always held ourselves in readiness to aid in
accommodating their difference, and have at different times reminded
both belligerents of our willingness to render such service.

Our good offices in this direction were recently accepted by all the
belligerents, and it was hoped they would prove efficacious; but I
regret to announce that the measures which the ministers of the United
States at Santiago and Lima were authorized to take with the view to
bring about a peace were not successful. In the course of the war some
questions have arisen affecting neutral rights. In all of these the
ministers of the United States have, under their instructions, acted
with promptness and energy in protection of American interests.

The relations of the United States with the Empire of Brazil continue
to be most cordial, and their commercial intercourse steadily
increases, to their mutual advantage.

The internal disorders with which the Argentine Republic has for some
time past been afflicted, and which have more or less influenced its
external trade, are understood to have been brought to a close. This
happy result may be expected to redound to the benefit of the foreign
commerce of that Republic, as well as to the development of its vast
interior resources.

In Samoa the Government of King Malietoa, under the support and
recognition of the consular representatives of the United States,
Great Britain, and Germany, seems to have given peace and tranquillity
to the islands. While it does not appear desirable to adopt as a whole
the scheme of tripartite local government which has been proposed, the
common interests of the three great treaty powers require harmony in
their relations to the native frame of government, and this may be
best secured by a simple diplomatic agreement between them. It would
be well if the consular jurisdiction of our representative at Apia
were increased in extent and importance so as to guard American
interests in the surrounding and outlying islands of Oceanica.

The obelisk generously presented by the Khedive of Egypt to the city
of New York has safely arrived in this country, and will soon be
erected in that metropolis. A commission for the liquidation of the
Egyptian debt has lately concluded its work, and this Government, at
the earnest solicitation of the Khedive, has acceded to the provisions
adopted by it, which will be laid before Congress for its information.
A commission for the revision of the judicial code of the
reform tribunal of Egypt is now in session in Cairo. Mr. Farman,
consul-general, and J.M. Batchelder, esq., have been appointed as
commissioners to participate in this work. The organization of the
reform tribunals will probably be continued for another period of five
years.

In pursuance of the act passed at the last session of Congress,
invitations have been extended to foreign maritime states to join in
a sanitary conference in Washington, beginning the 1st of January. The
acceptance of this invitation by many prominent powers gives promise
of success in this important measure, designed to establish a system
of international notification by which the spread of infectious or
epidemic diseases may be more effectively checked or prevented. The
attention of Congress is invited to the necessary appropriations for
carrying into effect the provisions of the act referred to.

The efforts of the Department of State to enlarge the trade and
commerce of the United States, through the active agency of consular
officers and through the dissemination of information obtained from
them, have been unrelaxed. The interest in these efforts, as developed
in our commercial communities, and the value of the information
secured by this means to the trade and manufactures of the country
were recognized by Congress at its last session, and provision was
made for the more frequent publication of consular and other reports
by the Department of State. The first issue of this publication has
now been prepared, and subsequent issues may regularly be expected.
The importance and interest attached to the reports of consular
officers are witnessed by the general demand for them by all classes
of merchants and manufacturers engaged in our foreign trade. It is
believed that the system of such publications is deserving of the
approval of Congress, and that the necessary appropriations for its
continuance and enlargement will commend itself to your consideration.

The prosperous energies of our domestic industries and their immense
production of the subjects of foreign commerce invite, and even
require, an active development of the wishes and interests of
our people in that direction. Especially important is it that our
commercial relations with the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South
America, with the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, should be
direct, and not through the circuit of European systems, and should
be carried on in our own bottoms. The full appreciation of the
opportunities which our front on the Pacific Ocean gives to commerce
with Japan, China, and the East Indies, with Australia and the island
groups which lie along these routes of navigation, should inspire
equal efforts to appropriate to our own shipping and to administer by
our own capital a due proportion of this trade. Whatever modifications
of our regulations of trade and navigation may be necessary or useful
to meet and direct these impulses to the enlargement of our exchanges
and of our carrying trade I am sure the wisdom of Congress will be
ready to supply. One initial measure, however, seems to me so clearly
useful and efficient that I venture to press it upon your earnest
attention. It seems to be very evident that the provision of regular
steam postal communication by aid from government has been the
forerunner of the commercial predominance of Great Britain on all
these coasts and seas, a greater share in whose trade is now the
desire and the intent of our people. It is also manifest that the
efforts of other European nations to contend with Great Britain for a
share of this commerce have been successful in proportion with their
adoption of regular steam postal communication with the markets whose
trade they sought. Mexico and the States of South America are anxious
to receive such postal communication with this country and to aid in
their development. Similar cooperation may be looked for in due time
from the Eastern nations and from Australia. It is difficult to see
how the lead in this movement can be expected from private interests.
In respect of foreign commerce quite as much as in internal trade
postal communication seems necessarily a matter of common and public
administration, and thus pertaining to Government. I respectfully
recommend to your prompt attention such just and efficient measures as
may conduce to the development of our foreign commercial exchanges and
the building up of our carrying trade.

In this connection I desire also to suggest the very great service
which might be expected in enlarging and facilitating our commerce on
the Pacific Ocean were a transmarine cable laid from San Francisco to
the Sandwich Islands, and thence to Japan at the north and Australia
at the south. The great influence of such means of communication on
these routes of navigation in developing and securing the due share of
our Pacific Coast in the commerce of the world needs no illustration
or enforcement. It may be that such an enterprise, useful, and in the
end profitable, as it would prove to private investment, may need to
be accelerated by prudent legislation by Congress in its aid, and
I submit the matter to your careful consideration.

An additional and not unimportant, although secondary, reason for
fostering and enlarging the Navy may be found in the unquestionable
service to the expansion of our commerce which would be rendered by
the frequent circulation of naval ships in the seas and ports of all
quarters of the globe. Ships of the proper construction and equipment
to be of the greatest efficiency in case of maritime war might be made
constant and active agents in time of peace in the advancement and
protection of our foreign trade and in the nurture and discipline of
young seamen, who would naturally in some numbers mix with and improve
the crews of our merchant ships. Our merchants at home and abroad
recognize the value to foreign commerce of an active movement of our
naval vessels, and the intelligence and patriotic zeal of our naval
officers in promoting every interest of their countrymen is a just
subject of national pride.

The condition of the financial affairs of the Government, as shown by
the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, is very satisfactory. It
is believed that the present financial situation of the United States,
whether considered with respect to trade, currency, credit, growing
wealth, or the extent and variety of our resources, is more favorable
than that of any other country of our time, and has never been
surpassed by that of any country at any period of its history. All our
industries are thriving; the rate of interest is low; new railroads
are being constructed; a vast immigration is increasing our
population, capital, and labor; new enterprises in great number are
in progress, and our commercial relations with other countries are
improving.

The ordinary revenues from all sources for the fiscal year ended June
30, 1880, were--

  From customs.......................................... $186,522,064.60
  From internal revenue.................................. 124,009,373.92
  From sales of public lands............................... 1,016,506.60
  From tax on circulation and deposits of national banks... 7,014,971.44
  From repayment of interest by Pacific Railway companies.. 1,707,367.18
  From sinking fund for Pacific Railway companies............ 786,621.22
  From customs fees, fines, penalties, etc................. 1,148,800.16
  From fees--consular, letters patent, and lands........... 2,337,029.00
  From proceeds of sales of Government property.............. 282,616.50
  From profits on coinage, etc............................. 2,792,186.78
  From revenues of the District of Columbia................ 1,809,469.70
  From miscellaneous sources............................... 4,099,603.88

  Total ordinary receipts................................ 333,526,610.98


The ordinary expenditures for the same period were--

  For civil expenses..................................... $15,693,963.55
  For foreign intercourse.................................. 1,211,490.58
  For Indians.............................................. 5,945,457.09
  For pensions (including $19,341,025.20 arrears of pensions)
  ........................................................ 56,777,174.44
  For the military establishment, including river and harbor
  improvements and arsenals............................... 38,116,916.22
  For the naval establishment, including vessels, machinery,
  and improvements at navy-yards.......................... 13,536,984.74
  For miscellaneous expenditures, including public buildings,
  light-houses, and collecting the revenue................ 34,535,691.00
  For expenditures on account of the District of Columbia.. 3,272,384.63
  For interest on the public debt......................... 95,757,575.11
  For premium on bonds purchased........................... 2,795,320.42


leaving a surplus revenue of $65,883,653.20, which, with an amount
drawn from the cash balance in Treasury of $8,084,434.21, making
$73,968,087.41, was applied to the redemption--

  Of bonds for the sinking fund.......................... $73,652,900.00
  Of fractional currency..................................... 251,717.41
  Of the loan of 1858......................................... 40,000.00
  Of temporary loan.............................................. 100.00
  Of bounty-land scrip............................................ 25.00
  Of compound-interest notes.................................. 16,500.00
  Of 7.30 notes of 1864-65..................................... 2,650.00
  Of one and two year notes.................................... 3,700.00
  Of old demand notes............................................ 495.00

  Total................................................... 73,968,087.41


The amount due the sinking fund for this year was $37,931,643.55.
There was applied thereto the sum of $73,904,617.41, being
$35,972,973.86 in excess of the actual requirements for the year.

The aggregate of the revenues from all sources during the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1880, was $333,526,610.98, an increase over the
preceding year of $59,699,426.52. The receipts thus far of the current
year, together with the estimated receipts for the remainder of the
year, amount to $350,000,000, which will be sufficient to meet the
estimated expenditures of the year and leave a surplus of $90,000,000.

It is fortunate that this large surplus revenue occurs at a period
when it may be directly applied to the payment of the public debt soon
to be redeemable. No public duty has been more constantly cherished
in the United States than the policy of paying the nation's debt as
rapidly as possible.

The debt of the United States, less cash in the Treasury and exclusive
of accruing interest, attained its maximum of $2,756,431,571.43
in August, 1865, and has since that time been reduced to
$1,886,019,504.65. Of the principal of the debt, $108,758,100 has been
paid since March 1, 1877, effecting an annual saving of interest of
$6,107,593. The burden of interest has also been diminished by the
sale of bonds bearing a low rate of interest and the application of
the proceeds to the redemption of bonds bearing a higher rate. The
annual saving thus secured since March 1, 1877, is $14,290,453.50.
Within a short period over six hundred millions of 5 and 6 per
cent bonds will become redeemable. This presents a very favorable
opportunity not only to further reduce the principal of the debt, but
also to reduce the rate of interest on that which will remain unpaid.
I call the attention of Congress to the views expressed on this
subject by the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report, and
recommend prompt legislation to enable the Treasury Department to
complete the refunding of the debt which is about to mature.

The continuance of specie payments has not been interrupted or
endangered since the date of resumption. It has contributed greatly
to the revival of business and to our remarkable prosperity. The fears
that preceded and accompanied resumption have proved groundless. No
considerable amount of United States notes have been presented for
redemption, while very large sums of gold bullion, both domestic and
imported, are taken to the mints and exchanged for coin or notes. The
increase of coin and bullion in the United States since January 1,
1879, is estimated at $227,399,428.

There are still in existence, uncanceled, $346,681,016 of United
States legal-tender notes. These notes were authorized as a war
measure, made necessary by the exigencies of the conflict in which
the United States was then engaged. The preservation of the nation's
existence required, in the judgment of Congress, an issue of
legal-tender paper money. That it served well the purpose for which
it was created is not questioned, but the employment of the notes as
paper money indefinitely, after the accomplishment of the object for
which they were provided, was not contemplated by the framers of the
law under which they were issued. These notes long since became, like
any other pecuniary obligation of the Government, a debt to be paid,
and when paid to be canceled as mere evidence of an indebtedness
no longer existing. I therefore repeat what was said in the annual
message of last year, that the retirement from circulation of United
States notes with the capacity of legal tender in private contracts is
a step to be taken in our progress toward a safe and stable currency
which should be accepted as the policy and duty of the Government and
the interest and security of the people.

At the time of the passage of the act now in force requiring the
coinage of silver dollars, fixing their value, and giving them
legal-tender character it was believed by many of the supporters of
the measure that the silver dollar which it authorized would speedily
become, under the operations of the law, of equivalent value to the
gold dollar. There were other supporters of the bill, who, while
they doubted as to the probability of this result, nevertheless were
willing to give the proposed experiment a fair trial, with a view to
stop the coinage if experience should prove that the silver dollar
authorized by the bill continued to be of less commercial value than
the standard gold dollar.

The coinage of silver dollars under the act referred to began in
March, 1878, and has been continued as required by the act. The
average rate per month to the present time has been $2,276,492. The
total amount coined prior to the 1st of November last was $72,847,750.
Of this amount $47,084,450 remain in the Treasury, and only
$25,763,291 are in the hands of the people. A constant effort has been
made to keep this currency in circulation, and considerable expense
has been necessarily incurred for this purpose; but its return to the
Treasury is prompt and sure. Contrary to the confident anticipation of
the friends of the measure at the time of its adoption, the value
of the silver dollar containing 412-1/2 grains of silver has
not increased. During the year prior to the passage of the bill
authorizing its coinage the market value of the silver which it
contained was from 90 to 92 cents as compared with the standard gold
dollar. During the last year the average market value of the silver
dollar has been 88-1/2 cents.

It is obvious that the legislation of the last Congress in regard to
silver, so far as it was based on an anticipated rise in the value
of silver as a result of that legislation, has failed to produce the
effect then predicted. The longer the law remains in force, requiring,
as it does, the coinage of a nominal dollar which in reality is not
a dollar, the greater becomes the danger that this country will be
forced to accept a single metal as the sole legal standard of value in
circulation, and this a standard of less value than it purports to be
worth in the recognized money of the world.

The Constitution of the United States, sound financial principles,
and our best interests all require that the country should have as its
legal-tender money both gold and silver coin of an intrinsic value,
as bullion, equivalent to that which upon its face it purports to
possess. The Constitution in express terms recognizes both gold and
silver as the only true legal-tender money. To banish either of these
metals from our currency is to narrow and limit the circulating medium
of exchange to the disparagement of important interests. The United
States produces more silver than any other country, and is directly
interested in maintaining it as one of the two precious metals which
furnish the coinage of the world. It will, in my judgment, contribute
to this result if Congress will repeal so much of existing legislation
as requires the coinage of silver dollars containing only 412-1/2
grains of silver, and in its stead will authorize the Secretary of the
Treasury to coin silver dollars of equivalent value, as bullion, with
gold dollars. This will defraud no man, and will be in accordance with
familiar precedents. Congress on several occasions has altered the
ratio of value between gold and silver, in order to establish it more
nearly in accordance with the actual ratio of value between the two
metals.

In financial legislation every measure in the direction of greater
fidelity in the discharge of pecuniary obligations has been found
by experience to diminish the rates of interest which debtors are
required to pay and to increase the facility with which money can
be obtained for every legitimate purpose. Our own recent financial
history shows how surely money becomes abundant whenever confidence
in the exact performance of moneyed obligations is established.

The Secretary of War reports that the expenditures of the
War Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1880, were
$39,924,773.03. The appropriations for this Department for the current
fiscal year amount to $41,993,630.40.

With respect to the Army, the Secretary invites attention to the fact
that its strength is limited by statute (U.S. Revised Statutes,
sec. 1115) to not more than 30,000 enlisted men, but that provisos
contained in appropriation bills have limited expenditures to the
enlistment of but 25,000. It is believed the full legal strength is
the least possible force at which the present organization can be
maintained, having in view efficiency, discipline, and economy. While
the enlistment of this force would add somewhat to the appropriation
for pay of the Army, the saving made in other respects would be more
than an equivalent for this additional outlay, and the efficiency of
the Army would be largely increased.

The rapid extension of the railroad system west of the Mississippi
River and the great tide of settlers which has flowed in upon new
territory impose on the military an entire change of policy. The
maintenance of small posts along wagon and stage routes of travel
is no longer necessary. Permanent quarters at points selected, of a
more substantial character than those heretofore constructed, will be
required. Under existing laws permanent buildings can not be erected
without the sanction of Congress, and when sales of military sites
and buildings have been authorized the moneys received have reverted
to the Treasury and could only become available through a new
appropriation. It is recommended that provision be made by a general
statute for the sale of such abandoned military posts and buildings as
are found to be unnecessary and for the application of the proceeds
to the construction of other posts. While many of the present posts
are of but slight value for military purposes, owing to the changed
condition of the country, their occupation is continued at great
expense and inconvenience, because they afford the only available
shelter for troops.

The absence of a large number of officers of the line, in active duty,
from their regiments is a serious detriment to the maintenance of
the service. The constant demand for small detachments, each of which
should be commanded by a commissioned officer, and the various details
of officers for necessary service away from their commands occasion
a scarcity in the number required for company duties. With a view to
lessening this drain to some extent, it is recommended that the law
authorizing the detail of officers from the active list as professors
of tactics and military science at certain colleges and universities
be so amended as to provide that all such details be made from the
retired list of the Army.

Attention is asked to the necessity of providing by legislation for
organizing, arming, and disciplining the _active_ militia of the
country, and liberal appropriations are recommended in this behalf.
The reports of the Adjutant-General of the Army and the Chief of
Ordnance touching this subject fully set forth its importance.

The report of the officer in charge of education in the Army shows
that there are 78 schools now in operation in the Army, with an
aggregate attendance of 2,305 enlisted men and children. The Secretary
recommends the enlistment of 150 schoolmasters, with the rank and
pay of commissary-sergeants. An appropriation is needed to supply the
judge-advocates of the Army with suitable libraries, and the Secretary
recommends that the Corps of Judge-Advocates be placed upon the same
footing as to promotion with the other staff corps of the Army. Under
existing laws the Bureau of Military Justice consists of one officer
(the Judge-Advocate-General), and the Corps of Judge-Advocates of
eight officers of equal rank (majors), with a provision that the
limit of the corps shall remain at four when reduced by casualty
or resignation to that number. The consolidation of the Bureau of
Military Justice and the Corps of Judge-Advocates upon the same
basis with the other staff corps of the Army would remove an unjust
discrimination against deserving officers and subserve the best
interests of the service.

Especial attention is asked to the report of the Chief of Engineers
upon the condition of our national defenses. From a personal
inspection of many of the fortifications referred to, the Secretary
is able to emphasize the recommendations made and to state that their
incomplete and defenseless condition is discreditable to the country.
While other nations have been increasing their means for carrying on
offensive warfare and attacking maritime cities, we have been dormant
in preparation for defense. Nothing of importance has been done toward
strengthening and finishing our casemated works since our late civil
war, during which the great guns of modern warfare and the heavy armor
of modern fortifications and ships came into use among the nations;
and our earthworks, left by a sudden failure of appropriations some
years since in all stages of incompletion, are now being rapidly
destroyed by the elements.

The two great rivers of the North American continent, the Mississippi
and the Columbia, have their navigable waters wholly within the limits
of the United States, and are of vast importance to our internal and
foreign commerce. The permanency of the important work on the South
Pass of the Mississippi River seems now to be assured. There has been
no failure whatever in the maintenance of the maximum channel during
the six months ended August 9 last. This experiment has opened a
broad, deep highway to the ocean, and is an improvement upon the
permanent success of which congratulations may be exchanged among
people abroad and at home, and especially among the communities of
the Mississippi Valley, whose commercial exchanges float in an
unobstructed channel safely to and from the sea.

A comprehensive improvement of the Mississippi and its tributaries is
a matter of transcendent importance. These great waterways comprise
a system of inland transportation spread like network over a large
portion of the United States, and navigable to the extent of many
thousands of miles. Producers and consumers alike have a common
interest in such unequaled facilities for cheap transportation.
Geographically, commercially, and politically, they are the strongest
tie between the various sections of the country. These channels of
communication and interchange are the property of the nation.
Its jurisdiction is paramount over their waters, and the plainest
principles of public interest require their intelligent and careful
supervision, with a view to their protection, improvement, and the
enhancement of their usefulness.

The channel of the Columbia River for a distance of about 100 miles
from its mouth is obstructed by a succession of bars, which occasion
serious delays in navigation and heavy expense for lighterage and
towage. A depth of at least 20 feet at low tide should be secured
and maintained to meet the requirements of the extensive and growing
inland and ocean commerce it subserves. The most urgent need, however,
for this great waterway is a permanent improvement of the channel at
the mouth of the river.

From Columbia River to San Francisco, a distance of over 600 miles,
there is no harbor on our Pacific coast which can be approached
during stormy weather. An appropriation of $150,000 was made by the
Forty-fifth Congress for the commencement of a breakwater and harbor
of refuge, to be located at some point between the Straits of Fuca and
San Francisco at which the necessities of commerce, local and general,
will be best accommodated. The amount appropriated is thought to be
quite inadequate for the purpose intended. The cost of the work, when
finished, will be very great, owing to the want of natural advantages
for a site at any point on the coast between the designated limits,
and it has not been thought to be advisable to undertake the work
without a larger appropriation. I commend the matter to the attention
of Congress.

The completion of the new building for the War Department is urgently
needed, and the estimates for continuing its construction are
especially recommended.

The collections of books, specimens, and records constituting the Army
Medical Museum and Library are of national importance. The library
now contains about 51,500 volumes and 57,000 pamphlets relating to
medicine, surgery, and allied topics. The contents of the Army Medical
Museum consist of 22,000 specimens, and are unique in the completeness
with which both military surgery and the diseases of armies are
illustrated. Their destruction would be an irreparable loss, not only
to the United States, but to the world. There are filed in the Record
and Pension Division over 16,000 bound volumes of hospital records,
together with a great quantity of papers, embracing the original
records of the hospitals of our armies during the civil war. Aside
from their historical value, these records are daily searched for
evidence needed in the settlement of large numbers of pension and
other claims, for the protection of the Government against attempted
frauds, as well as for the benefit of honest claimants. These valuable
collections are now in a building which is peculiarly exposed to the
danger of destruction by fire. It is therefore earnestly recommended
that an appropriation be made for a new fireproof building, adequate
for the present needs and reasonable future expansion of these
valuable collections. Such a building should be absolutely fireproof;
no expenditure for mere architectural display is required. It is
believed that a suitable structure can be erected at a cost not to
exceed $250,000.

I commend to the attention of Congress the great services of the
Commander in Chief of our armies during the war for the Union, whose
wise, firm, and patriotic conduct did so much to bring that momentous
conflict to a close. The legislation of the United States contains
many precedents for the recognition of distinguished military merit,
authorizing rank and emoluments to be conferred for eminent services
to the country. An act of Congress authorizing the appointment of
a Captain-General of the Army, with suitable provisions relating to
compensation, retirement, and other details, would, in my judgment,
be altogether fitting and proper, and would be warmly approved by the
country.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy exhibits the successful and
satisfactory management of that Department during the last fiscal
year. The total expenditures for the year were $12,916,639.45, leaving
unexpended at the close of the year $2,141,682.23 of the amount of
available appropriations. The appropriations for the present fiscal
year, ending June 30, 1881, are $15,095,061.45, and the total
estimates for the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1882, are
$15,953,751.61. The amount drawn by warrant from July 1, 1880, to
November 1, 1880, is $5,041,570.45.

The recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy that provision be made
for the establishment of some form of civil government for the people
of Alaska is approved. At present there is no protection of persons or
property in that Territory except such as is afforded by the officers
of the United States ship _Jamestown_. This vessel was dispatched to
Sitka because of the fear that without the immediate presence of the
national authority there was impending danger of anarchy. The steps
taken to restore order have been accepted in good faith by both white
and Indian inhabitants, and the necessity for this method of restraint
does not, in my opinion, now exist. If, however, the _Jamestown_
should be withdrawn, leaving the people, as at present, without the
ordinary judicial and administrative authority of organized local
government, serious consequences might ensue.

The laws provide only for the collection of revenue, the protection of
public property, and the transmission of the mails. The problem is to
supply a local rule for a population so scattered and so peculiar in
its origin and condition. The natives are reported to be teachable and
self-supporting, and if properly instructed doubtless would advance
rapidly in civilization, and a new factor of prosperity would be added
to the national life. I therefore recommend the requisite legislation
upon this subject.

The Secretary of the Navy has taken steps toward the establishment
of naval coaling stations at the Isthmus of Panama, to meet the
requirements of our commercial relations with Central and South
America, which are rapidly growing in importance. Locations eminently
suitable, both as regards our naval purposes and the uses of commerce,
have been selected, one on the east side of the Isthmus, at Chiriqui
Lagoon, in the Caribbean Sea, and the other on the Pacific coast, at
the Bay of Golfito. The only safe harbors, sufficiently commodious, on
the Isthmus are at these points, and the distance between them is less
than 100 miles. The report of the Secretary of the Navy concludes with
valuable suggestions with respect to the building up of our merchant
marine service, which deserve the favorable consideration of Congress.

The report of the Postmaster-General exhibits the continual growth and
the high state of efficiency of the postal service. The operations
of no Department of the Government, perhaps, represent with greater
exactness the increase in the population and the business of the
country. In 1860 the postal receipts were $8,518,067.40; in 1880 the
receipts were $33,315,479.34. All the inhabitants of the country are
directly and personally interested in having proper mail facilities,
and naturally watch the Post-Office very closely. This careful
oversight on the part of the people has proved a constant stimulus
to improvement. During the past year there was an increase of 2,134
post-offices, and the mail routes were extended 27,177 miles, making
an additional annual transportation of 10,804,191 miles. The
revenues of the postal service for the ensuing year are estimated
at $38,845,174.10, and the expenditures at $42,475,932, leaving a
deficiency to be appropriated out of the Treasury of $3,630,757.90.

The Universal Postal Union has received the accession of almost all
the countries and colonies of the world maintaining organized postal
services, and it is confidently expected that all the other countries
and colonies now outside the union will soon unite therewith, thus
realizing the grand idea and aim of the founders of the union of
forming, for purposes of international mail communication, a single
postal territory, embracing the world, with complete uniformity
of postal charges and conditions of international exchange for all
descriptions of correspondence. To enable the United States to do its
full share of this great work, additional legislation is asked by the
Postmaster-General, to whose recommendations especial attention is
called.

The suggestion of the Postmaster-General that it would be wise to
encourage, by appropriate legislation, the establishment of American
lines of steamers by our own citizens to carry the mails between our
own ports and those of Mexico, Central America, South America, and of
transpacific countries is commended to the serious consideration of
Congress.

The attention of Congress is also invited to the suggestions of the
Postmaster-General in regard to postal savings.

The necessity for additional provision to aid in the transaction of
the business of the Federal courts becomes each year more apparent.
The dockets of the Supreme Court and of the circuit courts in the
greater number of the circuits are encumbered with the constant
accession of cases. In the former court, and in many instances in
the circuit courts, years intervene before it is practicable to bring
cases to hearing.

The Attorney-General recommends the establishment of an intermediate
court of errors and appeals. It is recommended that the number of
judges of the circuit court in each circuit, with the exception of the
second circuit, should be increased by the addition of another
judge; in the second circuit, that two should be added; and that an
intermediate appellate court should be formed in each circuit, to
consist of the circuit judges and the circuit justice, and that in the
event of the absence of either of these judges the place of the absent
judge should be supplied by the judge of one of the district courts
in the circuit. Such an appellate court could be safely invested with
large jurisdiction, and its decisions would satisfy suitors in many
cases where appeals would still be allowed to the Supreme Court.
The expense incurred for this intermediate court will require a
very moderate increase of the appropriations for the expenses of the
Department of Justice. This recommendation is commended to the careful
consideration of Congress.

It is evident that a delay of justice, in many instances oppressive
and disastrous to suitors, now necessarily occurs in the Federal
courts, which will in this way be remedied.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior presents an elaborate
account of the operations of that Department during the past year. It
gives me great pleasure to say that our Indian affairs appear to be in
a more hopeful condition now than ever before. The Indians have made
gratifying progress in agriculture, herding, and mechanical pursuits.
Many who were a few years ago in hostile conflict with the Government
are quietly settling down on farms where they hope to make their
permanent homes, building houses and engaging in the occupations of
civilized life. The introduction of the freighting business among them
has been remarkably fruitful of good results, in giving many of
them congenial and remunerative employment and in stimulating their
ambition to earn their own support. Their honesty, fidelity, and
efficiency as carriers are highly praised. The organization of a
police force of Indians has been equally successful in maintaining law
and order upon the reservations and in exercising a wholesome moral
influence among the Indians themselves. I concur with the Secretary
of the Interior in the recommendation that the pay of this force be
increased, as an inducement to the best class of young men to enter
it.

Much care and attention has been devoted to the enlargement of
educational facilities for the Indians. The means available for this
important object have been very inadequate. A few additional boarding
schools at Indian agencies have been established and the erection
of buildings has been begun for several more; but an increase of the
appropriations for this interesting undertaking is greatly needed to
accommodate the large number of Indian children of school age. The
number offered by their parents from all parts of the country for
education in the Government schools is much larger than can be
accommodated with the means at present available for that purpose. The
number of Indian pupils at the normal school at Hampton, Va., under
the direction of General Armstrong, has been considerably increased,
and their progress is highly encouraging. The Indian school
established by the Interior Department in 1879 at Carlisle, Pa., under
the direction of Captain Pratt, has been equally successful. It has
now nearly 200 pupils of both sexes, representing a great variety
of the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains. The pupils in both these
institutions receive not only an elementary English education, but
are also instructed in housework, agriculture, and useful mechanical
pursuits. A similar school was established this year at Forest Grove,
Oreg., for the education of Indian youth on the Pacific Coast. In
addition to this, thirty-six Indian boys and girls were selected
from the Eastern Cherokees and placed in boarding schools in North
Carolina, where they are to receive an elementary English education
and training in industrial pursuits. The interest shown by Indian
parents, even among the so-called wild tribes, in the education of
their children is very gratifying, and gives promise that the results
accomplished by the efforts now making will be of lasting benefit.

The expenses of Indian education have so far been drawn from the
permanent civilization fund at the disposal of the Department of the
Interior, but the fund is now so much reduced that the continuance
of this beneficial work will in the future depend on specific
appropriations by Congress for the purpose; and I venture to express
the hope that Congress will not permit institutions so fruitful of
good results to perish for want of means for their support. On the
contrary, an increase of the number of such schools appears to me
highly advisable.

The past year has been unusually free from disturbances among the
Indian tribes. An agreement has been made with the Utes by which they
surrender their large reservation in Colorado in consideration of
an annuity to be paid to them, and agree to settle in severalty
on certain lands designated for that purpose, as farmers, holding
individual title to their land in fee-simple, inalienable for a
certain period. In this way a costly Indian war has been avoided,
which at one time seemed imminent, and for the first time in the
history of the country an Indian nation has given up its tribal
existence to be settled in severalty and to live as individuals under
the common protection of the laws of the country.

The conduct of the Indians throughout the country during the past
year, with but few noteworthy exceptions, has been orderly and
peaceful. The guerrilla warfare carried on for two years by Victoria
and his band of Southern Apaches has virtually come to an end by the
death of that chief and most of his followers on Mexican soil. The
disturbances caused on our northern frontier by Sitting Bull and his
men, who had taken refuge in the British dominions, are also likely
to cease. A large majority of his followers have surrendered to our
military forces, and the remainder are apparently in progress of
disintegration.

I concur with the Secretary of the Interior in expressing the earnest
hope that Congress will at this session take favorable action on
the bill providing for the allotment of lands on the different
reservations in severalty to the Indians, with patents conferring
fee-simple title inalienable for a certain period, and the eventual
disposition of the residue of the reservations for general settlement,
with the consent and for the benefit of the Indians, placing the
latter under the equal protection of the laws of the country. This
measure, together with a vigorous prosecution of our educational
efforts, will work the most important and effective advance toward the
solution of the Indian problem, in preparing for the gradual merging
of our Indian population in the great body of American citizenship.

A large increase is reported in the disposal of public lands for
settlement during the past year, which marks the prosperous growth of
our agricultural industry and a vigorous movement of population toward
our unoccupied lands. As this movement proceeds, the codification
of our land laws, as well as proper legislation to regulate the
disposition of public lands, become of more pressing necessity, and I
therefore invite the consideration of Congress to the report and the
accompanying draft of a bill made by the Public Lands Commission,
which were communicated by me to Congress at the last session. Early
action upon this important subject is highly desirable.

The attention of Congress is again asked to the wasteful depredations
committed on our public timber lands and the rapid and indiscriminate
destruction of our forests. The urgent necessity for legislation to
this end is now generally recognized. In view of the lawless character
of the depredations committed and the disastrous consequences which
will inevitably follow their continuance, legislation has again and
again been recommended to arrest the evil and to preserve for the
people of our Western States and Territories the timber needed for
domestic and other essential uses.

The report of the Director of the Geological Survey is a document
of unusual interest. The consolidation of the various geological and
geographical surveys and exploring enterprises, each of which has
heretofore operated upon an independent plan, without concert, can
not fail to be of great benefit to all those industries of the country
which depend upon the development of our mineral resources. The labors
of the scientific men, of recognized merit, who compose the corps
of the Geological Survey, during the first season of their field
operations and inquiries, appear to have been very comprehensive,
and will soon be communicated to Congress in a number of volumes.
The Director of the Survey recommends that the investigations carried
on by his bureau, which so far have been confined to the so-called
public-land States and Territories, be extended over the entire country,
and that the necessary appropriation be made for this purpose. This
would be particularly beneficial to the iron, coal, and other mining
interests of the Mississippi Valley and of the Eastern and Southern
States. The subject is commended to the careful consideration of
Congress.

The Secretary of the Interior asks attention to the want of room in
the public buildings of the capital, now existing and in progress of
construction, for the accommodation of the clerical force employed and
of the public records. Necessity has compelled the renting of private
buildings in different parts of the city for the location of public
offices, for which a large amount of rent is annually paid, while the
separation of offices belonging to the same Department impedes the
transaction of current business. The Secretary suggests that the
blocks surrounding Lafayette Square on the east, north, and west be
purchased as the sites for new edifices for the accommodation of the
Government offices, leaving the square itself intact, and that if such
buildings were constructed upon a harmonious plan of architecture
they would add much to the beauty of the national capital, and would,
together with the Treasury and the new State, Navy, and War Department
building, form one of the most imposing groups of public edifices in
the world.

The Commissioner of Agriculture expresses the confident belief that
his efforts in behalf of the production of our own sugar and tea have
been encouragingly rewarded. The importance of the results attained
have attracted marked attention at home and have received the special
consideration of foreign nations. The successful cultivation of our
own tea and the manufacture of our own sugar would make a difference
of many millions of dollars annually in the wealth of the nation.

The report of the Commissioner asks attention particularly to the
continued prevalence of an infectious and contagious cattle
disease known and dreaded in Europe and Asia as cattle plague, or
pleuro-pneumonia. A mild type of this disease in certain sections
of our country is the occasion of great loss to our farmers and of
serious disturbance to our trade with Great Britain, which furnishes
a market for most of our live stock and dressed meats. The value of
neat cattle exported from the United States for the eight months ended
August 31, 1880, was more than $12,000,000, and nearly double the
value for the same period in 1879--an unexampled increase of export
trade. Your early attention is solicited to this important matter.

The Commissioner of Education reports a continued increase of public
interest in educational affairs, and that the public schools generally
throughout the country are well sustained. Industrial training
is attracting deserved attention, and colleges for instruction,
theoretical and practical, in agriculture and mechanic arts, including
the Government schools recently established for the instruction
of Indian youth, are gaining steadily in public estimation. The
Commissioner asks special attention to the depredations committed on
the lands reserved for the future support of public instruction, and
to the very great need of help from the nation for schools in the
Territories and in the Southern States. The recommendation heretofore
made is repeated and urged, that an educational fund be set apart from
the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands annually, the
income of which and the remainder of the net annual proceeds to
be distributed on some satisfactory plan to the States and the
Territories and the District of Columbia.

The success of the public schools of the District of Columbia, and
the progress made, under the intelligent direction of the board
of education and the superintendent, in supplying the educational
requirements of the District with thoroughly trained and efficient
teachers, is very gratifying. The acts of Congress, from time to time,
donating public lands to the several States and Territories in aid
of educational interests have proved to be wise measures of public
policy, resulting in great and lasting benefit. It would seem to be a
matter of simple justice to extend the benefits of this legislation,
the wisdom of which has been so fully vindicated by experience, to the
District of Columbia.

I again commend the general interests of the District of Columbia
to the favorable consideration of Congress. The affairs of the
District, as shown by the report of the Commissioners, are in a very
satisfactory condition.

In my annual messages heretofore and in my special message of December
19, 1879, I have urged upon the attention of Congress the necessity of
reclaiming the marshes of the Potomac adjacent to the capital, and I
am constrained by its importance to advert again to the subject. These
flats embrace an area of several hundred acres. They are an impediment
to the drainage of the city and seriously impair its health. It is
believed that with this substantial improvement of its river front the
capital would be in all respects one of the most attractive cities
in the world. Aside from its permanent population, this city is
necessarily the place of residence of persons from every section of
the country engaged in the public service. Many others reside here
temporarily for the transaction of business with the Government.

It should not be forgotten that the land acquired will probably be
worth the cost of reclaiming it and that the navigation of the river
will be greatly improved. I therefore again invite the attention of
Congress to the importance of prompt provision for this much needed
and too long delayed improvement.

The water supply of the city is inadequate. In addition to the
ordinary use throughout the city, the consumption by Government is
necessarily very great in the navy-yard, arsenal, and the various
Departments, and a large quantity is required for the proper
preservation of the numerous parks and the cleansing of sewers. I
recommend that this subject receive the early attention of Congress,
and that in making provision for an increased supply such means be
adopted as will have in view the future growth of the city. Temporary
expedients for such a purpose can not but be wasteful of money,
and therefore unwise. A more ample reservoir, with corresponding
facilities for keeping it filled, should, in my judgment, be
constructed. I commend again to the attention of Congress the subject
of the removal from their present location of the depots of the
several railroads entering the city; and I renew the recommendations
of my former messages in behalf of the erection of a building for the
Congressional Library, the completion of the Washington Monument, and
of liberal appropriations in support of the benevolent, reformatory,
and penal institutions of the District.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention for the establishment, on fixed and uniform
bases, of the exercise of the right of protection in Morocco, and for
the settlement of certain questions connected therewith, between His
Excellency the President of the United States of America; His Majesty
the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; His Majesty the Emperor of
Austria, King of Hungary; His Majesty the King of the Belgians;
His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of Spain; His
Excellency the President of the French Republic; Her Majesty the Queen
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; His Majesty the
King of Italy; His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco; His Majesty the King
of the Netherlands; His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves,
and His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, signed at Madrid on the
3d day of July last.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 13, 1880_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

The accompanying documents, received from the Commissioner of
Agriculture, are transmitted to the Senate in reply to the resolution
of the 7th instant, relating to contagious diseases of cattle.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 5, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States of America
and the Empire of Japan, providing for the reimbursement of certain
specified expenses which may be incurred by either country in
consequence of the shipwreck on its coasts of the vessels of the
other.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In response to the resolution of the Senate of June 21, 1879, I
herewith transmit reports[42] received from the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of War.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 42: Transmitting statements of the number of soldiers and
civilians killed and wounded, number of Indians killed, value of
property destroyed, and expenses incurred by the United States in
certain Indian wars from 1865 to 1879.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 10, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, two
treaties[43] signed at Peking on the 17th of November, 1880, by
the commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States and China,
respectively, together with a letter of the Secretary of State in
relation thereto, and accompanying papers.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 43: (1) Regulation of Chinese immigration into the United
States (2) commercial intercourse and judicial procedure.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 10, 1881_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I submit herewith, for the information of the House of
Representatives, copies of correspondence with the Department of State
relating to an invitation extended by the French Republic to this
Government to send one or more delegates to represent it at an
international congress of electricians to be held at Paris on the 15th
day of September, 1881. It appears from the same correspondence that
an international exhibition of electricity is to be held at the palace
of the Champs Elysees, in Paris, from August 15, 1881, to the 15th
of November following, and it is therefore suggested by the French
authorities that it might be well to invest the delegates selected to
take part in the international congress with the additional character
of commissioners to the international exhibition of electricity.

In view of the important scientific, industrial, and commercial
interests designed to be promoted by the proposed international
congress of electricians and exhibition of electricity, I submit the
subject to your favorable consideration and recommend that a suitable
appropriation be made to enable this Government to accept the
foregoing invitation by appointing one or more delegates to attend the
congress in question.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 18, 1881_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the Public
Lands Commission, embracing the history and a codification of the
public-land laws; and I desire earnestly to invite the attention of
Congress to this important subject.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 20, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate a letter from the Secretary of
State, with accompanying papers, in relation to the recent effort of
the Government of the United States to bring about peace between Chile
and Peru and, Bolivia.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1881_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the request of a large number of intelligent
and benevolent citizens, and believing that it was warranted by the
extraordinary circumstances of the case, on the 18th day of December,
1880, I appointed a commission consisting of George Crook and Nelson
A. Miles, brigadier-generals in the Army; William Stickney, of
the District of Columbia, and Walter Allen, of Massachusetts,
and requested them to confer with the Ponca Indians in the Indian
Territory, and, if in their judgment it was advisable, also with that
part of the tribe which remained in Dakota, and "to ascertain the
facts in regard to their removal and present condition so far as was
necessary to determine the question as to what justice and humanity
required should be done by the Government of the United States, and to
report their conclusions and recommendations in the premises."

The commission, in pursuance of these instructions, having visited the
Ponca Indians at their homes in the Indian Territory and in Dakota
and made a careful investigation of the subject referred to them, have
reported their conclusions and recommendations, and I now submit their
report, together with the testimony taken, for the consideration of
Congress. A minority report by Mr. Allen is also herewith submitted.

On the 27th of December, 1880, a delegation of Ponca chiefs from the
Indian Territory presented to the Executive a declaration of their
wishes, in which they stated that it was their desire "to remain on
the lands now occupied by the Poncas in the Indian Territory" and "to
relinquish all their right and interest in the lands formerly owned
and occupied by the Ponca tribe in the State of Nebraska and the
Territory of Dakota;" and the declaration sets forth the compensation
which they will accept for the lands to be surrendered and for the
injuries done to the tribe by their removal to the Indian Territory.
This declaration, agreeably to the request of the chiefs making it, is
herewith transmitted to Congress.

The public attention has frequently been called to the injustice and
wrong which the Ponca tribe of Indians has suffered at the hands of
the Government of the United States. This subject was first brought
before Congress and the country by the Secretary of the Interior in
his annual report for the year 1877, in which he said:

  The case of the Poncas seems entitled to especial
  consideration at the hands of Congress. They have always been
  friendly to the whites. It is said, and, as far as I have been
  able to learn, truthfully, that no Ponca ever killed a
  white man. The orders of the Government have always met with
  obedient compliance at their hands. Their removal from their
  old homes on the Missouri River was to them a great hardship.
  They had been born and raised there. They had houses there in
  which they lived according to their ideas of comfort. Many
  of them had engaged in agriculture and possessed cattle and
  agricultural implements. They were very reluctant to leave all
  this, but when Congress had resolved upon their removal they
  finally overcame that reluctance and obeyed. Considering
  their constant good conduct, their obedient spirit, and the
  sacrifices they have made, they are certainly entitled to
  more than ordinary care at the hands of the Government, and I
  urgently recommend that liberal provision be made to aid them
  in their new settlement.


In the same volume the report of E.A. Howard, the agent of the Poncas,
is published, which contains the following:

       *       *       *       *       *

  I am of the opinion that the removal of the Poncas from the
  northern climate of Dakota to the southern climate of the
  Indian Territory at the season of the year it was done will
  prove a mistake, and that a great mortality will surely follow
  among the people when they shall have been here for a time and
  become poisoned with the malaria of the climate. Already the
  effects of the climate may be seen upon them in the _ennui_
  that seems to have settled upon each and in the large number
  now sick.

  It is a matter of astonishment to me that the Government
  should have ordered the removal of the Ponca Indians from
  Dakota to the Indian Territory without having first made
  some provision for their settlement and comfort. Before their
  removal was carried into effect an appropriation should have
  been made by Congress sufficient to have located them in their
  new home, by building a comfortable house for the occupancy
  of every family of the tribe. As the case now is, no
  appropriation has been made by Congress, except for a sum but
  little more than sufficient to remove them; no houses have
  been built for their use, and the result is that these people
  have been placed on an uncultivated reservation to live in
  their tents as best they may, and await further legislative
  action.

       *       *       *       *       *

  These Indians claim that the Government had no right to move
  them from their reservation without first obtaining from them
  by purchase or treaty the title which they had acquired
  from the Government, and for which they rendered a valuable
  consideration. They claim that the date of the settlement of
  their tribe upon the land composing their old reservation is
  prehistoric; that they were all born there, and that their
  ancestors from generations back beyond their knowledge were
  born and lived upon its soil, and that they finally acquired
  a complete and perfect title from the Government by a treaty
  made with the "Great Father" at Washington, which they claim
  made it as legitimately theirs as is the home of the white man
  acquired by gift or purchase.

       *       *       *       *       *

The subject was again referred to in similar terms in the annual
report of the Interior Department for 1878, in the reports of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs and of the agent for the Poncas, and in
1879 the Secretary of the Interior said:

  That the Poncas were grievously wronged by their removal from
  their location on the Missouri River to the Indian Territory,
  their old reservation having, by a mistake in making the Sioux
  treaty, been transferred to the Sioux, has been at length and
  repeatedly set forth in my reports, as well as those of the
  Commissioner of Indian Affairs. All that could be subsequently
  done by this Department in the absence of new legislation to
  repair that wrong and to indemnify them for their losses
  has been done with more than ordinary solicitude. They were
  permitted to select a new location for themselves in the
  Indian Territory, the Quapaw Reserve, to which they had first
  been taken, being objectionable to them. They chose a tract of
  country on the Arkansas River and the Salt Fork northwest of
  the Pawnee Reserve. I visited their new reservation personally
  to satisfy myself of their condition. The lands they now
  occupy are among the very best in the Indian Territory in
  point of fertility, well watered and well timbered, and
  admirably adapted for agriculture as well as stock raising. In
  this respect their new reservation is unquestionably superior
  to that which they left behind them on the Missouri River.
  Seventy houses have been built by and for them, of far better
  quality than the miserable huts they formerly occupied in
  Dakota, and the construction of a larger number is now in
  progress, so that, as the agent reports, every Ponca family
  will be comfortably housed before January. A very liberal
  allowance of agricultural implements and stock cattle has been
  given them, and if they apply themselves to agricultural work
  there is no doubt that their condition will soon be far more
  prosperous than it has ever been before. During the first
  year after their removal to the Indian Territory they lost
  a comparatively large number of their people by death, in
  consequence of the change of climate, which is greatly to
  be deplored; but their sanitary condition is now very much
  improved. The death rate among them during the present year
  has been very low, and the number of cases of sickness
  is constantly decreasing. It is thought that they are now
  sufficiently acclimated to be out of danger.

       *       *       *       *       *

A committee of the Senate, after a very full investigation of the
subject, on the 31st of May, 1880, reported their conclusions to the
Senate, and both the majority and minority of the committee agreed
that "a great wrong had been done to the Ponca Indians." The majority
of the committee say:

       *       *       *       *       *

  Nothing can strengthen the Government in a just policy to the
  Indians so much as a demonstration of its willingness to do
  ample and complete justice whenever it can be shown that it
  has inflicted a wrong upon a weak and trusting tribe. It is
  impossible for the United States to hope for any confidence to
  be reposed in them by the Indians until there shall be shown
  on their part a readiness to do justice.


The minority report is equally explicit as to the duty of the
Government to repair the wrong done the Poncas. It says:

       *       *       *       *       *

  We should be more prompt and anxious because they are weak
  and we are strong. In my judgment we should be liberal to the
  verge of lavishness in the expenditure of our money to improve
  their condition, so that they and all others may know that,
  although, like all nations and all men, we may do wrong, we
  are willing to make ample reparation.


The report of the commission appointed by me, of which General
Crook was chairman, and the testimony taken by them and their
investigations, add very little to what was already contained in the
official reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the report of
the Senate committee touching the injustice done to the Poncas by
their removal to the Indian Territory. Happily, however, the evidence
reported by the commission and their recommendations point out
conclusively the true measures of redress which the Government of the
United States ought now to adopt.

The commission in their conclusions omit to state the important facts
as to the present condition of the Poncas in the Indian Territory, but
the evidence they have reported shows clearly and conclusively
that the Poncas now residing in that Territory, 521 in number, are
satisfied with their new homes; that they are healthy, comfortable,
and contented, and that they have freely and firmly decided to adhere
to the choice announced in their letter of October 25, 1880, and
in the declaration of December 27, 1880, to remain in the Indian
Territory and not to return to Dakota.

The evidence reported also shows that the fragment of the Ponca
tribe--perhaps 150 in number--which is still in Dakota and Nebraska
prefer to remain on their old reservation.

In view of these facts I am convinced that the recommendations of the
commission, together with the declaration of the chiefs of December
last, if substantially followed, will afford a solution of the Ponca
question which is consistent with the wishes and interests of
both branches of the tribe, with the settled Indian policy of the
Government, and, as nearly as is now practicable, with the demands of
justice.

Our general Indian policy for the future should embrace the following
leading ideas:

1. The Indians should be prepared for citizenship by giving to their
young of both sexes that industrial and general education which
is required to enable them to be self-supporting and capable of
self-protection in a civilized community.

2. Lands should be allotted to the Indians in severalty, inalienable
for a certain period.

3. The Indians should have a fair compensation for their lands not
required for individual allotments, the amount to be invested, with
suitable safeguards, for their benefit.

4. With these prerequisites secured, the Indians should be
made citizens and invested with the rights and charged with the
responsibilities of citizenship.

It is therefore recommended that legislation be adopted in relation to
the Ponca Indians, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to secure
to the individual members of the Ponca tribe, in severalty, sufficient
land for their support, inalienable for a term of years and until the
restriction upon alienation may be removed by the President. Ample
time and opportunity should be given to the members of the tribe
freely to choose their allotments either on their old or their new
reservation.

Full compensation should be made for the lands to be relinquished, for
their losses by the Sioux depredations and by reason of their removal
to the Indian Territory, the amount not to be less than the sums named
in the declaration of the chiefs made December 27, 1880.

In short, nothing should be left undone to show to the Indians that
the Government of the United States regards their rights as equally
sacred with those of its citizens.

The time has come when the policy should be to place the Indians as
rapidly as practicable on the same footing with the other permanent
inhabitants of our country.

I do not undertake to apportion the blame for the injustice done to
the Poncas. Whether the Executive or Congress or the public is chiefly
in fault is not now a question of practical importance. As the Chief
Executive at the time when the wrong was consummated, I am deeply
sensible that enough of the responsibility for that wrong justly
attaches to me to make it my particular duty and earnest desire to
do all I can to give to these injured people that measure of redress
which is required alike by justice and by humanity.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 2, 1881_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for consideration and appropriate action by
Congress, a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, in relation to the
proposed establishment of naval stations of the United States on the
American Isthmus. In this paper the current testimony of prominent
officers of this Government for a long series of years, as to the
feasibility and necessity of establishing such stations and the great
advantage to flow therefrom to the naval and commercial interests
of the United States, is clearly set forth, and the considerations
adduced can not but commend themselves, I am confident, to the careful
attention of Congress. Convinced of the wisdom and propriety of the
suggestions thus presented, I recommend to Congress the appropriation
of the sum named by the Secretary of the Navy, to be at his disposal
at once, for expenditure as soon as suitable arrangements can be made
to the proposed end.

R.B. HAYES.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1881_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy,
with reference to the dispatch of a vessel for the relief of the
_Jeannette_ polar expedition, and commend the recommendations of the
Secretary to the prompt and favorable action of Congress.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1881_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit the final report addressed to me by the
commissioners appointed under the act of Congress approved July 19,
1876, authorizing the repavement of that part of Pennsylvania avenue
lying between the Treasury Department and the Capitol Grounds.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1881_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in response to
the resolution addressed to him by the House of Representatives of the
31st of January ultimo, on the subject of international action for the
restoration of silver to full use as money.

The prospect of an early international conference, promising valuable
results in accordance with the interests of this country, is such that
I recommend to the immediate attention of Congress an appropriation
providing for the proper representation of this Government at such
conference.

R.B. HAYES.



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of 15th of June, 1880,
requesting the Secretary of State to report to that body at its next
regular session what changes, if any, of the laws regulating the
management of the Department of State, or of the divisions and the
bureaus thereof, are necessary or would be beneficial in promoting the
efficiency or economy of its administration or management, and also to
make report concerning the mode of keeping the departmental accounts,
the checks and safeguards upon expenditures, and the administrative
or clerical changes for the better which may suggest themselves as
expedient, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State
upon the subjects embraced in that resolution so far as they touch the
Department of State.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a view
to advising and consenting to the ratification thereof, a convention
for the extradition of criminals, between the United States of America
and the United States of Colombia, signed at Bogota on the 3d of
January, 1881. I also transmit certain correspondence touching the
negotiation of said convention.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 25, 1881._

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a view
to ratification in due course, a convention supplementary to the
consular convention of May 8, 1878, between the United States of
America and His Majesty the King of Italy, concluded in the city of
Washington on the 24th of February, 1881.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a copy of proclamation[44] for the convening of an
extra session of the Senate of the United States at the Capitol, in
the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at noon.

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 44: See pp. 639-640.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1881_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a copy of a letter addressed to the chairman of
the Civil Service Commission on the 3d of December last, requesting
to be furnished with a report upon the result in the post-office
and custom-house in the city of New York of the application of the
civil-service rules requiring open competitive examinations for
appointments and promotions, together with the report of Hon. Dorman
B. Eaton, the chairman of the Commission, in response.

The report presents a very gratifying statement of the results of
the application of the rules referred to in the two largest and most
important local offices in the civil service of the Government. The
subject is one of great importance to the people of the whole country.
I would commend the suggestions and recommendation of the chairman of
the Commission to the careful consideration of Congress.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the
20th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
papers.[45]

R.B. HAYES.

[Footnote 45: Correspondence relative to the sending to the United
States by foreign governments of criminals, paupers, and insane
persons.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 3, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to inform the Senate that Hon. Benjamin Harrison,
Senator elect from the State of Indiana, has resigned his office as a
member of the Commission for the Improvement of the Mississippi River,
and the same has been accepted to take effect March 3, 1881.

R.B. HAYES.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 3, 1881_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to inform the Senate that Hon. John Sherman, Senator
elect from the State of Ohio, has resigned the position of Secretary
of the Treasury, and that said resignation has been accepted to take
effect at the close of the present day.

R.B. HAYES.




VETO MESSAGE.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 3, 1881_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

Having considered the bill entitled "An act to facilitate the
refunding of the national debt," I am constrained to return it to the
House of Representatives, in which it originated, with the following
statement of my objections to its passage:

The imperative necessity for prompt action and the pressure of public
duties in this closing week of my term of office compel me to refrain
from any attempt to make a full and satisfactory presentation of the
objections to the bill.

The importance of the passage at the present session of Congress of a
suitable measure for the refunding of the national debt which is
about to mature is generally recognized. It has been urged upon the
attention of Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and in my last
annual message. If successfully accomplished, it will secure a large
decrease in the annual interest payment of the nation, and I earnestly
recommend, if the bill before me shall fail, that another measure for
this purpose be adopted before the present Congress adjourns.

While, in my opinion, it would be unwise to authorize the Secretary of
the Treasury, in his discretion, to offer to the public bonds bearing
3-1/2 per cent interest in aid of refunding, I should not deem it my
duty to interpose my constitutional objection to the passage of the
present bill if it did not contain, in its fifth section, provisions
which, in my judgment, seriously impair the value and tend to the
destruction of the present national banking system of the country.
This system has now been in operation almost twenty years. No safer or
more beneficial banking system was ever established. Its advantages
as a business are free to all who have the necessary capital. It
furnishes a currency to the public which for convenience and security
of the bill holder has probably never been equaled by that of any
other banking system. Its notes are secured by the deposit with the
Government of the interest-bearing bonds of the United States.

The section of the bill before me which relates to the national
banking system, and to which objection is made, is not an essential
part of a refunding measure. It is as follows:

  SEC. 5. From and after the 1st day of July, 1881, the 3 per
  cent bonds authorized by the first section of this act shall
  be the only bonds receivable as security for national-bank
  circulation or as security for the safe-keeping and prompt
  payment of the public money deposited with such banks; but
  when any such bonds deposited for the purposes aforesaid shall
  be designated for purchase or redemption by the Secretary
  of the Treasury, the banking association depositing the same
  shall have the right to substitute other issues of the bonds
  of the United States in lieu thereof: _Provided_, That no bond
  upon which interest has ceased shall be accepted or shall be
  continued on deposit as security for circulation or for
  the safe-keeping of the public money; and in case bonds so
  deposited shall not be withdrawn, as provided by law, within
  thirty days after the interest has ceased thereon, the banking
  association depositing the same shall be subject to the
  liabilities and proceedings on the part of the Comptroller
  provided for in section 5234 of the Revised Statutes of the
  United States: _And provided further_, That section 4 of the
  act of June 20, 1874, entitled "An act fixing the amount of
  United States notes, providing for a redistribution of the
  national-bank currency, and for other purposes," be, and the
  same is hereby, repealed, and sections 5159 and 5160 of the
  Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same are
  hereby, reenacted.


Under this section it is obvious that no additional banks will
hereafter be organized, except possibly in a few cities or localities
where the prevailing rates of interest in ordinary business are
extremely low. No new banks can be organized and no increase of the
capital of existing banks can be obtained except by the purchase and
deposit of 3 per cent bonds. No other bonds of the United States can
be used for the purpose. The one thousand millions of other bonds
recently issued by the United States, and bearing a higher rate of
interest than 3 per cent, and therefore a better security for the bill
holder, can not after the 1st of July next be received as security
for bank circulation. This is a radical change in the banking law. It
takes from the banks the right they have heretofore had under the law
to purchase and deposit as security for their circulation any of the
bonds issued by the United States, and deprives the bill holder of the
best security which the banks are able to give by requiring them
to deposit bonds having the least value of any bonds issued by the
Government.

The average rate of taxation of capital employed in banking is more
than double the rate of taxation upon capital employed in other
legitimate business. Under these circumstances, to amend the banking
law so as to deprive the banks of the privilege of securing their
notes by the most valuable bonds issued by the Government will, it is
believed, in a large part of the country, be a practical prohibition
of the organization of new banks and prevent the existing banks from
enlarging their capital. The national banking system, if continued at
all, will be a monopoly in the hands of those already engaged in it,
who may purchase the Government bonds bearing a more favorable rate of
interest than the 3 per cent bonds prior to next July.

To prevent the further organization of banks is to put in jeopardy the
whole system, by taking from it that feature which makes it, as it
now is, a banking system free upon the same terms to all who wish
to engage in it. Even the existing banks will be in danger of being
driven from business by the additional disadvantages to which they
will be subjected by this bill. In short, I can not but regard
the fifth section of the bill as a step in the direction of the
destruction of the national banking system.

Our country, after a long period of business depression, has just
entered upon a career of unexampled prosperity.

The withdrawal of the currency from circulation of the national
banks, and the enforced winding up of the banks in consequence, would
inevitably bring serious embarrassment and disaster to the business
of the country. Banks of issue are essential instruments of modern
commerce. If the present efficient and admirable system of banking is
broken down, it will inevitably be followed by a recurrence to other
and inferior methods of banking. Any measure looking to such a result
will be a disturbing element in our financial system. It will destroy
confidence and surely check the growing prosperity of the country.

Believing that a measure for refunding the national debt is not
necessarily connected with the national banking law, and that any
refunding act would defeat its own object if it imperiled the national
banking system or seriously impaired its usefulness, and convinced
that section 5 of the bill before me would, if it should become a
law, work great harm, I herewith return the bill to the House of
Representatives for that further consideration which is provided for
in the Constitution.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.




PROCLAMATION.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the
Senate should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 4th of March next to
receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the
part of the Executive:

Now, therefore, I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United
States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this my
proclamation, declaring that an extraordinary occasion requires the
Senate of the United States to convene for the transaction of business
at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March
next, at 12 o'clock at noon on that day, of which all who shall
at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby
required to take notice.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington,
the 28th day of February, A.D. 1881, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the one hundred and fifth.

R.B. HAYES.

By the President:
  WM. M. EVARTS,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDER.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 22, 1881_.

The SECRETARY OF WAR:

In view of the well-known fact that the sale of intoxicating liquors
in the Army of the United States is the cause of much demoralization
among both officers and men, and that it gives rise to a large
proportion of the cases before general and garrison courts-martial,
involving great expense and serious injury to the service--

_It is therefore directed_, That the Secretary of War take suitable
steps, as far as practicable consistently with vested rights, to
prevent the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage at the camps,
forts, and other posts of the Army.

R.B. HAYES.










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