diff options
Diffstat (limited to '15863-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 15863-8.txt | 34038 |
1 files changed, 34038 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/15863-8.txt b/15863-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6b9e33 --- /dev/null +++ b/15863-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,34038 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of +the Presidents, by Grover Cleveland + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents + Section 3 (of 3) of Volume 8: Grover Cleveland, First Term. + +Author: Grover Cleveland + +Editor: James D. Richardson + +Release Date: May 19, 2005 [EBook #15863] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GROVER CLEVELAND *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Grover Cleveland + +March 4, 1885, to March 4, 1889 + + * * * * * + + + + + +Grover Cleveland + + +Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, Essex County, N.J., March 18, +1837. On the paternal side he is of English origin. Moses Cleveland +emigrated from Ipswich, County of Suffolk, England, in 1635, and settled +at Woburn, Mass., where he died in 1701. His descendant William +Cleveland was a silversmith and watchmaker at Norwich, Conn. Richard +Falley Cleveland, son of the latter named, was graduated at Yale in +1824, was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1829, and in the same +year married Ann Neal, daughter of a Baltimore merchant of Irish birth. +These two were the parents of Grover Cleveland. The Presbyterian +parsonage at Caldwell, where he was born, was first occupied by the +Rev. Stephen Grover, in whose honor he was named; but the first name was +early dropped, and he has been since known as Grover Cleveland. When +he was 4 years old his father accepted a call to Fayetteville, near +Syracuse, N.Y., where the son had common and academic schooling, and +afterwards was a clerk in a country store. The removal of the family +to Clinton, Oneida County, gave him additional educational advantages +in the academy there. In his seventeenth year he became a clerk and an +assistant teacher in the New York Institution for the Blind, in New York +City, in which his elder brother, William, a Presbyterian clergyman, +was then a teacher. In 1855 he left Holland Patent, in Oneida County, +where his mother at that time resided, to go to the West in search of +employment. On his way he stopped at Black Rock, now a part of Buffalo, +and called on his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, who induced him to remain and +aid him in the compilation of a volume of the American Herd Book, +receiving for six weeks' service $60. He afterwards, and while studying +law, assisted in the preparation of several other volumes of this work, +and the preface to the fifth volume (1861) acknowledges his services. +In August, 1855, he secured a place as clerk and copyist for the law +firm of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, in Buffalo, began to read Blackstone, +and in the autumn of that year was receiving $4 per week for his work. +He was admitted to the bar in 1859, but for three years longer remained +with the firm that first employed him, acting as managing clerk at a +salary of $600, a part of which he devoted to the support of his widowed +mother, who died in 1882. Was appointed assistant district attorney of +Erie County January 1, 1863, and held the office for three years. At +this time the Civil War was raging. Two of his brothers were in the +Army, and his mother and sisters were largely dependent upon him for +support. Unable himself to enlist, he borrowed money and sent a +substitute to the war, and it was not till long after the war that +he was able to repay the loan. In 1865, at the age of 28, he was the +Democratic candidate for district attorney, but was defeated by the +Republican candidate, his intimate friend, Lyman K. Bass. He then became +the law partner of Isaac V. Vanderpool, and in 1869 became a member of +the firm of Lanning, Cleveland & Folsom. He continued a successful +practice till 1870, when he was elected sheriff of Erie County. At the +expiration of his three years' term he formed a law partnership with +his personal friend and political antagonist, Lyman K. Bass, the firm +being Bass, Cleveland & Bissell, and, after the forced retirement, +from failing health, of Mr. Bass, Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 he was +nominated the Democratic candidate for mayor of Buffalo, and was elected +by a majority of 3,530, the largest ever given to a candidate in that +city. In the same election the Republican State ticket was carried in +Buffalo by an average majority of over 1,600. He entered upon the office +January 1, 1882, and soon became known as the "Veto Mayor," using that +prerogative fearlessly in checking unwise, illegal, and extravagant +expenditures. By his vetoes he saved the city nearly $1,000,000 in the +first half year of his administration. He opposed giving $500 of the +taxpayers' money to the Firemen's Benevolent Society on the ground +that such appropriation was not permissible under the terms of the +State constitution and the charter of the city. He vetoed a resolution +diverting $500 from the Fourth of July appropriations to the observance +of Decoration Day for the same reason, and immediately subscribed +one-tenth of the sum wanted for the purpose. His administration of the +office won tributes to his integrity and ability from the press and the +people irrespective of party. On the second day of the Democratic State +convention at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, on the third ballot, was +nominated for governor in opposition to the Republican candidate, +Charles J. Folger, then Secretary of the United States Treasury. He had +the united support of his own party, while the Republicans were not +united on his opponent, and at the election in November he received a +plurality over Mr. Folger of 192,854. His State administration was only +an expansion of the fundamental principles that controlled his official +action while mayor of Buffalo. In a letter written to his brother on +the day of his election he announced a policy he intended to adopt, +and afterwards carried out, "that is, to make the matter a business +engagement between the people of the State and myself, in which the +obligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned me with an +eye single to the interest of my employers." The Democratic national +convention met at Chicago July 8, 1884. On July 11 he was nominated as +their candidate for President. The Republicans made James G. Blaine +their candidate, while Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, was the +Labor and Greenback candidate, and John P. St. John, of Kansas, was +the Prohibition candidate. At the election, November 4, Mr. Cleveland +received 219 and Mr. Blaine 182 electoral votes. He was unanimously +renominated for the Presidency by the national Democratic convention +in St. Louis on June 6, 1888. At the election in November he received +168 electoral votes, while 233 were cast for Benjamin Harrison, the +Republican candidate. Of the popular vote, however, he received +5,540,329, and Mr. Harrison received 5,439,853. At the close of his +Administration, March 4, 1889, he retired to New York City, where he +reentered upon the practice of his profession. It soon became evident, +however, that he would be prominently urged as a candidate for +renomination in 1892. At the national Democratic convention which met +in Chicago June 21, 1892, he received more than two-thirds of the votes +on the first ballot. At the election in November he received 277 of +the electoral votes, while Mr. Harrison received 145 and Mr. James B. +Weaver, the candidate of the People's Party, 22. Of the popular vote +Mr. Cleveland received 5,553,142, Mr. Harrison 5,186,931, and Mr. +Weaver 1,030,128. He retired from office March 4, 1897, and removed to +Princeton, N.J., where he has since resided. He is the first of our +Presidents who served a second term without being elected as his own +successor. President Cleveland was married in the White House on June 2, +1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, daughter of his deceased friend and +partner, Oscar Folsom, of the Buffalo bar. Mrs. Cleveland was the +youngest (except the wife of Mr. Madison) of the many mistresses of the +White House, having been born in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1864. She is the +first wife of a President married in the White House, and the first to +give birth to a child there, their second daughter (Esther) having been +born in the Executive Mansion in 1893. + + + + +INAUGURAL ADDRESS. + + +FELLOW-CITIZENS: In the presence of this vast assemblage of my +countrymen I am about to supplement and seal by the oath which I shall +take the manifestation of the will of a great and free people. In the +exercise of their power and right of self-government they have committed +to one of their fellow-citizens a supreme and sacred trust, and he here +consecrates himself to their service. + +This impressive ceremony adds little to the solemn sense of +responsibility with which I contemplate the duty I owe to all the people +of the land. Nothing can relieve me from anxiety lest by any act of mine +their interests may suffer, and nothing is needed to strengthen my +resolution to engage every faculty and effort in the promotion of their +welfare. + +Amid the din of party strife the people's choice was made, but its +attendant circumstances have demonstrated anew the strength and safety +of a government by the people. In each succeeding year it more clearly +appears that our democratic principle needs no apology, and that in its +fearless and faithful application is to be found the surest guaranty of +good government. + +But the best results in the operation of a government wherein every +citizen has a share largely depend upon a proper limitation of purely +partisan zeal and effort and a correct appreciation of the time when the +heat of the partisan should be merged in the patriotism of the citizen. + +To-day the executive branch of the Government is transferred to new +keeping. But this is still the Government of all the people, and it +should be none the less an object of their affectionate solicitude. +At this hour the animosities of political strife, the bitterness of +partisan defeat, and the exultation of partisan triumph should be +supplanted by an ungrudging acquiescence in the popular will and a +sober, conscientious concern for the general weal. Moreover, if from +this hour we cheerfully and honestly abandon all sectional prejudice and +distrust, and determine, with manly confidence in one another, to work +out harmoniously the achievements of our national destiny, we shall +deserve to realize all the benefits which our happy form of government +can bestow. + +On this auspicious occasion we may well renew the pledge of our devotion +to the Constitution, which, launched by the founders of the Republic and +consecrated by their prayers and patriotic devotion, has for almost a +century borne the hopes and the aspirations of a great people through +prosperity and peace and through the shock of foreign conflicts and the +perils of domestic strife and vicissitudes. + +By the Father of his Country our Constitution was commended for adoption +as "the result of a spirit of amity and mutual concession." In that same +spirit it should be administered, in order to promote the lasting +welfare of the country and to secure the full measure of its priceless +benefits to us and to those who will succeed to the blessings of our +national life. The large variety of diverse and competing interests +subject to Federal control, persistently seeking the recognition of +their claims, need give us no fear that "the greatest good to the +greatest number" will fail to be accomplished if in the halls of +national legislation that spirit of amity and mutual concession shall +prevail in which the Constitution had its birth. If this involves the +surrender or postponement of private interests and the abandonment of +local advantages, compensation will be found in the assurance that the +common interest is subserved and the general welfare advanced. + +In the discharge of my official duty I shall endeavor to be guided +by a just and unstrained construction of the Constitution, a careful +observance of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal +Government and those reserved to the States or to the people, and by a +cautious appreciation of those functions which by the Constitution and +laws have been especially assigned to the executive branch of the +Government. + +But he who takes the oath to-day to preserve, protect, and defend the +Constitution of the United States only assumes the solemn obligation +which every patriotic citizen--on the farm, in the workshop, in the busy +marts of trade, and everywhere--should share with him. The Constitution +which prescribes his oath, my countrymen, is yours; the Government you +have chosen him to administer for a time is yours; the suffrage which +executes the will of freemen is yours; the laws and the entire scheme +of our civil rule, from the town meeting to the State capitals and the +national capital, is yours. Your every voter, as surely as your Chief +Magistrate, under the same high sanction, though in a different sphere, +exercises a public trust. Nor is this all. Every citizen owes to the +country a vigilant watch and close scrutiny of its public servants and +a fair and reasonable estimate of their fidelity and usefulness. Thus +is the people's will impressed upon the whole framework of our civil +polity--municipal, State, and Federal; and this is the price of our +liberty and the inspiration of our faith in the Republic. + +It is the duty of those serving the people in public place to closely +limit public expenditures to the actual needs of the Government +economically administered, because this bounds the right of the +Government to exact tribute from the earnings of labor or the property +of the citizen, and because public extravagance begets extravagance +among the people. We should never be ashamed of the simplicity and +prudential economies which are best suited to the operation of a +republican form of government and most compatible with the mission of +the American people. Those who are selected for a limited time to manage +public affairs are still of the people, and may do much by their example +to encourage, consistently with the dignity of their official functions, +that plain way of life which among their fellow-citizens aids integrity +and promotes thrift and prosperity. + +The genius of our institutions, the needs of our people in their +home life, and the attention which is demanded for the settlement +and development of the resources of our vast territory dictate the +scrupulous avoidance of any departure from that foreign policy commended +by the history, the traditions, and the prosperity of our Republic. It +is the policy of independence, favored by our position and defended by +our known love of justice and by our power. It is the policy of peace +suitable to our interests. It is the policy of neutrality, rejecting +any share in foreign broils and ambitions upon other continents and +repelling their intrusion here. It is the policy of Monroe and of +Washington and Jefferson--"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with +all nations; entangling alliance with none." + +A due regard for the interests and prosperity of all the people demands +that our finances shall be established upon such a sound and sensible +basis as shall secure the safety and confidence of business interests +and make the wage of labor sure and steady, and that our system of +revenue shall be so adjusted as to relieve the people of unnecessary +taxation, having a due regard to the interests of capital invested +and workingmen employed in American industries, and preventing the +accumulation of a surplus in the Treasury to tempt extravagance and +waste. + +Care for the property of the nation and for the needs of future settlers +requires that the public domain should be protected from purloining +schemes and unlawful occupation. + +The conscience of the people demands that the Indians within our +boundaries shall be fairly and honestly treated as wards of the +Government and their education and civilization promoted with a view +to their ultimate citizenship, and that polygamy in the Territories, +destructive of the family relation and offensive to the moral sense of +the civilized world, shall be repressed. + +The laws should be rigidly enforced which prohibit the immigration of +a servile class to compete with American labor, with no intention of +acquiring citizenship, and bringing with them and retaining habits and +customs repugnant to our civilization. + +The people demand reform in the administration of the Government and the +application of business principles to public affairs. As a means to this +end, civil-service reform should be in good faith enforced. Our citizens +have the right to protection from the incompetency of public employees +who hold their places solely as the reward of partisan service, and from +the corrupting influence of those who promise and the vicious methods +of those who expect such rewards; and those who worthily seek public +employment have the right to insist that merit and competency shall be +recognized instead of party subserviency or the surrender of honest +political belief. + +In the administration of a government pledged to do equal and exact +justice to all men there should be no pretext for anxiety touching the +protection of the freedmen in their rights or their security in the +enjoyment of their privileges under the Constitution and its amendments. +All discussion as to their fitness for the place accorded to them as +American citizens is idle and unprofitable except as it suggests the +necessity for their improvement. The fact that they are citizens +entitles them to all the rights due to that relation and charges them +with all its duties, obligations, and responsibilities. + +These topics and the constant and ever-varying wants of an active +and enterprising population may well receive the attention and the +patriotic endeavor of all who make and execute the Federal law. +Our duties are practical and call for industrious application, an +intelligent perception of the claims of public office, and, above all, +a firm determination, by united action, to secure to all the people +of the land the full benefits of the best form of government ever +vouchsafed to man. And let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly +acknowledging the power and goodness of Almighty God, who presides over +the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our +country's history, let us invoke His aid and His blessing upon our +labors. + +MARCH 4, 1885. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 13, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +For the purpose of their reexamination I withdraw certain treaties and +conventions now pending in the Senate which were communicated to that +body by my predecessor in office, and I therefore request the return +to me of the commercial convention between the United States and the +Dominican Republic which was transmitted to the Senate December 9, 1884; +of the commercial treaty between the United States and Spain which +was transmitted to the Senate December 10, 1884, together with the +supplementary articles thereto of March 2, 1885; and of the treaty +between the United States and Nicaragua for the construction of an +interoceanic canal which was transmitted to the Senate December 10, +1884. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 2, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +For the purpose of its reconsideration I withdraw the additional +article, now pending in the Senate, signed on the 23d of June last, to +the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation which was concluded +between the United States and the Argentine Confederation July 27, 1853, +and communicated to the Senate by my predecessor in office 27th of +January, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + + +Whereas it is alleged that certain individuals, associations of persons, +and corporations are in the unauthorized possession of portions of the +territory known as the Oklahoma lands, within the Indian Territory, +which are designated, described, and recognized by the treaties and laws +of the United States and by the executive authority thereof as Indian +lands; and + +Whereas it is further alleged that certain other persons or associations +within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States have begun +and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible entry and +settlement upon the aforesaid lands and are now threatening such entry +and occupation; and + +Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all +persons residing or being found upon such Indian lands and territory +without permission expressly and legally obtained of the Interior +Department: + +Now, therefore, for the purpose of protecting the public interests, as +well as the interests of the Indian nations and tribes, and to the end +that no person or persons may be induced to enter upon said territory, +where they will not be allowed to remain without the permission of the +authority aforesaid, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United +States, do hereby warn and admonish all and every person or persons now +in the occupation of such lands, and all such person or persons as are +intending, preparing, or threatening to enter and settle upon the same, +that they will neither be permitted to enter upon said territory nor, if +already there, to remain thereon, and that in case a due regard for and +voluntary obedience to the laws and treaties of the United States and +if this admonition and warning be not sufficient to effect the purposes +and intentions of the Government as herein declared, the military power +of the United States will be invoked to abate all such unauthorized +possession, to prevent such threatened entry and occupation, and to +remove all such intruders from the said Indian lands. + +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 13th day of March, 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me that upon vessels +of the United States arriving at the island of Trinidad, British West +Indies, no duty is imposed by the ton as tonnage tax or as light money, +and that no other equivalent tax on vessels of the United States is +imposed at said island by the British Government; and Whereas by the +provisions of section 14 of an act approved June 26, 1884, "to remove +certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the +American foreign carrying trade, and for other purposes," the President +of the United States is authorized to suspend the collection in ports of +the United States from vessels arriving from any port in the island of +Trinidad of so much of the duty at the rate of 3 cents per ton as may be +in excess of the tonnage and light-house dues, or other equivalent of +tax or taxes, imposed on American vessels by the government of the +foreign country in which such port is situated: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the act and section +hereinbefore mentioned, do hereby declare and proclaim that on and after +this 7th day of April, 1885, the collection of said tonnage duty of 3 +cents per ton shall be suspended as regards all vessels arriving in any +port of the United States from a port in the island of Trinidad, British +West Indies. + +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 7th day of April, 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas, by an Executive order bearing date the 27th day of February, +1885, it was ordered that "all that tract of country in the Territory +of Dakota known as the Old Winnebago Reservation and the Sioux or Crow +Creek Reservation, and lying on the east bank of the Missouri River, set +apart and reserved by Executive order dated January 11, 1875, and which +is not covered by the Executive order dated August 9, 1879, restoring +certain of the lands reserved by the order of January 11, 1875, except +the following-described tracts: Townships No. 108 north, range 71 west; +108 north, range 72 west; fractional township 108 north, range 73 west; +the west half of section 4, sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, +21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of township 107 north, range 70 west; +fractional townships 107 north, range 71 west; 107 north, range 72 west; +107 north, range 73 west; the west half of township 106 north, range 70 +west; and fractional township 106 north, range 71 west; and except also +all tracts within the limits of the aforesaid Old Winnebago Reservation +and the Sioux or Crow Creek Reservation which are outside of the limits +of the above-described tracts, and which may have heretofore been +allotted to the Indians residing upon said reservation, or which may +have heretofore been selected or occupied by the said Indians under and +in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of the treaty with the +Sioux Indians of April 29, 1868, be, and the same is hereby, restored +to the public domain;" and + +Whereas upon the claim being made that said order is illegal and in +violation of the plighted faith and obligations of the United States +contained in sundry treaties heretofore entered into with the Indian +tribes or bands occupants of said reservation, and that the further +execution of said order will not only occasion much distress and +suffering to peaceable Indians, but retard the work of their +civilization and engender amongst them a distrust of the National +Government, I have determined, after a careful examination of the +several treaties, acts of Congress, and other official data bearing on +the subject, aided and assisted therein by the advice and opinion of the +Attorney-General of the United States duly rendered in that behalf, that +the lands so proposed to be restored to the public domain by said +Executive order of February 27, 1885, are included as existing Indian +reservations on the east bank of the Missouri River by the terms of the +second article of the treaty with the Sioux Indians concluded April 29, +1868, and that consequently, being treaty reservations, the Executive +was without lawful power to restore them to the public domain by said +Executive order, which is therefore deemed and considered to be wholly +inoperative and void; and + +Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all +persons residing or being found upon Indian lands and territory without +permission expressly and legally obtained of the Interior Department: + +Now, therefore, in order to maintain inviolate the solemn pledges and +plighted faith of the Government as given in the treaties in question, +and for the purpose of properly protecting the interests of the Indian +tribes as well as of the United States in the premises, and to the end +that no person or persons may be induced to enter upon said lands, +where they will not be allowed to remain without the permission of +the authority aforesaid, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United +States, do hereby declare and proclaim the said Executive order of +February 27, 1885, to be in contravention of the treaty obligations of +the United States with the Sioux tribe of Indians, and therefore to +be inoperative and of no effect; and I further declare that the lands +intended to be embraced therein are existing Indian reservations, +and as such available for Indian purposes alone and subject to the +Indian-intercourse acts of the United States. I do further warn and +admonish all and every person or persons now in the occupation of said +lands under color of said Executive order, and all such person or +persons as are intending or preparing to enter and settle upon the same +thereunder, that they will neither be permitted to remain or enter upon +said lands, and such persons as are already there are hereby required to +vacate and remove therefrom with their effects within sixty days from +the date hereof; and in case a due regard for and voluntary obedience +to the laws and treaties of the United States and this admonition and +warning be not sufficient to effect the purpose and intentions as herein +declared, all the power of the Government will be employed to carry into +proper execution the treaties and laws of the United States herein +referred to. + +In testimony thereof I hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the +United States to be affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of April, 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas certain portions of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian +Reservation, in the Indian Territory, are occupied by persons other +than Indians, who claim the right to keep and graze cattle thereon +by agreement made with the Indians for whose special possession and +occupancy the said lands have been reserved by the Government of the +United States, or under other pretexts and licenses; and + +Whereas all such agreements and licenses are deemed void and of no +effect, and the persons so occupying said lands with cattle are +considered unlawfully upon the domain of the United States so reserved +as aforesaid; and + +Whereas the claims of such persons under said leases and licenses and +their unauthorized presence upon such reservation have caused complaint +and discontent on the part of the Indians located thereon, and are +likely to cause serious outbreaks and disturbances: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do +hereby order and direct that all persons other than Indians who are now +upon any part of said reservation for the purpose of grazing cattle +thereon, and their servants and agents, and all other unauthorized +persons now upon said reservation, do, within forty days from the date +of this proclamation, depart and entirely remove therefrom with their +cattle, horses, and other property. + +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 on this 23d day of July, 1885, and the +year of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +The President of the United States has just received the sad tidings of +the death of that illustrious citizen and ex-President of the United +States, General Ulysses S. Grant, at Mount McGregor, in the State of +New York, to which place he had lately been removed in the endeavor to +prolong his life. + +In making this announcement to the people of the United States the +President is impressed with the magnitude of the public loss of a great +military leader, who was in the hour of victory magnanimous, amid +disaster serene and self-sustained; who in every station, whether +as a soldier or as a Chief Magistrate, twice called to power by his +fellow-countrymen, trod unswervingly the pathway of duty, undeterred +by doubts, single-minded and straightforward. + +The entire country has witnessed with deep emotion his prolonged and +patient struggle with painful disease, and has watched by his couch of +suffering with tearful sympathy. + +The destined end has come at last, and his spirit has returned to the +Creator who sent it forth. + +The great heart of the nation that followed him when living with love +and pride bows now in sorrow above him dead, tenderly mindful of his +virtues, his great patriotic services, and of the loss occasioned by his +death. + +In testimony of respect to the memory of General Grant, it is ordered +that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington +be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days and that all public +business shall on the day of the funeral be suspended; and the +Secretaries of War and of the Navy will cause orders to be issued for +appropriate military and naval honors to be rendered on that day. + +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 23d day of July, 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas public policy demands that the public domain shall be reserved +for the occupancy of actual settlers in good faith, and that our people +who seek homes upon such domain shall in no wise be prevented by any +wrongful interference from the safe and free entry thereon to which they +may be entitled; and + +Whereas, to secure and maintain this beneficent policy, a statute was +passed by the Congress of the United States on the 25th day of February, +in the year 1885, which declared to be unlawful all inclosures of any +public lands in any State or Territory to any of which land included +within said inclosure the person, party, association, or corporation +making or controlling such inclosure had no claim or color of title made +or acquired in good faith, or an asserted right thereto by or under +claim made in good faith with a view to entry thereof at the proper land +office; and which statute also prohibited any person, by force, threats, +intimidation, or by any fencing or inclosure or other unlawful means, +from preventing or obstructing any person from peaceably entering upon +or establishing a settlement or residence on any tract of public land +subject to settlement or entry under the public-land laws of the United +States, and from preventing or obstructing free passage and transit over +or through the public lands; and + +Whereas it is by the fifth section of said act provided as follows: + + That the President is hereby authorized to take such means as shall + be necessary to remove and destroy any unlawful inclosure of any of + said lands, and to employ civil or military force as may be necessary + for that purpose. + + +And whereas it has been brought to my knowledge that unlawful +inclosures, and such as are prohibited by the terms of the aforesaid +statute, exist upon the public domain, and that actual legal settlement +thereon is prevented and obstructed by such inclosures and by force, +threats, and intimidation: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do +hereby order and direct that any and every unlawful inclosure of the +public lands maintained by any person, association, or corporation be +immediately removed; and I do hereby forbid any person, association, or +corporation from preventing or obstructing by means of such inclosures, +or by force, threats, or intimidation, any person entitled thereto from +peaceably entering upon and establishing a settlement or residence on +any part of such public land which is subject to entry and settlement +under the laws of the United States. + +And I command and require each and every officer of the United States +upon whom the duty is legally devolved to cause this order to be obeyed +and all the provisions of the act of Congress herein mentioned to be +faithfully enforced. + +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 7th day of August, 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me that upon vessels +of the United States arriving at the port of Boca del Toro, United +States of Colombia, no duty is imposed by the ton as tonnage tax or as +light money, and that no other equivalent tax on vessels of the United +States is imposed at said port by the Colombian Government; and + +Whereas by the provisions of section 14 of an act approved June 26, +1884, "to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and +encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and for other purposes," +the President of the United States is authorized to suspend the +collection in ports of the United States from vessels arriving from any +port in "Central America down to and including Aspinwall and Panama" of +so much of the duty at the rate of 3 cents per ton as may be in excess +of the tonnage and light-house dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, +imposed on American vessels by the government of the foreign country in +which such port is situated: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the act and section +hereinbefore mentioned, do hereby declare and proclaim that on and after +this 9th day of September, 1885, the collection of said tonnage duty of +3 cents per ton shall be suspended as regards all vessels arriving in +any port of the United States from the port of Boca del Toro, United +States of Colombia. + +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 9th day of September, 1885, and of +the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and +tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +The American people have always abundant cause to be thankful to +Almighty God, whose watchful care and guiding hand have been manifested +in every stage of their national life, guarding and protecting them in +time of peril and safely leading them in the hour of darkness and of +danger. + +It is fitting and proper that a nation thus favored should on one day in +every year, for that purpose especially appointed, publicly acknowledge +the goodness of God and return thanks to Him for all His gracious gifts. + +Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, do hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 26th day of +November instant, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and do +invoke the observance of the same by all the people of the land. + +On that day let all secular business be suspended, and let the people +assemble in their usual places of worship and with prayer and songs of +praise devoutly testify their gratitude to the Giver of Every Good and +Perfect Gift for all that He has done for us in the year that has +passed; for our preservation as a united nation and for our deliverance +from the shock and danger of political convulsion; for the blessings of +peace and for our safety and quiet while wars and rumors of wars have +agitated and afflicted other nations of the earth; for our security +against the scourge of pestilence, which in other lands has claimed its +dead by thousands and filled the streets with mourners; for plenteous +crops which reward the labor of the husbandman and increase our nation's +wealth, and for the contentment throughout our borders which follows in +the train of prosperity and abundance. + +And let there also be on the day thus set apart a reunion of families, +sanctified and chastened by tender memories and associations; and let +the social intercourse of friends, with pleasant reminiscence, renew the +ties of affection and strengthen the bonds of kindly feeling. + +And let us by no means forget while we give thanks and enjoy the +comforts which have crowned our lives that truly grateful hearts are +inclined to deeds of charity, and that a kind and thoughtful remembrance +of the poor will double the pleasures of our condition and render our +praise and thanksgiving more acceptable in the sight of the Lord. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of November, 1885, and of +the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas it is represented to me by the governor of the Territory of +Washington that domestic violence exists within the said Territory, +and that by reason of unlawful obstructions and combinations and the +assemblage of evil-disposed persons it has become impracticable to +enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the +United States at Seattle and at other points and places within said +Territory, whereby life and property are there threatened and +endangered; and + +Whereas the legislature of said Territory can not be convened, and in +the judgment of the President an emergency has arisen and a case is now +presented which justifies and requires, under the Constitution and laws +of the United States, the employment of military force to suppress +domestic violence and enforce the faithful execution of the laws of the +United States if the command and warning of this proclamation be +disobeyed or disregarded: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, do hereby command and warn all insurgents and all persons who +have assembled at any point within the said Territory of Washington for +the unlawful purposes aforesaid to desist therefrom and to disperse and +retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o'clock +meridian on the 8th day of November instant. + +And I do admonish all good citizens of the United States and all persons +within the limits and jurisdiction thereof against aiding, abetting, +countenancing, or taking any part in such unlawful acts or assemblages. + +In witness whereof I have set my hand and caused the seal of the United +States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of November, A.D. 1885, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement +of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as +follows: + +RULE XXII. + + Any person who has been in the classified departmental service for one + year or more immediately previous may, when the needs of the service + require it, be transferred or appointed to any other place therein upon + producing a certificate from the Civil Service Commission that such + person has passed at the required grade one or more examinations which + are together equal to that necessary for original entrance to the place + which would be secured by the transfer or appointment; and any person + who has for three years last preceding served as a clerk in the office + of the President of the United States may be transferred or appointed + to any place in the classified service without examination. + + +Approved, March 18, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +Whereas the Government of His Majesty the King of Italy has extended to +the Government of the United States an invitation to participate in a +sanitary conference to be held at Rome on the 15th day of May, 1885, for +the purpose of devising efficient measures to prevent the invasion of +cholera and to mitigate its disastrous consequences; and + +Whereas, by a provision of the act of Congress entitled "An act making +appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the +fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and for other purposes," approved +March 3, 1885, for the suppression of epidemic diseases, the President +of the United States is authorized, in case of threatened or actual +epidemic of cholera or yellow fever, to use certain appropriated sums, +made immediately available, "in aid of State and local boards or +otherwise, in his discretion, in preventing and suppressing the spread +of the same and for maintaining quarantine and maritime inspections at +points of danger;" and + +Whereas there is imminent danger of a recurrence of a cholera epidemic +in Europe, which may be brought to our shores unless adequate measures +of international or local quarantine and maritime inspection are taken +in season, which measures of preventive inspection are proper to be +considered by the aforesaid conference, to the end that their efficiency +in divers countries may be secured: + +Now, therefore, in virtue of the discretionary authority conferred upon +me by the aforesaid act of Congress, I hereby designate and appoint +Major George M. Sternberg, surgeon in the United States Army, to attend +said conference at Rome as the delegate thereto on the part of the +Government of the United States, under the directions and instructions +of the Secretary of State; and I hereby direct the Secretary of War to +detail the said George M. Sternberg to perform the special service to +which he is thus assigned, with full pay and allowances as on active +service; and I further direct that the reasonable and necessary expenses +of travel and sojourn of the said George M. Sternberg in proceeding from +Washington to Rome, and during his attendance there upon the sessions +of the said conference, and in returning, upon the conclusion thereof, +from Rome to Washington, be adjusted and paid from the appropriation +available under the aforesaid act of March 3, 1885, upon his statement +of account approved by the Secretary of State. + +Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of April, A.D. 1885, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and ninth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 12, 1885_. + +Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act making +appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, and for +the armament thereof, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and for +other purposes," approved March 3, 1885, a board, to consist of the +officers and civilians hereinafter named, is appointed to "examine and +report at what ports fortifications or other defenses are most urgently +required, the character and kind of defenses best adapted for each, with +reference to armament," and "the utilization of torpedoes, mines, or +other defensive appliances:" Hon. William C. Endicott, Secretary of War, +president of the board; Brigadier-General Stephen V. Benét, Chief of +Ordnance; Brigadier-General John Newton, Chief of Engineers; +Lieutenant-Colonel Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers; Captain Charles +S. Smith, Ordnance Department; Commander W.T. Sampson, United States +Navy; Commander Caspar F. Goodrich, United States Navy; Mr. Joseph +Morgan, jr., of Pennsylvania; Mr. Erastus Corning, of New York. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1885_. + +Under the provisions of section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1883, it +is hereby ordered that the several Executive Departments, the Department +of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office be closed on +Saturday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in +the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the +rebellion. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, +and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of +the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, +1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the +executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as follows: + +RULE XI. + + 1. Every application, in order to entitle the applicant to appear for + examination or to be examined, must state under oath the facts on the + following subjects: (1) Full name, residence, and post-office address; + (2) citizenship; (3) age; (4) place of birth; (5) health and physical + capacity for the public service; (6) right of preference by reason of + military or naval service; (7) previous employment in the public + service; (8) business or employment and residence for the previous five + years; (9) education. Such other information shall be furnished as the + Commission may reasonably require touching the applicant's fitness for + the public service. The applicant must also state the number of members + of his family in the public service and where employed, and must also + assert that he is not disqualified under section 8 of the civil-service + act, which is as follows: + + "That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess shall + be appointed to or retained in any office, appointment, or employment + to which the provisions of this act are applicable." + + No person dismissed from the public service for misconduct and no + person who has not been absolutely appointed or employed after + probation shall be admitted to examination within two years thereafter. + + 2. No person under enlistment in the Army or Navy of the United States + shall be examined under these rules, except for some place in the + Department under which he is enlisted requiring special qualifications, + and with the consent in writing of the head of such Department. + + 3. The Commission may by regulations, subject to change at any time by + the President, declare the kind and measure of ill health, physical + incapacity, misrepresentation, and bad faith which may properly exclude + any person from the right of examination, grading, or certification + under these rules. It may also provide for medical certificates of + physical capacity in the proper cases, and for the appropriate + certification of persons so defective in sight, speech, hearing, or + otherwise as to be apparently disqualified for some of the duties of + the part of the service which they seek to enter. + + +Approved, June 2, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the eighth clause of Rule XIX for the regulation and +improvement of the executive civil service is hereby amended so as to +read as follows: + + 8. Chief clerks, deputy collectors, deputy naval officers, deputy + surveyors of customs, and superintendents or chiefs of divisions + or bureaus. + + +And the same is hereby promulgated. + +Approved, June 15, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and +improvement of the executive civil service is hereby promulgated: + + +SPECIAL RULE NO. 4. + + Appointments to the 150 places in the Pension Office provided to be + filled by the act of March 3, 1885, except so far as they may be filled + by promotions or transfers, must be separately apportioned by the + appointing power in as near conformity to the second section of the act + of January 16, 1883, as the need of filling them promptly and the + residence and qualifications of the applicants will permit. + + +Approved, July 16, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 23, 1885_. + +_Heads of all Government Departments_: + +Ex-President Ulysses S. Grant died this morning at 8 o'clock. + +In respect to his memory it is ordered that all of the offices of the +Executive Departments in the city of Washington be closed to-day at +1 o'clock. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +GENERAL ORDERS, No. 81. + +HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, + ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, July 23, 1885_. + + +I. The following proclamation has been received from the President: + +[For proclamation see p. 308.] + +II. In compliance with the instructions of the President, on the day of +the funeral, at each military post, the troops and cadets will be +paraded and this order read to them, after which all labors for the day +will cease. + +The national flag will be displayed at half-staff. + +At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals +of thirty minutes between the rising and setting of the sun a single +gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-eight guns. + +The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their +swords, and the colors of the Battalion of Engineers, of the several +regiments, and of the United States Corps of Cadets will be put in +mourning for the period of six months. + +The date and hour of the funeral will be communicated to department +commanders by telegraph, and by them to their subordinate commanders. + +By command of Lieutenant-General Sheridan: + +R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_. + + + +SPECIAL ORDER. + +NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, July 23, 1885_. + +The President of the United States announces the death of ex-President +Ulysses S. Grant in the following proclamation: + +[For proclamation see p. 308.] + +In pursuance of the President's instructions, it is hereby directed that +the ensign at each naval station and of each vessel of the United States +Navy in commission be hoisted at half-mast, and that a gun be fired at +intervals of every half hour from sunrise to sunset at each naval +station and on board of flagships and of vessels acting singly on the +day of the funeral, where this order may be received in time, otherwise +on the day after its receipt. + +The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of +mourning attached to the sword hilt and on the left arm for a period of +thirty days. + +WILLIAM C. WHITNEY, + _Secretary of the Navy_. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the seventh clause of Rule XIX for the regulation and +improvement of the executive civil service is hereby amended so as to +read as follows: + + + 7. Persons whose employment is exclusively professional; but medical + examiners are not included among such persons. + + +And the same is hereby promulgated. + +Approved, August 5, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 6, 1885_. + +_To Head of each Executive Department_: + +_It is hereby ordered_, That the several Executive Departments, the +Department of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office be closed +to-morrow, Friday, August 7, at 3 o'clock p.m., to enable such employees +as may desire to attend the funeral of the late ex-President, General +Grant, in New York. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, September 23, 1885_. + +Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize +the appointment of a commission by the President of the United States +to run and mark the boundary lines between a portion of the Indian +Territory and the State of Texas, in connection with a similar +commission to be appointed by the State of Texas," the following +officers of the Army are detailed, in obedience to the provisions of +said act of Congress, to act in conjunction with such persons as have +been appointed by the State of Texas to ascertain and mark the point +where the one hundredth meridian of longitude crosses the Red River: +Major W.R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers; First Lieutenant Thomas L. +Casey, jr., Corps of Engineers; First Lieutenant Lansing H. Beach, +Corps of Engineers. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +Whereas, by a provision of the act of Congress entitled "An act making +appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the +fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, and for other purposes," approved +March 3, 1885, for the suppression of epidemic diseases, the President +of the United States is authorized, in case of threatened or actual +epidemic of cholera or yellow fever, to use certain appropriated sums, +made immediate available, "in aid of State and local boards or +otherwise, in his discretion, in preventing and suppressing the spread +of the same and for maintaining quarantine and maritime inspections at +points of danger;" and + +Whereas there is imminent danger of a recurrence of a cholera epidemic +in Europe, which may be brought to our shores unless adequate measures +of international or local quarantine inspections are taken in season, +which measures of preventive inspection are proper subjects to be +considered, to the end that their efficiency in divers countries may +be secured: + +Now, therefore, in virtue of the discretionary authority conferred upon +me by the aforesaid act of Congress, I hereby designate and appoint +Dr. E.O. Shakespeare, M.D., of Pennsylvania, as a representative of the +Government of the United States, to proceed, under the directions of the +Secretary of State, to Spain and such other countries in Europe where +the cholera exists, and make investigation of the causes, progress, and +proper prevention and cure of the said diseases, in order that a full +report may be made of them to Congress during the next ensuing session; +and I direct that the reasonable and necessary expenses of travel and +sojourn of the said E.O. Shakespeare in proceeding from Washington to +Spain and elsewhere in Europe as he may find it absolutely necessary to +go in pursuit of the desired information, and in returning to Washington +at the conclusion of his labors, be adjusted and paid from the +appropriation available under the aforesaid act of March 3, 1885, upon +his statement of account approved by the Secretary of State. + +Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of October, 1885, and of +the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and +improvement of the executive civil service is hereby made and +promulgated: + +SPECIAL RULE NO. 5. + + Special Rule No. 2, approved July 18, 1884, is hereby revoked. All + applicants on any register for the postal or customs service who on the + 1st day of November next shall have been thereon one year or more shall, + in conformity with Rule XVI, be no longer eligible for appointment from + such register. + + +Approved, October 1, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, October 24, 1885_. + +Under a provision of an act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize +the appointment of a commission by the President of the United States +to run and mark the boundary lines between a portion of the Indian +Territory and the State of Texas, in connection with a similar commission +to be appointed by the State of Texas," Major S.M. Mansfield, +Corps of Engineers, is detailed, in addition to those officers named in +Executive order dated September 23, 1885, in obedience to the provisions +of said act of Congress, to act in conjunction with such persons as have +been appointed by the State of Texas to ascertain and mark the point +where the one hundredth meridian of longitude crosses the Red River. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 29, 1885_.[1] + +The death of George B. McClellan, at one time the Major-General +Commanding the Army of the United States, took place at an early hour +this morning. As a mark of public respect to the memory of this +distinguished soldier and citizen, whose military ability and civic +virtues have shed luster upon the history of his country, it is ordered +by the President that the national flag be displayed at half-mast upon +all the buildings of the Executive Departments in the city until after +his funeral shall have taken place. + +DANIEL S. LAMONT, _Private Secretary_. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, November 25, 1885_. + +I. The following proclamation [order] of the President of the United +States is published for the information and guidance of all concerned: + + + EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 25, 1885_. + + _To the People of the United States_: + + Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States, died to-day + at 5 o'clock p.m. at Indianapolis, and it becomes my mournful duty to + announce the distressing fact to his fellow-countrymen. + + In respect to the memory and the eminent and varied services of this + high official and patriotic public servant, whose long career was so + full of usefulness and honor to his State and to the United States, it + is ordered that the national flag be displayed at half-mast upon all the + public buildings of the United States; that the Executive Mansion and + the several Executive Departments in the city of Washington be closed + on the day of the funeral and be draped in mourning for the period of + thirty days; that the usual and appropriate military and naval honors + be rendered, and that on all the legations and consulates of the United + States in foreign countries the national flag shall be displayed at + half-mast on the reception of this order, and the usual emblems of + mourning be adopted for thirty days. + + GROVER CLEVELAND. + + By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + +II. On the day next succeeding the receipt of this order at each +military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and this +order read to them. + +The national flag will be displayed at half-mast. At dawn of day +thirteen guns will be fired. Commencing at 12 o'clock m., nineteen +minute guns will be fired, and at the close of the day the national +salute of thirty-eight guns. + +The usual badge of mourning will be worn by officers of the Army, and +the colors of the several regiments, of the United States Corps of +Cadets, and of the Battalion of Engineers will be put in mourning for +the period of thirty days. + +By order of the Secretary of War: + +R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_. + +[Footnote 1: Sent to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.] + + + +SPECIAL ORDER. + +NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, November 25, 1885_. + +The President of the United States announces the death of Vice-President +Thomas A. Hendricks in the following order: + +[For order see preceding page.] + +In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that upon the +day following the receipt of this the ensign at each United States naval +station and of each United States naval vessel in commission be hoisted +at half-mast from sunrise to sunset, and that thirteen guns be fired at +sunrise, nineteen minute guns at meridian, and a national salute at +sunset at each United States naval station and on board flagships and +vessels acting singly, at home or abroad. + +The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of +mourning for three months. + +WILLIAM C. WHITNEY, _Secretary of the Navy_. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following rules for the regulation and improvement +of the executive civil service are hereby amended and promulgated so as +to read as follows: + + + RULE IV. + + 1. All officials connected with any office where or for which any + examination is to take place will give the Civil Service Commission and + the chief examiner such information as may be reasonably required to + enable the Commission to select competent and trustworthy examiners; + and the examinations by those selected as examiners, and the work + incident thereto, will be regarded as a part of the public business to + be performed at such office, and with due regard to other parts of the + public business said examiners shall be allowed time during office + hours to perform the duties required of them. + + 2. It shall be the duty of every executive officer promptly to inform + the Commission, in writing, of the removal or discharge from the public + service of any examiner in his office, or of the inability or refusal of + any such examiner to act in that capacity; and, on the request of the + Commission, such officer shall thereupon name not less than two persons + serving under him whom he regards as most competent for a place on an + examining board, stating generally their qualifications; and from all + those who may be named for any such place the Commission shall select + a person to fill the same. + + + RULE XI. + + 1. Every application, in order to entitle the applicant to appear for + examination or to be examined, must state under oath the facts on the + following subjects: (1) Full name, residence, and post-office address; + (2) citizenship; (3) age; (4) place of birth; (5) health and physical + capacity for the public service; (6) right of preference by reason of + military or naval service; (7) previous employment in the public + service; (8) business or employment and residence for the previous five + years; (9) education. Such other information shall be furnished as the + Commission may reasonably require touching the applicant's fitness for + the public service. The applicant must also state the number of members + of his family in the public service and where employed, and must also + assert that he is not disqualified under section. 8 of the civil-service + act, which is as follows: + + "That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages to excess shall + be appointed to or retained in any office, appointment, or employment to + which the provisions of this act are applicable." + + No person dismissed from the public service for misconduct shall be + admitted to examination within two years thereafter, and no person not + absolutely appointed or employed after probation shall be admitted to + an examination within one year thereafter. + + 2. No person under enlistment in the Army or Navy of the United States + shall be examined under these rules, except for some place requiring + special qualifications, and with the consent in writing of the head of + the Department under which he is enlisted. + + 3. The Commission may, by regulations subject to change at any time by + the President, declare the kind and measure of ill health, physical + incapacity, misrepresentation, and bad faith which may properly exclude + any person from the right of examination, grading, or certification + under these rules. It may also provide for medical certificates of + physical capacity in the proper cases, and for the appropriate + certification of persons so defective in sight, speech, hearing, or + otherwise as to be apparently disqualified for some of the duties of + the part of the service which they seek to enter. + + + RULE XII. + + 1. Every regular application must be supported by proper certificates of + good moral character, health, and physical and mental capacity for doing + the public work, the certificates to be in such form and number as the + regulations of the Commission shall provide; but no certificate will be + received which is inconsistent with the tenth section of the + civil-service act. + + 2. No one shall be examined for admission to the classified postal + service if under 16 or over 35 years of age, excepting messengers, + stampers, and other junior assistants, who must not be under 14 years + of age, or to the classified customs service or to the classified + departmental service if under 18 or over 45 years of age; but no one + shall be examined for appointment to any place in the classified customs + service, except that of clerk or messenger, who is under 21 years of + age; but these limitations of age shall not apply to persons honorably + discharged from the military or naval service of the country who are + otherwise duly qualified. + + + RULE XVI. + + 1. Whenever any officer having the power of appointment or employment + shall so request, there shall be certified to him by the Commission or + the proper examining board four names for the vacancy specified, to be + taken from those graded highest on the proper register of those in his + branch of the service and remaining eligible, regard being had for any + right of preference and to the apportionments to States and Territories; + and from the said four a selection shall be made for the vacancy. But + if a person is on both a general and a special register he need not be + certified for the former, except at the discretion of the Commission, + until he has remained two months upon the latter. + + 2. These certifications for the service at Washington shall be made + in such order as to apportion, as nearly as may be practicable, the + original appointments thereto among the States and Territories and the + District of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascertained at the + last preceding census. + + 3. In case the request for any such certification or any law or + regulation shall call for those of either sex, persons of that sex shall + be certified; otherwise sex shall be disregarded in such certification. + + 4. Subject to the other provisions of this rule, persons eligible on + any register shall be entitled to three certifications only to the + same officer, but with his request in writing there may be a fourth + certification of such persons to him when reached in order. No one shall + remain eligible for more than one year upon any register, except as may + be provided by regulation; but these restrictions shall not extend to + examinations under clause 5 of Rule VII. No person while remaining + eligible on any register shall be admitted to a new examination, and no + person having failed upon any examination shall within six months be + admitted to another examination without the consent of the Commission. + + 5. Any person appointed to or employed in any place in the classified + service who shall be dismissed or separated therefrom without fault or + delinquency on his part may be reappointed or reemployed in the same + Department or office, at a grade for which no higher examination is + required than that for the position he last held, within one year next + following such dismissal or separation, without further examination, on + such certification as the Commission may provide. + + + RULE XVII. + + 1. Every original appointment or employment in said classified service + shall be for the probationary period of six months, at the end of which + time, if the conduct and capacity of the person appointed have been + found satisfactory to the officer having the duty of selection, the + probationer shall be absolutely appointed or employed, but otherwise be + deemed out of the service. + + 2. Every officer under whom any probationer shall serve during any part + of the probation provided for by these rules shall carefully observe the + quality and value of the service rendered by such probationer, and shall + report to the proper appointing officer in writing the facts observed by + him, showing the character and qualifications of such probationer and of + the service performed by him; and such reports shall be preserved on + file. + + 3. Every false statement knowingly made by any person in his application + for examination, and every connivance by him at any false statement + made in any certificate which may accompany his application, and every + deception or fraud practiced by him or by any person in his behalf and + with his knowledge to influence his examination, certification, or + appointment, shall be regarded as good cause for refusing to certify + such person or for the removal or discharge of such person during his + probation or thereafter. + + + RULE XIX. + + There are excepted from examination the following: (1) The confidential + clerk or secretary of any head of a Department or office; (2) cashiers + of collectors; (3) cashiers of postmasters; (4) superintendents of + money-order divisions in post-offices; (5) the direct custodians of + money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond, and + disbursing officers having the custody of money who give bond; but these + exceptions shall not extend to any official below the grade of assistant + cashier or teller; (6) persons employed exclusively in the secret + service of the Government, or as translators, or interpreters, or + stenographers; (7) persons whose employment is exclusively professional, + but medical examiners are not included among such persons; (8) chief + clerks, deputy collectors, deputy naval officers, deputy surveyors of + customs, and superintendents or chiefs of divisions or bureaus. But no + person so excepted shall be either transferred, appointed, or promoted, + unless to some excepted place, without an examination under the + Commission, which examination shall not take place within six months + after entering the service. Promotions may be made without examination + in offices where examinations are not now held until rules on the + subject shall be promulgated. + + + RULE XXI. + + 1. No person, unless excepted under Rule XIX, shall be admitted into the + classified civil service from any place not within said service without + an examination and certification under the rules; with this exception, + that any person who shall have been an officer for one year or more last + preceding in any Department or office, in a grade above the classified + service thereof, may be transferred or appointed to any place in the + service of the same without examination. + + 2. No person who has passed only a limited examination under clause 4 + of Rule VII for the lower classes or grades in the departmental or + customs service shall be appointed, or be promoted within two years + after appointment, to any position giving a salary of $1,000 or upward, + without first passing an examination under clause 1 of said rule; and + such examination shall not be allowed within the first year after + appointment. + + 3. But a person who has passed the examination under said clause 1, and + has accepted a position giving a salary of $900 or less, shall have the + same right of promotion as if originally appointed to a position giving + a salary of $1,000 or more. + + 4. The Commission may at any time certify for a $900 or any lower place + in the classified service any person upon the register who has passed + the examination under clause 1 of Rule VII if such person does not + object before such certification is made. + + + RULE XXII. + + Any person who has been in the classified departmental service for six + months or more immediately previous may, when the needs of the service + require it, be transferred or appointed to any other place therein upon + producing a certificate from the Civil Service Commission that such + person has passed at the required grade one or more examinations which + are together equal to that necessary for original entrance to the place + which would be secured by the transfer or appointment; and any person + who has for three years last preceding served as a clerk in the office + of the President of the United States may be transferred or appointed + to any place in the classified service without examination. + + +Approved, November 27, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 28, 1885_. + +_It is hereby ordered_, That the Department of Agriculture, the +Government Printing Office, and all other Government offices in the +District of Columbia be closed on Tuesday, December 1, 1885, the day of +the funeral of the late Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the +United States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1885_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +Your assembling is clouded by a sense of public bereavement, caused by +the recent and sudden death of Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of +the United States. His distinguished public services, his complete +integrity and devotion to every duty, and his personal virtues will find +honorable record in his country's history. + +Ample and repeated proofs of the esteem and confidence in which he was +held by his fellow-countrymen were manifested by his election to offices +of the most important trust and highest dignity; and at length, full of +years and honors, he has been laid at rest amid universal sorrow and +benediction. + +The Constitution, which requires those chosen to legislate for the +people to annually meet in the discharge of their solemn trust, also +requires the President to give to Congress information of the state of +the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall +deem necessary and expedient. At the threshold of a compliance with +these constitutional directions it is well for us to bear in mind that +our usefulness to the people's interests will be promoted by a constant +appreciation of the scope and character of our respective duties as they +relate to Federal legislation. While the Executive may recommend such +measures as he shall deem expedient, the responsibility for legislative +action must and should rest upon those selected by the people to make +their laws. + +Contemplation of the grave and responsible functions assigned to the +respective branches of the Government under the Constitution will +disclose the partitions of power between our respective departments and +their necessary independence, and also the need for the exercise of all +the power intrusted to each in that spirit of comity and cooperation +which is essential to the proper fulfillment of the patriotic +obligations which rest upon us as faithful servants of the people. + +The jealous watchfulness of our constituencies, great and small, +supplements their suffrages, and before the tribunal they establish +every public servant should be judged. + +It is gratifying to announce that the relations of the United States +with all foreign powers continue to be friendly. Our position after +nearly a century of successful constitutional government, maintenance of +good faith in all our engagements, the avoidance of complications with +other nations, and our consistent and amicable attitude toward the +strong and weak alike furnish proof of a political disposition which +renders professions of good will unnecessary. There are no questions of +difficulty pending with any foreign government. + +The Argentine Government has revived the long dormant question of the +Falkland Islands by claiming from the United States indemnity for their +loss, attributed to the action of the commander of the sloop of war +_Lexington_ in breaking up a piratical colony on those islands in +1831, and their subsequent occupation by Great Britain. In view of the +ample justification for the act of the _Lexington_ and the derelict +condition of the islands before and after their alleged occupation by +Argentine colonists, this Government considers the claim as wholly +groundless. + +Question has arisen with the Government of Austria-Hungary touching +the representation of the United States at Vienna. Having under my +constitutional prerogative appointed an estimable citizen of unimpeached +probity and competence as minister at that court, the Government of +Austria-Hungary invited this Government to take cognizance of certain +exceptions, based upon allegations against the personal acceptability +of Mr. Keiley, the appointed envoy, asking that in view thereof the +appointment should be withdrawn. The reasons advanced were such as +could not be acquiesced in without violation of my oath of office +and the precepts of the Constitution, since they necessarily involved a +limitation in favor of a foreign government upon the right of selection +by the Executive and required such an application of a religious test +as a qualification for office under the United States as would have +resulted in the practical disfranchisement of a large class of our +citizens and the abandonment of a vital principle in our Government. The +Austro-Hungarian Government finally decided not to receive Mr. Keiley as +the envoy of the United States, and that gentleman has since resigned +his commission, leaving the post vacant. I have made no new nomination, +and the interests of this Government at Vienna are now in the care of +the secretary of legation, acting as chargé d'affaires _ad interim_. + +Early in March last war broke out in Central America, caused by the +attempt of Guatemala to consolidate the several States into a single +government. In these contests between our neighboring States the United +States forebore to interfere actively, but lent the aid of their +friendly offices in deprecation of war and to promote peace and concord +among the belligerents, and by such counsel contributed importantly to +the restoration of tranquillity in that locality. + +Emergencies growing out of civil war in the United States of Colombia +demanded of the Government at the beginning of this Administration +the employment of armed forces to fulfill its guaranties under the +thirty-fifth article of the treaty of 1846, in order to keep the transit +open across the Isthmus of Panama. Desirous of exercising only the +powers expressly reserved to us by the treaty, and mindful of the rights +of Colombia, the forces sent to the Isthmus were instructed to confine +their action to "positively and efficaciously" preventing the transit +and its accessories from being "interrupted or embarrassed." + +The execution of this delicate and responsible task necessarily involved +police control where the local authority was temporarily powerless, but +always in aid of the sovereignty of Colombia. + +The prompt and successful fulfillment of its duty by this Government was +highly appreciated by the Government of Colombia, and has been followed +by expressions of its satisfaction. + +High praise is due to the officers and men engaged in this service. + +The restoration of peace on the Isthmus by the reestablishment of the +constituted Government there being thus accomplished, the forces of the +United States were withdrawn. + +Pending these occurrences a question of much importance was presented by +decrees of the Colombian Government proclaiming the closure of certain +ports then in the hands of insurgents and declaring vessels held by +the revolutionists to be piratical and liable to capture by any power. +To neither of these propositions could the United States assent. An +effective closure of ports not in the possession of the Government, but +held by hostile partisans, could not be recognized; neither could the +vessels of insurgents against the legitimate sovereignty be deemed +_hostes humani generis_ within the precepts of international law, +whatever might be the definition and penalty of their acts under the +municipal law of the State against whose authority they were in revolt. +The denial by this Government of the Colombian propositions did not, +however, imply the admission of a belligerent status on the part of the +insurgents. + +The Colombian Government has expressed its willingness to negotiate +conventions for the adjustment by arbitration of claims by foreign +citizens arising out of the destruction of the city of Aspinwall by the +insurrectionary forces. + +The interest of the United States in a practicable transit for ships +across the strip of land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific has +been repeatedly manifested during the last half century. + +My immediate predecessor caused to be negotiated with Nicaragua a treaty +for the construction, by and at the sole cost of the United States, +of a canal through Nicaraguan territory, and laid it before the Senate. +Pending the action of that body thereon, I withdrew the treaty for +reexamination. Attentive consideration of its provisions leads me to +withhold it from resubmission to the Senate. + +Maintaining, as I do, the tenets of a line of precedents from +Washington's day, which proscribe entangling alliances with foreign +states, I do not favor a policy of acquisition of new and distant +territory or the incorporation of remote interests with our own. + +The laws of progress are vital and organic, and we must be conscious of +that irresistible tide of commercial expansion which, as the concomitant +of our active civilization, day by day is being urged onward by those +increasing facilities of production, transportation, and communication +to which steam and electricity have given birth; but our duty in the +present instructs us to address ourselves mainly to the development of +the vast resources of the great area committed to our charge and to +the cultivation of the arts of peace within our own borders, though +jealously alert in preventing the American hemisphere from being +involved in the political problems and complications of distant +governments. Therefore I am unable to recommend propositions involving +paramount privileges of ownership or right outside of our own territory, +when coupled with absolute and unlimited engagements to defend the +territorial integrity of the state where such interests lie. While the +general project of connecting the two oceans by means of a canal is to +be encouraged, I am of opinion that any scheme to that end to be +considered with favor should be free from the features alluded to. + +The Tehuantepec route is declared by engineers of the highest repute and +by competent scientists to afford an entirely practicable transit for +vessels and cargoes, by means of a ship railway, from the Atlantic to +the Pacific. The obvious advantages of such a route, if feasible, over +others more remote from the axial lines of traffic between Europe and +the Pacific, and particularly between the Valley of the Mississippi and +the western coast of North and South America, are deserving of +consideration. + +Whatever highway may be constructed across the barrier dividing the two +greatest maritime areas of the world must be for the world's benefit--a +trust for mankind, to be removed from the chance of domination by any +single power, nor become a point of invitation for hostilities or a +prize for warlike ambition. An engagement combining the construction, +ownership, and operation of such a work by this Government, with an +offensive and defensive alliance for its protection, with the foreign +state whose responsibilities and rights we would share is, in my +judgment, inconsistent with such dedication to universal and neutral +use, and would, moreover, entail measures for its realization beyond the +scope of our national polity or present means. + +The lapse of years has abundantly confirmed the wisdom and foresight +of those earlier Administrations which, long before the conditions of +maritime intercourse were changed and enlarged by the progress of the +age, proclaimed the vital need of interoceanic transit across the +American Isthmus and consecrated it in advance to the common use of +mankind by their positive declarations and through the formal obligation +of treaties. Toward such realization the efforts of my Administration +will be applied, ever bearing in mind the principles on which it must +rest, and which were declared in no uncertain tones by Mr. Cass, who, +while Secretary of State, in 1858, announced that "what the United +States want in Central America, next to the happiness of its people, +is the security and neutrality of the interoceanic routes which lead +through it." + +The construction of three transcontinental lines of railway, all in +successful operation, wholly within our territory, and uniting the +Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, has been accompanied by results of a +most interesting and impressive nature, and has created new conditions, +not in the routes of commerce only, but in political geography, which +powerfully affect our relations toward and necessarily increase our +interests in any transisthmian route which may be opened and employed +for the ends of peace and traffic, or, in other contingencies, for uses +inimical to both. + +Transportation is a factor in the cost of commodities scarcely second to +that of their production, and weighs as heavily upon the consumer. + +Our experience already has proven the great importance of having the +competition between land carriage and water carriage fully developed, +each acting as a protection to the public against the tendencies to +monopoly which are inherent in the consolidation of wealth and power in +the hands of vast corporations. + +These suggestions may serve to emphasize what I have already said on the +score of the necessity of a neutralization of any interoceanic transit; +and this can only be accomplished by making the uses of the route open +to all nations and subject to the ambitions and warlike necessities of +none. + +The drawings and report of a recent survey of the Nicaragua Canal route, +made by Chief Engineer Menocal, will be communicated for your +information. + +The claims of citizens of the United States for losses by reason of the +late military operations of Chile in Peru and Bolivia are the subject of +negotiation for a claims convention with Chile, providing for their +submission to arbitration. + +The harmony of our relations with China is fully sustained. + +In the application of the acts lately passed to execute the treaty of +1880, restrictive of the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United +States, individual cases of hardship have occurred beyond the power of +the Executive to remedy, and calling for judicial determination. + +The condition of the Chinese question in the Western States and +Territories is, despite this restrictive legislation, far from being +satisfactory. The recent outbreak in Wyoming Territory, where numbers of +unoffending Chinamen, indisputably within the protection of the treaties +and the law, were murdered by a mob, and the still more recent +threatened outbreak of the same character in Washington Territory, are +fresh in the minds of all, and there is apprehension lest the bitterness +of feeling against the Mongolian race on the Pacific Slope may find vent +in similar lawless demonstrations. All the power of this Government +should be exerted to maintain the amplest good faith toward China in the +treatment of these men, and the inflexible sternness of the law in +bringing the wrongdoers to justice should be insisted upon. + +Every effort has been made by this Government to prevent these violent +outbreaks and to aid the representatives of China in their investigation +of these outrages; and it is but just to say that they are traceable to +the lawlessness of men not citizens of the United States engaged in +competition with Chinese laborers. + +Race prejudice is the chief factor in originating these disturbances, +and it exists in a large part of our domain, jeopardizing our domestic +peace and the good relationship we strive to maintain with China. + +The admitted right of a government to prevent the influx of elements +hostile to its internal peace and security may not be questioned, even +where there is no treaty stipulation on the subject. That the exclusion +of Chinese labor is demanded in other countries where like conditions +prevail is strongly evidenced in the Dominion of Canada, where Chinese +immigration is now regulated by laws more exclusive than our own. If +existing laws are inadequate to compass the end in view, I shall be +prepared to give earnest consideration to any further remedial measures, +within the treaty limits, which the wisdom of Congress may devise. + +The independent State of the Kongo has been organized as a government +under the sovereignty of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, who +assumes its chief magistracy in his personal character only, without +making the new State a dependency of Belgium. It is fortunate that a +benighted region, owing all it has of quickening civilization to the +beneficence and philanthropic spirit of this monarch, should have the +advantage and security of his benevolent supervision. + +The action taken by this Government last year in being the first to +recognize the flag of the International Association of the Kongo has +been followed by formal recognition of the new nationality which +succeeds to its sovereign powers. + +A conference of delegates of the principal commercial nations was held +at Berlin last winter to discuss methods whereby the Kongo basin might +be kept open to the world's trade. Delegates attended on behalf of the +United States on the understanding that their part should be merely +deliberative, without imparting to the results any binding character +so far as the United States were concerned. This reserve was due to +the indisposition of this Government to share in any disposal by an +international congress of jurisdictional questions in remote foreign +territories. The results of the conference were embodied in a formal act +of the nature of an international convention, which laid down certain +obligations purporting to be binding on the signatories, subject to +ratification within one year. Notwithstanding the reservation under +which the delegates of the United States attended, their signatures +were attached to the general act in the same manner as those of the +plenipotentiaries of other governments, thus making the United States +appear, without reserve or qualification, as signatories to a joint +international engagement imposing on the signers the conservation of the +territorial integrity of distant regions where we have no established +interests or control. + +This Government does not, however, regard its reservation of liberty +of action in the premises as at all impaired; and holding that an +engagement to share in the obligation of enforcing neutrality in the +remote valley of the Kongo would be an alliance whose responsibilities +we are not in a position to assume, I abstain from asking the sanction +of the Senate to that general act. + +The correspondence will be laid before you, and the instructive and +interesting report of the agent sent by this Government to the Kongo +country and his recommendations for the establishment of commercial +agencies on the African coast are also submitted for your consideration. + +The commission appointed by my predecessor last winter to visit the +Central and South American countries and report on the methods of +enlarging the commercial relations of the United States therewith has +submitted reports, which will be laid before you. + +No opportunity has been omitted to testify the friendliness of this +Government toward Korea, whose entrance into the family of treaty powers +the United States were the first to recognize. I regard with favor the +application made by the Korean Government to be allowed to employ +American officers as military instructors, to which the assent of +Congress becomes necessary, and I am happy to say this request has the +concurrent sanction of China and Japan. + +The arrest and imprisonment of Julio R. Santos, a citizen of the United +States, by the authorities of Ecuador gave rise to a contention with +that Government, in which his right to be released or to have a speedy +and impartial trial on announced charges and with all guaranties of +defense stipulated by treaty was insisted upon by us. After an elaborate +correspondence and repeated and earnest representations on our part Mr. +Santos was, after an alleged trial and conviction, eventually included +in a general decree of amnesty and pardoned by the Ecuadorian Executive +and released, leaving the question of his American citizenship denied by +the Ecuadorian Government, but insisted upon by our own. + +The amount adjudged by the late French and American Claims Commission to +be due from the United States to French claimants on account of injuries +suffered by them during the War of Secession, having been appropriated +by the last Congress, has been duly paid to the French Government. + +The act of February 25, 1885, provided for a preliminary search of the +records of French prize courts for evidence bearing on the claims of +American citizens against France for spoliations committed prior to +1801. The duty has been performed, and the report of the agent will be +laid before you. + +I regret to say that the restrictions upon the importation of our pork +into France continue, notwithstanding the abundant demonstration of the +absence of sanitary danger in its use; but I entertain strong hopes that +with a better understanding of the matter this vexatious prohibition +will be removed. It would be pleasing to be able to say as much with +respect to Germany, Austria, and other countries, where such food +products are absolutely excluded, without present prospect of reasonable +change. + +The interpretation of our existing treaties of naturalization by Germany +during the past year has attracted attention by reason of an apparent +tendency on the part of the Imperial Government to extend the scope of +the residential restrictions to which returning naturalized citizens of +German origin are asserted to be liable under the laws of the Empire. +The temperate and just attitude taken by this Government with regard to +this class of questions will doubtless lead to a satisfactory +understanding. + +The dispute of Germany and Spain relative to the domination of the +Caroline Islands has attracted the attention of this Government by +reason of extensive interests of American citizens having grown up in +those parts during the past thirty years, and because the question of +ownership involves jurisdiction of matters affecting the status of our +citizens under civil and criminal law. While standing wholly aloof from +the proprietary issues raised between powers to both of which the United +States are friendly, this Government expects that nothing in the present +contention shall unfavorably affect our citizens carrying on a peaceful +commerce or there domiciled, and has so informed the Governments of +Spain and Germany. + +The marked good will between the United States and Great Britain has +been maintained during the past year. + +The termination of the fishing clauses of the treaty of Washington, in +pursuance of the joint resolution of March 3, 1883, must have resulted +in the abrupt cessation on the 1st of July of this year, in the midst +of their ventures, of the operations of citizens of the United States +engaged in fishing in British American waters but for a diplomatic +understanding reached with Her Majesty's Government in June last, +whereby assurance was obtained that no interruption of those operations +should take place during the current fishing season. + +In the interest of good neighborhood and of the commercial intercourse +of adjacent communities, the question of the North American fisheries is +one of much importance. Following out the intimation given by me when +the extensory arrangement above described was negotiated, I recommend +that the Congress provide for the appointment of a commission in which +the Governments of the United States and Great Britain shall be +respectively represented, charged with the consideration and settlement, +upon a just, equitable, and honorable basis, of the entire question of +the fishing rights of the two Governments and their respective citizens +on the coasts of the United States and British North America. The +fishing interests being intimately related to other general questions +dependent upon contiguity and intercourse, consideration thereof in all +their equities might also properly come within the purview of such a +commission, and the fullest latitude of expression on both sides should +be permitted. + +The correspondence in relation to the fishing rights will be submitted. + +The arctic exploring steamer _Alert_, which was generously given by +Her Majesty's Government to aid in the relief of the Greely expedition, +was, after the successful attainment of that humane purpose, returned to +Great Britain, in pursuance of the authority conferred by the act of +March 3, 1885. + +The inadequacy of the existing engagements for extradition between +the United States and Great Britain has been long apparent. The tenth +article of the treaty of 1842, one of the earliest compacts in this +regard entered into by us, stipulated for surrender in respect of a +limited number of offenses. Other crimes no less inimical to the social +welfare should be embraced and the procedure of extradition brought in +harmony with present international practice. Negotiations with Her +Majesty's Government for an enlarged treaty of extradition have been +pending since 1870, and I entertain strong hopes that a satisfactory +result may be soon attained. + +The frontier line between Alaska and British Columbia, as defined by +the treaty of cession with Russia, follows the demarcation assigned +in a prior treaty between Great Britain and Russia. Modern exploration +discloses that this ancient boundary is impracticable as a geographical +fact. In the unsettled condition of that region the question has lacked +importance, but the discovery of mineral wealth in the territory the +line is supposed to traverse admonishes that the time has come when an +accurate knowledge of the boundary is needful to avert jurisdictional +complications. I recommend, therefore, that provision be made for a +preliminary reconnoissance by officers of the United States, to the end +of acquiring more precise information on the subject. I have invited +Her Majesty's Government to consider with us the adoption of a more +convenient line, to be established by meridian observations or by known +geographical features without the necessity of an expensive survey of +the whole. + +The late insurrectionary movements in Hayti having been quelled, the +Government of that Republic has made prompt provision for adjudicating +the losses suffered by foreigners because of hostilities there, and the +claims of certain citizens of the United States will be in this manner +determined. + +The long-pending claims of two citizens of the United States, Pelletier +and Lazare, have been disposed of by arbitration, and an award in favor +of each claimant has been made, which by the terms of the engagement is +final. It remains for Congress to provide for the payment of the +stipulated moiety of the expenses. + +A question arose with Hayti during the past year by reason of the +exceptional treatment of an American citizen, Mr. Van Bokkelen, a +resident of Port-au-Prince, who, on suit by creditors residing in the +United States, was sentenced to imprisonment, and, under the operation +of a Haytian statute, was denied relief secured to a native Haytian. +This Government asserted his treaty right to equal treatment with +natives of Hayti in all suits at law. Our contention was denied by the +Haytian Government, which, however, while still professing to maintain +the ground taken against Mr. Van Bokkelen's right, terminated the +controversy by setting him at liberty without explanation. + +An international conference to consider the means of arresting the +spread of cholera and other epidemic diseases was held at Rome in May +last, and adjourned to meet again on further notice. An expert delegate +on behalf of the United States has attended its sessions and will submit +a report. + +Our relations with Mexico continue to be most cordial, as befits +those of neighbors between whom the strongest ties of friendship and +commercial intimacy exist, as the natural and growing consequence of our +similarity of institutions and geographical propinquity. + +The relocation of the boundary line between the United States and Mexico +westward of the Rio Grande, under the convention of July 29, 1882, has +been unavoidably delayed, but I apprehend no difficulty in securing a +prolongation of the period for its accomplishment. + +The lately concluded commercial treaty with Mexico still awaits the +stipulated legislation to carry its provisions into effect, for which +one year's additional time has been secured by a supplementary article +signed in February last and since ratified on both sides. + +As this convention, so important to the commercial welfare of the +two adjoining countries, has been constitutionally confirmed by the +treaty-making branch, I express the hope that legislation needed to make +it effective may not be long delayed. + +The large influx of capital and enterprise to Mexico from the United +States continues to aid in the development of the resources and in +augmenting the material well-being of our sister Republic. Lines of +railway, penetrating to the heart and capital of the country, bring +the two peoples into mutually beneficial intercourse, and enlarged +facilities of transit add to profitable commerce, create new markets, +and furnish avenues to otherwise isolated communities. + +I have already adverted to the suggested construction of a ship railway +across the narrow formation of the territory of Mexico at Tehuantepec. + +With the gradual recovery of Peru from the effects of her late +disastrous conflict with Chile, and with the restoration of civil +authority in that distracted country, it is hoped that pending war +claims of our citizens will be adjusted. + +In conformity with notification given by the Government of Peru, the +existing treaties of commerce and extradition between the United States +and that country will terminate March 31, 1886. + +Our good relationship with Russia continues. + +An officer of the Navy, detailed for the purpose, is now on his way to +Siberia bearing the testimonials voted by Congress to those who +generously succored the survivors of the unfortunate _Jeannette_ +expedition. + +It is gratifying to advert to the cordiality of our intercourse with +Spain. + +The long-pending claim of the owners of the ship _Masonic_ for loss +suffered through the admitted dereliction of the Spanish authorities in +the Philippine Islands has been adjusted by arbitration and an indemnity +awarded. The principle of arbitration in such cases, to which the United +States have long and consistently adhered, thus receives a fresh and +gratifying confirmation. + +Other questions with Spain have been disposed of or are under diplomatic +consideration with a view to just and honorable settlement. + +The operation of the commercial agreement with Spain of January +2-February 13, 1884, has been found inadequate to the commercial needs +of the United States and the Spanish Antilles, and the terms of the +agreement are subjected to conflicting interpretations in those islands. + +Negotiations have been instituted at Madrid for a full treaty not open +to these objections and in the line of the general policy touching the +neighborly intercourse of proximate communities, to which I elsewhere +advert, and aiming, moreover, at the removal of existing burdens and +annoying restrictions; and although a satisfactory termination is +promised, I am compelled to delay its announcement. + +An international copyright conference was held at Berne in September, on +the invitation of the Swiss Government. The envoy of the United States +attended as a delegate, but refrained from committing this Government to +the results, even by signing the recommendatory protocol adopted. The +interesting and important subject of international copyright has been +before you for several years. Action is certainly desirable to effect +the object in view; and while there may be question as to the relative +advantage of treating it by legislation or by specific treaty, the +matured views of the Berne conference can not fail to aid your +consideration of the subject. + +The termination of the commercial treaty of 1862 between the United +States and Turkey has been sought by that Government. While there is +question as to the sufficiency of the notice of termination given, yet +as the commercial rights of our citizens in Turkey come under the +favored-nation guaranties of the prior treaty of 1830, and as equal +treatment is admitted by the Porte, no inconvenience can result from the +assent of this Government to the revision of the Ottoman tariffs, in +which the treaty powers have been invited to join. + +Questions concerning our citizens in Turkey may be affected by the +Porte's nonacquiescence in the right of expatriation and by the +imposition of religious tests as a condition of residence, in which +this Government can not concur. The United States must hold in their +intercourse with every power that the status of their citizens is to be +respected and equal civil privileges accorded to them without regard +to creed, and affected by no considerations save those growing out of +domiciliary return to the land of original allegiance or of unfulfilled +personal obligations which may survive, under municipal laws, after such +voluntary return. + +The negotiation with Venezuela relative to the rehearing of the awards +of the mixed commission constituted under the treaty of 1866 was resumed +in view of the recent acquiescence of the Venezuelan envoy in the +principal point advanced by this Government, that the effects of the old +treaty could only be set aside by the operation of a new convention. A +result in substantial accord with the advisory suggestions contained in +the joint resolution of March 3, 1883, has been agreed upon and will +shortly be submitted to the Senate for ratification. + +Under section 3659 of the Revised Statutes all funds held in trust by +the United States and the annual interest accruing thereon, when not +otherwise required by treaty, are to be invested in stocks of the United +States bearing a rate of interest not less than 5 per cent per annum. +There being now no procurable stocks paying so high a rate of interest, +the letter of the statute is at present inapplicable, but its spirit is +subserved by continuing to make investments of this nature in current +stocks bearing the highest interest now paid. The statute, however, +makes no provision for the disposal of such accretions. It being +contrary to the general rule of this Government to allow interest on +claims, I recommend the repeal of the provision in question and the +disposition, under a uniform rule, of the present accumulations from +investment of trust funds. + +The inadequacy of existing legislation touching citizenship and +naturalization demands your consideration. + +While recognizing the right of expatriation, no statutory provision +exists providing means for renouncing citizenship by an American +citizen, native born or naturalized, nor for terminating and vacating +an improper acquisition of citizenship. Even a fraudulent decree of +naturalization can not now be canceled. The privilege and franchise of +American citizenship should be granted with care, and extended to those +only who intend in good faith to assume its duties and responsibilities +when attaining its privileges and benefits. It should be withheld from +those who merely go through the forms of naturalization with the intent +of escaping the duties of their original allegiance without taking upon +themselves those of their new status, or who may acquire the rights of +American citizenship for no other than a hostile purpose toward their +original governments. These evils have had many flagrant illustrations. + +I regard with favor the suggestion put forth by one of my predecessors +that provision be made for a central bureau of record of the decrees of +naturalization granted by the various courts throughout the United +States now invested with that power. + +The rights which spring from domicile in the United States, especially +when coupled with a declaration of intention to become a citizen, are +worthy of definition by statute. The stranger coming hither with intent +to remain, establishing his residence in our midst, contributing to the +general welfare, and by his voluntary act declaring his purpose to +assume the responsibilities of citizenship, thereby gains an inchoate +status which legislation may properly define. The laws of certain +States and Territories admit a domiciled alien to the local franchise, +conferring on him the rights of citizenship to a degree which places him +in the anomalous position of being a citizen of a State and yet not of +the United States within the purview of Federal and international law. + +It is important within the scope of national legislation to define this +right of alien domicile as distinguished from Federal naturalization. + +The commercial relations of the United States with their immediate +neighbors and with important areas of traffic near our shores suggest +especially liberal intercourse between them and us. + +Following the treaty of 1883 with Mexico, which rested on the basis of a +reciprocal exemption from customs duties, other similar treaties were +initiated by my predecessor. + +Recognizing the need of less obstructed traffic with Cuba and Puerto +Rico, and met by the desire of Spain to succor languishing interests +in the Antilles, steps were taken to attain those ends by a treaty of +commerce. A similar treaty was afterwards signed by the Dominican +Republic. Subsequently overtures were made by Her Britannic Majesty's +Government for a like mutual extension of commercial intercourse with +the British West Indian and South American dependencies, but without +result. + +On taking office I withdrew for reexamination the treaties signed with +Spain and Santo Domingo, then pending before the Senate. The result has +been to satisfy me of the inexpediency of entering into engagements of +this character not covering the entire traffic. + +These treaties contemplated the surrender by the United States of large +revenues for inadequate considerations. Upon sugar alone duties were +surrendered to an amount far exceeding all the advantages offered in +exchange. Even were it intended to relieve our consumers, it was evident +that so long as the exemption but partially covered our importation such +relief would be illusory. To relinquish a revenue so essential seemed +highly improvident at a time when new and large drains upon the Treasury +were contemplated. Moreover, embarrassing questions would have arisen +under the favored-nation clauses of treaties with other nations. + +As a further objection, it is evident that tariff regulation by treaty +diminishes that independent control over its own revenues which is +essential for the safety and welfare of any government. Emergency +calling for an increase of taxation may at any time arise, and no +engagement with a foreign power should exist to hamper the action of the +Government. + +By the fourteenth section of the shipping act approved June 26, 1884, +certain reductions and contingent exemptions from tonnage dues were made +as to vessels entering ports of the United States from any foreign port +in North and Central America, the West India Islands, the Bahamas and +Bermudas, Mexico, and the Isthmus as far as Aspinwall and Panama. The +Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, and Sweden and +Norway have asserted, under the favored-nation clause in their treaties +with the United States, a claim to like treatment in respect of vessels +coming to the United States from their home ports. This Government, +however, holds that the privileges granted by the act are purely +geographical, inuring to any vessel of any foreign power that may choose +to engage in traffic between this country and any port within the +defined zone, and no warrant exists under the most-favored-nation clause +for the extension of the privileges in question to vessels sailing to +this country from ports outside the limitation of the act. + +Undoubtedly the relations of commerce with our near neighbors, whose +territories form so long a frontier line difficult to be guarded, and +who find in our country, and equally offer to us, natural markets, +demand special and considerate treatment. It rests with Congress to +consider what legislative action may increase facilities of intercourse +which contiguity makes natural and desirable. + +I earnestly urge that Congress recast the appropriations for the +maintenance of the diplomatic and consular service on a footing +commensurate with the importance of our national interests. At every +post where a representative is necessary the salary should be so graded +as to permit him to live with comfort. With the assignment of adequate +salaries the so-called notarial extraofficial fees, which our officers +abroad are now permitted to treat as personal perquisites, should be +done away with. Every act requiring the certification and seal of the +officer should be taxable at schedule rates and the fee therefor +returned to the Treasury. By restoring these revenues to the public use +the consular service would be self-supporting, even with a liberal +increase of the present low salaries. + +In further prevention of abuses a system of consular inspection should +be instituted. + +The appointment of a limited number of secretaries of legation at large, +to be assigned to duty wherever necessary, and in particular for +temporary service at missions which for any cause may be without a head, +should also be authorized. + +I favor also authorization for the detail of officers of the regular +service as military or naval attachés at legations. + +Some foreign governments do not recognize the union of consular with +diplomatic functions. Italy and Venezuela will only receive the +appointee in one of his two capacities, but this does not prevent the +requirement of a bond and submission to the responsibilities of an +office whose duties he can not discharge. The superadded title of +consul-general should be abandoned at all missions. + +I deem it expedient that a well-devised measure for the reorganization +of the extraterritorial courts in Oriental countries should replace the +present system, which labors under the disadvantage of combining +judicial and executive functions in the same office. + +In several Oriental countries generous offers have been made of +premises for housing the legations of the United States. A grant of +land for that purpose was made some years since by Japan, and has been +referred to in the annual messages of my predecessor. The Siamese +Government has made a gift to the United States of commodious quarters +in Bangkok. In Korea the late minister was permitted to purchase a +building from the Government for legation use. In China the premises +rented for the legation are favored as to local charges. At Tangier +the house occupied by our representative has been for many years the +property of this Government, having been given for that purpose in 1822 +by the Sultan of Morocco. I approve the suggestion heretofore made, +that, in view of the conditions of life and administration in the +Eastern countries, the legation buildings in China, Japan, Korea, Siam, +and perhaps Persia, should be owned and furnished by the Government +with a view to permanency and security. To this end I recommend that +authority be given to accept the gifts adverted to in Japan and Siam, +and to purchase in the other countries named, with provision for +furniture and repairs. A considerable saving in rentals would result. + +The World's Industrial Exposition, held at New Orleans last winter, with +the assistance of the Federal Government, attracted a large number of +foreign exhibits, and proved of great value in spreading among the +concourse of visitors from Mexico and Central and South America a wider +knowledge of the varied manufactures and productions of this country and +their availability in exchange for the productions of those regions. + +Past Congresses have had under consideration the advisability of +abolishing the discrimination made by the tariff laws in favor of the +works of American artists. The odium of the policy which subjects to +a high rate of duty the paintings of foreign artists and exempts the +productions of American artists residing abroad, and who receive +gratuitously advantages and instruction, is visited upon our citizens +engaged in art culture in Europe, and has caused them with practical +unanimity to favor the abolition of such an ungracious distinction; and +in their interest, and for other obvious reasons, I strongly recommend +it. + +The report of the Secretary of the Treasury fully exhibits the condition +of the public finances and of the several branches of the Government +connected with his Department. The suggestions of the Secretary relating +to the practical operations of this important Department, and his +recommendations in the direction of simplification and economy, +particularly in the work of collecting customs duties, are especially +urged upon the attention of Congress. + +The ordinary receipts from all sources for the fiscal year ended June +30, 1885, were $322,690,706.38. Of this sum $181,471,939.34 was received +from customs and $112,498,725.54 from internal revenue. The total +receipts, as given above, were $24,829,163.54 less than those for the +year ended June 30, 1884. This diminution embraces a falling off of +$13,595,550.42 in the receipts from customs and $9,687,346.97 in the +receipts from internal revenue. + +The total ordinary expenditures of the Government for the fiscal year +were $260,226,935.50, leaving a surplus in the Treasury at the close of +the year of $63,463,771.27. This is $40,929,854.32 less than the surplus +reported at the close of the previous year. + +The expenditures are classified as follows: + + + For civil expenses $23,826,942.11 + For foreign intercourse 5,439,609.11 + For Indians 6,552,494.63 + For pensions 56,102,267.49 + For the military, including river and harbor 42,670,578.47 + improvements and arsenals + For the Navy, including vessels, machinery, and 16,021,079.69 + improvements of navy-yards + For interest on the public debt 51,386,256.47 + For the District of Columbia 3,499,650.95 + For miscellaneous expenditures, including public 54,728,056.21 + buildings, light-houses, and collecting the revenue + + +The amount paid on the public debt during the fiscal year ended June 30, +1885, was $45,993,235.43, and there has been paid since that date and up +to November 1, 1885, the sum of $369,828, leaving the amount of the debt +at the last-named date $1,514,475,860.47. There was, however, at that +time in the Treasury, applicable to the general purposes of the +Government, the sum of $66,818,292.38. + +The total receipts for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, +ascertained to October 1, 1885, and estimated for the remainder of the +year, are $315,000,000. The expenditures ascertained and estimated for +the same time are $245,000,000, leaving a surplus at the close of the +year estimated at $70,000,000. + +The value of the exports from the United States to foreign countries +during the last fiscal year was as follows: + + + Domestic merchandise $726,682,946.00 + Foreign merchandise 15,506,809.00 + 742,189,755.00 + + Gold 8,477,892.00 + Silver 33,753,633.00 + 784,421,280.00 + + +Some of the principal exports, with their values and the percentage they +respectively bear to the total exportation, are given as follows: + + + Articles. Value. Percentage. + + Cotton and cotton manufactures $213,799,049 29.42 + Breadstuffs 160,370,821 22.07 + Provisions 107,332,456 14.77 + Oils--mineral, vegetable, and animal 54,326,202 7.48 + Tobacco and its manufactures 24,767,305 3.41 + Wood and its manufactures 21,464,322 2.95 + + +Our imports during the year were as follows: + + + Merchandise $579,580,053.80 + Gold 26,691,696.00 + Silver 16,550,627.00 + 622,822,376.80 + + +The following are given as prominent articles of import during the year, +with their values and the percentage they bear to the total importation: + + + Articles. Value. Percentage. + + Sugar and molasses $76,738,713 13.29 + Coffee 46,723,318 8.09 + Wool and its manufactures 44,656,482 7.73 + Silk and its manufactures 40,393,002 6.99 + Chemicals, dyes, drugs, and medicines 35,070,816 6.07 + Iron and steel and their manufactures 34,563,689 5.98 + Flax, hemp, jute, and their manufactures 32,854,874 5.69 + Cotton and its manufactures 28,152,001 4.88 + Hides and skins other than fur skins 20,586,443 3.56 + + +Of the entire amount of duties collected 70 per cent was collected from +the following articles of import: + + + Percentage. + Sugar and molasses 29 + Wool and its manufactures 15 + Silk and its manufactures 8 + Iron and steel and their manufactures 7 + Cotton manufactures 6 + Flax, hemp, and jute, and their manufactures 5 + + +The fact that our revenues are in excess of the actual needs of an +economical administration of the Government justifies a reduction in the +amount exacted from the people for its support. Our Government is but +the means established by the will of a free people by which certain +principles are applied which they have adopted for their benefit and +protection; and it is never better administered and its true spirit is +never better observed than when the people's taxation for its support is +scrupulously limited to the actual necessity of expenditure and +distributed according to a just and equitable plan. + +The proposition with which we have to deal is the reduction of the +revenue received by the Government, and indirectly paid by the people, +from customs duties. The question of free trade is not involved, nor is +there now any occasion for the general discussion of the wisdom or +expediency of a protective system. + +Justice and fairness dictate that in any modification of our present +laws relating to revenue the industries and interests which have +been encouraged by such laws, and in which our citizens have large +investments, should not be ruthlessly injured or destroyed. We should +also deal with the subject in such manner as to protect the interests of +American labor, which is the capital of our workingmen. Its stability +and proper remuneration furnish the most justifiable pretext for a +protective policy. + +Within these limitations a certain reduction should be made in our +customs revenue. The amount of such reduction having been determined, +the inquiry follows, Where can it best be remitted and what articles can +best be released from duty in the interest of our citizens? + +I think the reduction should be made in the revenue derived from a +tax upon the imported necessaries of life. We thus directly lessen the +cost of living in every family of the land and release to the people in +every humble home a larger measure of the rewards of frugal industry. + +During the year ended November 1, 1885, 145 national banks were +organized, with an aggregate capital of $16,938,000, and circulating +notes have been issued to them amounting to $4,274,910. The whole number +of these banks in existence on the day above mentioned was 2,727. + +The very limited amount of circulating notes issued by our national +banks, compared with the amount the law permits them to issue upon a +deposit of bonds for their redemption, indicates that the volume of our +circulating medium may be largely increased through this +instrumentality. + +Nothing more important than the present condition of our currency and +coinage can claim your attention. + +Since February, 1878, the Government has, under the compulsory +provisions of law, purchased silver bullion and coined the same at the +rate of more than $2,000,000 every month. By this process up to the +present date 215,759,431 silver dollars have been coined. + +A reasonable appreciation of a delegation of power to the General +Government would limit its exercise, without express restrictive words, +to the people's needs and the requirements of the public welfare. + +Upon this theory the authority to "coin money" given to Congress by the +Constitution, if it permits the purchase by the Government of bullion +for coinage in any event, does not justify such purchase and coinage to +an extent beyond the amount needed for a sufficient circulating medium. + +The desire to utilize the silver product of the country should not lead +to a misuse or the perversion of this power. + +The necessity for such an addition to the silver currency of the nation +as is compelled by the silver-coinage act is negatived by the fact that +up to the present time only about 50,000,000 of the silver dollars so +coined have actually found their way into circulation, leaving more than +165,000,000 in the possession of the Government, the custody of which +has entailed a considerable expense for the construction of vaults for +its deposit. Against this latter amount there are outstanding silver +certificates amounting to about $93,000,000. + +Every month two millions of gold in the public Treasury are paid out for +two millions or more of silver dollars, to be added to the idle mass +already accumulated. + +If continued long enough, this operation will result in the substitution +of silver for all the gold the Government owns applicable to its general +purposes. It will not do to rely upon the customs receipts of the +Government to make good this drain of gold, because the silver thus +coined having been made legal tender for all debts and dues, public and +private, at times during the last six months 58 per cent of the receipts +for duties has been in silver or silver certificates, while the average +within that period has been 20 per cent. The proportion of silver and +its certificates received by the Government will probably increase as +time goes on, for the reason that the nearer the period approaches when +it will be obliged to offer silver in payment of its obligations the +greater inducement there will be to hoard gold against depreciation in +the value of silver or for the purpose of speculating. + +This hoarding of gold has already begun. + +When the time comes that gold has been withdrawn from circulation, then +will be apparent the difference between the real value of the silver +dollar and a dollar in gold, and the two coins will part company. +Gold, still the standard of value and necessary in our dealings with +other countries, will be at a premium over silver; banks which have +substituted gold for the deposits of their customers may pay them with +silver bought with such gold, thus making a handsome profit; rich +speculators will sell their hoarded gold to their neighbors who need it +to liquidate their foreign debts, at a ruinous premium over silver, and +the laboring men and women of the land, most defenseless of all, will +find that the dollar received for the wage of their toil has sadly +shrunk in its purchasing power. It may be said that the latter result +will be but temporary, and that ultimately the price of labor will be +adjusted to the change; but even if this takes place the wage-worker +can not possibly gain, but must inevitably lose, since the price he is +compelled to pay for his living will not only be measured in a coin +heavily depreciated and fluctuating and uncertain in its value, but +this uncertainty in the value of the purchasing medium will be made +the pretext for an advance in prices beyond that justified by actual +depreciation. + +The words uttered in 1834 by Daniel Webster in the Senate of the United +States are true to-day: + + The very man of all others who has the deepest interest in a sound + currency, and who suffers most by mischievous legislation in money + matters, is the man who earns his daily bread by his daily toil. + + +The most distinguished advocate of bimetallism, discussing our silver +coinage, has lately written: + + No American citizen's hand has yet felt the sensation of cheapness, + either in receiving or expending the silver-act dollars. + + +And those who live by labor or legitimate trade never will feel that +sensation of cheapness. However plenty silver dollars may become, they +will not be distributed as gifts among the people; and if the laboring +man should receive four depreciated dollars where he now receives but +two, he will pay in the depreciated coin more than double the price he +now pays for all the necessaries and comforts of life. + +Those who do not fear any disastrous consequences arising from the +continued compulsory coinage of silver as now directed by law, and who +suppose that the addition to the currency of the country intended as its +result will be a public benefit, are reminded that history demonstrates +that the point is easily reached in the attempt to float at the same +time two sorts of money of different excellence when the better will +cease to be in general circulation. The hoarding of gold which has +already taken place indicates that we shall not escape the usual +experience in such cases. So if this silver coinage be continued we may +reasonably expect that gold and its equivalent will abandon the field of +circulation to silver alone. This of course must produce a severe +contraction of our circulating medium, instead of adding to it. + +It will not be disputed that any attempt on the part of the Government +to cause the circulation of silver dollars worth 80 cents side by +side with gold dollars worth 100 cents, even within the limit that +legislation does not run counter to the laws of trade, to be successful +must be seconded by the confidence of the people that both coins will +retain the same purchasing power and be interchangeable at will. +A special effort has been made by the Secretary of the Treasury to +increase the amount of our silver coin in circulation; but the fact +that a large share of the limited amount thus put out has soon returned +to the public Treasury in payment of duties leads to the belief that the +people do not now desire to keep it in hand, and this, with the evident +disposition to hoard gold, gives rise to the suspicion that there +already exists a lack of confidence among the people touching our +financial processes. There is certainly not enough silver now in +circulation to cause uneasiness, and the whole amount coined and now on +hand might after a time be absorbed by the people without apprehension; +but it is the ceaseless stream that threatens to overflow the land which +causes fear and uncertainty. + +What has been thus far submitted upon this subject relates almost +entirely to considerations of a home nature, unconnected with the +bearing which the policies of other nations have upon the question. But +it is perfectly apparent that a line of action in regard to our currency +can not wisely be settled upon or persisted in without considering the +attitude on the subject of other countries with whom we maintain +intercourse through commerce, trade, and travel. An acknowledgment of +this fact is found in the act by virtue of which our silver is +compulsorily coined. It provides that-- + + The President shall invite the governments of the countries composing + the Latin Union, so called, and of such other European nations as he may + deem advisable, to join the United States in a conference to adopt 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. + + +This conference absolutely failed, and a similar fate has awaited all +subsequent efforts in the same direction. And still we continue our +coinage of silver at a ratio different from that of any other nation. +The most vital part of the silver-coinage act remains inoperative and +unexecuted, and without an ally or friend we battle upon the silver +field in an illogical and losing contest. + +To give full effect to the design of Congress on this subject I have +made careful and earnest endeavor since the adjournment of the last +Congress. + +To this end I delegated a gentleman well instructed in fiscal science +to proceed to the financial centers of Europe and, in conjunction +with our ministers to England, France, and Germany, to obtain a full +knowledge of the attitude and intent of those governments in respect of +the establishment of such an international ratio as would procure free +coinage of both metals at the mints of those countries and our own. By +my direction our consul-general at Paris has given close attention to +the proceedings of the congress of the Latin Union, in order to indicate +our interest in its objects and report its action. + +It may be said in brief, as the result of these efforts, that the +attitude of the leading powers remains substantially unchanged since the +monetary conference of 1881, nor is it to be questioned that the views +of these governments are in each instance supported by the weight of +public opinion. + +The steps thus taken have therefore only more fully demonstrated the +uselessness of further attempts at present to arrive at any agreement on +the subject with other nations. + +In the meantime we are accumulating silver coin, based upon our own +peculiar ratio, to such an extent, and assuming so heavy a burden to be +provided for in any international negotiations, as will render us an +undesirable party to any future monetary conference of nations. + +It is a significant fact that four of the five countries composing the +Latin Union mentioned in our coinage act, embarrassed with their silver +currency, have just completed an agreement among themselves that no more +silver shall be coined by their respective Governments and that such as +has been already coined and in circulation shall be redeemed in gold +by the country of its coinage. The resort to this expedient by these +countries may well arrest the attention of those who suppose that we +can succeed without shock or injury in the attempt to circulate upon +its merits all the silver we may coin under the provisions of our +silver-coinage act. + +The condition in which our Treasury may be placed by a persistence in +our present course is a matter of concern to every patriotic citizen who +does not desire his Government to pay in silver such of its obligations +as should be paid in gold. Nor should our condition be such as to oblige +us, in a prudent management of our affairs, to discontinue the calling +in and payment of interest-bearing obligations which we have the right +now to discharge, and thus avoid the payment of further interest +thereon. + +The so-called debtor class, for whose benefit the continued compulsory +coinage of silver is insisted upon, are not dishonest because they are +in debt, and they should not be suspected of a desire to jeopardize the +financial safety of the country in order that they may cancel their +present debts by paying the same in depreciated dollars. Nor should it +be forgotten that it is not the rich nor the money lender alone that +must submit to such a readjustment, enforced by the Government and their +debtors. The pittance of the widow and the orphan and the incomes of +helpless beneficiaries of all kinds would be disastrously reduced. The +depositors in savings banks and in other institutions which hold in +trust the savings of the poor, when their little accumulations are +scaled down to meet the new order of things, would in their distress +painfully realize the delusion of the promise made to them that +plentiful money would improve their condition. + +We have now on hand all the silver dollars necessary to supply the +present needs of the people and to satisfy those who from sentiment wish +to see them in circulation, and if their coinage is suspended they can +be readily obtained by all who desire them. If the need of more is at +any time apparent, their coinage may be renewed. + +That disaster has not already overtaken us furnishes no proof that +danger does not wait upon a continuation of the present silver coinage. +We have been saved by the most careful management and unusual +expedients, by a combination of fortunate conditions, and by a confident +expectation that the course of the Government in regard to silver +coinage would be speedily changed by the action of Congress. + +Prosperity hesitates upon our threshold because of the dangers and +uncertainties surrounding this question. Capital timidly shrinks +from trade, and investors are unwilling to take the chance of the +questionable shape in which their money will be returned to them, while +enterprise halts at a risk against which care and sagacious management +do not protect. + +As a necessary consequence, labor lacks employment and suffering and +distress are visited upon a portion of our fellow-citizens especially +entitled to the careful consideration of those charged with the duties +of legislation. No interest appeals to us so strongly for a safe and +stable currency as the vast army of the unemployed. + +I recommend the suspension of the compulsory coinage of silver dollars, +directed by the law passed in February, 1878. + +The Steamboat-Inspection Service on the 30th day of June, 1885, was +composed of 140 persons, including officers, clerks, and messengers. The +expenses of the service over the receipts were $138,822.22 during the +fiscal year. The special inspection of foreign steam vessels, organized +under a law passed in 1882, was maintained during the year at an expense +of $36,641.63. Since the close of the fiscal year reductions have been +made in the force employed which will result in a saving during the +current year of $17,000 without affecting the efficiency of the service. + +The Supervising Surgeon-General reports that during the fiscal year +41,714 patients have received relief through the Marine-Hospital +Service, of whom 12,803 were treated in hospitals and 28,911 at the +dispensaries. + +Active and effective efforts have been made through the medium of this +service to protect the country against an invasion of cholera, which has +prevailed in Spain and France, and the smallpox, which recently broke +out in Canada. + +The most gratifying results have attended the operations of the +Life-Saving Service during the last fiscal year. The observance of the +provision of law requiring the appointment of the force employed in this +service to be made "solely with reference to their fitness, and without +reference to their political or party affiliation," has secured the +result which may confidently be expected in any branch of public +employment where such a rule is applied. As a consequence, this service +is composed of men well qualified for the performance of their dangerous +and exceptionally important duties. + +The number of stations in commission at the close of the year was 203. +The number of disasters to vessels and craft of all kinds within their +field of action was 371. The number of persons endangered in such +disasters was 2,439, of whom 2,428 were saved and only 11 lost. Other +lives which were imperiled, though not by disasters to shipping, were +also rescued, and a large amount of property was saved through the aid +of this service. The cost of its maintenance during the year was +$828,474.43. + +The work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was during the last fiscal +year carried on within the boundaries and off the coasts of thirty-two +States, two Territories, and the District of Columbia. In July last +certain irregularities were found to exist in the management of this +Bureau, which led to a prompt investigation of its methods. The abuses +which were brought to light by this examination and the reckless +disregard of duty and the interests of the Government developed on +the part of some of those connected with the service made a change of +superintendency and a few of its other officers necessary. Since the +Bureau has been in new hands an introduction of economies and the +application of business methods have produced an important saving to +the Government and a promise of more useful results. + +This service has never been regulated by anything but the most +indefinite legal enactments and the most unsatisfactory rules. It was +many years ago sanctioned apparently for a purpose regarded as temporary +and related to a survey of our coast. Having gained a place in the +appropriations made by Congress, it has gradually taken to itself powers +and objects not contemplated in its creation and extended its operations +until it sadly needs legislative attention. + +So far as a further survey of our coast is concerned, there seems +to be a propriety in transferring that work to the Navy Department. The +other duties now in charge of this establishment, if they can not be +profitably attached to some existing Department or other bureau, should +be prosecuted under a law exactly defining their scope and purpose, and +with a careful discrimination between the scientific inquiries which may +properly be assumed by the Government and those which should be +undertaken by State authority or by individual enterprise. + +It is hoped that the report of the Congressional committee heretofore +appointed to investigate this and other like matters will aid in the +accomplishment of proper legislation on this subject. + +The report of the Secretary of War is herewith submitted. The attention +of Congress is invited to the detailed account which it contains of the +administration of his Department, and his recommendations and +suggestions for the improvement of the service. + +The Army consisted, at the date of the last consolidated returns, of +2,154 officers and 24,705 enlisted men. + +The expenses of the Departments for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1885, +including $13,164,394.60 for public works and river and harbor +improvements, were $45,850,999.54. + +Besides the troops which were dispatched in pursuit of the small band of +Indians who left their reservation in Arizona and committed murders and +outrages, two regiments of cavalry and one of infantry were sent last +July to the Indian Territory to prevent an outbreak which seemed +imminent. They remained to aid, if necessary, in the expulsion of +intruders upon the reservation, who seemed to have caused the discontent +among the Indians, but the Executive proclamation[2] warning them to +remove was complied with without their interference. + +Troops were also sent to Rock Springs, in Wyoming Territory, after the +massacre of Chinese there, to prevent further disturbance, and +afterwards to Seattle, in Washington Territory, to avert a threatened +attack upon Chinese laborers and domestic violence there. In both cases +the mere presence of the troops had the desired effect. + +It appears that the number of desertions has diminished, but that during +the last fiscal year they numbered 2,927; and one instance is given by +the Lieutenant-General of six desertions by the same recruit. I am +convinced that this number of desertions can be much diminished by +better discipline and treatment; but the punishment should be increased +for repeated offenses. + +These desertions might also be reduced by lessening the term of first +enlistments, thus allowing a discontented recruit to contemplate a +nearer discharge and the Army a profitable riddance. After one term of +service a reenlistment would be quite apt to secure a contented recruit +and a good soldier. + +The Acting Judge-Advocate-General reports that the number of trials by +general courts-martial during the year was 2,328, and that 11,851 trials +took place before garrison and regimental courts-martial. The suggestion +that probably more than half the Army have been tried for offenses, +great and small, in one year may well arrest attention. Of course many +of these trials before garrison and regimental courts-martial were for +offenses almost frivolous, and there should, I think, be a way devised +to dispose of these in a more summary and less inconvenient manner than +by court-martial. + +If some of the proceedings of courts-martial which I have had occasion +to examine present the ideas of justice which generally prevail in these +tribunals, I am satisfied that they should be much reformed if the honor +and the honesty of the Army and Navy are by their instrumentality to be +vindicated and protected. + +The Board on Fortifications or other defenses, appointed in pursuance of +the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1885, will in a +short time present their report, and it is hoped that this may greatly +aid the legislation so necessary to remedy the present defenseless +condition of our seacoasts. + +The work of the Signal Service has been prosecuted during the last +year with results of increasing benefit to the country. The field of +instruction has been enlarged with a view of adding to its usefulness. +The number of stations in operation June 30, 1885, was 489. Telegraphic +reports are received daily from 160 stations. Reports are also received +from 25 Canadian stations, 375 volunteer observers, 52 army surgeons at +military posts, and 333 foreign stations. The expense of the service +during the fiscal year, after deducting receipts from military telegraph +lines, was $792,592.97. In view of the fact referred to by the Secretary +of War, that the work of this service ordinarily is of a scientific +nature, and the further fact that it is assuming larger proportions +constantly and becoming more and more unsuited to the fixed rules which +must govern the Army, I am inclined to agree with him in the opinion +that it should be separately established. If this is done, the scope and +extent of its operations should, as nearly as possible, be definitely +prescribed by law and always capable of exact ascertainment. + +The Military Academy at West Point is reported as being in a high state +of efficiency and well equipped for the satisfactory accomplishment of +the purposes of its maintenance. + +The fact that the class which graduates next year is an unusually +large one has constrained me to decline to make appointments to second +lieutenancies in the Army from civil life, so that such vacancies as +exist in these places may be reserved for such graduates; and yet it is +not probable that there will be enough vacancies to provide positions +for them all when they leave the military school. Under the prevailing +law and usage those not thus assigned to duty never actively enter the +military service. It is suggested that the law on this subject be +changed so that such of these young men as are not at once assigned to +duty after graduation may be retained as second lieutenants in the Army +if they desire it, subject to assignment when opportunity occurs, and +under proper rules as to priority of selection. + +The expenditures on account of the Military Academy for the last fiscal +year, exclusive of the sum taken for its purposes from appropriations +for the support of the Army, were $290,712.07. + +The act approved March 3, 1885, designed to compensate officers and +enlisted men for loss of private property while in the service of the +United States, is so indefinite in its terms and apparently admits so +many claims the adjustment of which could not have been contemplated +that if it is to remain upon the statute book it needs amendment. + +There should be a general law of Congress prohibiting the construction +of bridges over navigable waters in such manner as to obstruct +navigation, with provisions for preventing the same. It seems that under +existing statutes the Government can not intervene to prevent such a +construction when entered upon without its consent, though when such +consent is asked and granted upon condition the authority to insist upon +such condition is clear. Thus it is represented that while the officers +of the Government are with great care guarding against the obstruction +of navigation by a bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Paul a +large pier for a bridge has been built just below this place directly in +the navigable channel of the river. If such things are to be permitted, +a strong argument is presented against the appropriation of large sums +of money to improve the navigation of this and other important highways +of commerce. + +The report of the Secretary of the Navy gives a history of the +operations of his Department and the present condition of the work +committed to his charge. + +He details in full the course pursued by him to protect the rights of +the Government in respect of certain vessels unfinished at the time +of his accession to office, and also concerning the dispatch boat +_Dolphin_, claimed to be completed and awaiting the acceptance of +the Department. No one can fail to see from recitals contained in this +report that only the application of business principles has been +insisted upon in the treatment of these subjects, and that whatever +controversy has arisen was caused by the exaction on the part of the +Department of contract obligations as they were legally construed. In +the case of the _Dolphin_, with entire justice to the contractor, +an agreement has been entered into providing for the ascertainment by a +judicial inquiry of the complete or partial compliance with the contract +in her construction, and further providing for the assessment of any +damages to which the Government may be entitled on account of a partial +failure to perform such contract, or the payment of the sum still +remaining unpaid upon her price in case a full performance is adjudged. + +The contractor, by reason of his failure in business, being unable to +complete the other three vessels, they were taken possession of by the +Government in their unfinished state under a clause in the contract +permitting such a course, and are now in process of completion in the +yard of the contractor, but under the supervision of the Navy +Department. + +Congress at its last session authorized the construction of two +additional new cruisers and two gunboats, at a cost not exceeding in the +aggregate $2,995,000. The appropriation for this purpose having become +available on the 1st day of July last, steps were at once taken for the +procurement of such plans for the construction of these vessels as would +be likely to insure their usefulness when completed. These are of the +utmost importance, considering the constant advance in the art of +building vessels of this character, and the time is not lost which is +spent in their careful consideration and selection. + +All must admit the importance of an effective navy to a nation like +ours, having such an extended seacoast to protect; and yet we have not +a single vessel of war that could keep the seas against a first-class +vessel of any important power. Such a condition ought not longer to +continue. The nation that can not resist aggression is constantly +exposed to it. Its foreign policy is of necessity weak and its +negotiations are conducted with disadvantage because it is not in +condition to enforce the terms dictated by its sense of right and +justice. + +Inspired, as I am, by the hope, shared by all patriotic citizens, that +the day is not very far distant when our Navy will be such as befits our +standing among the nations of the earth, and rejoiced at every step that +leads in the direction of such a consummation, I deem it my duty to +especially direct the attention of Congress to the close of the report +of the Secretary of the Navy, in which the humiliating weakness of the +present organization of his Department is exhibited and the startling +abuses and waste of its present methods are exposed. The conviction is +forced upon us with the certainty of mathematical demonstration that +before we proceed further in the, restoration of a Navy we need a +thoroughly reorganized Navy Department. The fact that within seventeen +years more than $75,000,000 have been spent in the construction, repair, +equipment, and armament of vessels, and the further fact that instead +of an effective and creditable fleet we have only the discontent and +apprehension of a nation undefended by war vessels, added to the +disclosures now made, do not permit us to doubt that every attempt to +revive our Navy has thus far for the most part been misdirected, and +all our efforts in that direction have been little better than blind +gropings and expensive, aimless follies. + +Unquestionably if we are content with the maintenance of a Navy +Department simply as a shabby ornament to the Government, a constant +watchfulness may prevent some of the scandal and abuse which have found +their way into our present organization, and its incurable waste may +be reduced to the minimum. But if we desire to build ships for present +usefulness instead of naval reminders of the days that are past, we must +have a Department organized for the work, supplied with all the talent +and ingenuity our country affords, prepared to take advantage of the +experience of other nations, systematized so that all effort shall +unite and lead in one direction, and fully imbued with the conviction +that war vessels, though new, are useless unless they combine all that +the ingenuity of man has up to this day brought forth relating to their +construction. + +I earnestly commend the portion of the Secretary's report devoted +to this subject to the attention of Congress, in the hope that his +suggestions touching the reorganization of his Department may be adopted +as the first step toward the reconstruction of our Navy. + +The affairs of the postal service are exhibited by the report of the +Postmaster-General, which will be laid before you. + +The postal revenue, whose ratio of gain upon the rising prosperity +of 1882 and 1883 outstripped the increasing expenses of our growing +service, was checked by the reduction in the rate of letter postage +which took effect with the beginning of October in the latter year, and +it diminished during the two past fiscal years $2,790,000, in about the +proportion of $2,270,000 in 1884 to $520,000 in 1885. Natural growth +and development have meantime increased expenditure, resulting in a +deficiency in the revenue to meet the expenses of the Department of five +and a quarter million dollars for the year 1884 and eight and a third +million in the last fiscal year. The anticipated and natural revival of +the revenue has been oppressed and retarded by the unfavorable business +condition of the country, of which the postal service is a faithful +indicator. The gratifying fact is shown, however, by the report that our +returning prosperity is marked by a gain of $380,000 in the revenue of +the latter half of the last year over the corresponding period of the +preceding year. + +The change in the weight of first-class matter which may be carried +for a single rate of postage from a half ounce to an ounce, and the +reduction by one-half of the rate of newspaper postage, which, under +recent legislation, began with the current year, will operate to +restrain the augmentation of receipts which otherwise might have been +expected to such a degree that the scale of expense may gain upon the +revenue and cause an increased deficiency to be shown at its close. +Yet, after no long period of reawakened prosperity, by proper economy +it is confidently anticipated that even the present low rates, now as +favorable as any country affords, will be adequate to sustain the cost +of the service. + +The operation of the Post-Office Department is for the convenience +and benefit of the people, and the method by which they pay the charges +of this useful arm of their public service, so that it be just and +impartial, is of less importance to them than the economical expenditure +of the means they provide for its maintenance and the due improvement of +its agencies, so that they may enjoy its highest usefulness. + +A proper attention has been directed to the prevention of waste or +extravagance, and good results appear from the report to have already +been accomplished. + +I approve the recommendation of the Postmaster-General to reduce the +charges on domestic money orders of $5 and less from 8 to 5 cents. This +change will materially aid those of our people who most of all avail +themselves of this instrumentality, but to whom the element of cheapness +is of the greatest importance. With this reduction the system would +still remain self-supporting. + +The free-delivery system has been extended to 19 additional cities +during the year, and 178 now enjoy its conveniences. Experience has +commended it to those who enjoy its benefits, and further enlargement +of its facilities is due to other communities to which it is adapted. +In the cities where it has been established, taken together, the local +postage exceeds its maintenance by nearly $1,300,000. The limit to which +this system is now confined by law has been nearly reached, and the +reasons given justify its extension, which is proposed. + +It was decided, with my approbation, after a sufficient examination, to +be inexpedient for the Post-Office Department to contract for carrying +our foreign mails under the additional authority given by the last +Congress. The amount limited was inadequate to pay all within the +purview of the law the full rate of 50 cents per mile, and it would have +been unjust and unwise to have given it to some and denied it to others. +Nor could contracts have been let under the law to all at a rate to have +brought the aggregate within the appropriation without such practical +prearrangement of terms as would have violated it. + +The rate of sea and inland postage which was proffered under another +statute clearly appears to be a fair compensation for the desired +service, being three times the price necessary to secure transportation +by other vessels upon any route, and much beyond the charges made to +private persons for services not less burdensome. + +Some of the steamship companies, upon the refusal of the +Postmaster-General to attempt, by the means provided, the distribution +of the sum appropriated as an extra compensation, withdrew the services +of their vessels and thereby occasioned slight inconvenience, though no +considerable injury, the mails having been dispatched by other means. + +Whatever may be thought of the policy of subsidizing any line of public +conveyance or travel, I am satisfied that it should not be done under +cover of an expenditure incident to the administration of a Department, +nor should there be any uncertainty as to the recipients of the subsidy +or any discretion left to an executive officer as to its distribution. +If such gifts of the public money are to be made for the purpose of +aiding any enterprise in the supposed interest of the public, I can not +but think that the amount to be paid and the beneficiary might better be +determined by Congress than in any other way. + +The international congress of delegates from the Postal Union countries +convened at Lisbon, in Portugal, in February last, and after a session +of some weeks the delegates signed a convention amendatory of the +present postal-union convention in some particulars designed to advance +its purposes. This additional act has had my approval and will be laid +before you with the departmental report. + +I approve the recommendation of the Postmaster-General that another +assistant be provided for his Department. I invite your consideration to +the several other recommendations contained in his report. + +The report of the Attorney-General contains a history of the conduct of +the Department of Justice during the last year and a number of valuable +suggestions as to needed legislation, and I invite your careful +attention to the same. + +The condition of business in the courts of the United States is such +that there seems to be an imperative necessity for remedial legislation +on the subject. Some of these courts are so overburdened with pending +causes that the delays in determining litigation amount often to a +denial of justice. Among the plans suggested for relief is one submitted +by the Attorney-General. Its main features are: The transfer of all the +original jurisdiction of the circuit courts to the district courts and +an increase of judges for the latter where necessary; an addition of +judges to the circuit courts, and constituting them exclusively courts +of appeal, and reasonably limiting appeals thereto; further restrictions +of the right to remove causes from the State to Federal courts; +permitting appeals to the Supreme Court from the courts of the District +of Columbia and the Territories only in the same cases as they are +allowed from State courts, and guarding against an unnecessary number of +appeals from the circuit courts. + +I approve the plan thus outlined, and recommend the legislation +necessary for its application to our judicial system. + +The present mode of compensating United States marshals and district +attorneys should, in my opinion, be changed. They are allowed to charge +against the Government certain fees for services, their income being +measured by the amount of such fees within a fixed limit as to their +annual aggregate. This is a direct inducement for them to make their +fees in criminal cases as large as possible in an effort to reach the +maximum sum permitted. As an entirely natural consequence, unscrupulous +marshals are found encouraging frivolous prosecutions, arresting people +on petty charges of crime and transporting them to distant places for +examination and trial, for the purpose of earning mileage and other +fees; and district attorneys uselessly attend criminal examinations far +from their places of residence for the express purpose of swelling their +accounts against the Government. The actual expenses incurred in these +transactions are also charged against the Government. + +Thus the rights and freedom of our citizens are outraged and public +expenditures increased for the purpose of furnishing public officers +pretexts for increasing the measure of their compensation. + +I think marshals and district attorneys should be paid salaries, +adjusted by a rule which will make them commensurate with services +fairly rendered. + +In connection with this subject I desire to suggest the advisability, +if it be found not obnoxious to constitutional objection, of investing +United States commissioners with the power to try and determine certain +violations of law within the grade of misdemeanors. Such trials might +be made to depend upon the option of the accused. The multiplication +of small and technical offenses, especially under the provisions of our +internal-revenue law, render some change in our present system very +desirable in the interests of humanity as well as economy. The district +courts are now crowded with petty prosecutions, involving a punishment +in case of conviction, of only a slight fine, while the parties accused +are harassed by an enforced attendance upon courts held hundreds of +miles from their homes. If poor and friendless, they are obliged to +remain in jail during months, perhaps, that elapse before a session +of the court is held, and are finally brought to trial surrounded by +strangers and with but little real opportunity for defense. In the +meantime frequently the marshal has charged against the Government his +fees for an arrest, the transportation of the accused and the expense +of the same, and for summoning witnesses before a commissioner, a grand +jury, and a court; the witnesses have been paid from the public funds +large fees and traveling expenses, and the commissioner and district +attorney have also made their charges against the Government. + +This abuse in the administration of our criminal law should be remedied; +and if the plan above suggested is not practicable, some other should be +devised. + +The report of the Secretary of the Interior, containing an account of +the operations of this important Department and much interesting +information, will be submitted for your consideration. + +The most intricate and difficult subject in charge of this Department is +the treatment and management of the Indians. I am satisfied that some +progress may be noted in their condition as a result of a prudent +administration of the present laws and regulations for their control. + +But it is submitted that there is lack of a fixed purpose or policy on +this subject, which should be supplied. It is useless to dilate upon the +wrongs of the Indians, and as useless to indulge in the heartless belief +that because their wrongs are revenged in their own atrocious manner, +therefore they should be exterminated. + +They are within the care of our Government, and their rights are, or +should be, protected from invasion by the most solemn obligations. They +are properly enough called the wards of the Government; and it should be +borne in mind that this guardianship involves on our part efforts for +the improvement of their condition and the enforcement of their rights. +There seems to be general concurrence in the proposition that the +ultimate object of their treatment should be their civilization and +citizenship. Fitted by these to keep pace in the march of progress with +the advanced civilization about them, they will readily assimilate with +the mass of our population, assuming the responsibilities and receiving +the protection incident to this condition. + +The difficulty appears to be in the selection of the means to be at +present employed toward the attainment of this result. + +Our Indian population, exclusive of those in Alaska, is reported as +numbering 260,000, nearly all being located on lands set apart for their +use and occupation, aggregating over 134,000,000 acres. These lands are +included in the boundaries of 171 reservations of different dimensions, +scattered in 21 States and Territories, presenting great variations in +climate and in the kind and quality of their soils. Among the Indians +upon these several reservations there exist the most marked differences +in natural traits and disposition and in their progress toward +civilization. While some are lazy, vicious, and stupid, others are +industrious, peaceful, and intelligent; while a portion of them are +self-supporting and independent, and have so far advanced in +civilization that they make their own laws, administered through +officers of their own choice, and educate their children in schools of +their own establishment and maintenance, others still retain, in squalor +and dependence, almost the savagery of their natural state. + +In dealing with this question the desires manifested by the Indians +should not be ignored. Here again we find a great diversity. With some +the tribal relation is cherished with the utmost tenacity, while its +hold upon others is considerably relaxed; the love of home is strong +with all, and yet there are those whose attachment to a particular +locality is by no means unyielding; the ownership of their lands in +severalty is much desired by some, while by others, and sometimes among +the most civilized, such a distribution would be bitterly opposed. + +The variation of their wants, growing out of and connected with the +character of their several locations, should be regarded. Some are upon +reservations most fit for grazing, but without flocks or herds; and +some, on arable land, have no agricultural implements. While some of the +reservations are double the size necessary to maintain the number of +Indians now upon them, in a few cases, perhaps, they should be enlarged. + +Add to all this the difference in the administration of the agencies. +While the same duties are devolved upon all, the disposition of the +agents and the manner of their contact with the Indians have much to do +with their condition and welfare. The agent who perfunctorily performs +his duty and slothfully neglects all opportunity to advance their moral +and physical improvement and fails to inspire them with a desire for +better things will accomplish nothing in the direction of their +civilization, while he who feels the burden of an important trust and +has an interest in his work will, by consistent example, firm yet +considerate treatment, and well-directed aid and encouragement, +constantly lead those under his charge toward the light of their +enfranchisement. + +The history of all the progress which has been made in the civilization +of the Indian I think will disclose the fact that the beginning has been +religious teaching, followed by or accompanying secular education. While +the self-sacrificing and pious men and women who have aided in this good +work by their independent endeavor have for their reward the beneficent +results of their labor and the consciousness of Christian duty well +performed, their valuable services should be fully acknowledged by all +who under the law are charged with the control and management of our +Indian wards. + +What has been said indicates that in the present condition of the +Indians no attempt should be made to apply a fixed and unyielding plan +of action to their varied and varying needs and circumstances. + +The Indian Bureau, burdened as it is with their general oversight and +with the details of the establishment, can hardly possess itself of the +minute phases of the particular cases needing treatment; and thus the +propriety of creating an instrumentality auxiliary to those already +established for the care of the Indians suggests itself. + +I recommend the passage of a law authorizing the appointment of six +commissioners, three of whom shall be detailed from the Army, to be +charged with the duty of a careful inspection from time to time of all +the Indians upon our reservations or subject to the care and control +of the Government, with a view of discovering their exact condition +and needs and determining what steps shall be taken on behalf of the +Government to improve their situation in the direction of their +self-support and complete civilization; that they ascertain from such +inspection what, if any, of the reservations may be reduced in area, +and in such cases what part not needed for Indian occupation may be +purchased by the Government from the Indians and disposed of for their +benefit; what, if any, Indians may, with their consent, be removed to +other reservations, with a view of their concentration and the sale on +their behalf of their abandoned reservations; what Indian lands now +held in common should be allotted in severalty; in what manner and to +what extent the Indians upon the reservations can be placed under the +protection of our laws and subjected to their penalties, and which, +if any, Indians should be invested with the right of citizenship. The +powers and functions of the commissioners in regard to these subjects +should be clearly defined, though they should, in conjunction with the +Secretary of the Interior, be given all the authority to deal definitely +with the questions presented deemed safe and consistent. + +They should be also charged with the duty of ascertaining the Indians +who might properly be furnished with implements of agriculture, and +of what kind; in what cases the support of the Government should be +withdrawn; where the present plan of distributing Indian supplies should +be changed; where schools may be established and where discontinued; +the conduct, methods, and fitness of agents in charge of reservations; +the extent to which such reservations are occupied or intruded upon by +unauthorized persons, and generally all matters related to the welfare +and improvement of the Indian. + +They should advise with the Secretary of the Interior concerning these +matters of detail in management, and he should be given power to deal +with them fully, if he is not now invested with such power. + +This plan contemplates the selection of persons for commissioners who +are interested in the Indian question and who have practical ideas upon +the subject of their treatment. + +The expense of the Indian Bureau during the last fiscal year was more +than six and a half million dollars. I believe much of this expenditure +might be saved under the plan proposed; that its economical effects +would be increased with its continuance; that the safety of our frontier +settlers would be subserved under its operation, and that the nation +would be saved through its results from the imputation of inhumanity, +injustice, and mismanagement. + +In order to carry out the policy of allotment of Indian lands in +severalty, when deemed expedient, it will be necessary to have surveys +completed of the reservations, and I hope that provision will be made +for the prosecution of this work. + +In May of the present year a small portion of the Chiricahua Apaches on +the White Mountain Reservation, in Arizona, left the reservation and +committed a number of murders and depredations upon settlers in that +neighborhood. Though prompt and energetic action was taken by the +military, the renegades eluded capture and escaped into Mexico. The +formation of the country through which these Indians passed, their +thorough acquaintance with the same, the speed of their escape, and +the manner in which they scattered and concealed themselves among the +mountains near the scene of their outrages put our soldiers at a great +disadvantage in their efforts to capture them, though the expectation is +still entertained that they will be ultimately taken and punished for +their crimes. + +The threatening and disorderly conduct of the Cheyennes in the Indian +Territory early last summer caused considerable alarm and uneasiness. +Investigation proved that their threatening attitude was due in a great +measure to the occupation of the land of their reservation by immense +herds of cattle, which their owners claimed were rightfully there under +certain leases made by the Indians. Such occupation appearing upon +examination to be unlawful notwithstanding these leases, the intruders +were ordered to remove with their cattle from the lands of the Indians +by Executive proclamation.[3] The enforcement of this proclamation had +the effect of restoring peace and order among the Indians, and they are +now quiet and well behaved. + +By an Executive order issued on February 27, 1885, by my predecessor, +a portion of the tract of country in the territory known as the Old +Winnebago and Crow Creek reservations was directed to be restored to +the public domain and opened to settlement under the land laws of the +United States, and a large number of persons entered upon those lands. +This action alarmed the Sioux Indians, who claimed the territory as +belonging to their reservation under the treaty of 1868. This claim +was determined, after careful investigation, to be well founded, and +consequently the Executive order referred to was by proclamation of +April 17, 1885,[4] declared to be inoperative and of no effect, and +all persons upon the land were warned to leave. This warning has been +substantially complied with. + +The public domain had its origin in cessions of land by the States to +the General Government. The first cession was made by the State of New +York, and the largest, which in area exceeded all the others, by the +State of Virginia. The territory the proprietorship of which became +thus vested in the General Government extended from the western line of +Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. These patriotic donations of the +States were encumbered with no condition except that they should be held +and used "for the common benefit of the United States." By purchase with +the common fund of all the people additions were made to this domain +until it extended to the northern line of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and +the Polar Sea. The original trust, "for the common benefit of the United +States," attached to all. In the execution of that trust the policy of +many homes, rather than large estates, was adopted by the Government. +That these might be easily obtained, and be the abode of security and +contentment, the laws for their acquisition were few, easily understood, +and general in their character. But the pressure of local interests, +combined with a speculative spirit, have in many instances procured +the passage of laws which marred the harmony of the general plan and +encumbered the system with a multitude of general and special enactments +which render the land laws complicated, subject the titles to +uncertainty, and the purchasers often to oppression and wrong. Laws +which were intended for the "common benefit" have been perverted so +that large quantities of land are vesting in single ownerships. From +the multitude and character of the laws, this consequence seems incapable +of correction by mere administration. + +It is not for the "common benefit of the United States" that a large +area of the public lands should be acquired, directly or through fraud, +in the hands of a single individual. The nation's strength is in the +people. The nation's prosperity is in their prosperity. The nation's +glory is in the equality of her justice. The nation's perpetuity is in +the patriotism of all her people. Hence, as far as practicable, the plan +adopted in the disposal of the public lands should have in view the +original policy, which encouraged many purchasers of these lands for +homes and discouraged the massing of large areas. Exclusive of Alaska, +about three-fifths of the national domain has been sold or subjected to +contract or grant. Of the remaining two-fifths a considerable portion is +either mountain or desert. A rapidly increasing population creates a +growing demand for homes, and the accumulation of wealth inspires an +eager competition to obtain the public land for speculative purposes. +In the future this collision of interests will be more marked than in +the past, and the execution of the nation's trust in behalf of our +settlers will be more difficult. I therefore commend to your attention +the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary of the +Interior with reference to the repeal and modification of certain of our +land laws. + +The nation has made princely grants and subsidies to a system of +railroads projected as great national highways to connect the Pacific +States with the East. It has been charged that these donations from the +people have been diverted to private gain and corrupt uses, and thus +public indignation has been aroused and suspicion engendered. Our great +nation does not begrudge its generosity, but it abhors peculation and +fraud; and the favorable regard of our people for the great corporations +to which these grants were made can only be revived by a restoration of +confidence, to be secured by their constant, unequivocal, and clearly +manifested integrity. A faithful application of the undiminished +proceeds of the grants to the construction and perfecting of their +roads, an honest discharge of their obligations, and entire justice to +all the people in the enjoyment of their rights on these highways of +travel are all the public asks, and it will be content with no less. To +secure these things should be the common purpose of the officers of the +Government, as well as of the corporations. With this accomplishment +prosperity would be permanently secured to the roads, and national pride +would take the place of national complaint. + +It appears from the report of the Commissioner of Pensions that there +were on the 1st day of July, 1885, 345,125 persons borne upon the +pension rolls, who were classified as follows: Army invalids, 241,456; +widows, minor children, and dependent relatives of deceased soldiers, +78,841; navy invalids, 2,745; navy widows, minor children, and +dependents, 1,926; survivors of the War of 1812, 2,945; and widows of +those who served in that war, 17,212. About one man in ten of all those +who enlisted in the late war are reported as receiving pensions, +exclusive of the dependents of deceased soldiers. On the 1st of July, +1875, the number of pensioners was 234,821, and the increase within the +ten years next thereafter was 110,304. + +While there is no expenditure of the public funds which the people more +cheerfully approve than that made in recognition of the services of our +soldiers living and dead, the sentiment underlying the subject should +not be vitiated by the introduction of any fraudulent practices. +Therefore it is fully as important that the rolls should be cleansed of +all those who by fraud have secured a place thereon as that meritorious +claims should be speedily examined and adjusted. The reforms in the +methods of doing the business of this Bureau which have lately been +inaugurated promise better results in both these directions. + +The operations of the Patent Office demonstrate the activity of the +inventive genius of the country. For the year ended June 30, 1885, the +applications for patents, including reissues, and for the registration +of trade-marks and labels, numbered 35,688. During the same period there +were 22,928 patents granted and reissued and 1,429 trade-marks and +labels registered. The number of patents issued in the year 1875 was +14,387. The receipts during the last fiscal year were $1,074,974.35, and +the total expenditures, not including contingent expenses, $934,123.11. + +There were 9,788 applications for patents pending on the 1st day of +July, 1884, and 5,786 on the same date in the year 1885. There has been +considerable improvement made in the prompt determination of +applications and a consequent relief to expectant inventors. + +A number of suggestions and recommendations are contained in the report +of the Commissioner of Patents which are well entitled to the +consideration of Congress. + +In the Territory of Utah the law of the United States passed for the +suppression of polygamy has been energetically and faithfully executed +during the past year, with measurably good results. A number of +convictions have been secured for unlawful cohabitation, and in some +cases pleas of guilty have been entered and a slight punishment imposed, +upon a promise by the accused that they would not again offend against +the law, nor advise, counsel, aid, or abet in any way its violation by +others. + +The Utah commissioners express the opinion, based upon such information +as they are able to obtain, that but few polygamous marriages have taken +place in the Territory during the last year. They further report that +while there can not be found upon the registration lists of voters the +name of a man actually guilty of polygamy, and while none of that class +are holding office, yet at the last election in the Territory all the +officers elected, except in one county, were men who, though not +actually living in the practice of polygamy, subscribe to the doctrine +of polygamous marriages as a divine revelation and a law unto all +higher and more binding upon the conscience than any human law, local +or national. Thus is the strange spectacle presented of a community +protected by a republican form of government, to which they owe +allegiance, sustaining by their suffrages a principle and a belief which +set at naught that obligation of absolute obedience to the law of the +land which lies at the foundation of republican institutions. + +The strength, the perpetuity, and the destiny of the nation rest upon +our homes, established by the law of God, guarded by parental care, +regulated by parental authority, and sanctified by parental love. + +These are not the homes of polygamy. + +The mothers of our land, who rule the nation as they mold the characters +and guide the actions of their sons, live according to God's holy +ordinances, and each, secure and happy in the exclusive love of the +father of her children, sheds the warm light of true womanhood, +unperverted and unpolluted, upon all within her pure and wholesome +family circle. + +These are not the cheerless, crushed, and unwomanly mothers of polygamy. + +The fathers of our families are the best citizens of the Republic. Wife +and children are the sources of patriotism, and conjugal and parental +affection beget devotion to the country. The man who, undefiled with +plural marriage, is surrounded in his single home with his wife and +children has a stake in the country which inspires him with respect for +its laws and courage for its defense. + +These are not the fathers of polygamous families. + +There is no feature of this practice or the system which sanctions it +which is not opposed to all that is of value in our institutions. + +There should be no relaxation in the firm but just execution of the law +now in operation, and I should be glad to approve such further discreet +legislation as will rid the country of this blot upon its fair fame. + +Since the people upholding polygamy in our Territories are reenforced +by immigration from other lands, I recommend that a law be passed to +prevent the importation of Mormons into the country. + +The agricultural interest of the country demands just recognition and +liberal encouragement. It sustains with certainty and unfailing strength +our nation's prosperity by the products of its steady toil, and bears +its full share of the burden of taxation without complaint. Our +agriculturists have but slight personal representation in the councils +of the nation, and are generally content with the humbler duties of +citizenship and willing to trust to the bounty of nature for a reward of +their labor. But the magnitude and value of this industry are +appreciated when the statement is made that of our total annual exports +more than three-fourths are the products of agriculture, and of our +total population nearly one-half are exclusively engaged in that +occupation. + +The Department of Agriculture was created for the purpose of +acquiring and diffusing among the people useful information respecting +the subjects it has in charge, and aiding in the cause of intelligent +and progressive farming, by the collection of statistics, by testing +the value and usefulness of new seeds and plants, and distributing +such as are found desirable among agriculturists. This and other +powers and duties with which this Department is invested are of the +utmost importance, and if wisely exercised must be of great benefit to +the country. The aim of our beneficent Government is the improvement of +the people in every station and the amelioration of their condition. +Surely our agriculturists should not be neglected. The instrumentality +established in aid of the farmers of the land should not only be well +equipped for the accomplishment of its purpose, but those for whose +benefit it has been adopted should be encouraged to avail themselves +fully of its advantages. + +The prohibition of the importation into several countries of certain of +our animals and their products, based upon the suspicion that health is +endangered in their use and consumption, suggests the importance of such +precautions for the protection of our stock of all kinds against disease +as will disarm suspicion of danger and cause the removal of such an +injurious prohibition. + +If the laws now in operation are insufficient to accomplish this +protection, I recommend their amendment to meet the necessities of +the situation; and I commend to the consideration of Congress the +suggestions contained in the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture +calculated to increase the value and efficiency of this Department. + +The report of the Civil Service Commission, which will be submitted, +contains an account of the manner in which the civil-service law has +been executed during the last year and much valuable information on this +important subject. + +I am inclined to think that there is no sentiment more general in the +minds of the people of our country than a conviction of the correctness +of the principle upon which the law enforcing civil-service reform is +based. In its present condition the law regulates only a part of the +subordinate public positions throughout the country. It applies the test +of fitness to applicants for these places by means of a competitive +examination, and gives large discretion to the Commissioners as to the +character of the examination and many other matters connected with its +execution. Thus the rules and regulations adopted by the Commission have +much to do with the practical usefulness of the statute and with the +results of its application. + +The people may well trust the Commission to execute the law with perfect +fairness and with as little irritation as is possible. But of course no +relaxation of the principle which underlies it and no weakening of the +safeguards which surround it can be expected. Experience in its +administration will probably suggest amendment of the methods of its +execution, but I venture to hope that we shall never again be remitted +to the system which distributes public positions purely as rewards for +partisan service. Doubts may well be entertained whether our Government +could survive the strain of a continuance of this system, which upon +every change of Administration inspires an immense army of claimants for +office to lay siege to the patronage of Government, engrossing the time +of public officers with their importunities, spreading abroad the +contagion of their disappointment, and filling the air with the tumult +of their discontent. + +The allurements of an immense number of offices and places exhibited to +the voters of the land, and the promise of their bestowal in recognition +of partisan activity, debauch the suffrage and rob political action of +its thoughtful and deliberative character. The evil would increase with +the multiplication of offices consequent upon our extension, and the +mania for office holding, growing from its indulgence, would pervade +our population so generally that patriotic purpose, the support of +principle, the desire for the public good, and solicitude for the +nation's welfare would be nearly banished from the activity of our +party contests and cause them to degenerate into ignoble, selfish, and +disgraceful struggles for the possession of office and public place. + +Civil-service reform enforced by law came none too soon to check the +progress of demoralization. + +One of its effects, not enough regarded, is the freedom it brings to the +political action of those conservative and sober men who, in fear of the +confusion and risk attending an arbitrary and sudden change in all the +public offices with a change of party rule, cast their ballots against +such a chance. + +Parties seem to be necessary, and will long continue to exist; nor can +it be now denied that there are legitimate advantages, not disconnected +with office holding, which follow party supremacy. While partisanship +continues bitter and pronounced and supplies so much of motive to +sentiment and action, it is not fair to hold public officials in charge +of important trusts responsible for the best results in the performance +of their duties, and yet insist that they shall rely in confidential and +important places upon the work of those not only opposed to them in +political affiliation, but so steeped in partisan prejudice and rancor +that they have no loyalty to their chiefs and no desire for their +success. Civil-service reform does not exact this, nor does it require +that those in subordinate positions who fail in yielding their best +service or who are incompetent should be retained simply because they +are in place. The whining of a clerk discharged for indolence or +incompetency, who, though he gained his place by the worst possible +operation of the spoils system, suddenly discovers that he is entitled +to protection under the sanction of civil-service reform, represents an +idea no less absurd than the clamor of the applicant who claims the +vacant position as his compensation for the most questionable party +work. + +The civil-service law does not prevent the discharge of the indolent +or incompetent clerk, but it does prevent supplying his place with the +unfit party worker. Thus in both these phases is seen benefit to the +public service. And the people who desire good government, having +secured this statute, will not relinquish its benefits without protest. +Nor are they unmindful of the fact that its full advantages can only be +gained through the complete good faith of those having its execution in +charge. And this they will insist upon. + +I recommend that the salaries of the Civil Service Commissioners be +increased to a sum more nearly commensurate to their important duties. + +It is a source of considerable and not unnatural discontent that no +adequate provision has yet been made for accommodating the principal +library of the Government. Of the vast collection of books and +pamphlets gathered at the Capitol, numbering some 700,000, exclusive of +manuscripts, maps, and the products of the graphic arts, also of great +volume and value, only about 300,000 volumes, or less than half the +collection, are provided with shelf room. The others, which are +increasing at the rate of from twenty-five to thirty thousand volumes +a year, are not only inaccessible to the public, but are subject to +serious damage and deterioration from other causes in their present +situation. + +A consideration of the facts that the library of the Capitol has twice +been destroyed or damaged by fire, its daily increasing value, and its +importance as a place of deposit of books under the law relating to +copyright makes manifest the necessity of prompt action to insure its +proper accommodation and protection. + +My attention has been called to a controversy which has arisen from the +condition of the law relating to railroad facilities in the city of +Washington, which has involved the Commissioners of the District in much +annoyance and trouble. I hope this difficulty will be promptly settled +by appropriate legislation. + +The Commissioners represent that enough of the revenues of the District +are now on deposit in the Treasury of the United States to repay the sum +advanced by the Government for sewer improvements under the act of June +30, 1884. They desire now an advance of the share which ultimately +should be borne by the District of the cost of extensive improvements +to the streets of the city. The total expense of these contemplated +improvements is estimated at $1,000,000, and they are of the opinion +that a considerable sum could be saved if they had all the money in +hand, so that contracts for the whole work could be made at the same +time. They express confidence that if the advance asked for should be +made the Government would be reimbursed the same within a reasonable +time. I have no doubt that these improvements could be made much cheaper +if undertaken together and prosecuted according to a general plan. + +The license law now in force within the District is deficient and +uncertain in some of its provisions and ought to be amended. The +Commissioners urge, with good reason, the necessity of providing a +building for the use of the District government which shall better +secure the safety and preservation of its valuable books and records. + +The present condition of the law relating to the succession to the +Presidency in the event of the death, disability, or removal of both the +President and Vice-President is such as to require immediate amendment. +This subject has repeatedly been considered by Congress, but no result +has been reached. The recent lamentable death of the Vice-President, and +vacancies at the same time in all other offices the incumbents of which +might immediately exercise the functions of the Presidential office, has +caused public anxiety and a just demand that a recurrence of such a +condition of affairs should not be permitted. + +In conclusion I commend to the wise care and thoughtful attention of +Congress the needs, the welfare, and the aspirations of an intelligent +and generous nation. To subordinate these to the narrow advantages of +partisanship or the accomplishment of selfish aims is to violate the +people's trust and betray the people's interests; but an individual +sense of responsibility on the part of each of us and a stern +determination to perform our duty well must give us place among those +who have added in their day and generation to the glory and prosperity +of our beloved land. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 2: See pp. 303-304.] + +[Footnote 3: See pp. 224-225.] + +[Footnote 4: See pp. 305-307.] + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 14, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, calling +for the correspondence on file in relation to the appointment of Mr. +A.M. Keiley as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, first +to the Government of Italy and then to that of Austria-Hungary, I +transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 14, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 10th instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, inclosing a report from the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs upon the subject of the condition of the Northern Cheyenne +Indians upon the Rosebud and Tongue rivers, in Montana, the inadequacy +of the appropriation made for their support during the current fiscal +year, and requesting legislative authority for the use of certain funds +indicated for their relief. + +The proposed legislation does not involve any additional appropriation, +and the necessity for the authority requested is urgent. I therefore +recommend the matter to the early and favorable consideration and action +of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 14, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a convention between the United States and Venezuela for +the reopening of the claims of citizens of the United States against +that Government under the treaty of April 25, 1866, signed on the 5th +instant. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 14, 1885_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to +ratification, an additional article, signed the 5th instant, extending +for a period of eighteen months from the date of the exchange of +ratifications of the same the provisions of Article VIII of the +convention of July 29, 1882, between the United States and Mexico, in +regard to the resurvey of the boundary line, a copy of which convention +is herewith inclosed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate James P. Kimball, of Pennsylvania, to be Director of the +Mint, in place of Horatio C. Burchard, removed; and the reasons for such +removal are herewith communicated to the Senate, pursuant to the statute +in such case made and provided. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + In the matter of the removal of Horatio C. } + Burchard as Director of the Mint. } + +In conformity to section 343 of the Revised Statutes of the United +States, the following is respectfully communicated to the Senate as +reasons of the removal above referred to: + +The Director of the Mint is the head of one of the most important of the +bureaus of the Treasury Department, to which are attached duties of a +highly technical and varied nature. + +By the express terms of the law creating the office the incumbent is +"under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury." + +This last-named officer, under whose direction Mr. Burchard was thus +placed, reported to me that his mode of conducting the business of the +office was unsatisfactory and inefficient and that the public interest +required a change. + +And therefore I removed Mr. Burchard and appointed Mr. Kimball in his +place, believing him to possess especial qualifications for the proper +administration of the important duties involved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill granting a right of way to the Jamestown and Northern Railroad +Company through the Devils Lake Indian Reservation, in the Territory of +Dakota. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the +subject, a draft of a bill to amend section 2148 of the Revised Statutes +of the United States, relating to trespasses upon Indian lands. + +The subject is one of great importance, and is commended to the early +and favorable action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report, together with accompanying documents, made +to me by the board of management of the World's Industrial and Cotton +Centennial Exposition, held at New Orleans from December 16, 1884, to +May 31, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made by the Pi-Ute Indians, +and granting a right of way to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company +through the Walker River Reservation, in Nevada. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a +report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs concerning the failure of +the Utah and Northern Railroad Company to compensate the Indians upon +the Fort Hall Reservation, in Idaho, for lands taken and used in +construction of their line of road crossing the reservation from north +to south. + +The subject is recommended to the early attention and action of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the +subject, a draft of a bill "to provide for the settlement of the estates +of deceased Kickapoo Indians in the State of Kansas, and for other +purposes." + +The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers upon the +subject, a draft of a bill for the relief of the Mission Indians in +California. + +The subject is presented for the action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 17th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made by the Sisseton and +Wahpeton Indians, and to grant a right of way for the Chicago, Milwaukee +and St. Paul Railway through the Lake Traverse Reservation, in Dakota. +The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers on the +subject, a draft of a bill to amend section 5388 of the Revised Statutes +of the United States, relating to timber depredations upon lands +reserved or purchased for military, Indian, or other purposes, etc. + +This is an important subject, and is commended to the early attention of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1885_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 15th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made with the confederated +tribes and bands of Indians occupying the Yakima Reservation, in +Washington Territory, for the right of way of the Northern Pacific +Railroad across said reservation, etc. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 19th ultimo from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers in +relation thereto, a draft of a bill "to provide for allotments of lands +in severalty to the Indians residing upon the Round Valley Reservation, +in the State of California, and granting patents therefor, and for other +purposes." + +The matter is presented for the early consideration and action of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 7, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the +9th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State, in answer to the request +for any documents or information received from our consul-general at +Paris or from the special agent sent to the financial centers of Europe +in respect to the establishment of an international ratio of gold and +silver coinage as would procure the free coinage of both metals at the +mints of those countries and our own. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In continuation of the message of my predecessor of the 13th of February +last, I now transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, +which is accompanied by the final report of the commissioners appointed +under the act of July 7, 1884, to visit the States of Central and South +America. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 2d instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +to amend section 9 of the act of March 3, 1885, relating to the trial +and punishment of Indians committing certain specified crimes. + +The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in response to a +resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, requesting a copy of "any +report of an actual instrumental survey of a line for a ship railroad +across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and any map of the same that has been +made to or placed on file in any of the Executive Departments, and of +any canal or canals designed to connect such ship railway with the Gulf +of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +accompanied by a report of Hon. James O. Broadhead and Somerville P. +Tuck, appointed to carry out certain of the provisions of section 5 of +an act entitled "An act to provide for the ascertainment of claims of +American citizens for spoliations committed by the French prior to the +31st day of July, 1801," approved January 20, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the +5th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, containing all the +correspondence and information in the custody of his Department relative +to the extension of certain fishing rights and privileges under the +treaty of Washington from July 1, 1885, to January 1, 1886. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 25, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, which is +accompanied by the report of the United States Electrical Commission of +the proceedings of the National Conference of Electricians held at the +city of Philadelphia in the month of September, 1884. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 25, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 16th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of proposed legislation providing for negotiations with the various +tribes and bands of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota, with a +view to the improvement of their present condition. + +It is requested that the matter may have early attention, consideration, +and action by Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In continuing accord with the Senate resolution of December 9, 1885, +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanied +by information received from the United States minister to Belgium in +relation to the action of the Belgian Government in concluding its +adhesion to the monetary convention of the States comprising the "Latin +Union." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 25th instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, the draft of a +proposed amendment to the first section of the act ratifying an +agreement with the Crow Indians in Montana, approved April 11, 1882, +requested by said Indians, for the purpose of increasing the amount of +the annual payments under said agreement and reducing the number +thereof, in order that sufficient means may be provided for establishing +them on their individual allotments. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 4, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +By its resolution in executive session of March 18, 1885, the Senate +advised and consented to the ratification of the convention concluded +November 12, 1884, between the United States of America and the United +States of Mexico, touching the boundary line between the two countries +where it follows the bed of the Rio Grande and the Rio Gila. + +The ratifications could not, however, be exchanged between the two +contracting parties and the convention proclaimed until after it had +received the constitutional sanction of the Government of Mexico, whose +Congress but recently convened. + +In a note to the Secretary of State of December 26, 1885, Mr. Matias +Romero, the minister of Mexico here, advises him of a decree issued by +the Mexican Senate in its session of December 11 last, approving, with +certain modifications, the convention in question: + +"The modifications made in the said treaty by the Mexican Senate +are not essential," says Mr. Romero, "since they consist mainly in the +rectification of the mistake made when the Gila River was mentioned as a +part of the boundary line, the Colorado River being omitted, and in the +correction of an error in the Spanish translation." + +That the Senate may have the matter fully before it, I herewith transmit +a copy of Mr. Romero's note of December 26, 1885, with its inclosure, +and return the convention in the original for such further consideration +and direction as the Senate in its constitutional prerogative may deem +necessary and proper. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1886_. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE PRO TEMPORE. + +SIR: In response to the Senate resolution dated January 5, 1886-- + + That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, directed to + communicate to the Senate a copy of each report made by the Government + directors of the Union Pacific Railroad Company from date of first + appointment of such directors to the present time-- + + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, +dated the 2d instant, with the copies required. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1886_. + +THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. + +SIR: In response to House resolution of January 27, 1886-- + + That the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, requested to + furnish this House with copies of any and all contracts or leases which + are to be found on file in said Department between the Southern Pacific + Company and any and every railroad or railroads to which land grants + were made, or which received any subsidies from the United States; also + a copy of the charter of incorporation of the Southern Pacific Company; + also all and every contract or contracts on file between the Pacific + Steamship Company and any and every land grant or subsidized railroad + company or companies-- + + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, +dated the 2d instant, inclosing the copies required. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 3d instant from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +authorizing the use of certain funds belonging to the Miami Indians in +Indian Territory, proceeds of sales of their lands, for the purpose of +relieving their present pressing necessities. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, dated +5th instant, inclosing the recommendation of the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs for the insertion in the act making appropriations for the +current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department for the year +ending June 30, 1887, of an item providing for an agent for the +Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, at a salary of $1,500 per annum. + +The matter is respectfully submitted for the consideration and action of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1886_. + +THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE PRO TEMPORE. + +SIR: In response to Senate resolution of January 7, 1886-- + + That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, directed to + communicate to the Senate whether any surveys of the public lands have + been made within the last two years in the State of Nebraska; whether + there are any unsurveyed public lands within said State; also what + recommendations have been made within the last three years by the + surveyors-general of said district as to the discontinuance of said + office, and whether it is advisable that the office of surveyor-general + of said district should cease and be discontinued under the provisions + of section 2218 of the Revised Statutes of the United States-- + + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, +dated the 3d instant, inclosing the information desired. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 15, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a communication, +under date of the 9th instant, from the Secretary of the Interior, and +the accompanying last annual report of the Government directors of the +Union Pacific Railway Company. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 15, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 12th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, the +draft of a bill prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to amend +the third section of the act of March 3, 1885, "to provide for the sale +of the Sac and Fox and Iowa Indian reservations in the States of +Nebraska and Kansas, and for other purposes." + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 16, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of +the 9th instant, a statement showing the payments of awards of the +commissioners appointed under the conventions between the United States +and France concluded April 30, 1803, and July 4, 1831, and between the +United States and Spain concluded February 22, 1819, prepared from the +books in the Department of the Treasury, under the direction of the +Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the Secretary of State. + +Also, for the further information of the Senate, a report prepared by +direction of the Secretary of State, from the original records in his +custody, of the awards made by the said commissioners in claims allowed +by them. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., March 1, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Ever since the beginning of the present session of the Senate the +different heads of the Departments attached to the executive branch of +the Government have been plied with various requests and demands from +committees of the Senate, from members of such committees, and at last +from the Senate itself, requiring the transmission of reasons for the +suspension of certain officials during the recess of that body, or for +the papers touching the conduct of such officials, or for all papers and +documents relating to such suspensions, or for all documents and papers +filed in such Departments in relation to the management and conduct of +the offices held by such suspended officials. + +The different terms from time to time adopted in making these requests +and demands, the order in which they succeeded each other, and the fact +that when made by the Senate the resolution for that purpose was passed +in executive session have led to the presumption, the correctness of +which will, I suppose, be candidly admitted, that from first to last the +information thus sought and the papers thus demanded were desired for +use by the Senate and its committees in considering the propriety of the +suspensions referred to. + +Though these suspensions are my executive acts, based upon considerations +addressed to me alone and for which I am wholly responsible, I have had +no invitation from the Senate to state the position which I have felt +constrained to assume in relation to the same or to interpret for myself +my acts and motives in the premises. + +In this condition of affairs I have forborne addressing the Senate upon +the subject, lest I might be accused of thrusting myself unbidden upon +the attention of that body. + +But the report of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate lately +presented and published, which censures the Attorney-General of the +United States for his refusal to transmit certain papers relating to a +suspension from office, and which also, if I correctly interpret it, +evinces a misapprehension of the position of the Executive upon the +question of such suspensions, will, I hope, justify this communication. + +This report is predicated upon a resolution of the Senate directed to +the Attorney-General and his reply to the same. This resolution was +adopted in executive session devoted entirely to business connected +with the consideration of nominations for office. It required the +Attorney-General "to transmit to the Senate copies of all documents and +papers that have been filed in the Department of Justice since the 1st +day of January, 1885, in relation to the management and conduct of the +office of district attorney of the United States for the southern +district of Alabama." + +The incumbent of this office on the 1st day of January, 1885, and until +the 17th day of July ensuing, was George M. Duskin, who on the day last +mentioned was suspended by an Executive order, and John D. Burnett +designated to perform the duties of said office. At the time of the +passage of the resolution above referred to the nomination of Burnett +for said office was pending before the Senate, and all the papers +relating to said nomination were before that body for its inspection and +information. + +In reply to this resolution the Attorney-General, after referring to the +fact that the papers relating to the nomination of Burnett had already +been sent to the Senate, stated that he was directed by the President to +say that-- + + The papers and documents which are mentioned in said resolution and + still remaining in the custody of this Department, having exclusive + reference to the suspension by the President of George M. Duskin, the + late incumbent of the office of district attorney for the southern + district of Alabama, it is not considered that the public interests will + be promoted by a compliance with said resolution and the transmission of + the papers and documents therein mentioned to the Senate in executive + session. + + +Upon this resolution and the answer thereto the issue is thus stated by +the Committee on the Judiciary at the outset of the report: + + The important question, then, is whether it is within the constitutional + competence of either House of Congress to have access to the official + papers and documents in the various public offices of the United States + created by laws enacted by themselves. + + +I do not suppose that "the public offices of the United States" are +regulated or controlled in their relations to either House of Congress +by the fact that they were "created by laws enacted by themselves." +It must be that these instrumentalities were created for the benefit of +the people and to answer the general purposes of government under the +Constitution and the laws, and that they are unencumbered by any lien in +favor of either branch of Congress growing out of their construction, +and unembarrassed by any obligation to the Senate as the price of their +creation. + +The complaint of the committee that access to official papers in the +public offices is denied the Senate is met by the statement that at no +time has it been the disposition or the intention of the President or +any Department of the executive branch of the Government to withhold +from the Senate official documents or papers filed in any of the public +offices. While it is by no means conceded that the Senate has the right +in any case to review the act of the Executive in removing or suspending +a public officer, upon official documents or otherwise, it is considered +that documents and papers of that nature should, because they are +official, be freely transmitted to the Senate upon its demand, trusting +the use of the same for proper and legitimate purposes to the good faith +of that body; and though no such paper or document has been specifically +demanded in any of the numerous requests and demands made upon the +Departments, yet as often as they were found in the public offices they +have been furnished in answer to such applications. + +The letter of the Attorney-General in response to the resolution of the +Senate in the particular case mentioned in the committee's report was +written at my suggestion and by my direction. There had been no official +papers or documents filed in his Department relating to the case within +the period specified in the resolution. The letter was intended, by its +description of the papers and documents remaining in the custody of the +Department, to convey the idea that they were not official; and it was +assumed that the resolution called for information, papers, and +documents of the same character as were required by the requests and +demands which preceded it. + +Everything that had been written or done on behalf of the Senate +from the beginning pointed to all letters and papers of a private and +unofficial nature as the objects of search, if they were to be found in +the Departments, and provided they had been presented to the Executive +with a view to their consideration upon the question of suspension from +office. + +Against the transmission of such papers and documents I have +interposed my advice and direction. This has not been done, as is +suggested in the committee's report, upon the assumption on my part that +the Attorney-General or any other head of a Department "is the servant +of the President, and is to give or withhold copies of documents in his +office according to the will of the Executive and not otherwise," but +because I regard the papers and documents withheld and addressed to me +or intended for my use and action purely unofficial and private, not +infrequently confidential, and having reference to the performance of a +duty exclusively mine. I consider them in no proper sense as upon the +files of the Department, but as deposited there for my convenience, +remaining still completely under my control. I suppose if I desired to +take them into my custody I might do so with entire propriety, and if +I saw fit to destroy them no one could complain. + +Even the committee in its report appears to concede that there may be +with the President or in the Departments papers and documents which, on +account of their unofficial character, are not subject to the inspection +of the Congress. A reference in the report to instances where the House +of Representatives ought not to succeed in a call for the production of +papers is immediately followed by this statement: + + The committee feels authorized to state, after a somewhat careful + research, that within the foregoing limits there is scarcely in the + history of this Government, until now, any instance of a refusal by a + head of a Department, or even of the President himself, to communicate + official facts and information, as distinguished from private and + unofficial papers, motions, views, reasons, and opinions, to either + House of Congress when unconditionally demanded. + + +To which of the classes thus recognized do the papers and documents +belong that are now the objects of the Senate's quest? + +They consist of letters and representations addressed to the Executive +or intended for his inspection; they are voluntarily written and +presented by private citizens who are not in the least instigated +thereto by any official invitation or at all subject to official +control. While some of them are entitled to Executive consideration, +many of them are so irrelevant, or in the light of other facts so +worthless, that they have not been given the least weight in determining +the question to which they are supposed to relate. + +Are all these, simply because they are preserved, to be considered +official documents and subject to the inspection of the Senate? If not, +who is to determine which belong to this class? Are the motives and +purposes of the Senate, as they are day by day developed, such as would +be satisfied with my selection? Am I to submit to theirs at the risk of +being charged with making a suspension from office upon evidence which +was not even considered? + +Are these papers to be regarded official because they have not only been +presented but preserved in the public offices? + +Their nature and character remain the same whether they are kept +in the Executive Mansion or deposited in the Departments. There is no +mysterious power of transmutation in departmental custody, nor is there +magic in the undefined and sacred solemnity of Department files. If the +presence of these papers in the public offices is a stumbling block in +the way of the performance of Senatorial duty, it can be easily removed. + +The papers and documents which have been described derive no official +character from any constitutional, statutory, or other requirement +making them necessary to the performance of the official duty of the +Executive. + +It will not be denied, I suppose, that the President may suspend a +public officer in the entire absence of any papers or documents to +aid his official judgment and discretion; and I am quite prepared to +avow that the cases are not few in which suspensions from office have +depended more upon oral representations made to me by citizens of known +good repute and by members of the House of Representatives and Senators +of the United States than upon any letters and documents presented for +my examination. I have not felt justified in suspecting the veracity, +integrity, and patriotism of Senators, or ignoring their +representations, because they were not in party affiliation with the +majority of their associates; and I recall a few suspensions which bear +the approval of individual members identified politically with the +majority in the Senate. + +While, therefore, I am constrained to deny the right of the Senate to +the papers and documents described, so far as the right to the same is +based upon the claim that they are in any view of the subject official, +I am also led unequivocally to dispute the right of the Senate by the +aid of any documents whatever, or in any way save through the judicial +process of trial on impeachment, to review or reverse the acts of the +Executive in the suspension, during the recess of the Senate, of Federal +officials. + +I believe the power to remove or suspend such officials is vested in the +President alone by the Constitution, which in express terms provides +that "the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United +States of America," and that "he shall take care that the laws be +faithfully executed." + +The Senate belongs to the legislative branch of the Government. When the +Constitution by express provision superadded to its legislative duties +the right to advise and consent to appointments to office and to sit as +a court of impeachment, it conferred upon that body all the control and +regulation of Executive action supposed to be necessary for the safety +of the people; and this express and special grant of such extraordinary +powers, not in any way related to or growing out of general Senatorial +duty, and in itself a departure from the general plan of our Government, +should be held, under a familiar maxim of construction, to exclude every +other right of interference with Executive functions. + +In the first Congress which assembled after the adoption of the +Constitution, comprising many who aided in its preparation, a +legislative construction was given to that instrument in which the +independence of the Executive in the matter of removals from office was +fully sustained. + +I think it will be found that in the subsequent discussions of this +question there was generally, if not at all times, a proposition pending +to in some way curtail this power of the President by legislation, which +furnishes evidence that to limit such power it was supposed to be +necessary to supplement the Constitution by such legislation. + +The first enactment of this description was passed under a stress of +partisanship and political bitterness which culminated in the +President's impeachment. + +This law provided that the Federal officers to which it applied could +only be suspended during the recess of the Senate when shown by evidence +satisfactory to the President to be guilty of misconduct in office, or +crime, or when incapable or disqualified to perform their duties, and +that within twenty days after the next meeting of the Senate it should +be the duty of the President "to report to the Senate such suspension, +with the evidence and reasons for his action in the case." + +This statute, passed in 1867, when Congress was overwhelmingly and +bitterly opposed politically to the President, may be regarded as +an indication that even then it was thought necessary by a Congress +determined upon the subjugation of the Executive to legislative will to +furnish itself a law for that purpose, instead of attempting to reach +the object intended by an invocation of any pretended constitutional +right. + +The law which thus found its way to our statute book was plain in its +terms, and its intent needed no avowal. If valid and now in operation, +it would justify the present course of the Senate and command the +obedience of the Executive to its demands. It may, however, be remarked +in passing that under this law the President had the privilege of +presenting to the body which assumed to review his executive acts his +reasons therefor, instead of being excluded from explanation or judged +by papers found in the Departments. + +Two years after the law of 1867 was passed, and within less than +five weeks after the inauguration of a President in political accord +with both branches of Congress, the sections of the act regulating +suspensions from office during the recess of the Senate were entirely +repealed, and in their place were substituted provisions which, instead +of limiting the causes of suspension to misconduct, crime, disability, +or disqualification, expressly permitted such suspension by the +President "in his discretion," and completely abandoned the requirement +obliging him to report to the Senate "the evidence and reasons" for his +action. + +With these modifications and with all branches of the Government in +political harmony, and in the absence of partisan incentive to captious +obstruction, the law as it was left by the amendment of 1869 was much +less destructive of Executive discretion. And yet the great general and +patriotic citizen who on the 4th day of March, 1869, assumed the duties +of Chief Executive, and for whose freer administration of his high +office the most hateful restraints of the law of 1867 were, on the 5th +day of April, 1869, removed, mindful of his obligation to defend and +protect every prerogative of his great trust, and apprehensive of the +injury threatened the public service in the continued operation of these +statutes even in their modified form, in his first message to Congress +advised their repeal and set forth their unconstitutional character and +hurtful tendency in the following language: + + It may be well to mention here the embarrassment possible to arise from + leaving on the statute books the so-called "tenure-of-office acts," and + to earnestly recommend their total repeal. It could not have been the + intention of the framers of the Constitution, when providing that + appointments made by the President should receive the consent of the + Senate, that the latter should have the power to retain in office + persons placed there by Federal appointment against the will of the + President. The law is inconsistent with a faithful and efficient + administration of the Government. What faith can an Executive put in + officials forced upon him, and those, too, whom he has suspended for + reason? How will such officials be likely to serve an Administration + which they know does not trust them? + + +I am unable to state whether or not this recommendation for a repeal of +these laws has been since repeated. If it has not, the reason can +probably be found in the experience which demonstrated the fact that the +necessities of the political situation but rarely developed their +vicious character. + +And so it happens that after an existence of nearly twenty years of +almost innocuous desuetude these laws are brought forth--apparently the +repealed as well as the unrepealed--and put in the way of an Executive +who is willing, if permitted, to attempt an improvement in the methods +of administration. + +The constitutionality of these laws is by no means admitted. But why +should the provisions of the repealed law, which required specific cause +for suspension and a report to the Senate of "evidence and reasons," +be now in effect applied to the present Executive, instead of the law, +afterwards passed and unrepealed, which distinctly permits suspensions +by the President "in his discretion" and carefully omits the requirement +that "evidence and reasons for his action in the case" shall be reported +to the Senate. + +The requests and demands which by the score have for nearly three months +been presented to the different Departments of the Government, whatever +may be their form, have but one complexion. They assume the right of the +Senate to sit in judgment upon the exercise of my exclusive discretion +and Executive function, for which I am solely responsible to the people, +from whom I have so lately received the sacred trust of office. My oath +to support and defend the Constitution, my duty to the people who have +chosen me to execute the powers of their great office and not to +relinquish them, and my duty to the Chief Magistracy, which I must +preserve unimpaired in all its dignity and vigor, compel me to refuse +compliance with these demands. + +To the end that the service may be improved, the Senate is invited to +the fullest scrutiny of the persons submitted to them for public office, +in recognition of the constitutional power of that body to advise and +consent to their appointment. I shall continue, as I have thus far done, +to furnish, at the request of the confirming body, all the information +I possess touching the fitness of the nominees placed before them for +their action, both when they are proposed to fill vacancies and to take +the place of suspended officials. Upon a refusal to confirm I shall not +assume the right to ask the reasons for the action of the Senate nor +question its determination. I can not think that anything more is +required to secure worthy incumbents in public office than a careful and +independent discharge of our respective duties within their well-defined +limits. + +Though the propriety of suspensions might be better assured if the +action of the President was subject to review by the Senate, yet if the +Constitution and the laws have placed this responsibility upon the +executive branch of the Government it should not be divided nor the +discretion which it involves relinquished. + +It has been claimed that the present Executive having pledged himself +not to remove officials except for cause, the fact of their suspension +implies such misconduct on the part of a suspended official as injures +his character and reputation, and therefore the Senate should review the +case for his vindication. + +I have said that certain officials should not, in my opinion, be removed +during the continuance of the term for which they were appointed solely +for the purpose of putting in their place those in political affiliation +with the appointing power, and this declaration was immediately followed +by a description of official partisanship which ought not to entitle +those in whom it was exhibited to consideration. It is not apparent +how an adherence to the course thus announced carries with it the +consequences described. If in any degree the suggestion is worthy of +consideration, it is to be hoped that there may be a defense against +unjust suspension in the justice of the Executive. + +Every pledge which I have made by which I have placed a limitation upon +my exercise of executive power has been faithfully redeemed. Of course +the pretense is not put forth that no mistakes have been committed; but +not a suspension has been made except it appeared to my satisfaction +that the public welfare would be improved thereby. Many applications for +suspension have been denied, and the adherence to the rule laid down to +govern my action as to such suspensions has caused much irritation and +impatience on the part of those who have insisted upon more changes in +the offices. + +The pledges I have made were made to the people, and to them I am +responsible for the manner in which they have been redeemed. I am not +responsible to the Senate, and I am unwilling to submit my actions and +official conduct to them for judgment. + +There are no grounds for an allegation that the fear of being found +false to my professions influences me in declining to submit to the +demands of the Senate. I have not constantly refused to suspend +officials, and thus incurred the displeasure of political friends, and +yet willfully broken faith with the people for the sake of being false +to them. + +Neither the discontent of party friends, nor the allurements constantly +offered of confirmations of appointees conditioned upon the avowal that +suspensions have been made on party grounds alone, nor the threat +proposed in the resolutions now before the Senate that no confirmations +will be made unless the demands of that body be complied with, are +sufficient to discourage or deter me from following in the way which +I am convinced leads to better government for the people. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 1, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +It is made the constitutional duty of the President to recommend to the +consideration of Congress from time to time such measures as he shall +judge necessary and expedient. In no matters can the necessity of this +be more evident than when the good faith of the United States under the +solemn obligation of treaties with foreign powers is concerned. + +The question of the treatment of the subjects of China sojourning within +the jurisdiction of the United States presents such a matter for the +urgent and earnest consideration of the Executive and the Congress. + +In my first annual message, upon the assembling of the present Congress, +I adverted to this question in the following words: + + The harmony of our relations with China is fully sustained. + + In the application of the acts lately passed to execute the treaty of + 1880, restrictive of the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United + States, individual cases of hardship have occurred beyond the power of + the Executive to remedy, and calling for judicial determination. + + The condition of the Chinese question in the Western States and + Territories is, despite this restrictive legislation, far from being + satisfactory. The recent outbreak in Wyoming Territory, where numbers + of unoffending Chinamen, indisputably within the protection of the + treaties and the law, were murdered by a mob, and the still more recent + threatened outbreak of the same character in Washington Territory, are + fresh in the minds of all, and there is apprehension lest the bitterness + of feeling against the Mongolian race on the Pacific Slope may find vent + in similar lawless demonstrations. All the power of this Government + should be exerted to maintain the amplest good faith toward China in + the treatment of these men, and the inflexible sternness of the law in + bringing the wrongdoers to justice should be insisted upon. + + Every effort has been made by this Government to prevent these violent + outbreaks and to aid the representatives of China in their investigation + of these outrages; and it is but just to say that they are traceable to + the lawlessness of men not citizens of the United States engaged in + competition with Chinese laborers. + + Race prejudice is the chief factor in originating these disturbances, + and it exists in a large part of our domain, jeopardizing our domestic + peace and the good relationship we strive to maintain with China. + + The admitted right of a government to prevent the influx of elements + hostile to its internal peace and security may not be questioned, even + where there is no treaty stipulation on the subject. That the exclusion + of Chinese labor is demanded in other countries where like conditions + prevail is strongly evidenced in the Dominion of Canada, where Chinese + immigration is now regulated by laws more exclusive than our own. If + existing laws are inadequate to compass the end in view, I shall be + prepared to give earnest consideration to any further remedial measures, + within the treaty limits, which the wisdom of Congress may devise. + + +At the time I wrote this the shocking occurrences at Rock Springs, in +Wyoming Territory, were fresh in the minds of all, and had been recently +presented anew to the attention of this Government by the Chinese +minister in a note which, while not unnaturally exhibiting some +misconception of our Federal system of administration in the Territories +while they as yet are not in the exercise of the full measure of that +sovereign self-government pertaining to the States of the Union, +presents in truthful terms the main features of the cruel outrage there +perpetrated upon inoffensive subjects of China. In the investigation of +the Rock Springs outbreak and the ascertainment of the facts on which +the Chinese minister's statements rest the Chinese representatives were +aided by the agents of the United States, and the reports submitted, +having been thus framed and recounting the facts within the knowledge of +witnesses on both sides, possess an impartial truthfulness which could +not fail to give them great impressiveness. + +The facts, which so far are not controverted or affected by any +exculpatory or mitigating testimony, show the murder of a number of +Chinese subjects in September last at Rock Springs, the wounding of many +others, and the spoliation of the property of all when the unhappy +survivors had been driven from their habitations. There is no allegation +that the victims by any lawless or disorderly act on their part +contributed to bring about a collision; on the contrary, it appears that +the law-abiding disposition of these people, who were sojourners in our +midst under the sanction of hospitality and express treaty obligations, +was made the pretext for an attack upon them. This outrage upon law +and treaty engagements was committed by a lawless mob. None of the +aggressors--happily for the national good fame--appear by the reports +to have been citizens of the United States. They were aliens engaged in +that remote district as mining laborers, who became excited against the +Chinese laborers, as it would seem, because of their refusal to join +them in a strike to secure higher wages. The oppression of Chinese +subjects by their rivals in the competition for labor does not differ in +violence and illegality from that applied to other classes of native or +alien labor. All are equally under the protection of law and equally +entitled to enjoy the benefits of assured public order. + +Were there no treaty in existence referring to the rights of Chinese +subjects; did they come hither as all other strangers who voluntarily +resort to this land of freedom, of self-government, and of laws, here +peaceably to win their bread and to live their lives, there can be no +question that they would be entitled still to the same measure of +protection from violence and the same free forum for the redress of +their grievances as any other aliens. + +So far as the treaties between the United States and China stipulate for +the treatment of the Chinese subjects actually in the United States as +the citizens or subjects of "the most favored nation" are treated, they +create no new status for them; they simply recognize and confirm a +general and existing rule, applicable to all aliens alike, for none are +favored above others by domestic law, and none by foreign treaties +unless it be the Chinese themselves in some respects. For by the third +article of the treaty of November 17, 1880, between the United States +and China it is provided that-- + + ART. III. If Chinese laborers, or Chinese of any other class, now either + permanently or temporarily residing in the territory of the United + States, meet with ill treatment at the hands of any other persons, the + Government of the United States will exert all its power to devise + measures for their protection and to secure to them the same rights, + privileges, immunities, and exemptions as may be enjoyed by the citizens + or subjects of the most favored nation, and to which they are entitled + by treaty. + + +This article may be held to constitute a special privilege for Chinese +subjects in the United States, as compared with other aliens; not that +it creates any peculiar rights which others do not share, but because, +in case, of ill treatment of the Chinese in the United States, this +Government is bound to "exert all its power to devise measures for their +protection," by securing to them the rights to which equally with any +and all other foreigners they are entitled. + +Whether it is now incumbent upon the United States to amend their +general laws or devise new measures in this regard I do not consider in +the present communication, but confine myself to the particular point +raised by the outrage and massacre at Rock Springs. + +The note of the Chinese minister and the documents which accompany +it give, as I believe, an unexaggerated statement of the lamentable +incident, and present impressively the regrettable circumstance that +the proceedings, in the name of justice, for the ascertainment of the +crime and fixing the responsibility therefor were a ghastly mockery +of justice. So long as the Chinese minister, under his instructions, +makes this the basis of an appeal to the principles and convictions +of mankind, no exception can be taken; but when he goes further, and, +taking as his precedent the action of the Chinese Government in past +instances where the lives of American citizens and their property in +China have been endangered, argues a reciprocal obligation on the part +of the United States to indemnify the Chinese subjects who suffered at +Rock Springs, it became necessary to meet his argument and to deny most +emphatically the conclusions he seeks to draw as to the existence of +such a liability and the right of the Chinese Government to insist +upon it. + +I draw the attention of the Congress to the latter part of the note of +the Secretary of State of February 18, 1886, in reply to the Chinese +minister's representations, and invite especial consideration of the +cogent reasons by which he reaches the conclusion that whilst the United +States Government is under no obligation, whether by the express terms +of its treaties with China or the principles of international law, to +indemnify these Chinese subjects for losses caused by such means and +under the admitted circumstances, yet that in view of the palpable and +discreditable failure of the authorities of Wyoming Territory to bring +to justice the guilty parties or to assure to the sufferers an impartial +forum in which to seek and obtain compensation for the losses which +those subjects have incurred by lack of police protection, and +considering further the entire absence of provocation or contribution +on the part of the victims, the Executive may be induced to bring the +matter to the benevolent consideration of the Congress, in order that +that body, in its high discretion, may direct the bounty of the +Government in aid of innocent and peaceful strangers whose maltreatment +has brought discredit upon the country, with the distinct understanding +that such action is in no wise to be held as a precedent, is wholly +gratuitous, and is resorted to in a spirit of pure generosity toward +those who are otherwise helpless. + +The correspondence exchanged is herewith submitted for the information +of the Congress, and accompanies a like message to the House of +Representatives. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 27th ultimo from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, for the purpose of +securing to the Cherokees and others, citizens of the Cherokee Nation by +adoption and incorporation, a sum equal to their proportion of the +$300,000, proceeds of lands west of 96° in the Indian Territory, +appropriated by the act of March 3, 1883. + +The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 25th ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +recommended by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the payment of +money claimed under alleged existing treaty stipulations and laws by +such Eastern Cherokee Indians as have removed or shall hereafter remove +themselves to the Indian Territory. + +The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 26th ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, with inclosures, requesting legislation to provide for the +reappraisement and sale of a small tract of land in the State of +Nebraska belonging to the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation. + +The matter is presented for the action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 3, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, the seventeenth +annual report of the Board of Indian Commissioners, for the year 1885, +submitted to the Secretary of the Interior in pursuance of the act of +May 17, 1882. + +The report accompanies the message to the House of Representatives. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 5th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, "for the relief of +the Omaha tribe of Indians in the State of Nebraska." + +The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, the report of +the National Board of Health for the year 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, being a +revised list of papers on file in the Department of State touching the +unpaid claims of citizens of the United States against France for +spoliation prior to July 31, 1801. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th of February, +requesting to be furnished with a copy of the report made by the +consul-general of the United States at Berlin upon the shipping interest +of Germany, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State upon the +subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate in executive session of +the 27th of January, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of +State and the papers accompanying it, relating to the emigration of +Chinese to the United States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 18, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 16th instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a +bill, prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, providing for the +use of certain funds, proceeds of Indian reservations, covered into the +Treasury under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1883, for the +benefit of the Indians on whose account the same is covered in. + +The subject is recommended to the favorable consideration and action of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 18, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 16th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill, prepared by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, "to authorize +the purchase of a tract of land near Salem, Oreg., for the use of the +Indian training school." + +The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 18, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 9, 1886, +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with its +accompanying documents, relative to the commerce between the United +States and certain foreign countries in cereals, and the cotton product +during the years 1884 and 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 22, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th +of February last, calling upon the Secretary of State for copies of all +the correspondence relating to the claims of certain governments to be +accorded the reductions and exemptions of tonnage dues accorded to +vessels entering ports of the United States from certain ports named +in the shipping act of June 26, 1884, I transmit the report of that +officer, together with the correspondence. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 25, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith the report of the Civil Service Commission for the +year ended on the 16th day of January last. + +The exhibit thus made of the operations of the Commission and the +account thus presented of the results following the execution of the +civil-service law can not fail to demonstrate its usefulness and +strengthen the conviction that this scheme for a reform in the methods +of administering the Government is no longer an experiment. + +Wherever this reform has gained a foothold it has steadily advanced in +the esteem of those charged with public administrative duties, while the +people who desire good government have constantly been confirmed in +their high estimate of its value and efficiency. + +With the benefits it has already secured to the public service plainly +apparent, and with its promise of increased usefulness easily +appreciated, this cause is commended to the liberal care and jealous +protection of the Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 30, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In further answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 15th of February last, calling upon the Secretary of State for +copies of all correspondence relating to the claims of governments to +be accorded the reductions and exemptions of tonnage dues accorded to +vessels entering the ports of the United States from certain ports named +in the shipping act of June 26, 1884, I transmit herewith a copy of the +reply of the Attorney-General to the letter of the Secretary of State of +December 15, 1885, as found on pages 35 and 36 of Executive Document No. +132, House of Representatives, Forty-ninth Congress, first session, +communicated on the 22d instant. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 1, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th +of March, relative to the employment of substitutes in the Department of +State, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State on the +subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 1, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior and the +accompanying report, submitted by the governor of Alaska in compliance +with section 5 of the act of May 17, 1884, entitled "An act providing a +civil government for Alaska." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 1, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in relation +to the claim of the representatives of the late Hon. James Crooks, a +British subject, against this Government for the seizure of the schooner +_Lord Nelson_ in 1812. + +The matter is commended to the favorable consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 6, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress with a view to +appropriate legislation in the premises, a report of the Secretary of +State, with certain correspondence touching the treaty right of Chinese +subjects other than laborers "to go and come of their own free will and +accord," + +In my annual message of the 8th of December last I said: + + In the application of the acts lately passed to execute the treaty of + 1880, restrictive of the immigration of Chinese laborers into the United + States, individual cases of hardship have occurred beyond the power of + the Executive to remedy, and calling for judicial determination. + + +These cases of individual hardship are due to the ambiguous and +defective provisions of the acts of Congress approved respectively on +the 6th May, 1882, and 5th July, 1884. The hardship has in some cases +been remedied by the action of the courts. In other cases, however, +where the phraseology of the statutes has appeared to be conclusive +against any discretion on the part of the officers charged with the +execution of the law, Chinese persons expressly entitled to free +admission under the treaty have been refused a landing and sent back to +the country whence they came without being afforded any opportunity to +show in the courts or otherwise their right to the privilege of free +ingress and egress which it was the purpose of the treaty to secure. + +In the language of one of the judicial determinations of the Supreme +Court of the United States to which I have referred-- + + The supposition should not be indulged that Congress, while professing + to faithfully execute the treaty stipulations and recognizing the fact + that they secure to a certain class the right to go from and come to + the United States, intended to make its protection depend upon the + performance of conditions which it was physically impossible to perform. + (112 U.S. Reports, p. 554, Chew Heong _vs._ United States.) + + +The act of July 5, 1884, imposes such an impossible condition in not +providing for the admission, under proper certificate, of Chinese +travelers of the exempted classes in the cases most likely to arise in +ordinary commercial intercourse. + +The treaty provisions governing the case are as follows: + + ART. I. * * * The limitation or suspension shall be reasonable, and + shall apply only to Chinese who may go to the United States as laborers, + other classes not being included in the limitations. * * * + + ART. II. Chinese subjects, whether proceeding to the United States as + teachers, students, merchants, or from curiosity, together with their + body and household servants, * * * shall be allowed to go and come of + their own free will and accord, and shall be accorded all the rights, + privileges, immunities, and exemptions which are accorded to the + citizens and subjects of the most favored nation. + + +Section 6 of the amended Chinese immigration act of 1884 purports to +secure this treaty right to the exempted classes named by means of +prescribed certificates of their status, which certificates shall be the +_prima facie_ and the sole permissible evidence to establish a +right of entry into the United States. But it provides in terms for the +issuance of certificates in two cases only: + +(_a_) Chinese subjects departing from a port of China; and + +(_b_) Chinese persons (_i.e._, of the Chinese race) who may at +the time be subjects of some foreign government other than China, and +who may depart for the United States from the ports of such other +foreign government. + +A statute is certainly most unusual which, purporting to execute the +provisions of a treaty with China in respect of Chinese subjects, enacts +strict formalities as regards the subjects of other governments than +that of China. + +It is sufficient that I should call the earnest attention of Congress to +the circumstance that the statute makes no provision whatever for the +somewhat numerous class of Chinese persons who, retaining their Chinese +subjection in some countries other than China, desire to come from such +countries to the United States. + +Chinese merchants have trading operations of magnitude throughout the +world. They do not become citizens or subjects of the country where they +may temporarily reside and trade; they continue to be subjects of China, +and to them the explicit exemption of the treaty applies. Yet if such a +Chinese subject, the head of a mercantile house at Hongkong or Yokohama +or Honolulu or Havana or Colon, desires to come from any of these places +to the United States, he is met with the requirement that he must +produce a certificate, in prescribed form and in the English tongue, +issued by the Chinese Government. If there be at the foreign place of +his residence no representative of the Chinese Government competent to +issue a certificate in the prescribed form, he can obtain none, and is +under the provisions of the present law unjustly debarred from entry +into the United States. His usual Chinese passport will not suffice, +for it is not in the form which the act prescribes shall be the sole +permissible evidence of his right to land. And he can obtain no such +certificate from the Government of his place of residence, because he +is not a subject or citizen thereof "at the time," or at any time. + +There being, therefore, no statutory provision prescribing the terms +upon which Chinese persons resident in foreign countries but not +subjects or citizens of such countries may prove their status and +rights as members of the exempted classes in the absence of a Chinese +representative in such country, the Secretary of the Treasury, in whom +the execution of the act of July 5, 1884, was vested, undertook to +remedy the omission by directing the revenue officers to recognize +as lawful certificates those issued in favor of Chinese subjects by +the Chinese consular and diplomatic officers at the foreign port of +departure, when viséed by the United States representative thereat. +This appears to be a just application of the spirit of the law, although +enlarging its letter, and in adopting this rule he was controlled by the +authority of high judicial decision as to what evidence is necessary to +establish the fact that an individual Chinaman belongs to the exempted +class. + +He, however, went beyond the spirit of the act and the judicial +decisions, by providing, in a circular dated January 14, 1885, for the +original issuance of such a certificate by the United States consular +officer at the port of departure, in the absence of a Chinese diplomatic +or consular representative thereat; for it is clear that the act of +Congress contemplated the intervention of the United States consul only +in a supervisory capacity, his function being to check the proceeding +and see that no abuse of the privilege followed. The power or duty of +original certification is wholly distinct from that supervisory +function. It either dispenses with the foreign certificate altogether, +leaving the consular visé to stand alone and sufficient, or else it +combines in one official act the distinct functions of certification and +verification of the fact certified. + +The official character attaching to the consular certification +contemplated by the unamended circular of January 14, 1885, is to be +borne in mind. It is not merely _prima facie_ evidence of the +status of the bearer, such as the courts may admit in their discretion; +it was prescribed as an official attestation, on the strength of which +the customs officers at the port of entry were to admit the bearer +without further adjudication of his status unless question should arise +as to the truth of the certificate itself. + +It became, therefore, necessary to amend the circular of January 14, +1885, and this was done on the 13th of June following, by striking out +the clause prescribing original certification of status by the United +States consuls. The effect of this amendment is to deprive any +certificate the United States consuls may issue of the value it +purported to possess as sole permissible evidence under the statute when +its issuance was prescribed by Treasury regulations. There is, however, +nothing to prevent consuls giving certificates of facts within their +knowledge to be received as evidence in the absence of statutory +authentication. + +The complaint of the Chinese minister in his note of March 24, 1886, +is that the Chinese merchant Lay Sang, of the house of King Lee & Co., +of San Francisco, having arrived at San Francisco from Hongkong and +exhibited a certificate of the United States consul at Hongkong as to +his status as a merchant, and consequently exempt under the treaty, +was refused permission to land and was sent back to Hongkong by the +steamer which brought him. While the certificate he bore was doubtless +insufficient under the present law, it is to be remembered that there is +at Hongkong no representative of the Government of China competent or +authorized to issue the certificate required by the statute. The intent +of Congress to legislate in execution of the treaty is thus defeated +by a prohibition directly contrary to the treaty, and conditions are +exacted which, in the words of the Supreme Court hereinbefore quoted, +"it was physically impossible to perform." + +This anomalous feature of the act should be reformed as speedily as +possible, in order that the occurrence of such cases may be avoided and +the imputation removed which would otherwise rest upon the good faith of +the United States in the execution of their solemn treaty engagements. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 9, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in relation to +the mercantile marines of France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 14, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th +ultimo, requesting the Secretary of State "to communicate to the House +of Representatives, if not incompatible with the public interest, copies +of the recent correspondence and dispatches between the Secretary of +State and the minister of the United States at The Hague touching the +subject of taxation of petroleum in Holland and in the Dutch colonies, +and that of the export therefrom of leaf tobacco to the United States," +I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State on the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 14, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +6th instant, requesting the Secretary of State "to transmit, if not +incompatible with the public interest, copies of all correspondence +between his Department and the representatives of France, Germany, +Austria, and any other European country which has partially or entirely +restricted the importation of American pork," I transmit herewith the +report of the Secretary of State on the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 20, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State on the +manufacture of milk sugar in Switzerland. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +The Constitution imposes upon the President the duty of recommending to +the consideration of Congress from time to time such measures as he +shall judge necessary and expedient. + +I am so deeply impressed with the importance of immediately and +thoughtfully meeting the problem which recent events and a present +condition have thrust upon us, involving the settlement of disputes +arising between our laboring men and their employers, that I am +constrained to recommend to Congress legislation upon this serious and +pressing subject. + +Under our form of government the value of labor as an element of +national prosperity should be distinctly recognized, and the welfare +of the laboring man should be regarded as especially entitled to +legislative care. In a country which offers to all its citizens the +highest attainment of social and political distinction its workingmen +can not justly or safely be considered as irrevocably consigned to the +limits of a class and entitled to no attention and allowed no protest +against neglect. + +The laboring man, bearing in his hand an indispensable contribution to +our growth and progress, may well insist, with manly courage and as a +right, upon the same recognition from those who make our laws as is +accorded to any other citizen having a valuable interest in charge; and +his reasonable demands should be met in such a spirit of appreciation +and fairness as to induce a contented and patriotic cooperation in the +achievement of a grand national destiny. + +While the real interests of labor are not promoted by a resort to +threats and violent manifestations, and while those who, under the +pretext of an advocacy of the claims of labor, wantonly attack the +rights of capital and for selfish purposes or the love of disorder sow +seeds of violence and discontent should neither be encouraged nor +conciliated, all legislation on the subject should be calmly and +deliberately undertaken, with no purpose of satisfying unreasonable +demands or gaining partisan advantage. + +The present condition of the relations between labor and capital is far +from satisfactory. The discontent of the employed is due in a large +degree to the grasping and heedless exactions of employers and the +alleged discrimination in favor of capital as an object of governmental +attention. It must also be conceded that the laboring men are not always +careful to avoid causeless and unjustifiable disturbance. + +Though the importance of a better accord between these interests is +apparent, it must be borne in mind that any effort in that direction +by the Federal Government must be greatly limited by constitutional +restrictions. There are many grievances which legislation by Congress +can not redress, and many conditions which can not by such means be +reformed. + +I am satisfied, however, that something may be done under Federal +authority to prevent the disturbances which so often arise from disputes +between employers and the employed, and which at times seriously +threaten the business interests of the country; and, in my opinion, the +proper theory upon which to proceed is that of voluntary arbitration as +the means of settling these difficulties. + +But I suggest that instead of arbitrators chosen in the heat of +conflicting claims, and after each dispute shall arise, for the purpose +of determining the same, there be created a commission of labor, +consisting of three members, who shall be regular officers of the +Government, charged among other duties with the consideration and +settlement, when possible, of all controversies between labor and +capital. + +A commission thus organized would have the advantage of being a stable +body, and its members, as they gained experience, would constantly +improve in their ability to deal intelligently and usefully with the +questions which might be submitted to them. If arbitrators are chosen +for temporary service as each case of dispute arises, experience and +familiarity with much that is involved in the question will be lacking, +extreme partisanship and bias will be the qualifications sought on +either side, and frequent complaints of unfairness and partiality will +be inevitable. The imposition upon a Federal court of a duty so foreign +to the judicial function as the selection of an arbitrator in such cases +is at least of doubtful propriety. + +The establishment by Federal authority of such a bureau would be +a just and sensible recognition of the value of labor and of its right +to be represented in the departments of the Government. So far as its +conciliatory offices shall have relation to disturbances which interfere +with transit and commerce between the States, its existence would +be justified under the provision of the Constitution which gives to +Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among +the several States;" and in the frequent disputes between the laboring +men and their employers, of less extent, and the consequences of which +are confined within State limits and threaten domestic violence, the +interposition of such a commission might be tendered, upon the +application of the legislature or executive of a State, under the +constitutional provision which requires the General Government to +"protect" each of the States "against domestic violence." + +If such a commission were fairly organized, the risk of a loss of +popular support and sympathy resulting from a refusal to submit to +so peaceful an instrumentality would constrain both parties to such +disputes to invoke its interference and abide by its decisions. There +would also be good reason to hope that the very existence of such an +agency would invite application to it for advice and counsel, frequently +resulting in the avoidance of contention and misunderstanding. + +If the usefulness of such a commission is doubted because it might lack +power to enforce its decisions, much encouragement is derived from the +conceded good that has been accomplished by the railroad commissions +which have been organized in many of the States, which, having little +more than advisory power, have exerted a most salutary influence in the +settlement of disputes between conflicting interests. + +In July, 1884, by a law of Congress, a Bureau of Labor was established +and placed in charge of a Commissioner of Labor, who is required to +"collect information upon the subject of labor, its relations to +capital, the hours of labor and the earnings of laboring men and women, +and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and +moral prosperity." + +The commission which I suggest could easily be ingrafted upon the bureau +thus already organized by the addition of two more commissioners and by +supplementing the duties now imposed upon it by such other powers and +functions as would permit the commissioners to act as arbitrators when +necessary between labor and capital, under such limitations and upon +such occasions as should be deemed proper and useful. + +Power should also be distinctly conferred upon this bureau to +investigate the causes of all disputes as they occur, whether submitted +for arbitration or not, so that information may always be at hand to aid +legislation on the subject when necessary and desirable. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 26, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +accompanied by a report of Mr. Somerville P. Tuck, appointed to carry +out certain provisions of section 5 of an act entitled "An act to +provide for the ascertainment of claims of American citizens for +spoliations committed by the French prior to the 31st day of July, +1801," approved January 20, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[The same message was sent to the Senate.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 5, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 1st instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting a draft of a bill recommended by the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, providing for the payment of +improvements made by settlers on the lands of the Mescalero Indian +Reservation in the Territory of New Mexico. + +The subject is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, dated the 6th +instant, touching the claims of Benjamin Weil and La Abra Silver Mining +Company against the Government of Mexico. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +By a joint resolution of Congress approved March 3, 1877, the President +was authorized and directed to accept the colossal statue of "Liberty +Enlightening the World" when presented by the citizens of the French +Republic, and to designate and set apart for the erection thereof a +suitable site upon either Governors or Bedloes Island, in the harbor of +New York, and upon the completion thereof to cause the statue "to be +inaugurated with such ceremonies as will serve to testify the gratitude +of our people for this expressive and felicitous memorial of the +sympathy of the citizens of our sister Republic." + +The President was further thereby "authorized to cause suitable +regulations to be made for its future maintenance as a beacon and for +the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art and the +continued good will of the great nation which aided us in our struggle +for freedom." + +Under the authority of this resolution, on the 4th day of July, 1884, +the minister of the United States to the French Republic, by direction +of the President of the United States, accepted the statue and received +a deed of presentation from the Franco-American Union, which is now +preserved in the archives of the Department of State. + +I now transmit to Congress a letter to the Secretary of State from +Joseph W. Drexel, esq., chairman of the executive committee of "the +American committee on the pedestal of the great statue of 'Liberty +Enlightening the World,'" dated the 27th of April, 1886, suggesting +the propriety of the further execution by the President of the joint +resolution referred to by prescribing the ceremonies of inauguration +to be observed upon the complete erection of the statue upon its site +on Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York. + +Thursday, the 3d of September, being the anniversary of the signing of +the treaty of peace at Paris by which the independence of these United +States was recognized and secured, has been suggested by this committee +under whose auspices and agency the pedestal for the statue has been +constructed as an appropriate day for the ceremonies of inauguration. + +The international character which has been imprinted upon this work by +the joint resolution of 1877 makes it incumbent upon Congress to provide +means to carry their resolution into effect. + +Therefore I recommend the appropriation of such sum of money as in the +judgment of Congress shall be deemed adequate and proper to defray the +cost of the inauguration of this statue. + +I have been informed by the committee that certain expenses have been +incurred in the care and custody of the statue since it was deposited on +Bedloes Island, and the phraseology of the joint resolution providing +for "the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art" +would seem to include the payment by the United States of the expense so +incurred since the reception of the statue in this country. + +The action of the French Government and people in relation to the +presentation of this statue to the United States will, I hope, meet with +hearty and responsive action upon the part of Congress, in which the +Executive will be most happy to cooperate. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +The last general appropriation bill passed by the legislature of +Utah was vetoed by the then governor of that Territory. It made an +appropriation of money for the support of the district courts of the +Territory, including the pay of reporters, jurors, and witnesses, and +for the completion and maintenance of the Deseret University and the +education of the deaf mutes therein. It also appropriated for the +support of the Territorial insane asylum, as well as the salaries of +Territorial officers, including that of the superintendent of the +district schools, the auditor, the librarian, and the treasurer of the +Territory. It also provided for internal improvements, such as roads and +bridges. + +The appropriation for the district courts, for the payment of witnesses +and jurors in criminal cases, was $40,000; that for the Deseret +University and the deaf mutes was $66,000, and for the insane asylum +$25,000. + +The board of regents of the Deseret University have borrowed money for +the completion of the university buildings which were authorized by +legislative action, and which is now due and no provision made for the +payment. The act appropriating for the benefit of the Territorial insane +asylum passed by the legislature was also vetoed. This included the sum +of $13,000, which had been borrowed by the board of directors of the +asylum for its completion and furnishing, and which now remains due and +unpaid. It also included the sum of $3,548.85 for the care and +maintenance of the indigent insane. + +The legislature of the Territory, under existing law, will not again +convene for nearly two years, there being no authority for a special +session. In the meantime, under present conditions, the good order of +society will be jeopardized, educational and charitable institutions +will be paralyzed, and internal improvements stopped until the +legislature meets and makes provision for their support. + +A determination on the part of the General Government to suppress +certain unlawful practices in this Territory demands neither the refusal +of the means to support the local government nor the sacrifice of the +interests of the community. + +I therefore recommend the immediate enactment of such legislation as +will authorize the assembling of the legislature of that Territory in +special session at an early day, so that provision can be made to meet +the difficulties herein suggested. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a supplementary article, signed the 14th instant by the +Secretary of State and the minister of Mexico here, extending until +May 20, 1887, the time specified in Article VIII of the commercial +reciprocity treaty of January 20, 1883, between the United States and +Mexico, for the approval of the laws necessary to carry the said treaty +into effect. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 17, 1886_ + +_To the Senate_: + +In response to a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, inquiring +as to the necessity for the continuance of the present charge for +passports for American citizens desiring to visit foreign countries, I +transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State on the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +With reference to the paragraph in my annual message to Congress in +which I called attention to the uncertainty that exists as to the +location of the frontier line between Alaska and British Columbia as +defined by the treaty of cession with Russia of March 30, 1867, I now +transmit herewith, for the information and consideration of Congress, +a report of the Secretary of State upon the subject, with accompanying +papers. + +In view of the importance of the subject, I recommend that provision be +made by law for a preliminary survey of the boundary line in question by +officers of the United States, in order that the information necessary +for the basis of a treaty between this country and Great Britain for the +establishment of a definite boundary line may be obtained; and I also +recommend that the sum of $100,000, or so much thereof as may be +necessary, be appropriated for the expenses of making such survey. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 21, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for your consideration with a view to their +ratification, the "convention concerning the international exchanges for +official documents and literary publications" and the "convention for +assuring the immediate exchange of the official journal as well as of +the parliamentary annals and documents." + +The first was signed at Brussels on the 15th of March, 1886, by the +plenipotentiaries of the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Spain, Italy, +Portugal, Servia, and Switzerland. + +The second was signed at the same place and on the same date by the +plenipotentiaries of the above-named powers, with the exception of +Switzerland. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 21, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, dated the 19th +instant, touching the necessity of legislation to carry into effect the +provisions of Article II of the treaty between the United States and +China of November 17, 1880, for the repression of the opium traffic, and +recommend that appropriate legislation to fulfill that treaty promise of +this Government be provided without further delay. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, accompanying the +report of consuls of the United States on the trade and commerce of +foreign countries. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 1, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th +of March last, requesting the Secretary of State "to communicate to the +House of Representatives, if not incompatible with the public interest, +copies of recent correspondence and dispatches between the Secretary of +State and the minister of the United States at The Hague touching the +subject of taxation on petroleum in Holland and in the Dutch colonies, +and that of the export therefrom of leaf tobacco to the United States," +with reference to my message to the House of Representatives of the 14th +ultimo [April], I now transmit a further report of the Secretary of +State on the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives of this +date, I return herewith House bill No. 6391, entitled "An act to +authorize the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railway Company to +construct and operate a railway through the Indian Territory, and for +other purposes." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 9, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of State, with an +accompanying paper, in relation to the distribution of the fund +appropriated by the act of April 20, 1882, for the relief of the +captain, owners, officers, and crew of the brig _General Armstrong_. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 9, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for your consideration with a view to its +ratification, a convention for the extradition of criminals, signed at +Tokyo on the 29th day of April, 1886, by the plenipotentiaries of the +United States and the Empire of Japan. + +The negotiation which led to the conclusion of this convention was +caused immediately by the case of a forger in San Francisco, who, having +fled to Japan, was delivered up to the authorities of the State of +California. It was not possible for this Government to ask his +surrender, but the Japanese Government of its own motion caused his +delivery as a friendly act. It then suggested the conclusion of an +extradition convention between the two countries. The suggestion was +favorably entertained by this Government, not only on account of the +importance of such a treaty to the execution of the criminal laws of the +United States, but also because of the support which its conclusion +would give to Japan in her efforts toward judicial autonomy and complete +sovereignty. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 15, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, concerning the +claim of Benjamin Weil and La Abra Mining Company, of Mexico, agreeably +to the resolution of the House of Representatives dated May 13, 1886. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +Upon an examination of a bill originating in the House of +Representatives, No. 4838, entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for +official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to +shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other +purposes," I find that there is such a failure to adjust existing laws +to the new departure proposed by the bill as to greatly endanger the +public service if this bill should not be amended or at once +supplemented by additional legislation. + +The fees which are at present collected from vessels for services +performed by the Bureau of Inspection, and which made up the fund from +which certain expenses appurtenant to that Bureau were paid, are by the +proposed bill abolished, but no provision has been substituted directing +that such expenses shall be paid from the public Treasury or any other +source. + +The objects of the bill are in the main so useful and important that I +have concluded to approve the same upon the assurance of those actively +promoting its passage that another bill shall at once be introduced to +cover the defect above referred to. + +The necessity of such supplemental legislation is so obvious that I hope +it will receive the immediate action of the Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith inclose a report from the Secretary of State, with its +accompanying copies of papers, relative to the case of the American +schooner _Ounalaska_, which was duly condemned by the Government of +Salvador for having been employed in aid of an insurrection against that +Republic, and was subsequently presented to the United States. It seems +that an act of Congress accepting the gift on the part of this +Government is necessary to complete the transfer, and I recommend that +legislation in this sense be adopted. It further appears that one +Isidore Gutte, of San Francisco, has sought to obtain possession of the +condemned vessel, and I therefore suggest that a second provision to the +law accepting her be made giving authority to the Court of Claims to +hear and determine the question of title. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication, with an accompanying paper, from +the Secretary of State, in relation to the distribution of the award of +the late Mexican Claims Commission in the case of S.A. Belden & Co. +against the Republic of Mexico. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 30, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of April last, I +transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State in relation to the +affairs of the independent State of the Kongo. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a concurrent resolution of this date, I return +herewith House bill No. 3501, entitled "An act granting a pension to +Daniel J. Bingham." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 8, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for your consideration with a view to its +ratification, a convention signed at London June 25, 1886, between the +United States of America and Great Britain, concerning the extradition +of persons charged with crime. + +I also inclose a report from the Secretary of State and a copy of a +dispatch from the United States minister at London dated June 26, 1886, +in reference thereto. + +The question of extradition has been discussed between the two countries +by Secretaries Fish, Evarts, and Frelinghuysen, as well as by the +present Secretary of State, and the method adopted by the inclosed +convention, namely, that of amending and extending the provisions of the +tenth article of the treaty of 1842, has seemed the most convenient and +expeditious. + +In view of the continued pendency of the question and its great +importance owing to the contiguity of Her Majesty's territories with +those of the United States, I respectfully urge the consideration of the +convention by the Senate during the present session. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 9, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for your information, a report from the Secretary +of State, inclosing the correspondence which has been exchanged between +the Department of State and the Governments of Switzerland and Italy on +the subject of international copyright. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 12, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 3d instant, with inclosures, +from the Secretary of the Interior, recommending legislative authority +for the use of funds from appropriation, Sioux, etc., 1887, for the +subsistence of certain Northern Cheyenne Indians who have gone or who +may go from the Sioux Reservation in Dakota to the Tongue River Indian +Agency or vicinity, in Montana. + +The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 24, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolutions of the Senate dated respectively May 10 +and July 10, 1886, touching alleged seizures and detentions of vessels +of the United States in British North American waters, I transmit +herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 27, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to the House resolution of the 10th +instant, a report from the Secretary of State, and accompanying papers, +relating to the imprisonment in Ecuador and subsequent release of Julio +R. Santos. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 29, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in reply to the +resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th of May last, in +relation to trust funds. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 29, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith reports from the heads of the several Executive +Departments of the Government, in answer to a resolution of the Senate +of June 18, 1886, which requested certain information regarding +appointments in such Departments, and having relation to the +civil-service law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 30, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In further response to the Senate resolutions of the 10th of May and +10th of July, 1886, touching the seizure and detention of American +vessels in Canadian waters, I transmit herewith a letter from the +Secretary of State dated the 29th instant, accompanied by a report from +the consul-general at Halifax relative to the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have approved House bill No. 4335, entitled "An act making an +appropriation to continue the construction of a public building at +Clarksburg, W. Va., and changing the limit of cost thereof." + +A law passed by the last Congress authorized the construction of this +building and appropriated $50,000 for that purpose, which was declared +to be the limit of its cost. A site has been purchased for said +building, and, as is too often the case, it is now discovered that the +sum appropriated is insufficient to meet the expense of such a building +as is really needed. + +The object of the bill which I have approved is to extend the limit of +the cost to $80,000 and to make the additional appropriation to reach +that sum. The first section fixes the limit above mentioned, but the +second section appropriates $35,000, and thus, with the appropriation of +$50,000 heretofore made, the aggregate appropriations exceed the sum to +which the cost of the building is limited by $5,000. + +Inasmuch as this latter sum can not properly be applied to the +construction of the building, attention is called to the existence of +this excess of appropriation and the suggestion made that it be returned +to the Treasury. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of your honorable body of the 26th ultimo, +I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, +communicating the information possessed by the Department of State +"concerning the alleged illegal detention of A.K. Cutting, an American +citizen, by the Mexican authorities at El Paso del Norte;" and as to the +further inquiry contained in said resolution, "whether any additional +United States troops have been recently ordered to Fort Bliss," I answer +in the negative. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 2, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In performance of the duty imposed upon me by the Constitution, I +herewith transmit for your information (the same having heretofore been +communicated to the Senate in response to a resolution of inquiry +adopted by that body July 26, 1886) certain correspondence and +accompanying documents in relation to the arrest and imprisonment at +Paso del Norte by Mexican authority of A.K. Cutting, a citizen of the +United States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 2, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have this day approved a bill originating in the House of +Representatives entitled "An act defining butter, also imposing a tax +upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, importation, and exportation +of oleomargarine." + +This legislation has awakened much interest among the people of the +country, and earnest argument has been addressed to the Executive for +the purpose of influencing his action thereupon. Many in opposition have +urged its dangerous character as tending to break down the boundaries +between the proper exercise of legislative power by Federal and State +authority; many in favor of the enactment have represented that it +promised great advantages to a large portion of our population who sadly +need relief; and those on both sides of the question whose advocacy or +opposition is based upon no broader foundation than local or personal +interest have outnumbered all the others. + +This upon its face and in its main features is a revenue bill, and +was first introduced in the House of Representatives, wherein the +Constitution declares that all bills for raising revenue shall +originate. + +The Constitution has invested Congress with a very wide legislative +discretion both as to the necessity of taxation and the selection of the +objects of its burdens; and though if the question was presented to me +as an original proposition I might doubt the present need of increased +taxation, I deem it my duty in this instance to defer to the judgment of +the legislative branch of the Government, which has been so emphatically +announced in both Houses of Congress upon the passage of this bill. + +Moreover, those who desire to see removed the weight of taxation now +pressing upon the people from other directions may well be justified in +the hope and expectation that the selection of an additional subject +of internal taxation so well able to bear it will in consistency be +followed by legislation relieving our citizens from other revenue +burdens, rendered by the passage of this bill even more than heretofore +unnecessary and needlessly oppressive. + +It has been urged as an objection to this measure that while purporting +to be legislation for revenue its real purpose is to destroy, by the use +of the taxing power, one industry of our people for the protection and +benefit of another. + +If entitled to indulge in such a suspicion as a basis of official action +in this case, and if entirely satisfied that the consequences indicated +would ensue, I should doubtless feel constrained to interpose Executive +dissent. + +But I do not feel called upon to interpret the motives of Congress +otherwise than by the apparent character of the bill which has been +presented to me, and I am convinced that the taxes which it creates can +not possibly destroy the open and legitimate manufacture and sale of the +thing upon which it is levied. If this article has the merit which its +friends claim for it, and if the people of the land, with full knowledge +of its real character, desire to purchase and use it, the taxes exacted +by this bill will permit a fair profit to both manufacturer and dealer. +If the existence of the commodity taxed and the profits of its +manufacture and sale depend upon disposing of it to the people for +something else which it deceitfully imitates, the entire enterprise is +a fraud and not an industry; and if it can not endure the exhibition +of its real character which will be effected by the inspection, +supervision, and stamping which this bill directs, the sooner it is +destroyed the better in the interest of fair dealing. + +Such a result would not furnish the first instance in the history of +legislation in which a revenue bill produced a benefit which was merely +incidental to its main purpose. + +There is certainly no industry better entitled to the incidental +advantages which may follow this legislation than our farming and dairy +interests, and to none of our people should they be less begrudged than +our farmers and dairymen. The present depression of their occupations, +the hard, steady, and often unremunerative toil which such occupations +exact, and the burdens of taxation which our agriculturists necessarily +bear entitle them to every legitimate consideration. + +Nor should there be opposition to the incidental effect of this +legislation on the part of those who profess to be engaged honestly and +fairly in the manufacture and sale of a wholesome and valuable article +of food which by its provisions may be subject to taxation. As long as +their business is carried on under cover and by false pretenses such +men have bad companions in those whose manufactures, however vile and +harmful, take their place without challenge with the better sort in a +common crusade of deceit against the public. But if this occupation and +its methods are forced into the light and all these manufactures must +thus either stand upon their merits or fall, the good and bad must soon +part company and the fittest only will survive. + +Not the least important incident related to this legislation is the +defense afforded to the consumer against the fraudulent substitution +and sale of an imitation for a genuine article of food of very general +household use. Notwithstanding the immense quantity of the article +described in this bill which is sold to the people for their consumption +as food, and notwithstanding the claim made that its manufacture +supplies a cheap substitute for butter, I venture to say that hardly a +pound ever entered a poor man's house under its real name and in its +true character. + +While in its relation to an article of this description there should +be no governmental regulation of what the citizen shall eat, it is +certainly not a cause of regret if by legislation of this character he +is afforded a means by which he may better protect himself against +imposition in meeting the needs and wants of his daily life. + +Having entered upon this legislation, it is manifestly a duty to render +it as effective as possible in the accomplishment of all the good which +should legitimately follow in its train. + +This leads to the suggestion that the article proposed to be taxed and +the circumstances which subject it thereto should be clearly and with +great distinctness defined in the statute. It seems to me that this +object has not been completely attained in the phraseology of the second +section of the bill, and that question may well arise as to the precise +condition the article to be taxed must assume in order to be regarded as +"made in imitation or semblance of butter, or, when so made, calculated +or intended to be sold as butter or for butter." + +The fourteenth and fifteenth sections of the bill, in my opinion, are in +danger of being construed as an interference with the police powers of +the States. Not being entirely satisfied of the unconstitutionality of +these provisions, and regarding them as not being so connected and +interwoven with the other sections as, if found invalid, to vitiate the +entire measure, I have determined to commend them to the attention of +the House with a view to an immediate amendment of the bill if it should +be deemed necessary and if it is practicable at this late day in the +session of Congress. + +The fact, too, that the bill does not take effect by its terms until +ninety days have elapsed after its approval, thus leaving it but one +month in operation before the next session of Congress, when, if time +does not now permit, the safety and efficiency of the measure may be +abundantly protected by remedial legislative action, and the desire +to see realized the beneficial results which it is expected will +immediately follow the inauguration of this legislation, have had their +influence in determining my official action. + +The considerations which have been referred to will, I hope, justify +this communication and the suggestions which it contains. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +3d instant (the Senate concurring), I return herewith Senate bill No. +2056, entitled "An act to amend the pension laws by increasing the +pensions of soldiers and sailors who have lost an arm or leg in the +service." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have carefully considered Senate bill No. 193, entitled "An act for +the relief of John Hollins McBlair," and hereby return the same without +approval to the Senate, where it originated, with my objections to the +same. + +The object of this bill is to suspend the provisions of law regulating +appointments in the Army by promotion so far as they affect John Hollins +McBlair, and to authorize the President to nominate and, by and with +the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint said McBlair a first +lieutenant in the Army and to place him upon the retired list as of the +date of April 8, 1864, with the pay of his rank from April 30, 1884. + +The beneficiary named in this bill was appointed a first lieutenant in +the Army, from civil life, in June, 1861, with rank from May 14, 1861. + +It appears from his own testimony, afterwards taken before a retiring +board, that at the time he was commissioned he was but 17 years of age. + +In October, 1861, he was in the field for five days with his regiment, +within which time he participated in no battle, skirmish, or engagement +of any kind. + +After five days spent in marching and camping he was taken sick, and +after remaining in camp six or seven weeks, his illness still +continuing, he was granted sick leave and came to Washington. + +In June, 1862, he was put on duty in the Commissary Department at +Washington and remained there until August, 1863, when he was summoned +before a retiring board convened for the purpose of retiring disabled +officers. + +From testimony before this board it appears that the illness which +caused him to leave his regiment was one not uncommon in the Army, and +yielded to treatment, so that in April or May, 1862, he was completely +cured. + +About this time, however, he was attacked with convulsions, which were +pronounced by the physicians examined before the board to be a form of +epilepsy, and for this cause he was found to be incapacitated for active +service. + +The medical testimony, while it suggested various causes for this +epileptic condition, negatives entirely any claim that these attacks +were at all related to the illness which obliged this officer to abandon +service with his regiment. He testified himself that he had been told +he had one or two convulsions in childhood, but there is no direct +testimony that he was subject to epileptic attacks before he entered the +Army. + +The retiring board determined upon the proof that this incapacity +did not result from any incident of military service, and therefore +Lieutenant McBlair was in October, 1863, retired wholly from the service +with one year's pay and allowances, which is the usual action in such +cases, and which was approved by the President. + +But in April, 1864, the President, in a review of the case, made an +order that instead of this officer being wholly retired he should be +placed upon the retired list as of the date when the action of the +retiring board was originally approved. + +For about twenty years, and up to April 30, 1884, he remained upon the +retired list and received the pay to which this position entitled him. + +Quite recently, in consequence of a claim of additional pay which he +made upon the Government, his status was examined by the Court of +Claims, which decided that the action of the President in April, 1864, +by which he sought to change the original disposition of the case upon +the findings of the retiring board, was nugatory, and that ever since +October, 1863, this officer had not been connected with the Army and had +been receiving from the Government money to which he was not entitled. + +If the bill herewith returned becomes a law, it makes valid all payments +made, and if its purpose is carried out causes such payments to be +resumed. + +The finding of the retiring board seems so satisfactory and the merits +of this case so slight in the light of the large sum already paid to +the applicant, while the claims of thousands of wounded and disabled +soldiers wait for justice at the hands of the Government, that I am +constrained to interpose an objection to a measure which proposes to +suspend general and wholesome laws for the purpose of granting what +appears to me to be an undeserved gratuity. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 11, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return herewith without approval, and with a statement of my +objections thereto, Senate bill No. 150, entitled "An act to quiet title +of settlers on the Des Moines River lands in the State of Iowa, and for +other purposes." + +This proposed legislation grows out of a grant of land made to the +Territory of Iowa in the year 1846 to aid in the improvement of the +navigation of the Des Moines River. + +The language of this grant was such that it gave rise to conflicting +decisions on the part of the Government Departments as to its extent, +and it was not until 1860 that this question was authoritatively and +finally settled by the Supreme Court of the United States. Its decision +diminished the extent of the grant to a quantity much less than had been +insisted on by certain interested parties and rendered invalid the +titles of parties who held, under the Territory or State of Iowa, lands +beyond the limit of the grant fixed by the decision of the court. + +For the purpose of validating such titles and to settle all disputes so +far as the General Government was concerned, the Congress, in the year +1861, by a joint resolution, transferred to the State of Iowa all the +title then retained by the United States to the lands within the larger +limits which had been claimed, and then held by _bona fide_ +purchasers from the State; and in 1862 an act of Congress was passed for +the same general purpose. + +Without detailing the exact language of this resolution and statute, it +certainly seems to be such a transfer and relinquishment of all +interests in the land mentioned on the part of the United States as to +relieve the Government from any further concern therein. + +The questions unfortunately growing out of this grant and the +legislation relating thereto have been passed upon by the United States +Supreme Court in numerous cases, and as late as 1883 that court, +referring to its many previous decisions, adjudged that "the act of 1862 +(12 U.S. Statutes at Large, ch. 161, p. 543) transferred the title from +the United States and vested it in the State of Iowa for the use of its +grantees under the river grant." + +Bills similar to this have been before Congress for a number of years +and have failed of passage; and at least on one occasion the Committee +on the Judiciary of the Senate reported adversely upon a measure +covering the same ground. + +I have carefully examined the legislation upon the subject of this +grant, and studied the decisions of the court upon the numerous and +complicated questions which have arisen from such legislation, and the +positions of the parties claiming an interest in the land covered by +said grant, and I can not but think that every possible question that +can be raised, or at least that ought to be raised, in any suit relating +to these lands has been determined by the highest judicial authority in +the land; and if any substantial point remains yet unsettled, I believe +there is no difficulty in presenting it to the proper tribunal. + +This bill declares that certain lands which nearly twenty-four years ago +the United States entirely relinquished are still public lands, and +directs the Attorney-General to begin suits to assert and protect the +title of the United States in such lands. + +If it be true that these are public lands, the declaration that they are +so by enactment is entirely unnecessary; and if they are wrongfully +withheld from the Government, the duty and authority of the +Attorney-General are not aided by the proposed legislation. If they are +not public lands because the United States have conveyed them to others, +the bill is subject to grave objections as an attempt to destroy vested +rights and disturb interests which have long since become fixed. + +If a law of Congress could, in the manner contemplated by the bill, +change, under the Constitution, the existing rights of any of the +parties claiming interests in these lands, it hardly seems that any new +questions could be presented to the courts which would do more than +raise false hopes and renew useless and bitter strife and litigation. + +It seems to me that all controversies which can hereafter arise between +those claiming these lands have been fairly remitted to the State of +Iowa, and that there they can be properly and safely left; and the +Government, through its Attorney-General, should not be called upon to +litigate the rights of private parties. + +It is not pleasant to contemplate loss threatened to any party acting +in good faith, caused by uncertainty in the language of laws or their +conflicting interpretation; and if there are persons occupying these +lands who labor under such disabilities as prevent them from appealing +to the courts for a redress of their wrongs, a plain statute, directed +simply to a remedy for such disabilities, would not be objectionable. + +Should there be meritorious cases of hardship and loss, caused by an +invitation on the part of the Government to settle upon lands apparently +public, but to which no right or lawful possession can be secured, it +would be better, rather than to attempt a disturbance of titles already +settled, to ascertain such losses and do equity by compensating the +proper parties through an appropriation for that purpose. + +A law to accomplish this very object was passed by Congress in the year +1873. + +Valuable proof is thus furnished, by the only law ever passed upon the +subject, of the manner in which it was thought proper by the Congress +at that time to meet the difficulties suggested by the bill now under +consideration. + +Notwithstanding the fact that there may be parties in the occupancy +of these lands who suffer hardship by the application of strict legal +principles to their claims, safety lies in noninterference by Congress +with matters which should be left to judicial cognizance; and I am +unwilling to concur in legislation which, if not an encroachment upon +judicial power, trenches so closely thereon as to be of doubtful +expediency, and which at the same time increases the elements of +litigation that have heretofore existed and endangers vested rights. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 26, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith return Senate bill No. 349, entitled "An act for the +promotion of anatomical science and to prevent the desecration of +graves," without my approval. + +The purpose of this bill is to permit the delivery of certain dead +bodies to the medical colleges located in the District of Columbia for +dissection. + +Such disposition of the bodies of unknown and pauper dead is only +excused by the necessity of acquiring by this means proper and useful +anatomical knowledge, and the laws by which it is permitted should, in +deference to a decent and universal sentiment, carefully guard against +abuse and needless offense. + +The measure under consideration does not with sufficient care specify +and limit the officers and the parties who it is proposed to invest +with discretion in the disposition of dead bodies remaining in the +institutions and places mentioned in the bill. The second section +indicates an intention to prevent the use of said bodies for any other +purpose than the promotion of anatomical and surgical knowledge within +the District of Columbia, and to secure after such use the decent burial +of the remains. It declares that a bond shall be given providing for the +performance of these conditions. But instead of exacting the bond from +the medical colleges, to which alone, by the terms of the first section, +the bodies are to be delivered, such bond is required of "every +physician or surgeon before receiving such dead body." + +The bill also provides that a relative by blood or marriage, or a +friend, may, within forty-eight hours after death, demand that any body +be buried, upon satisfying "the authorities" of the relationship claimed +to the deceased. + +The "authorities" to be thus satisfied should be clearly defined, and +the determination of a question so important should be left with those +only who will perform this duty with proper care and consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 30, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith return without my approval Senate bill No. 141, entitled "An +act to extend the provisions of the act of June 10, 1880, entitled 'An +act to amend the statutes in relation to immediate transportation of +dutiable goods, and for other purposes,' to the port of Omaha, in the +State of Nebraska." + +The statute, which was passed June 10, 1880, referred to in the title of +this bill permitted certain merchandise imported at specified ports, but +which was consigned to certain other ports which were mentioned by name +in the seventh section of said act, to be shipped immediately after +entry at the port of arrival to such destination. + +The seventh section of said act contained the names of more than seventy +ports or places to which imported merchandise might be thus immediately +shipped. One of the places thus named is "Omaha, in Nebraska." + +But it was declared in a proviso which was made a part of this section +that the privilege of immediate transportation contemplated by the act +should "not extend to any place at which there are not the necessary +officers for the appraisement of merchandise and the collection of +duties." + +Because there were no such officers at Omaha the privilege mentioned was +withheld from that place by the Treasury Department. + +The bill submitted to me for approval provides that these privileges +conferred by the act of June 10, 1880, be "extended to the port of +Omaha, in the State of Nebraska, as provided for as to the ports +mentioned in section 7 of said act." + +I can not see that anything is gained by this legislation. + +If the circumstances should warrant such a course, the authority which +withholds such privileges from any of the places mentioned in the law of +1880 can confer the same without the aid of a new statute. This position +is sustained by an opinion of the Attorney-General, dated in February, +1885. + +If the legislation now proposed should become operative, the privileges +extended to the city of Omaha would still be subject to the proviso +attached to the seventh section of the law of 1880, and such newly +granted privileges would be liable to immediate withdrawal by the +Secretary of the Treasury. + +Thus, if the design of this bill is to restore to the city named the +privileges permitted by the law of 1880, it seems to be entirely +unnecessary, since the power of such restoration is now fully vested +in the Treasury Department. If the object sought is to bestow such +privileges entirely free from the operation of the proviso above +recited, the language of the bill does not accomplish that result. + +I understand that the Government has not now at Omaha "the necessary +officers for the appraisement of merchandise and the collection of +duties," which by such proviso are necessary in order to secure to any +place the advantages of immediate transportation. In the absence of such +officers the proposed legislation would be nugatory and inoperative. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 8, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval a bill numbered 3019, entitled "An +act to increase the pension of Abigail Smith," which bill originated in +the House of Representatives. + +This proposed legislation does injustice to a very worthy pensioner who +was on the pension roll at the time of the passage of the law which +took effect on the 19th day of March last, and by virtue of which all +pensions of her class were increased from $8 to $12 per month. Under +this law she became entitled to her increased pension from the date of +its passage. The bill now returned allows her the same amount, but if it +became a law I suppose it would supersede her claim under the previous +statute and postpone the receipt by her of the increase to the date of +the passage of the new law. + +She would thus lose for nearly two months the increase of pension +already secured to her. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 8, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without my approval House bill No. 1471, entitled "An act +increasing the pension of Andrew J. Hill." + +This bill doubles the pension which the person named therein has been +receiving for a number of years. It appears from the report of the +committee to which the bill was referred that a claim made by him for +increased pension has been lately rejected by the Pension Bureau "on the +ground that the claimant is now receiving a pension commensurate with +the degree of disability found to exist." + +The policy of frequently reversing by special enactment the decisions +of the Bureau invested by law with the examination of pension claims, +fully equipped for such examination, and which ought not to be suspected +of any lack of liberality to our veteran soldiers, is exceedingly +questionable. It may well be doubted if a committee of Congress has a +better opportunity than such an agency to judge of the merits of these +claims. If, however, there is any lack of power in the Pension Bureau +for a full investigation, it should be supplied; if the system adopted +is inadequate to do full justice to claimants, it should be corrected, +and if there is a want of sympathy and consideration for the defenders +of our Government the Bureau should be reorganized. + +The disposition to concede the most generous treatment to the disabled, +aged, and needy among our veterans ought not to be restrained; and it +must be admitted that in some cases justice and equity can not be done +nor the charitable tendencies of the Government in favor of worthy +objects of its care indulged under fixed rules. These conditions +sometimes justify a resort to special legislation, but I am convinced +that the interposition by special enactment in the granting of pensions +should be rare and exceptional. In the nature of things if this is +lightly done and upon slight occasion, an invitation is offered for the +presentation of claims to Congress which upon their merits could not +survive the test of an examination by the Pension Bureau, and whose +only hope of success depends upon sympathy, often misdirected, instead +of right and justice. The instrumentality organized by law for the +determination of pension claims is thus often overruled and discredited, +and there is danger that in the end popular prejudice will be created +against those who are worthily entitled to the bounty of the Government. + +There has lately been presented to me, on the same day, for approval, +nearly 240 special bills granting and increasing pensions and restoring +to the pension list the names of parties which for cause have been +dropped. To aid Executive duty they were referred to the Pension Bureau +for examination and report. After a delay absolutely necessary they have +been returned to me within a few hours of the limit constitutionally +permitted for Executive action. Two hundred and thirty-two of these +bills are thus classified: + +Eighty-one cover cases in which favorable action by the Pension Bureau +was denied by reason of the insufficiency of the testimony filed to +prove the facts alleged. + +These bills I have approved on the assumption that the claims were +meritorious and that by the passage of the bills the Government has +waived full proof of the facts. + +Twenty-six of the bills cover claims rejected by the Pension Bureau +because the evidence produced tended to prove that the alleged +disability existed before the claimant's enlistment; 21 cover claims +which have been denied by such Bureau because the evidence tended to +show that the disability, though contracted in the service, was not +incurred in the line of duty; 33 cover claims which have been denied +because the evidence tended to establish that the disability originated +after the soldier's discharge from the Army; 47 cover claims which have +been denied because the general pension laws contain no provisions under +which they could be allowed, and 24 of the claims have never been +presented to the Pension Bureau. + +I estimate the expenditure involved in these bills at more than $35,000 +annually. + +Though my conception of public duty leads me to the conclusion, upon the +slight examination which I have been able to give such of these bills as +are not comprised in the first class above mentioned, that many of them +should be disapproved, I am utterly unable to submit within the time +allowed me for that purpose my objections to the same. + +They will therefore become operative without my approval. + +A sufficient reason for the return of the particular bill now under +consideration is found in the fact that it provides that the name of +Andrew J. Hill be placed upon the pension roll, while the records of the +Pension Bureau, as well as a medical certificate made a part of the +committee's report, disclose that the correct name of the intended +beneficiary is Alfred J. Hill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 17, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1397, entitled "An act to +establish a port of delivery at Springfield, in the State of +Massachusetts." + +It appears that the best reasons urged for the passage of this bill are +that Springfield has a population of about 40,000, that the imports to +the section of country where the city is located for the last year +amounted in value to nearly $3,000,000, and that the importers at this +point labored under a disadvantage in being obliged to go to New York +and Boston to clear their goods, which are frequently greatly delayed. + +The Government is now subjected to great loss of revenue through the +intricacies of the present system relating to the collection of customs +dues, and through the frauds and evasions which that system permits and +invites. It is also the cause of much of the delay and vexation to which +the honest importer is subjected. + +I am of the opinion that the reforms of present methods which have been +lately earnestly pressed upon Congress should be inaugurated, instead of +increasing the number of ports where present evils may be further +extended. + +The bill now under consideration provides that a surveyor of customs +shall be appointed to reside at said port, who shall receive a salary +not to exceed $1,000 per annum. + +It is quite obvious that an experienced force of employees at the ports +where goods for Springfield are entered would be much better qualified +to adjust the duties upon the same than the person thus proposed to be +added to the vast army of Federal officials. + +There are many cities in the different States having larger populations +than Springfield, and fully as much entitled, upon every ground +presented, to the advantages sought by this bill; and yet it is clear +that the following of the precedent which the proposed legislation would +establish could not fail to produce confusion and uncertainty in the +adjustment of customs dues, leading to irritating discriminations and +probable loss to the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 2186, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Louis Melcher." + +This claimant enlisted on the 25th day of May, 1861, and was discharged +for disability on the 16th day of August, 1861, having been in the +service less than three months. + +The certificate of the surgeon of his regiment, made at the time of his +discharge, stated his disability to be "lameness, caused by previous +repeated and extensive ulcerations of his legs, extending deeply among +the muscles and impairing their powers and action by cicatrices, all +existing before enlistment and not mentioned to the mustering officers +at the time." + +Upon this certificate, given at the time of the claimant's discharge and +while he was actually under the surgeon's observation, an application +for a pension was rejected by the Pension Bureau. + +In the absence of anything impeaching the ability and integrity of the +surgeon of the regiment, his certificate should, in my opinion, be +regarded as a true statement of the condition of the claimant at the +time of his discharge, though the committee's report suggests that the +surgeon's skill may have been at fault when he declared that the ulcers +existed before enlistment. The cicatrices showing beyond a doubt the +previous existence of this difficulty would be plainly apparent upon an +examination by a surgeon, and their origin could hardly be mistaken. +The term of the claimant's service was not sufficiently long to have +developed and healed, even imperfectly, in a location previously +healthy, ulcers of the kind mentioned in the claimant's application. + +My approval of this bill is therefore withheld upon the ground that I +find nothing in my examination of the facts connected with the case +which impeaches the value of the surgeon's certificate upon which the +adverse action of the Pension Bureau was predicated. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +A bill which originated in the Senate, entitled "An act granting a +pension to Edward Ayers," and numbered 363, is herewith returned without +approval. + +The person named in this bill enlisted October 3, 1861, in an Indiana +regiment and was mustered out of the service December 13, 1865. He +represents that he was injured in the hip at the battle of Days Gap, +April 30, 1863, and for this a pension is provided for him by the bill +under consideration. His application for pension has been rejected by +the Pension Bureau on the ground that it was proved on a special +examination of the case that the claimant was injured by a fall when a +boy, and that the injury complained of existed prior to his enlistment. + +There is not a particle of proof or a fact stated either in the +committee's report or the records in the Pension Bureau, so far as they +are brought to my notice, tending to show that the claimant was in +hospital or under medical care a single day during the whole term of his +enlistment. + +The report of the committee contains the following statement: + + The record evidence proves that he was in this engagement, but there is + no proof from this source that he was wounded. By numerous comrades who + were present it is proven that he was hurt by the explosion of a shell + as claimed. It is also shown that he has been disabled ever since; and + the examining surgeon specifically describes the wound, and twice + verifies that he is permanently disabled. From the fact that a man was + exceedingly liable to injury under the circumstances in which he was + placed, and from the evidence of eyewitnesses, the committee are of + opinion that he was wounded as alleged. + + +A wound from a shell causing the person injured to be "disabled ever +since" usually results in hospital or medical treatment. Not only is +there no such claim made in this case, but, on the contrary, it appears +that the claimant served in his regiment two years and nearly eight +months after the alleged injury, and until he was mustered out. + +It is represented to me by a report from the Pension Bureau that after +his alleged wound, and in May or June, 1863, the claimant deserted, and +in July of that year was arrested in the State of Indiana and returned +to duty without trial. If this report is correct, the party now seeking +a pension at the hands of the Government for disability incurred in the +service seems to have been capable of considerable physical exertion, +though not very creditable, within a few weeks after he claims to have +received the injury upon which his application is based. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1630, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James C. Chandler." + +It appears from the report of the committee to whom this bill was +referred and from an examination of the official records that the +proposed beneficiary first enlisted on the 27th day of August, 1861, +and about nine months thereafter, on the 1st day of June, 1862, was +discharged on account of disability arising from chronic bronchitis. + +Notwithstanding the chronic character of his alleged disability, he +enlisted again on the 3d day of January, 1864, seventeen months after +such discharge. + +No statement is presented of the bounty received by him upon either +enlistment. + +He was finally mustered out on the 19th day of September, 1865. + +He first applied for a pension under the general law in May, 1869, +alleging that in April, 1862, he was run over by a wagon and injured +in his ankle. This accident occurred during his first enlistment; but +instead of the injury having been then regarded a disability, he was +discharged from such enlistment less than two months thereafter on +account of chronic bronchitis. + +It appears from the committee's report that his application was rejected +and that another was afterwards made, alleging that the claimant had +been afflicted with typhoid fever contracted in May, 1862, resulting in +"rheumatism and disease of the back in region of kidneys." + +This application was also rejected, on the ground that any disability +that might have arisen from the cause alleged "had not existed in a +pensionable degree since the date of filing the claim therefor," which +was February 10, 1885. + +There still remained an appeal to Congress, and probably there were not +wanting those who found their interests in advising such an appeal and +who had at hand Congressional precedents which promised a favorable +result. That the parties interested did not miscalculate the chances +of success is demonstrated by the bill now before me, which, in direct +opposition to the action of the Pension Bureau, grants a pension to +a man who, though discharged from enlistment for a certain alleged +disability, made two applications for a pension based upon two distinct +causes, both claimed to exist within two months prior to such discharge, +and both different from the one upon which he accepted the same, and +notwithstanding the fact that the proposed beneficiary, after all these +disabilities had occurred, passed an examination as to his physical +fitness for reenlistment, actually did reenlist, and served till finally +mustered out at the close of the war. + +If any money is to be given this man from the public Treasury, it should +not be done under the guise of a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 857, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Dudley B. Branch." + +This claim is based upon the allegation, as appears by the committee's +report, that the person named in the bill has a hernia, and that on the +9th day of June, 1862, while in the military service and in the line of +duty, "in getting over a fence he fell heavily, striking a stone or hard +substance, and received the hernia in his left side." + +In December, 1875, thirteen and a half years thereafter, he filed an +application for a pension, which was rejected by the Pension Bureau on +the ground that there was no record of the alleged hernia, and the +claimant was unable to furnish satisfactory evidence of its origin in +the service. + +The fact is stated in the committee's report that late in the year 1863 +this soldier was transferred to the Invalid Corps, and the records show +that he was thus transferred for a disability entirely different from +that upon which he now bases his claim. He was mustered out in +September, 1864, at the end of his term of service. + +I am convinced that the rejection of this claim by the Pension Bureau +was correct, and think its action should not be reversed. + +I suppose an injury of the description claimed, if caused by violence +directly applied, is quite palpable, its effect usually immediate, and +its existence easily proved. The long time which elapsed between the +injury and the claimant's application for a pension may be fairly +considered as bearing upon the merits of such application, while the +fact that the claimant was transferred to the Invalid Corps more than +a year after he alleges the injury occurred, for an entirely different +disability, can not be overlooked. In the committee's report the +statement is found that the beneficiary named in the bill was in two +different hospitals during the year 1863, and yet it is not claimed that +the history of his hospital treatment furnishes any proof of the injury +upon which his claim is now based. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 25, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1998, entitled "An act for the +relief of John D. Ham," which grants a pension to the party named. + +The claimant alleges that he enrolled in the Army in January, 1862, +and was "sworn in at his own home;" that the next day he started on +horseback to go to the regiment he was to join, and that on the way his +horse fell upon his left ankle, whereby he sustained an injury which +entitles him to a pension. + +His name is not borne upon any of the rolls of the regiment he alleges +he was on his way to join. + +He filed his application for pension in the Pension Bureau October 17, +1879 (seventeen years after his alleged injury), which was rejected +apparently on the ground that he was not in the military service when +the disability claimed was incurred. + +He was drafted in 1863 and served until he was mustered out in 1865. + +It is entirely clear that this claimant was not in the military service +at the time he claims to have been injured; and his conduct in remaining +at home until he was drafted, nearly two years afterwards, furnishes +proof that he did not regard himself as in the meantime owing any +military duty. These considerations, and the further facts that upon +being drafted he was accepted as physically qualified for service, that +he actually thereafter served a year and eight months, and that he +waited seventeen years before claiming pension for his injury, in my +mind present a case upon which the claimant is entitled to no relief +even if charity instead of just liberality is invoked. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 25, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 1290, entitled "An +act granting a pension to David W. Hamilton." + +A claim for pension filed by him in November, 1879, was rejected by the +Pension Bureau on the ground that his alleged disability existed prior +to his enlistment. + +An examination of the records in the Adjutant-General's Office and +a statement from the Pension Bureau derived from the claimant's +application there for pension, with a reference to the report of the +committee to whom this bill was referred, disclose the following facts: + +The claimant was mustered in the service as first lieutenant in +September, 1861, and as captain June 12, 1862. He is reported as present +with his company until the 30th of that month. For the six months +immediately following the latter date he is reported as "absent sick," +and for the ten months next succeeding, and until October 27, 1863, as +"absent on detached service." On the day last mentioned he tendered his +resignation at Camp Morton, in the State of Indiana, to enable him to +accept an appointment as captain in the Invalid Corps. He was thereupon +so appointed upon account of "chronic enlargement of the spermatic cord +of several years' standing, consequent upon hydrocele." He remained in +the Invalid Corps until July 12, 1864, when, upon the tender of his +resignation, he was discharged. + +Less than four months afterwards, and on the 6th day of November, 1864, +he was mustered in the service as a captain in another regiment of +volunteers, and on the 17th day of November, 1865, again tendered his +resignation, and was finally discharged. + +Upon his application for pension under the general law, fourteen years +thereafter, he admitted that he suffered from hydrocele as early as +1856, but claimed that an operation then performed for the same had +given him permanent relief. + +It will be seen that the claimant's term of service was liberally +interspersed with sick leave, detached service, resignations, and +membership in the Invalid Corps. He admits having the trouble which +would naturally result in his alleged disability long before he entered +the service. The surgeon upon whose certificate he was appointed to the +Invalid Corps must have stated to him the character of his difficulty +and that it was chronic. No application for pension was made until +fourteen years after his discharge and just prior to the expiration of +the time within which large arrearages might have been claimed. There is +no hint of any medical testimony at all contradicting the certificate of +the army surgeon made in 1863, but it is stated in the report of the +committee that he can not procure medical testimony as to his soundness +before entering the service because his family physician is dead. If he +had filed his application earlier, it would have appeared in better +faith, and it may be that he could have secured the evidence of his +family physician if it was of the character he desired. + +After the Pension Bureau has been in operation for a score of years +since the late civil war, equipped with thousands of employees charged +with no other duty except the ascertainment and adjustment of the claims +of our discharged soldiers and their surviving relatives, it seems +to me that a stronger case than this should be presented to justify +the passage of a special act, twenty-three years after an alleged +disability, granting a pension which has been refused by the Bureau +especially organized for the purpose of allowing the same under just +and liberal laws. + +I am by no means insensible to that influence which leads the judgment +toward the allowance of every claim alleged to be founded upon patriotic +service in the nation's cause; and yet I neither believe it to be a duty +nor a kindness to the worthy citizens for whose benefit our scheme of +pensions was provided to permit the diversion of the nation's bounty to +objects not within its scope and purpose. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 1850, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Annie C. Owen." + +The husband of the claimant was mustered into the service as second +lieutenant December 14, 1861, and discharged October 16, 1862. It +appears that he died in 1876 from neuralgia of the heart. In 1883 the +present claimant filed her application for pension, alleging that her +husband received two shell wounds, one in the calf of his left leg and +one in his left side, on the 1st day of July, 1862, and claiming that +they were in some way connected with the cause of his death. + +On the records of his command there is no mention made of either wound, +but it does appear that on the 8th day of July, seven days after the +date of the alleged wounds, he was granted a leave of absence for thirty +days on account, as stated in a medical certificate, of "remittent fever +and diarrhea." A medical certificate dated August 5, 1862, while absent +on leave, represents him to be at that time suffering from "chronic +bronchitis and acute dysentery." + +The application made for pension by the widow was rejected by the +Pension Bureau February 1, 1886. + +There is nothing before me showing that the husband of the claimant ever +filed an application for pension, though he lived nearly fourteen years +after his discharge; and his widow's claim was not made until twenty-one +years after the alleged wounds and seven years after her husband's +death. + +If the information furnished concerning this soldier's service is +correct, this claim for pension must be based upon a mistake. It is +hardly possible that wounds such as are alleged should be received in +battle by a second lieutenant and no record made of them; that he should +seven days thereafter receive a leave of absence for other sickness, +with no mention of these wounds, and that a medical certificate should +be made (probably with a view of prolonging his leave) stating still +other ailments, but silent as to wounds. The further facts that he made +no claim for pension and that the claim of his widow was long delayed +are worthy of consideration. And if the wounds were received as +described there is certainly no necessary connection between them and +death fourteen years afterwards from neuralgia of the heart. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval a bill originating in the House of +Representatives, numbered 2145, and entitled "An act for the relief of +Rebecca Eldridge." + +This bill provides for the payment of a pension to the claimant as the +widow of Wilber H. Eldridge, who was mustered into the service on the +24th day of July, 1862, and discharged June 21, 1865. He was pensioned +at the rate of $2 per month for a slight wound in the calf of the left +leg, received on the 25th day of March, 1865. There is no pretense that +this wound was at all serious, and a surgeon who examined it in 1880 +reported that in his opinion the wounded man "was not incapacitated from +obtaining his subsistence by manual labor;" that the ball passed "rather +superficially through the muscles," and that the party examined said +there was no lameness "unless after long standing or walking a good +deal." + +On the 28th of January, 1881, while working about a building, he fell +backward from a ladder and fractured his skull, from which he died the +same day. + +Without a particle of proof and with no fact established which connects +the fatal accident in the remotest degree with the wound referred to, it +is proposed to grant a pension to the widow of $12 per month. + +It is not a pleasant thing to interfere in such a case; but we are +dealing with pensions, and not with gratuities. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 1253, entitled "An act +granting a pension to J.D. Haworth." + +It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension to the claimant for the +alleged loss of sight in one eye and the impairment of the vision of the +other. + +From the information furnished me I am convinced that the difficulty +alleged by this applicant had its origin in causes existing prior to his +enlistment, and that his present condition of disability is not the +result of his service in the Army. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval a bill which originated in the House of +Representatives, numbered 1582, and entitled "An act for the relief of +Eleanor C. Bangham." + +The claimant in this case is the widow of John S. Bangham, who was +mustered into the service of the United States as a private on the 26th +day of March, 1864, and was discharged by general order June 23, 1865. + +It appears that during his fifteen months of service he was sick a +considerable part of the time, and the records in two of the hospitals +to which he was admitted show that his sickness was epilepsy. There are +no records showing the character of his illness in other hospitals. + +His widow, the present claimant, filed an application for pension March +12, 1878, alleging that her husband committed suicide September 10, +1873, from the effects of chronic diarrhea and general debility +contracted in the service. Upon the evidence then produced her claim was +allowed at the rate of $8 a month. She remained upon the rolls until +July, 1885, when a special examination of the case was made, upon which +it was developed and admitted by the pensioner that the deceased soldier +had suffered from epilepsy from early childhood, and that during a +despondent mood following an epileptic fit he committed suicide. + +Upon these facts it was determined by the Pension Bureau that the +pension should not have been granted, and it was withdrawn. It was so +satisfactorily proven that the disease which indirectly caused the death +of the claimant's husband was not contracted in the service that, in my +opinion, the conclusion arrived at on such examination should stand. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval bill No. 1406, which originated in the +House of Representatives and is entitled "An act granting a pension to +Simmons W. Harden." + +The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted as a private December 30, +1863, and was discharged May 17, 1865. + +He filed an application for pension in 1866, in which he alleged that +he was injured in the left side by a fall from a wagon while in the +service. + +In 1880 he filed another application, in which he claimed that he was +afflicted with an enlargement of the lungs and heart from overexertion +at a review. His record in the Army makes no mention of either of these +troubles, but does show that he had at some time during his service +dyspepsia and intermittent fever. + +The fact that fourteen years elapsed after he claimed to have been +injured by a fall from a wagon before he discovered that enlargement of +the lungs and heart was his real difficulty is calculated to at least +raise a doubt as to the validity of his claim. + +The evidence as to his condition at the time of enlistment, as well as +since, seems quite contradictory and unsatisfactory. The committee to +which the bill was referred report that "the only question in the case +is as to his condition at time of enlistment, and the evidence is so +flatly contradictory on that point that it is impossible to decide that +question." + +Notwithstanding this declaration, it is proposed to allow him a pension +of $16 a month, though he has survived all his ailments long enough to +reach the age of 72 years. + +I think upon the case presented the action of the Pension Bureau +overruling his claim should not be reversed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 1, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith Senate bill No. 1441, entitled "An act granting a +pension to M. Romahn." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted September 13, 1862, and was +discharged May 24, 1865. + +He filed his claim in the Pension Bureau December 5, 1882, alleging +that in the winter of 1862, from being put on duty--standing guard +excessively--he became afflicted with varicose veins. His army record +shows no disability of any kind, though he served more than two years +after the date at which he alleges his injury was incurred. His +application was rejected on the ground that no record of his disability +appeared and that the evidence of the same filed upon such application +was insufficient. + +The claim now made to Congress for relief is the same as that made to +the Pension Bureau, with the allegation added that in May, 1865, his +breast and shoulder were injured by a railroad accident while he was on +detail duty. + +If the latter-described injury really existed, it is exceeding strange +that it found no place in his claim before the Pension Bureau, while the +account given of the cause of his alleged varicose veins must surprise +those who are at all familiar with the character of that difficulty and +the routine of army service. His continued performance of military +duty after he incurred this infirmity, the fact that he made no claim +for pension on that account until twenty years had passed, and the +unsatisfactory evidence now produced to support his allegation tend +to induce the suspicion that the decision of the Pension Bureau was +entirely just and that this bill is not based upon substantial merits. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +Senate bill No. 789, entitled "An act granting a pension to John S. +Williams," is herewith returned without approval. + +This claimant enlisted in 1861. He alleges that his shoulder was +dislocated in 1862 while ferrying troops across a river. The records of +the War Department fail to furnish any information as to the alleged +injury. He served afterwards until 1865 and was discharged. His claim +for pension was rejected by the Pension Bureau in 1882, twenty years +after the time he fixes as the date of his injury; and after such long +delay he states as an excuse for the unsatisfactory nature of his proof +that the doctors, surgeons, and officers who knew him are dead. + +Considering that the injury complained of is merely a dislocation of the +shoulder, and in view of the other facts developed in the case, I think +the Pension Bureau arrived at a correct conclusion when this claim was +rejected. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 327, entitled "An act granting +a pension to James E. O'Shea." + +From the report of the committee to whom this bill was referred I learn +that the claimant enlisted in April, 1861, and was discharged in +October, 1864. + +He filed a claim in the Pension Bureau alleging that he received a saber +wound in the head March 7, 1862, and a gunshot wound in the left leg in +the autumn of the same year. + +It appears upon examination of his military record that there is no +mention of either disability, and that he served two years after the +time he claims to have received these injuries. So far from being +disabled, it is reported as an incident of his army life that in the +year 1864 this soldier was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to +forfeit all pay and allowances for the time he was absent. + +The report of the committee, in apparent explanation of the lack of any +official mention of the injuries alleged, declares that "the fact that +the records of the War Department are often imperfect works great +hardship to men who apply for pensions;" and his conviction of desertion +and the lack of proof to sustain his allegations as to his injuries are +disposed of as follows in the committee's report: + + The Adjutant-General's report shows that the man was under discipline + for some irregularities, but notwithstanding this and the lack of the + required proof that he was wounded in the line of duty the committee are + of the opinion that, situated as he was, he was very liable to and very + probably did receive the wound from which he has suffered and is still + suffering. + + +I am convinced that there exists serious difficulty on the part of the +claimant instead of in the record of the War Department; that the kind +of irregularity for which he was under discipline is calculated to +produce a lack of confidence in his merits as a pensioner, and that the +fact of his situation being such as to render him liable to receive a +wound is hardly sufficient to establish his right to a soldier's +pension, which is only justified by injuries actually received and +affirmatively proven. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 1726, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Augustus Field Stevens." + +It appears that this claimant enlisted August 21, 1861, and was +discharged on the 3d day of October, 1861, after a service of less than +two months, upon a medical certificate of disability which represented +him as "incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of +general debility, advanced age, unfit for service before entering." + +His claim is not based upon any wound or injury, but he alleges that +he contracted chronic diarrhea or dysentery while in the service. The +committee to whom the bill was referred by the Senate admit that "there +is a quantity of contradictory testimony, biased in about equal +proportion for and against the claimant." + +His claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau in 1882 and again in 1885, +after a special examination concerning the facts, on the ground that the +claimant had failed to show any pensionable disability contracted while +he was in the service. + +The medical certificate upon which he was discharged makes no mention +of the disorders of which the applicant for pension now complains, but +contains other statements which demonstrate that no allowance should +be made to him by way of pension, unless such pension is to be openly +and confessedly regarded as a mere charity, or unless the medical +certificate made at the time of discharge, with the patient under +observation, is to be, without any allegation to that effect, impeached. + +I am not prepared either to gratuitously set at naught two +determinations of the Pension Bureau, one very lately made after a +special examination, and especially when the evidence produced before +the committee to reverse the Bureau's action is admitted to be +"contradictory" and "biased in about equal proportion for and against +the claimant." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith Senate bill No. 226, entitled "An act granting a +pension to Margaret D. Marchand," without approval. + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of John B. Marchand, who +entered the United States Navy in 1828, who was promoted to the rank of +commodore in 1866, and who was placed upon the retired list in 1870. He +died in August, 1875, of heart disease. + +His widow filed an application for pension in 1883, claiming that his +fatal disease was caused by exposure and exertion in the service during +the War of the Rebellion. The application was rejected because of the +inability to furnish evidence to prove that the death had any relation +to the naval service of the deceased. + +I am unable to see how any other conclusion could have been reached. The +information furnished by the report of the committee to whom this bill +was referred and derived from other data before me absolutely fails to +connect the death of Commodore Marchand with any incident of his naval +service. + +This officer was undoubtedly brave and efficient, rendering his +country valuable service; but it does not appear to have been of so +distinguished a character, nor are the circumstances of his widow +alleged to be such, as to render a gratuity justifiable. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without my approval Senate bill No. 183, entitled "An +act for the relief of Thomas S. Hopkins, late of Company C, Sixteenth +Maine Volunteers." + +This soldier was enrolled in the Army June 2, 1862, and discharged June +30, 1865. He was sent to the Government hospital September 20, 1863, and +thereupon transferred to the Invalid Corps. + +He filed his declaration for a pension in November, 1880, alleging that +while in the service he contracted malarial fever and chronic diarrhea, +and was seized with convulsions, suffering from great general debility. + +A pension of $50 a month was granted to him in June, 1881, dating from +the time of filing his application, which sum he has been receiving up +to the present time. + +This bill proposes to remove the limitation fixed by the law of 1879 +prescribing the date prior to which an application for pension must be +filed in order to entitle the claimant to draw the pension allowed from +the time of his discharge from the service. + +If this bill should become a law, it would entitle the claimant to about +$9,000 of back pension. This is claimed upon the ground that the soldier +was so sick from the time of the passage of the act creating the +limitation up to the date allowed him to avail himself of the privileges +of the act that he could not file his claim. + +I think the limitation thus fixed a very wise one, and that it should +not, in fairness to other claimants, be relaxed for causes not mentioned +in the statute; nor should the door be opened to applications of this +kind. + +The beneficiary named in this bill had fifteen years after the accruing +of his claim, and before it is alleged that he was incapacitated, within +which he might have filed his application and entitled himself to the +back pension now applied for. + +The facts here presented come so far short of furnishing a satisfactory +excuse for his delay that, in my judgment, the discrimination asked in +his favor should not be granted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 763, entitled "An act for the +erection of a public building at Sioux City, Iowa." + +The report of the committee of the House of Representatives to whom this +bill was referred states that by the census of 1880 the population of +Sioux City was nearly 8,000, and that by other enumerations since made +its population would seem to exceed 23,000. It is further stated in the +report that for the accommodation of this population the city contains +393 brick and 2,984 frame buildings. + +It seems to me that in the consideration of the merits of this bill the +necessities of the Government should control the question, and that it +should be decided as a business proposition, depending upon the needs of +a Government building at the point proposed in order to do the +Government work. + +This greatly reduces the value of statistics showing population, extent +of business, prospective growth, and matters of that kind, which, though +exceedingly interesting, do not always demonstrate the necessity of the +expenditure of a large sum of money for a public building. + +I find upon examination that United States courts are sometimes held +at Sioux City, but that they have been thus far held in the county +court-house without serious inconvenience and without any expense to the +Government. There are actually no other Federal officers there for whom +the Government in any view should provide accommodations except the +postmaster. The post-office is now located in a building rented by the +Government until the 1st day of January, 1889, at the rate of $2,200 per +annum. + +By the last report of the Supervising Architect it appears that on +October 1, 1885, there were 80 new public buildings in course of +construction, and that the amount expended thereon during the preceding +year was nearly $2,500,000, while large appropriations are asked to be +expended on these buildings during the current year. + +In my judgment the number of public buildings should not at this time be +increased unless a greater public necessity exists therefor than is +apparent in this case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 206, entitled "An act to +provide for the erection of a public building in the city of Zanesville, +Ohio." + +No Federal courts are held at Zanesville, and there are no Government +officers located there who should be provided for at the public expense +except the postmaster. + +So far as I am informed the patrons of the post-office are fairly well +accommodated in a building which is rented by the Government at the rate +of $800 per annum; and though the postmaster naturally certifies that he +and his fourteen employees require much more spacious surroundings, I +have no doubt he and they can be induced to continue to serve the +Government in its present quarters. + +The public buildings now in process of construction, numbering 80, +involving constant supervision, are all the building projects which the +Government ought to have on hand at one time, unless a very palpable +necessity exists for an increase in the number. The multiplication of +these structures involves not only the appropriations made for their +completion, but great expense in their care and preservation thereafter. + +While a fine Government building is a desirable ornament to any town +or city, and while the securing of an appropriation therefor is often +considered as an illustration of zeal and activity in the interest of a +constituency, I am of the opinion that the expenditure of public money +for such a purpose should depend upon the necessity of such a building +for public uses. + +In the case under consideration I have no doubt the Government can be +well accommodated for some time to come in all its business relations +with the people of Zanesville by renting quarters, at less expense than +the annual cost of maintaining the proposed new building after its +completion. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 1990, entitled "An act +granting a pension to John Hunter." + +The claimant was enrolled July 20, 1864, and was discharged by +expiration of his term of service July 13, 1865. + +During four months of the twelve while he remained in the service he is +reported as "absent sick." His hospital record shows that he was treated +for intermittent fever and rheumatism. In 1879, fourteen years after his +discharge, he filed his claim for a pension, alleging that in May, 1864, +he received a gunshot wound in the right leg while in a skirmish. The +month of May, 1864, is included in the time during which, by the record, +he appears to have been absent sick and undergoing treatment for fever +and rheumatism. His claim was rejected in December, 1884, on the ground +that there was no record of the alleged wound and the claimant was +unable, though aided by the Bureau, to prove that the injury claimed was +due to the service. + +The evidence recited in the report of the Congressional committee to +whom this bill was referred, though it tends to show, if reliable, that +when the soldier returned from his service his leg was affected, fails +to show a continuous disability from that cause. It is stated that about +five years ago, while the claimant was gathering dandelions, in stepping +across a ditch his leg broke. The doctor who attended him states that +the leg was about four weeks longer in uniting than is usual, but he is +not represented as giving an opinion that the fracture had anything to +do with his patient's military service. + +I find no reference to his condition since his recovery from the +fracture of his leg, and there seems to be no allegation of present +disability either from army service or the injury sustained while +gathering dandelions. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without my approval House bill No. 4002, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Carter W. Tiller." + +The records of the War Department show that George W. Tiller, the son +of the claimant, enlisted in a Kentucky regiment on the 8th day of +October, 1861, and that he deserted on the 20th day of September, 1863; +that he was captured by the Confederates afterwards, but the time and +circumstances are not given. On the 21st day of July, 1864, he was +admitted to the Andersonville hospital, and died the same day of +scorbutus. + +The father filed his claim for a pension in 1877, alleging his +dependence upon the deceased soldier. It is probably true that the son +while in the Army sent money to the claimant, though he appears to have +been employed as a policeman in the city of Louisville ever since his +son's death, at a fair salary. + +The claim thus made was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground +that the claimant was not dependent upon his son. + +I am entirely satisfied of the correctness of this determination, and if +the records presented to me are reliable I think the fact which appears +therefrom, that the death of the soldier occurred ten months after +desertion and had no apparent relation to any service in the Union Army, +is conclusive against the claim now made. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3826, entitled "An act for the +relief of John Taylor." + +By this bill it is proposed to increase the pension of the beneficiary +named to $16 a month. He has been receiving a pension under the general +law, dating from his discharge in 1865. His pension has been twice +already increased, once by the Pension Bureau and once by a special act +passed in 1882. His wound is not such as to cause his disability to +become aggravated by time. The increase allowed by this bill, when +applied for at the Pension Bureau in 1885, was denied on the ground that +"the rate he was receiving was commensurate with the degree of his +disability, a board of surgeons having reported that he was receiving a +liberal rating." + +I can discover no just ground for reversing this determination and +making a further discrimination in favor of this pensioner. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5997, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Elizabeth Luce." + +The claimant named in this bill is the widow of John W. Luce, who +entered the Army in August, 1861, and who was discharged in January, +1864, for a disability declared at the time in the surgeon's certificate +to arise from "organic stricture of the urethra," which, from his +statement, existed at the time of his enlistment. + +Notwithstanding the admission which thus appears to have been made by +him at the time of his discharge, he soon afterwards made an application +for a pension, alleging that his difficulty arose from his being thrown +forward on the pommel of his saddle when in the service. + +Upon an examination of this claim by a special examiner, it is stated +that no one could be found who had any knowledge of such an injury, and +the claim was rejected. + +In 1883, twenty years after the soldier alleged he was injured in the +manner stated, he died, and the cause of his death was declared to be +"chronic gastritis, complicated with kidney difficulty." + +It is alleged that the examinations made by the Pension Bureau developed +the fact that the deceased soldier was a man of quite intemperate +habits. + +The theory upon which this widow should be pensioned can only be that +the death of her husband resulted from a disability or injury contracted +or received in the military service. It seems to me that however +satisfactorily the injury which he described may be established, and +though every suspicion as to his habits be dismissed, there can hardly +possibly be any connection between such an injury and the causes to +which his death is attributed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4058, entitled "An act for the +relief of Joel D. Monroe." + +The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted in August, 1864, and was +discharged with his regiment June 4, 1865. + +The record of his short military service exhibits no mention of any +injury or disability; but in June, 1880, fifteen years after his +discharge, he filed in the Pension Bureau a claim for a pension based +upon the allegation that in December, 1864, he was injured by the +falling of a tree, which struck him on his head, affecting both of his +eyes. He added to this allegation the further complaint that he +contracted rheumatism while in the service. + +The application for a pension was rejected by the Pension Bureau because +there was no record of the disabilities claimed, nor was satisfactory +proof furnished that any such disabilities originated in the service. + +I am so entirely satisfied with this determination of the Pension Bureau +that I am constrained to withhold my approval of this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3624, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Fred. J. Leese." + +This claimant enlisted September 7, 1864, and was discharged June 4, +1865. During his short term of service there does not appear on the +records any evidence of disability. + +But in November, 1883, eighteen years after his discharge, he filed his +application for a pension, alleging that in November, 1864, he +contracted chronic diarrhea from exposure and severe work. + +His claim has not yet been fully passed upon by the Pension Bureau, +which, in my opinion, is sufficient reason why this bill should not +become a law. I am also thoroughly convinced, from examination of the +case, that the claimant should not be pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6897, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Henry Hipple, jr." + +This claimant entered the Army as a drummer August 6, 1862, and was +discharged May 29, 1863. + +In 1879, sixteen years after his discharge, he appears to have +discovered that during his short term of military service in the +inhospitable climate of Port Tobacco, within the State of Maryland, he +contracted rheumatism to such an extent as to entitle him to pension, +for which he then applied. + +It is conceded that he received no medical treatment while in the Army +for this complaint, nor does he seem to have been attended by a +physician since his discharge. + +Without commenting further upon the features of this case which tend to +discredit it, I deem myself obliged to disapprove this bill on the +ground that there is an almost complete failure to state any facts that +should entitle the claimant to a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval a bill originating in the House of +Representatives, entitled "An act granting an increase of pension to +John W. Farris," which bill is numbered 6136. + +The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted in the month of October, +1861, and was mustered out of the service in August, 1865. + +In 1881, sixteen years after his discharge, he filed an application +for a pension, alleging that he was afflicted with chronic diarrhea +contracted in the Army, and in 1885 his claim was allowed, and he was +granted a pension for that cause. + +In September of the same year, and after this pension was granted, he +filed an application for an increase of his rate, alleging that in 1884 +his eyes became affected in consequence of his previous ailments and the +debility consequent thereupon. + +The ingenuity developed in the constant and persistent attacks upon +the public Treasury by those claiming pensions, and the increase of those +already granted, is exhibited in bold relief by this attempt to include +sore eyes among the results of diarrhea. + +I am entirely satisfied with the opinion of the medical referee, who, +after examining this case in October, 1885, reported that "the disease +of the eyes can not be admitted to be a result of chronic diarrhea." + +On all grounds it seems to me that this claimant should be contented +with the pension which has been already allowed him. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 1707, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Elijah P. Hensley." + +The records of the War Department show that this claimant was mustered +into the Third North Carolina Regiment, but on the muster-out roll of +his company he is reported to have deserted April 3, 1865, and there is +no record of any discharge or disability. + +In September, 1866, an order was issued from his department headquarters +removing the charge of desertion against him. Thirteen days afterwards, +and on the 25th day of September, 1866, he filed an application for +pension, which in 1868 was granted. He drew such pension dating from +1865 until 1877, when, upon evidence that the injury for which he was +pensioned was not received in the line of duty, his name was dropped +from the rolls. + +The pensioner appealed from this determination of the Pension Bureau to +the Secretary of the Interior, who, as lately as May, 1885, rendered a +decision sustaining the action of the Bureau. + +I find nothing in the facts presented to me which, in my opinion, +justifies the reversal of the judgment of the Bureau and the Secretary +of the Interior. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2223, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Elizabeth S. De Krafft." + +My objection to this bill is that it is of no possible advantage to the +beneficiary therein mentioned. It directs that her name be placed upon +the pension roll, subject to the provisions and limitations of the +pension laws. The effect of such legislation would be to permit Mrs. De +Krafft to draw a pension at the rate of $30 each month from the date of +the approval of the bill. + +On the 26th day of February, 1886, under the provisions of the general +pension law, she was allowed a pension of this exact sum, but the +payments were to date from November 10, 1885. + +I am so thoroughly tired of disapproving gifts of public money to +individuals who in my view have no right or claim to the same, +notwithstanding apparent Congressional sanction, that I interpose with +a feeling of relief a veto in a case where I find it unnecessary to +determine the merits of the application. In speaking of the promiscuous +and ill-advised grants of pensions which have lately been presented to +me for approval, I have spoken of their "apparent Congressional +sanction" in recognition of the fact that a large proportion of these +bills have never been submitted to a majority of either branch of +Congress, but are the result of nominal sessions held for the express +purpose of their consideration and attended by a small minority of the +members of the respective Houses of the legislative branch of +Government. + +Thus in considering these bills I have not felt that I was aided by the +deliberate judgment of the Congress; and when I have deemed it my duty +to disapprove many of the bills presented, I have hardly regarded my +action as a dissent from the conclusions of the people's +representatives. + +I have not been insensible to the suggestions which should influence +every citizen, either in private station or official place, to exhibit +not only a just but a generous appreciation of the services of our +country's defenders. In reviewing the pension legislation presented to +me many bills have been approved upon the theory that every doubt should +be resolved in favor of the proposed beneficiary. I have not, however, +been able to entirely divest myself of the idea that the public money +appropriated for pensions is the soldiers' fund, which should be devoted +to the indemnification of those who in the defense of the Union and in +the nation's service have worthily suffered, and who in the day of +their dependence resulting from such suffering are entitled to the +benefactions of their Government. This reflection lends to the bestowal +of pensions a kind of sacredness which invites the adoption of such +principles and regulations as will exclude perversion as well as insure +a liberal and generous application of grateful and benevolent designs. +Heedlessness and a disregard of the principle which underlies the +granting of pensions is unfair to the wounded, crippled soldier who is +honored in the just recognition of his Government. Such a man should +never find himself side by side on the pension roll with those who have +been tempted to attribute the natural ills to which humanity is heir to +service in the Army. Every relaxation of principle in the granting of +pensions invites applications without merit and encourages those who +for gain urge honest men to become dishonest. Thus is the demoralizing +lesson taught the people that as against the public Treasury the most +questionable expedients are allowable. + +During the present session of Congress 493 special pension bills have +been submitted to me, and I am advised that 111 more have received the +favorable action of both Houses of Congress and will be presented within +a day or two, making over 600 of these bills which have been passed up +to this time during the present session, nearly three times the number +passed at any entire session since the year 1861. With the Pension +Bureau, fully equipped and regulated by the most liberal rules, in +active operation, supplemented in its work by constant special +legislation, it certainly is not unreasonable to suppose that in all the +years that have elapsed since the close of the war a majority of the +meritorious claims for pensions have been presented and determined. + +I have now more than 130 of these bills before me awaiting Executive +action. It will be impossible to bestow upon them the examination they +deserve, and many will probably become operative which should be +rejected. + +In the meantime I venture to suggest the significance of the startling +increase in this kind of legislation and the consequences involved in +its continuance. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 21, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 1584, entitled "An act +for the relief of Cornelia R. Schenck." + +It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension to Mrs. Schenck as the +widow of Daniel P. Schenck, who entered the military service of the +United States in August, 1861, and was mustered out October 21, 1864. + +The record of his service contains no mention of any disability. He died +in December, 1875, of a disease called gastroenteritis, which, being +interpreted, seems to denote "inflammation of the stomach and small +intestines." So far as the facts are made to appear, the soldier, +neither during the term of his service nor during the eleven years he +lived after his discharge, made any claim of any disability. + +The claim of his widow was filed in the Pension Bureau in 1885, ten +years after her husband's death, and is still undetermined. + +The fact that her application is still pending in that Bureau is +sufficient reason why this bill should not become a law. + +A better reason is based upon the entire lack of any facts shown to +exist which entitle the beneficiary named to a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 1192, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Alfred Denny." + +It appears that the claimant entered the United States military service +as captain and assistant quartermaster of volunteers on the 12th day of +June, 1863. After remaining in such position for less than a year he +resigned to accept a civil position. + +The short record of his military service discloses no mention of any +accident or disability. But twenty years after his resignation, and on +the 12th day of March, 1884, he reappears as an applicant for a pension, +and alleges in his declaration filed in the Pension Bureau that in +August, 1863, while in the line of duty, he was, by a sudden movement of +the horse he was riding, thrown forward upon the horn of his saddle and +thereby received a rupture in his right side, which at some time and in +a manner wholly unexplained subsequently caused a rupture in his left +side also. + +The number of instances in which those of our soldiers who rode horses +during the war were injured by being thrown forward upon their saddles +indicate that those saddles were very dangerous contrivances. + +I am satisfied there is not a particle of merit in this claim, and no +facts are presented to me which entitle it to charitable consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 1400, entitled "An act +granting a pension to William H. Beck." + +This claimant enlisted in 1861. He reenlisted as a veteran volunteer +January i, 1864, and was finally mustered out April 20, 1866. In all +this time of service his record shows no medical treatment or claim of +disability. Indeed, an abstract of his reenlistment January 1, 1864, +shows a medical examination and perfect soundness. + +Notwithstanding all this, he filed his declaration on the 4th day of +April, 1879, nearly thirteen years after his discharge, alleging that in +June, 1863, he incurred epilepsy, to which he has been subject since, +and that his fits have been from one to ten days apart. To connect this +in some way with his military service he stated that the doctor at a +hospital said his epilepsy was caused "by jar to the head from heavy +firing." + +Six months after this alleged "jar" and his consequent epilepsy he +reenlisted upon a medical certificate of perfect soundness and served +more than two years thereafter. + +Every conceded fact in the case negatives the allegations of his +declaration, and the rejection of his claim necessarily followed. + +If this disease can be caused in the manner here detailed, its +manifestations are such as to leave no doubt of its existence, and it +seems to me simply impossible under the circumstances detailed that +there should be any lack of evidence to support the claim upon which +this bill is predicated. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 2005, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary J. Nottage." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of Thomas Nottage, who +enlisted in August, 1861, and was discharged for disability September +17, 1862. The assistant surgeon of his regiment, upon his discharge, +certified the cause to be "disease of the urinary organs," which had +troubled him several years. + +He died of consumption January 8, 1879, nearly seventeen years after his +discharge, without ever having made any application for a pension. + +In 1880 his widow made an application for pension, alleging that he +contracted in the service "malarial poisoning, causing remittent fever, +piles, general debility, consumption, and death," and that he left two +children, both born after his discharge, one in 1866 and the other in +1874. + +The only medical testimony which has been brought to my attention +touching his condition since his discharge is that of a single physician +to the effect that he attended him from the year 1873 to the time of his +death in 1879. He states that the patient had during that time "repeated +attacks of remittent fever and irritability of the bladder, with organic +deposits;" that "in the spring of 1878 he had sore throat and cough, +which resulted in consumption, of which he died." + +The claim of the widow was rejected in July, 1885, on the ground that +"the soldier's death was not the result of his service." + +I am satisfied that this conclusion of the Pension Bureau was correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 342, entitled "An Act +granting a pension to Marrilla Parsons, of Detroit, Mich." + +No claim has ever been made for a pension in this case to the Pension +Bureau, probably for the reason that there is no pretext that the +beneficiary named is entitled to a pension under any general law. + +Daniel P. Parsons was her stepson, who enlisted in 1861 and died of +consumption on the 13th day of August, 1864. + +There are no special circumstances to distinguish this case from many +others whose claims might be made by stepparents, and there are no facts +stated in support of the conclusion embodied in the committee's report +that the soldier was taken sick from exposure incident to the service. + +To depart from all rules regulating the granting of pensions by such an +enactment as is proposed would establish a precedent which could not +fail to cause embarrassment and perplexity. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1383, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Harriet Welch." + +The beneficiary named in this bill asks for a pension as the widow of +Syreannous Welch, who was wounded in 1864 while in the service, and was +pensioned therefor in 1867. In 1876 his rate of pension was increased. +In 1877 he appears to have applied to have his pension again increased. +It is alleged that upon such application he was directed to appear +before an examining board or a surgeon at Green Bay, Wis., for +examination, and in returning to his home from that place on the 7th day +of September, 1877, he fell from the cars and was killed, his remains +having been found on the track the next morning. + +No one appears to have seen the accident, but it is claimed that he +could not depend upon his wounded leg, and that it "gave way many times +and caused him to fall." From this statement the inference seems to have +been indulged that his death was attributable to the wound he had +received thirteen years before. + +The widow's claim based upon this state of facts was rejected by the +Pension Bureau on the ground that the accident resulting in death was +not the result of his military service, and on an appeal taken to the +Secretary of the Interior from that determination the same was +sustained. + +Though this widow admits that prior to her marriage with the deceased +soldier she had married another man whom she could only say she believed +to be dead, I believe her case to be a pitiable one and wish that I +could join in her relief; but, unfortunately, official duty can not +always be well done when directed solely by sympathy and charity. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1288, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Robert Holsey." + +This claimant enlisted in 1862, and though he appears to have been sick +on two occasions during his term of service, he remained with his +company until it was mustered out in 1865. + +This soldier was really sick during the time he remained in the Army, +and in this respect his claim for a pension has a better origin than +many that are presented. But the fact must be recognized, I suppose, +that every army ailment does not necessarily result in death or +disability. + +In 1882, seventeen years after his discharge, this soldier filed his +declaration for a pension, alleging that in 1863 he contracted +intermittent fever, affecting his lungs, kidneys, and stomach. + +A board of surgeons, upon an examination made in 1882, find disease of +kidneys, but no indication of lung and stomach trouble; and a medical +referee reported in 1885 that there had been no disease of the stomach +and lungs since the filing of the claim, and that the difficulty +affecting the kidneys had no relation to the sickness for which the +claimant had been treated while in the Army. + +I am of the opinion that a correct conclusion was reached when the +application for pension in this case was denied by the Pension Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7979, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Jackson Steward." + +This claimant's application for pension is now pending in the Pension +Bureau, and has been sent to a special examiner for the purpose of +taking additional proof. + +This I deem sufficient reason why the proposed bill should not now +become a law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 2025, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James Butler." + +This claimant was enrolled as a private in a New Hampshire regiment +August 23, 1864, but on the organization of his company, on the 12th day +of September, 1864, he was discharged on account of a fracture of his +leg, which happened on the 11th day of September, 1864. + +It appears that before the organization of the company to which he was +attached, and on the 10th day of September, he obtained permission to +leave the place of rendezvous for the purpose of visiting his family, +and was to return the next day. At a very early hour in the morning, +either while preparing to return or actually on his way, he fell into a +new cellar and broke his leg. It is said that the leg fractured is now +shorter than the other. + +His claim for pension was rejected in December, 1864, by the Pension +Bureau, and its action was affirmed in 1871 upon the ground that the +injury was received while the claimant was on an individual furlough, +and therefore not in the line of duty. + +Considering the fact that neither his regiment nor his company had at +the time of his accident been organized, and that he was in no sense in +the military service of the United States, and that his injury was +received while on a visit, and not in the performance of duty, I can see +no pretext for allowing a pension in this case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 6688, entitled "An act +for the relief of William Bishop." + +This claimant was enrolled as a substitute on the 25th day of March, +1865. He was admitted to a post hospital at Indianapolis on the 3d day +of April, 1865, with the measles; was removed to the City General +Hospital, in Indianapolis, on the 5th day of May, 1865; was returned to +duty May 8, 1865, and was mustered out with a detachment of unassigned +men on the 11th day of May, 1865. + +This is the military record of this soldier, who remained in the Army +one month and seventeen days, having entered it as a substitute at a +time when high bounties were paid. + +Fifteen years after this brilliant service and this terrific encounter +with the measles, and on the 28th day of June, 1880, the claimant +discovered that his attack of the measles had some relation to his army +enrollment and that this disease had "settled in his eyes, also +affecting his spinal column." + +This claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau, and I have no doubt of +the correctness of its determination. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6266, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Philip Arner." + +It is conceded in the application for a pension made by this claimant +that he was perfectly well prior to his enlistment, during his service, +and for a year thereafter. He was discharged in July, 1864, and the +proof is that he was taken seriously ill in the fall of 1865, since +which time he has been troubled with lung difficulty. + +He filed his application for pension in 1883. This was rejected on the +ground that the sickness which produced his disability having occurred +more than a year after his discharge from the Army, it can not be +accepted as a result of his military service. + +There is absolutely no allegation of any incident of his service which +it is claimed is at all related to his sickness and disability. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6170, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary A. Van Etten." + +In her declaration for a pension, filed July 28, 1885, this claimant +alleges that her husband was drowned upon attempting to cross Braddocks +Bay, near his residence, in the State of New York, on the 16th day of +July, 1875. + +It is claimed that in an effort to drive across that bay in a buggy with +his young son the buggy was overturned and both were drowned. The +application for pension was based upon the theory that during his +military service the deceased soldier contracted rheumatism, which so +interfered with his ability to save himself by swimming that his death +may be fairly traced to a disability incurred in the service. + +He does not appear to have been treated while in the Army for +rheumatism, though some evidence is presented of his complaining of +rheumatic symptoms. + +He was mustered out in 1863, and though he lived twelve years thereafter +it does not appear that he ever applied for a pension; and though he was +drowned in 1875, his widow apparently did not connect his military +service with his death until ten years thereafter. + +It seems to me that there is such an entire absence of direct and +tangible evidence that the death of this soldier resulted from any +incident of his service that the granting of a pension upon such a +theory is not justified. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6117, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James D. Cotton." + +The claim for a pension in this case is on behalf of the father of +Thomas Cotton, who was killed at Pittsburg Landing April 6, 1862. + +The application of this claimant still remains in the Pension Bureau +undetermined. The doubt in the case appears to relate to the dependence +of the father upon his son at the time of his death. + +This is a question which the Bureau is so well fitted to investigate and +justly determine that it is, in my opinion, best to permit the same to +be there fully examined. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6753, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Alice E. Travers." + +The husband of the beneficiary, John T. Travers, enlisted August 25, +1864, and was discharged June 11, 1866. + +He died January 6, 1881, from the effects of an overdose of morphine +which he administered himself. He was a druggist, and when suffering +severely was in the habit of taking opiates for relief and sleep. + +The disease from which it is said he suffered was lung difficulty, +claimed to have been caused by a severe cold contracted in the service. + +It does not appear that he ever applied for a pension, and the widow's +claim seems to have been properly rejected by the Pension Bureau on the +ground that the soldier's death was not due to his military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 1816, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary Ann Miller." + +Hamilton Miller, the husband of the claimant, enlisted April 22, 1861, +and was sent with his regiment to Camp Dennison, in the suburbs of +Cincinnati. + +While thus in camp, apparently before he had ever been to the front, and +on the 3d of June, 1861, he obtained permission to go to the city of +Cincinnati, and was there killed by a blow received from some person who +appears to be unknown; but undoubtedly the injury occurred in a fight or +as the result of an altercation. + +It is very clear to me that the Pension Bureau properly rejected the +widow's claim for pension, for the reason that the soldier was not in +the line of duty at the date of his death. It is also impossible to +connect the death with any incident of the soldier's military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7436, entitled "An act +to grant a pension to Mary Anderson." + +This claimant is the widow of Richard Anderson, who at the time of his +death was receiving a pension on account of chronic diarrhea contracted +in the service. + +On the 7th day of February, 1882, the deceased pensioner went to Sparta, +in the State of Wisconsin, to be examined for an increase of his +pension. He called on the surgeon and was examined, and the next morning +was found beheaded on the railroad track under such circumstances as +indicated suicide. + +The claim of the widow was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground +that the cause of the death of her husband was in no way connected with +his military service. + +His wife and family present pitiable objects for sympathy, but I am +unable to see how they have any claim to a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill 576, entitled "An act for +the relief of Louisa C. Beezeley." + +By this bill it is proposed to grant a pension to the beneficiary named, +as the widow of Nathaniel Beezeley, who was enrolled in an Indiana +regiment as a farrier in September, 1861. He was discharged July 17, +1862, after having been in the hospital considerable of the short time +he was connected with the Army. The surgeon's certificate on his +discharge stated that it was granted by reason of "old age," he then +being 60 years old. + +He never made any claim for pension, but in 1877 his widow filed her +declaration, stating that her husband died in 1875 from disease +contracted in the service. + +I am convinced that the Pension Bureau acted upon entirely satisfactory +evidence when this claim was rejected upon the ground that the cause of +death originated subsequent to the soldier's discharge. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6895, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Sarah Harbaugh." + +The husband of this claimant enlisted August 1, 1861, and was discharged +September 7, 1864. He received a gunshot wound in the left ankle in May, +1863, and died suddenly of disease of the heart October 4, 1881. He was +insane before his death, but in my opinion any connection between his +injury and his service in the Army is next to impossible. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7167, entitled "An act +for the relief of Mrs. Maria Hunter." + +The beneficiary named in this bill, to whom it is therein proposed to +grant a pension at the rate of $50 a month, on the 23d day of March, +1886, filed her application for a pension in the Pension Bureau, where +it is still pending undetermined. + +Although the deceased soldier held a high rank, I have no doubt his +widow will receive ample justice through the instrumentality organized +for the purpose of dispensing the nation's grateful acknowledgment of +military service in its defense. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 3205, entitled "An act +granting a pension to George W. Guyse." + +The claimant filed his declaration for a pension in 1878, alleging that +about the 25th day of December, 1863, he received a gunshot wound in his +left knee while engaged in a skirmish. + +There has been much testimony taken in this case, and a great deal of +it is exceedingly contradictory. Three of the claimant's comrades, who +originally testified to the receipt of the injury by him, afterwards +denied that he was wounded in the service, and a portion of the evidence +taken by the Bureau tends to establish the fact that the claimant cut +his left knee with a knife shortly after his discharge. + +An examining surgeon in November, 1884, reports that he finds "no +indication of a gunshot wound, there being no physical or rational signs +to sustain claimant in his application for pension." + +He further reports that there "seems to be an imperfect scar near the +knee, so imperfect as to render its origin uncertain, but in no respect +resembling a gunshot wound." + +I think upon all the facts presented the Pension Bureau properly +rejected this claim, because there was no record of the injury and no +satisfactory evidence produced showing that it was incurred in service +and in line of duty, "all sources of information having been exhausted." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7401, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Samuel Miller." + +This man was discharged from one enlistment June 16, 1864, and enlisted +again in August of that year. He was finally discharged July 1, 1865. + +In 1880 he filed an application for a pension, alleging that in May, +1862, he contracted in the service "kidney disease and weakness of the +back." + +A board of surgeons in 1881 reported that they failed to "discover any +evidence of disease of kidneys." + +It will be observed that since the date when it is claimed his +disabilities visited him Mr. Miller not only served out his first term +of enlistment, but reenlisted, and necessarily must have passed a +medical examination. + +I am entirely satisfied with the rejection of this claim by the Pension +Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 424, entitled "An act +to pension Giles C. Hawley." + +This claimant enlisted August 5, 1861, and was discharged November 14, +1861, upon a surgeon's certificate, in which he stated: "I deem him +unfit to stay in the service on account of deafness. He can not hear an +ordinary command." + +Seventeen years after his discharge from a military service of a little +more than three months' duration, and in the year 1878, the claimant +filed an application for pension, in which he alleged that "from +exposure and excessive duty in the service his hearing was seriously +affected." + +There is no doubt that his disability existed to quite an extent at +least before his enlistment, and there was plenty of opportunity for its +increase between the time of discharge and of his application for +pension. + +I am entirely satisfied that it should not be altogether charged to the +three months he spent in the service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7222, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Callie West." + +I base my action upon the opinion, derived from an examination of the +circumstances attending the death of the claimant's husband, that his +fatal disease did not have its origin in his military service and was +entirely disconnected therewith. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6257, entitled "An act for the +relief of Julia Connelly." + +It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension to the beneficiary named +as the widow of Thomas Connelly. + +This man was mustered into the service October 26, 1861. He never did a +day's service so far as his name appears, and the muster-out roll of his +company reports him as having deserted at Camp Cameron, Pa., November +14, 1861. + +He visited his family about the 1st day of December, 1861, and was found +December 30, 1861, drowned in a canal about 6 miles from his home. + +Those who prosecute claims for pensions have grown very bold when cases +of this description are presented for consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6774, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Bruno Schultz." + +The application of this claimant for a pension, which was filed a number +of years ago, though at one time rejected, has been since opened for +reexamination, and is now awaiting additional evidence. + +In this condition of this case I think this bill should not be approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7298, entitled "An act +for the relief of Charles Schuler." + +It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension to the person above +named, who was discharged from the military service in December, 1864. +He filed a declaration for a pension in the Pension Bureau in January, +1883. This application is still pending. Without referring to the merits +of the case, I am of the opinion that the matter should be determined by +the Bureau to which it has properly been presented before special +legislation should be invoked. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7073, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary S. Woodson." + +Henry Woodson, the husband of the beneficiary named, enlisted in +September, 1861, and was discharged in October, 1863, on account of +valvular disease of the heart. + +The application for pension on behalf of his widow was filed August 5, +1881. + +She concedes that she is unable to furnish any evidence of the date or +the cause of her husband's death. + +It appears that he left home in March, 1874, for the purpose of finding +work, and neither she nor her friends have ever heard from him since. +His death may naturally be presumed, and the condition of his family is +such that it would be a positive gratification to aid them in the manner +proposed; but the entire and conceded absence of any presumption, +however weak, that he died from any cause connected with his military +service seems to render it improper to place the widow's name upon the +pension rolls. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7108, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Andrew J. Wilson." + +It appears that this man was drafted and entered the service in +February, 1865, and was discharged in September of the same year on +account of "chronic nephritis and deafness." + +In 1882 he filed his application for a pension, alleging that in June, +1865, from exposure, he contracted rheumatism. Afterwards he described +his trouble as inflammation of the muscles of the back, with pain in the +kidneys. In another statement, filed in December, 1884, he alleges that +while in the service he contracted diarrhea and was injured in one of +his testicles, producing a rupture. + +Whatever else may be said of this claimant's achievements during his +short military career, it must be conceded that he accumulated a great +deal of disability. + +There is no doubt in my mind that whatever ailments he may honestly lay +claim to, his title to the same was complete before he entered the Army. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7703, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Anna A. Probert." + +The husband of this beneficiary was pensioned in 1864. He was a druggist +and apothecary at Norwalk, in the State of Ohio. Shortly before his +death, in 1878, he went to Memphis for the purpose of giving his +professional assistance to those suffering from yellow fever at that +place. He was himself attacked by that disease, and died on the 28th day +of October, 1878. + +His widow has never herself applied for a pension, but a power of +attorney has been filed, authorizing the prosecution of her claim by +another. + +That she has employed an ingenious attorney or agent is demonstrated by +the fact that the bill now before me seems to be based upon the theory +that Mr. Probert might have recovered from his attack of yellow fever +if he had been free from the ailments for which he had been pensioned +fourteen years before. + +If such speculations and presumptions as this are to be indulged, we +shall find ourselves surrounded and hedged in by the rule that all men +entering an army were free from disease or the liability to disease +before their enlistment, and every infirmity which is visited upon them +thereafter is the consequence of army service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7162, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Martha McIlwain." + +R.J. McIlwain, the husband of the claimant, enlisted in 1861, and was +discharged in 1862 because of the loss of his right leg by a gunshot +wound. He was pensioned for this disability. He died May 15, 1883, from +an overdose of morphia. It is claimed by the widow that her husband was +in the habit of taking morphia to alleviate the pain he endured from his +stump, and that he accidentally took too much. + +The case was investigated by a special examiner upon the widow's +application for pension, and his report shows that the deceased had been +in the habit of taking morphia and knew how to use it; that he had been +in the habit of buying 6 grains at a time, and that his death was caused +by his taking one entire purchase of 6 grains while under the influence +of liquor. + +In any event it is quite clear that the taking of morphia in any +quantity was not the natural result of military service or injury +received therein. + +I concur in the judgment of the Pension Bureau, which rejected the +widow's claim for pension on the ground that "the death of the soldier +was not due to his military service." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7931, entitled "An act +increasing the pension of Clark Boon." + +This claimant filed his declaration for pension February 3, 1874, in +which he states that he lost his health while a prisoner at Tyler, Tex. + +On the 19th day of October, 1874, he filed an affidavit claiming that +he contracted diseases of the heart and head while in the service. +In a further application, filed January 16, 1878, he abandoned his +allegations as to disease, and asks for a pension on account of a +gunshot wound in the left ankle. Medical testimony was produced on his +behalf tending to show not only a gunshot wound, but a disease of the +eyes. + +A small pension was at last granted him upon the theory advanced by a +board of surgeons in 1880 that it was "possible that applicant was +entitled to a small rating for weakness of ankle." + +A declaration was filed June 4, 1885, by which this claimant insists +upon an increase of pension on account of the wound and also for disease +of eyes and rheumatism. + +I am entirely satisfied that all has been done in this case that the +most liberal treatment demands. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7257, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James H. Darling." + +This man enlisted in November, 1861, and was reported as having deserted +March 5, 1862. The charge of desertion was, however, removed, and it is +stated that he went to his home in Ohio at the date stated, by proper +authority, where he remained sick till December, 1862, when he was +discharged for disability caused "by a disease of the kidneys known as +Bright's disease," from which, the physician making the certificate +thought, "there was no reasonable prospect of his recovery." + +The claimant filed his application for pension, alleging that in +January, 1862, he contracted rheumatism. + +The claim was investigated by a special examiner and rejected on the +ground that the evidence produced failed to show the alleged disability +was contracted in the service and in the line of duty. + +A medical examination made in 1877 showed that the claimant was "a +well-nourished man, 65 years old; height, 5 feet 8 inches; weight, 165 +pounds." No disability was discovered, "but a general stiffness of +joints, especially of legs, which he says is much aggravated in stormy, +cold weather." + +Another examination in 1882 found this victim of war disability with +"the appearance of a hale, hearty old man--no disease that was +discoverable by examination (without chemical test), except some +lameness from rheumatism." His weight upon this examination is stated to +be 186 pounds. + +It is evident to me that this man ought not to be pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 6372, entitled "An +act to pension Charles A. Chase." + +This claimant was enrolled September 6, 1864, and mustered out with his +detachment June 1, 1865. His brief service contains no record of +disability. + +But in 1880 he filed a declaration for pension, in which he claims that +by reason of exposure suffered in the service about the 20th of October, +1864, he contracted disease of the liver and kidneys. + +The application for pension was denied January 9, 1884, because there +was no record of the alleged diseases, and no satisfactory proof of +their contraction in the Army was produced, and because of the meager +and unconvincing evidence of disability found by the surgeon on an +actual examination of the claimant. + +I adopt these as the reasons for my action in withholding my approval of +this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6192, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary Norman." + +The husband of this claimant was enrolled May 22, 1863, and was mustered +out of the service June 1, 1866. + +He was wounded in the head February 20, 1864; was treated for the same, +and returned to duty September 3, 1864. + +In her declaration for pension, filed in February, 1880, the claimant +claims a pension because of his wound and deafness consequent therefrom, +and that he died after he left the service. + +In a letter, however, dated October 13, 1880, she states that her +husband was drowned while trying to cross Roanoke River in December, +1868. + +Her claim was rejected in 1881 on the ground that the cause of the +soldier's death was accidental drowning, and was not due to his military +service. + +In an attempt to meet this objection it was claimed as lately as 1885, +on behalf of the widow, that her husband's wound caused deafness to such +an extent that at the time he was drowned he was unable to hear the +ferryman, with whom he was crossing the river, call out that the boat +was sinking. + +How he could have saved his life if he had heard the warning is not +stated. + +It seems very clear to me that this is not a proper case for the +granting of a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 7614, entitled "An +act granting an increase of pension to Hezekiah Tillman." + +This claimant, in his declaration for pension, filed in 1866, alleges +that he received a gunshot wound in his right leg November 25, 1862. He +was mustered out with his company September 22, 1864. + +He was pensioned for the wound which he claimed to have received as his +only injury. + +In another declaration, filed in 1872, he alleged that in December, +1862, he was struck in his left eye by some hard substance, which +destroyed the vision of that organ. + +In a subsequent declaration, filed in 1878, he claimed that he received +a shell wound in his left knee in November, 1863. + +This latter claim has not been finally acted upon by the Pension Bureau, +and I am of the opinion that with the diverse claims for injuries which +have been there presented on behalf of the beneficiary named justice +will be done in the case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6718, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William H. Starr." + +An application made by this claimant to the Pension Bureau is still +pending there, and additional evidence has been called for, which the +claim is awaiting before final decision. + +I am of the opinion that the investigation there should be fully +completed before special legislation is resorted to. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7109, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Joseph Tuttle." + +This man claims a pension as the dependent father of Charles Tuttle, who +enlisted in 1861 and was killed in action May 31, 1862. + +The claimant, being, as he says, poor, took his son Charles, at the age +of 9 years, and placed him in charge of an uncle living in Ohio. An +arrangement was afterwards made by which the boy should live with a +stranger named Betts. Upon the death of this gentleman the lad was +transferred to one Captain Hill, with whom he remained until his +enlistment in 1861. + +It is stated that during the time he remained with Mr. Hill he sent his +father $5; but the fatherly care and interest of the claimant in his son +is exhibited by his statement that though the son was killed in 1862 his +father was not aware of it until the year 1864. + +After the exhibition of heartlessness and abandonment on the part of a +father which is a prominent feature in this case, I should be sorry to +be a party to a scheme permitting him to profit by the death of his +patriotic son. The claimant relinquished the care of his son, and should +be held to have relinquished all claim to his assistance and the +benefits so indecently claimed as the result of his death. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5995, entitled "An act +granting a pension to David T. Elderkin." + +This claimant enlisted August 5, 1862. From his record it appears that +he was dishonorably discharged the service, to date from June 11, 1863, +with a loss of all pay, bounty, and allowances. + +He filed a declaration for a pension in 1882, claiming that he was +wounded in the head by a shell January 1, 1863, which cut his cheek +close to his right ear, causing almost total deafness. + +There is conflicting evidence as to the claimant's freedom from deafness +prior to enlistment, and on a special examination it was shown that he +was slightly hard of hearing before enlistment. Indeed the claimant +himself stated to the special examiner and also to the board of surgeons +that he had been somewhat deaf from childhood. + +In 1882 an examining surgeon reports that he finds no scar or evidence +of wound, but his hearing is very much impaired. + +The claim was rejected in 1885 on the ground that deafness existed prior +to enlistment, and also because of no ratable disability by reason of +alleged wound in the cheek. + +I think, considering the manner of the soldier's discharge and the facts +developed, that the claimant should not be pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 29, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return Senate bill No. 1797, entitled "An act granting a +pension to John S. Kirkpatrick." + +This claimant appears to have enlisted December 10, 1861, and to have +been discharged December 20, 1864. He is borne upon the rolls of his +company as present up to June, 1862; in July and August, 1862, as on +detached service as hospital attendant, and so reported February 28, +1863. In March and April, 1863, he is reported as present, and in May +and June, 1863, as on detached service. There is nowhere in his service +any record of disability. + +He filed his application for a pension in 1880, in which he alleged that +from hardship and exposure on a long march in New Mexico in the month of +December, 1862, he contracted varicose veins in his legs. + +As I understand the record given above, this claimant was on detached +service from July, 1862, to February, 1863. + +It will be observed that his claim is that he contracted his disability +within that time, and in December, 1862. He appears also to have served +for two years after the date of his alleged injury, and that he did not +file his application for pension till about sixteen years afterwards. + +His claim is still pending, undetermined, in the Pension Bureau, and if +there is merit in it there is no doubt that he will be able to make it +apparent. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 29, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 1077, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Newcomb Parker." + +This claimant filed an application for a pension in the year 1880. + +Before the passage of the bill herewith returned the Commissioner of +Pensions, in ignorance of the action of Congress, allowed his claim +under the general law. As this decision of the Pension Bureau entitles +the beneficiary named to draw a pension from the date of filing his +application, which, under the provisions of the special bill in his +favor, would only accrue from the time of its passage, I am unwilling +that one found worthy to be placed upon the pension rolls by the Bureau, +to which he properly applied, should be an actual loser by reason of a +special interposition of Congress in his behalf. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 2, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 473, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William Boone." + +There is not the slightest room for doubt as to the facts involved in +this case. + +No application for pension was ever made to the Pension Bureau by the +beneficiary named in this bill. He enlisted in August, 1862; was in +action November, 1862, and taken prisoner and at once paroled. During +his parole, and at Aurora, in the State of Illinois, he took part in the +celebration of the 4th day of July, 1863, and while so engaged was +terribly injured by the discharge of a cannon. He is poor, and has a +wife and a number of children. + +These facts are derived from the report of the committee in Congress to +whom the bill was referred, and from a letter written by the soldier +since favorable action was had upon said bill by both Houses of +Congress, which letter is now before me. In this letter he says: +"I never thought of trying getting a pension until my old comrades urged +me to do so." + +This declaration does not in the least, I think, militate against the +present application for pension, but it tends to show the ideas that +have become quite prevalent concerning the facts necessary to be +established in order to procure a pension by special act of Congress. + +Let it be conceded that during the three months which elapsed between +the soldier's enlistment and his capture and parole he was constantly +in the field and bravely did his duty. The case presented is that of +a brave soldier, not injured in any engagement with the enemy, but +honorably captured, and by his parole placed in a condition which +prevented for the time being his further active military service. He +proceeded to his home or to his friends and took his place among +noncombatants. Eight months afterwards he joined the citizens of the +place of his sojourn and the citizens of every town and hamlet in the +loyal States in the usual and creditable celebration of our national +holiday. Among the casualties which unfortunately always result from +such celebrations there occurred a premature discharge of a cannon, +which the present claimant for pension was assisting other citizens to +discharge and manage. + +Whether any of those thus engaged with him were injured is not +disclosed, but it is certain that the paroled soldier was very badly +hurt. + +I am utterly unable to discover any relation between this accident and +the military service, or any reason why, if a pension is granted as +proposed by this bill, there should not also be a pension granted to any +of the companions of the claimant who chanced to be injured at the same +time. + +A disabled man and a wife and family in need are objects which appeal to +the sympathy and charitable feelings of any decent man; but it seems to +me that it by no means follows that those intrusted with the people's +business and the expenditure of the people's money are justified in so +executing the pension laws as that they shall furnish a means of relief +in every case of distress or hardship. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 3, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 365, entitled "An act +for the relief of Martin L. Bundy." + +By this bill it is proposed to allow in the settlement by the United +States with Mr. Bundy, who was lately a paymaster in the Army, the sum +of $719.47 for the forage of two horses to which he claims he was +entitled while in the service, and which has never been drawn by him. +The time during which it is alleged this forage was due is stated to be +between July 17, 1862, and April 15, 1866. + +This claimant was mustered out as paymaster on the last-mentioned date, +and in 1872 a certificate was issued that, his accounts having been +adjusted, they exhibited no indebtedness on his part to the United +States. + +Subsequently, however, and in or about the year 1879, it was discovered +that by reason of a duplicate credit, which had been allowed him by +mistake, he was actually indebted to the Government in the sum of +$528.72. + +After the fact had been made known to him the claim embodied in this +bill was suggested to or invented by him, which, if allowed, will not +only extinguish his indebtedness to the Government, but leave a balance +due to him. + +By the law and the Army Regulations the forage upon which this claim is +based is or should be only allowed to those in the service who actually +have and use horses in the performance of their duties. + +And when thus entitled to forage it was necessary to draw it in kind or +in the specific articles permitted every month, and if not thus drawn it +could not afterwards be claimed. There seems to be no such thing as +commutation of forage in such cases. + +There is no suggestion that the claimant named in this bill had or +used any horses while in the service. If he did and paid for their +maintenance and at the time of the settlement of his accounts made no +claim for reimbursement, he presents a case of incredible ignorance +of his rights or a wonderful lack of that disposition to gain every +possible advantage which is usually found among those who deal with the +Government. + +It is quite apparent that the claim is not valid, and the fact that it +is made long after the discovery of his deficit leads to the suspicion +that it is insisted on merely for the purpose of paying his debt. + +Though in this particular case it would do but little more than to +extinguish an indebtedness to the Government, the allowance of this +claim would set a precedent which could hardly be ignored, and which, if +followed, would furnish another means of attack upon the public Treasury +quite as effective as many which are now in active operation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 7018, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Aretus F. Loomis." + +The Commissioner of Pensions, before he became aware of the passage of +this bill, directed favorable action upon the application of the +claimant pending in the Pension Bureau. A certificate has been issued +for the payment of a pension to him, dating from September 30, 1882. + +In the interest of the claimant I therefore withhold my signature from +the bill, as the pension granted by special act would only date from the +time of its passage. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1818, entitled "An act +granting a pension to H.L. Kyler." + +A pension was granted to the person named in this bill, dating from +September, 1864, for neuralgia and disease of the eyes. + +He was mustered into the service, to serve one hundred days, May 14, +1864, and mustered out September 8, 1864. + +In 1880 information reached the Pension Bureau that the pensioner was +treated for neuralgia and disease of the eyes at various times between +the years 1859 and 1864, and this fact appearing to the satisfaction of +the Bureau upon the examination which followed, the pensioner's name was +dropped from the roll. + +Afterwards another thorough examination of the case was made, when the +pensioner was permitted to confront the witnesses against him and +produce evidence in his own behalf. + +It is claimed that a Dr. Saunders, who testified to treating the +pensioner before his enlistment, was exceedingly unfriendly; but he was +corroborated by his son and by entries on his books. Another physician, +apparently disinterested, also testified to his treatment of the +pensioner in 1860 for difficulties with his eyes and ears. The pensioner +himself admitted that he had trouble with one of his eyes in 1860, but +that he entirely recovered. Six other witnesses testified to the +existence of disease of the pensioner's eyes before enlistment. + +Though twelve neighbors of the pensioner testified that he was free from +neuralgia and disease of the eyes before enlistment, I am of the opinion +that the evidence against the pension was quite satisfactory, and that +it should not be restored, as the bill before me proposes. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 3640, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James T. Irwin." + +This claimant enlisted in February, 1864, and was mustered out June 10, +1865. He is reported as absent sick from August 20, 1864, until mustered +out. He seems to have been treated for remittent fever, chronic +diarrhea, general debility, and palpitation of the heart. + +In 1876 he filed a declaration for pension, alleging that at Petersburg, +July 1, 1864, he contracted fever and inflammation of the eyes. + +He filed an affidavit in January, 1877, in which he states that his +diseased eyes resulted from diseased nerves, caused by a wound received +June 18, 1864, at Petersburg, and from a consequent abscess on the back +of the neck. + +In an affidavit filed in July, 1878, he states that in June, 1864, in +front of Petersburg, he had his gun smashed in front of his face and his +eyes injured, and afterwards he had an abscess on the back of his neck, +typhoid fever, and disease of the left lung. + +His claim founded upon these various allegations of injury was rejected +in February, 1879. + +In September, 1884, a declaration was filed for a pension, alleging +disease of the heart contracted at Petersburg June 16, 1864. + +The claimant was examined once in 1882 and twice in 1884 by United +States examining surgeons and boards, and it is stated that these +examinations failed to reveal any disease or disability except disease +of the eyes and an irritable heart, the result of indigestion. + +An oculist who made an examination in 1884 reported that the unnatural +condition of claimant's eyes was congenital and in no manner the result +of injury or disease. + +Upon a consideration of the very short time that the claimant was in +actual service, the different claims he has made touching his alleged +disability, and the positive results of medical examinations, I am +satisfied this pension should not be allowed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 5306, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Roxana V. Rowley." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of Franklin Rowley, who +enlisted February 8, 1865, was promoted to first lieutenant March 13, +1865, and was discharged May 22, 1865, having tendered his resignation, +as it is stated, on account of incompetency. His tender of resignation +was indorsed by the commanding officer of his regiment as follows: "This +man is wholly unfit for an officer." + +It will be seen that he was in the service a little more than three +months. + +In 1880, fifteen years after his discharge, he applied for a pension, +alleging that he contracted disease of the liver while in the service. + +Upon an examination of the claim his attending physician before +enlistment stated that as early as 1854 the claimant was afflicted with +dyspepsia and functional disease of the liver; that he regarded him as +incurable, so far as being restored to sound health was concerned, and +that if he had been at home at the time when he enlisted he would have +advised against it. + +The testimony of this physician as to the claimant's condition after his +discharge is referred to in the report of the Committee of the House to +whom this bill was referred, and I do not understand that he is at all +impeached. He certainly is better informed than any other person +regarding the condition of the man who was his patient. + +The soldier died in 1881, sixteen years after his discharge, and his +widow filed her claim for pension in 1882, alleging that the death of +her husband was caused by a disease of the liver contracted in the +service. + +Her claim was rejected in 1883 upon the ground that the disease of which +her husband died existed prior to his enlistment. + +I can not avoid the conclusion, upon all the facts presented, that his +death was not chargeable to any incident of his brief military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5021, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Margaret A. Jacoby." + +A pension has been allowed on account of the disability of the +claimant's husband, dating from his discharge in 1864. + +The beneficiary named in this bill applied for pension in 1885, alleging +that she married the soldier in 1864; that he incurred deafness and +chronic diarrhea while in the service, from the combined effect of which +he partially lost his mind; that on the 7th day of September, 1875, he +disappeared, and that after diligent search and inquiry she is unable to +learn anything of him since that time. + +His disability from army service should be conceded and his death at +some time and in some manner may well be presumed; but the fact that he +died from any cause related to his disability or his service in the Army +has no presumption and not a single particle of proof to rest upon. + +With proper diligence something should be discovered to throw a little +light upon this subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3304, entitled "An act to +restore the name of Abner Morehead to the pension roll." + +The person mentioned in this bill was pensioned in November, 1867, upon +the claim made by him that in 1863, from hardship and exposure incident +to camp life and field duty, he contracted a fever which settled in his +eyes, almost wholly destroying his sight. Afterwards his pension was +increased to $15 a month, dating from December, 1867, and arrears at the +rate of $8 a month from February, 1864. In 1876 the case was put in the +hands of a special agent of the Pension Bureau for examination, and upon +his report, showing that the claimant's disease of the eyes existed +prior to enlistment, his name was dropped from the rolls. + +An application for restoration was made in 1879, and a thorough +examination was made by a special examiner in 1885, who reported that +the testimony taken conclusively established the fact that the claimant +had disease of the eyes prior to the time of enlistment, the result of a +disorder which he specifically mentions, and that he was treated for the +same more than a year subsequently to 1860. He adds: + + There is no merit whatever in this case, and it is evident that he + obtained a large sum as pension to which, he must have known he was + not entitled. + + +The results of these examinations, instituted for the express purpose of +developing the facts, and with nothing apparent to impeach them, should, +I think, control as against the statements of neighbors and comrades +based upon mere general observation, and not necessarily covering the +period which is important to the controversy. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4782, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Elizabeth McKay." + +The beneficiary named is the widow of Rowley S. McKay, who in 1862 seems +to have been employed as pilot on the ram _Switzerland_. He seems +to have been upon the rolls of two other vessels of the United States, +the _Covington_ and _General Price_, but was discharged by Admiral +Porter in June, 1864, with loss of all pay and emoluments. + +He filed an application for pension in 1870, alleging that while on duty +as pilot and in action with the rebel ram _Arkansas_ his hearing +became affected by heavy firing. He also claimed that in February, 1863, +while on the vessel _Queen of the West_, she grounded, and to escape +capture he got off and floated down the river on a cotton bale, and, +being in the water about three hours, the exposure caused a disease of +the urinary organs; and that a few days after, while coming up the river +on a transport, the boat was fired into and several balls passed through +his left thigh. It seems that this claim was not definitely passed upon, +but it is stated that the records failed to show that McKay was in the +service of the United States at the time he alleged the contraction of +disease of the urinary organs and was wounded in the thigh. + +The beneficiary named in this bill never made application for pension +to the Pension Bureau, but it appears that she bases her claims to +consideration by Congress upon the allegation that in 1862, while her +husband was acting as pilot of the ram or gunboat _Switzerland_, he +contracted chronic diarrhea, from which he never recovered, and that he +died from the effects of said disease in May, 1874. + +It will be observed that among the various causes which the soldier or +sailor himself alleged as the grounds of his application for pension +chronic diarrhea is not mentioned. + +There does not appear to be any medical testimony to support the claim +thus made by the widow, and the cause of death is not definitely stated. + +Taking all together, it has the appearance of a case, by no means rare, +where chronic diarrhea or rheumatism are appealed to as a basis for a +pension claim in the absence of something more substantial and definite. + +The fact that the claim of the beneficiary has never been presented to +the Pension Bureau influences in some degree my action in withholding my +approval of this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 3623, entitled "An act +granting a pension to William H. Nevil." + +This bill directs that the name of the claimant be placed upon the +pension roll "subject to the provisions and limitations of the pension +laws." + +This very thing was done on the 22d day of June, 1865, and the claimant +is in the receipt at the present time of the full amount of pension +allowed by our pension laws as administered by the Pension Bureau. + +I suppose the intention of the bill was to increase this pension, but it +is not framed in such a way as to accomplish that object or to benefit +the claimant in any way whatever. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1505, entitled "An act +granting a pension to William Dermody." + +By the records of the War Department which have been furnished me it +appears that this claimant enlisted August 19, 1861; that he deserted +August 29, 1862; in November and December, 1862, he is reported as +present in confinement in regimental guardhouse, to forfeit one month's +pay by sentence of regimental court-martial; he is reported as having +deserted again in December, 1863, but as present for duty in January and +February, 1864; he reenlisted in the latter month, and was mustered out +July 17, 1865, and with his company was paid up to and including July +21, 1865. + +He filed a declaration for pension in 1879, alleging that he received a +gunshot wound in the thigh at Trenton, N.J., July 21, 1865, and that the +wound was inflicted by a member of the Invalid Corps, who was whipping a +drummer boy, and the claimant interfered in behalf of the boy. + +It is quite certain that the transaction took place July 23. + +An examining board, in 1880, found pistol shot in thigh, but refused to +give the claimant a rating, because, as they report, "from the evidence +before the board there is reason to suppose that he was deserting from +the barracks at Trenton July 23, 1865, and was shot by the guard." + +This may not be a just suspicion or finding, but he surely was not in +the service nor in the performance of any military duty at the time of +the injury, nor was he engaged in such manner as to entitle him to +indemnification at the hands of the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1059, entitled "An act +to grant a pension to Joseph Romiser." + +The Pension Bureau reports that the records of the office fail to show +that an application has been filed in favor of this claimant, though it +is stated in the report of the House committee that such a claim was +made and rejected on the ground that the claimant was not at the time of +injury in the service of the United States. + +It certainly appears from the report of the committee that the +beneficiary named in this bill was not in the service of the Government +at such a time, and also that he had not been mustered into the service +of any State military organization. It is stated that he belonged to +Captain Frank Mason's company of volunteers, of Prostburg, in the State +of Maryland. + +Whether this company was organized for the purpose of cooperating at any +time with the Union or State forces is not alleged, and it may well have +been existing merely for the purpose of neighborhood protection. + +Such as it was, the company was ordered in June, 1861, to proceed to +Cumberland to repel a threatened attack of Confederate forces. Upon +arriving at that place the men were ordered to uncap their muskets. In +doing this, and through the negligence of another member of the company, +whose musket was discharged, the claimant was wounded. + +It does not seem to me that the facts in this case, so far as they have +been developed, justify the passage of this act. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4226, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Fannie E. Evans." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of George S. Evans. He +was a soldier in the Mexican War, and entered the Union Army in the War +of the Rebellion, on the 16th day of October, 1861, as major of a +California regiment. He became a colonel in February, 1863, and resigned +in April of that year, to take effect on the 31st of May ensuing. + +His resignation seems to have been tendered on account of private +matters, and no mention was then made of any disability. It is stated in +the committee's report to the House that in 1864 he accepted the office +of adjutant-general of the State of California, which he held for nearly +four years. + +He died in 1883 from cerebral apoplexy. + +In March, 1884, his widow filed an application for pension, based upon +the allegation that from active and severe service in a battle with the +Indians at Spanish Fort in 1863 her husband incurred a hernia, which +incapacitated him for active service. + +There appears to be evidence to justify this statement, notwithstanding +the fact that the deceased during the twenty years that followed before +his death made no claim for such disability. + +But it seems to me that the effort to attribute his death by apoplexy to +the existence of hernia ought not to be successful. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 2971, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Francis Deming." + +This claimant entered the service in August, 1861, and was discharged +September 15, 1865. + +His hospital record shows that during his service he was treated for +various temporary ailments, among which rheumatism is not included. + +He filed an application for pension in September, 1884, alleging that in +August, 1864, he contracted rheumatism, which had resulted in blindness. + +On an examination of his case in November, 1884, he stated that his +eyesight began to fail in 1882. + +There seems to be no testimony showing his condition from the time of +his discharge to 1880, a period of fifteen years. + +The claim that his present condition of blindness is the result of his +army service is not insisted upon as a reason for granting him relief as +strongly as his sad and helpless condition. The committee of the House +to which this bill was referred, after detailing his situation, close +their report with these words: "He served well his country in its dire +need; his necessities now appeal for relief." + +We have here presented the case of a soldier who did his duty during +his army service, and who was discharged in 1865 without any record of +having suffered with rheumatism and without any claim of disability +arising from the same. He returned to his place as a citizen, and +in peaceful pursuits, with chances certainly not impaired by the +circumstance that he had served his country, he appears to have held his +place in the race of life for fifteen years or more. Then, like many +another, he was subjected to loss of sight, one of the saddest +afflictions known to human life. + +Thereupon, and after nineteen years had elapsed since his discharge from +the Army, a pension is claimed for him upon a very shadowy allegation of +the incurrence of rheumatism while in the service, coupled with the +startling proposition that this rheumatism resulted, just previous to +his application, in blindness. Upon medical examination it appeared that +his blindness was caused by amaurosis, which is generally accepted as an +affection of the optic nerve. + +I am satisfied that a fair examination of the facts in this case +justifies the statement that the bill under consideration can rest only +upon the grounds that aid should be furnished to this ex-soldier because +he served in the Army and because he a long time thereafter became +blind, disabled, and dependent. + +The question is whether we are prepared to adopt this principle and +establish this precedent. + +None of us are entitled to credit for extreme tenderness and +consideration toward those who fought their country's battles. These +are sentiments con|»ion to all good citizens. They lead to the most +benevolent care on the part of the Government and deeds of charity and +mercy in private life. The blatant and noisy self-assertion of those +who, from motives that may well be suspected, declare themselves above +all others friends of the soldier can not discredit nor belittle the +calm, steady, and affectionate regard of a grateful nation. + +An appropriation has just been passed setting apart $76,000,000 of +the public money for distribution as pensions, under laws liberally +constructed, with a view of meeting every meritorious case. More than +$1,000,000 was added to maintain the Pension Bureau, which is charged +with the duty of a fair, just, and liberal apportionment of this fund. + +Legislation has been at the present session of Congress perfected +considerably increasing the rate of pension in certain cases. +Appropriations have also been made of large sums for the support of +national homes where sick, disabled, or needy soldiers are cared for, +and within a few days a liberal sum has been appropriated for the +enlargement and increased accommodation and convenience of these +institutions. + +All this is no more than should be done. + +But with all this, and with the hundreds of special acts which have been +passed granting pensions in cases where, for my part, I am willing to +confess that sympathy rather than judgment has often led to the +discovery of a relation between injury or death and military service, I +am constrained by a sense of public duty to interpose against +establishing a principle and setting a precedent which must result in +unregulated, partial, and unjust gifts of public money under the pretext +of indemnifying those who suffered in their means of support as an +incident of military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4642, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James Carroll." + +The claimant alleges that he was wounded while in the service as a +member of Company B, Third Regiment North Carolina Mounted Volunteers, +while securing recruits for the regiment at Watauga, N.C., January 25, +1865. + +The records of the War Department develop the fact that the name of this +man is not borne upon any roll of the company to which he claims to +belong. + +He stated in his application that he was sworn in by one George W. +Perkins, who, it appears, was a private in said company, and that +Perkins was with him at the time he was shot. + +This is undoubtedly true, and that the claimant was injured by a gunshot +is also probably true. He was not, however, at the time regularly in the +United States service, but this objection might in some circumstances +be regarded as technical. The difficulty is that the fact that he was +creditably employed in a service of benefit to the country is not +satisfactorily shown. He gives two accounts of the business in which he +was engaged, and Mr. Perkins's explanation of the manner in which the +two were occupied is somewhat different still. + +Carroll's claim, presented to the Pension Bureau, was rejected upon +the ground that there was no record of his service on file; but in his +testimony he stated that Perkins was wounded on the same occasion as +himself, and that he (Perkins) was then a pensioner on account thereof. + +The records of the Pension Bureau show that Perkins was pensioned in +1873 on account of three wounds received at the time and place of +Carroll's injury. + +It also appears that his name was dropped from the rolls in 1877 on the +ground that his wounds were not received in the line of duty. + +After an investigation made at that time by a special examiner, he +reported that Perkins and Carroll had collected a number of men +together, who made their headquarters at the home of Carroll's mother +and were engaged in plundering the neighborhood, and that on account of +their depredations they were hunted down by home guards and shot at the +time they stated. + +If this report is accepted as reliable, it should of course lead to the +rejection of the claim for pension on the part of Mr. Carroll. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 3043, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Lewis W. Scanland." + +The claimant filed his declaration for a pension in 1884, alleging that +he contracted chronic diarrhea while serving in a company of mounted +Illinois volunteers in the Black Hawk War. + +The records show that he served from April 18, 1832, to May 28, in the +same year. + +He was examined by a board of surgeons in 1884, when he was said to be +75 years old. In his examination he did not claim to have diarrhea for a +good many years. On the contrary, he claimed to be affected with +constipation, and said he had never had diarrhea of late years, except +at times when he had taken medicine for constipation. + +I am inclined to think it would have been a fortunate thing if in this +case it could have been demonstrated that a man could thrive so well +with the chronic diarrhea for fifty-two years as its existence in the +case of this good old gentleman would prove. We should then, perhaps, +have less of it in claims for pensions. + +The fact is, in this case there is no disability which can be traced to +the forty days' military service of fifty-four years ago, and I think +little, if any, more infirmity than is usually found in men of the age +of the claimant. + +Entertaining this belief, I am constrained to withhold my signature from +this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5414, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Maria Cunningham." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill enlisted January 29, +1862, and was discharged January 20, 1865. + +He applied for a pension in 1876, alleging a shell wound in the head. +His claim was rejected on the ground that there appeared to be no +disability from that cause. No other injury or disability was ever +claimed by him, but at the time of his examination in 1876 he was found +to be sickly, feeble, and emaciated, and suffering from an advanced +stage of saccharine diabetes. + +His widow filed an application for a pension in 1879, alleging that her +husband died in December, 1877, of spinal disease and diabetes, +contracted in the service. + +Her claim was rejected because evidence was not furnished that the cause +of the soldier's death had its origin in the military service. + +There seems to be an entire absence of proof of this important fact. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4797, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Robert H. Stapleton." + +This claimant filed an application for pension in the Pension Bureau in +1883, alleging that while acting as lieutenant-colonel of a New Mexico +regiment, on February 21, 1862, the tongue of a caisson struck him, +injuring his left side. A medical examination made in 1882 showed a +fracture of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh ribs of the left side. + +If these fractures were the result of the injury alleged, they were +immediately apparent, and the delay of twenty-one years in presenting +the claim for pension certainly needs explanation. + +Claims of this description, by a wise provision of law, must, to be +valid, be prosecuted to a successful issue prior to the 4th day of July, +1874. + +The rank which this claimant held presupposes such intelligence as +admits of no excuse on the ground of ignorance of the law for his +failure to present his application within the time fixed by law. + +The evidence of disability from the cause alleged is weak, to say the +most of it, and I can not think that such a wholesome provision of law +as that above referred to, which limits the time for the adjustment of +such claims, should be modified upon the facts presented in this case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5550, entitled "An act +to provide for the erection of a public building at Duluth, Minn." + +After quite a careful examination of the public needs at the point +mentioned I am entirely satisfied that the public building provided for +in this bill is not immediately necessary. + +Not a little legislation has lately been perfected, and very likely more +will be necessary, to increase miscalculated appropriations for and +correct blunders in the construction of many of the public buildings now +in process of erection. + +While this does not furnish a good reason for disapproving the erection +of other buildings where actually necessary, it induces close scrutiny +and gives rise to the earnest wish that new projects for public +buildings shall for the present be limited to such as are required by +the most pressing necessities of the Government's business. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 2043, entitled "An act +to place Mary Karstetter on the pension roll." + +The husband of this beneficiary, Jacob Karstetter, was enrolled June 30, +1864, as a substitute in a Pennsylvania regiment, and was discharged for +disability June 20, 1865, caused by a gunshot wound in the left hand. + +A declaration for pension was filed by him in 1865, based upon this +wound, and the same was granted, dating from June in that year, which he +drew till the time of his death, August 21, 1874. + +In 1882 his widow filed her application for pension, alleging that he +died of wounds received in battle. The claim was made that he was +injured while in the Army by a horse running over him. + +There is little or no evidence of such an injury having been received; +and if this was presented there would be no necessary connection between +that and the cause of the soldier's death, which was certified by the +attending physician to be gastritis and congestion of the kidneys. + +I can hardly see how the Pension Bureau could arrive at any conclusion +except that the death of the soldier was not due to his military +service, and the acceptance of this finding, after an examination of the +facts, leads me to disapprove this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5394, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Sallie Ann Bradley." + +The husband of this proposed beneficiary was discharged from the +military service in 1865, after a long service, and was afterwards +pensioned for gunshot wound. + +He died in 1882. The widow appears to have never filed a claim for +pension in her own right. + +No cause is given of the soldier's death, but it is not claimed that it +resulted from his military service, her pension being asked for entirely +because of her needs and the faithful service of her husband and her +sons. + +This presents the question whether a gift in such a case is a proper +disposition of money appropriated for the purpose of paying pensions. + +The passage of this law would, in my opinion, establish a precedent so +far-reaching and open the door to such a vast multitude of claims not on +principle within our present pension laws that I am constrained to +disapprove the bill under consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5603, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Catherine McCarty." + +The beneficiary is the widow of John McCarty, of the First Missouri +Regiment of State Militia Volunteers, who died at Clinton, Mo., April 8, +1864. + +The widow filed her claim in 1866, alleging that her husband died while +in the service from an overdose of colchicum. + +The evidence shows without dispute that on the day previous to the death +of the soldier a comrade procured some medicine from the regimental +surgeon and asked McCarty to smell and taste it; that he did so, and +shortly afterwards became very sick and died the next morning. + +It is quite evident that the deceased soldier did more than taste this +medicine. + +Although it would be pleasant to aid the widow in this case, it is +hardly fair to ask the Government to grant a pension for the freak or +gross heedlessness and recklessness of this soldier. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 6648, entitled "An +act for the relief of Edward M. Harrington." + +It appears that this claimant was enrolled as a recruit December 31, +1863, and mustered in at Dunkirk, N.Y. He remained at the barracks there +until March, 1864, when he was received at the Elmira rendezvous. From +there he was sent to his regiment on the 7th day of April, 1864. + +He was discharged June 15, 1864, upon a surgeon's certificate of +disability, declaring the cause of discharge to be epilepsy, produced by +blows of violence over the hypochondrial region while in the service, +producing a deformity of sternum. + +The claimant filed an application for pension in June, 1879, and in that +and subsequent affidavits he alleged that while in barracks at Dunkirk, +N.Y., and about the 9th day of January, 1864, and in the line of duty, +he was attacked by one Patrick Burnes, who struck him upon the head and +stamped upon and kicked him, breaking his collar bone and a number of +ribs, causing internal injury and fits, the latter recurring every two +weeks. + +It is hardly worth while considering the character of these alleged +injuries or their connection with the fits with which the claimant is +afflicted. + +I am entirely unable to see how the injuries are related to the +claimant's army service. + +The Government ought not to be called upon to insure against the +quarrelsome propensities of its individual soldiers, nor to compensate +one who is worsted in a fight, or even in an unprovoked attack, when the +cause of injury is in no way connected with or related to any +requirement or incident of military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 7, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2281, entitled "An act +granting to railroads the right of way through the Indian reservation in +northern Montana." + +The reservation referred to stretches across the extreme northern +part of Montana Territory, with British America for its northern +boundary. It contains an area of over 30,000 square miles. It is +dedicated to Indian occupancy by treaty of October 17, 1855, and act of +Congress of April 15, 1874. No railroads are within immediate approach +to its boundaries, and only one, as shown on recent maps, is under +construction in the neighborhood leading in its direction. The +surrounding country is sparsely settled, and I have been unable to +ascertain that the necessities of commerce or any public exigencies +demand this legislation, which would affect so seriously the rights and +interests of the Indians occupying the reservation. + +The bill is in the nature of a general right of way for railroads +through this Indian reservation. The Indian occupants have not given +their consent to it, neither have they been consulted regarding it, nor +is there any provision in it for securing their consent or agreement to +the location or construction of railroads upon their lands. No routes +are described, and no general directions on which the line of any +railroad will be constructed are given. + +No particular organized railway company engaged in constructing a +railroad toward the reservation and ready or desirous to build its road +through the Indian lands to meet the needs and requirements of trade +and commerce is named. The bill gives the right to any railroad in the +country, duly organized under the laws of any Territory, of any State, +or of the United States, except those of the District of Columbia, to +enter this Indian country, prospect for routes of travel, survey them, +and construct routes of travel wherever it may please, with no check +save possible disapproval by the Secretary of the Interior of its maps +of location, and no limitation upon its acts except such rules and +regulations as he may prescribe. + +This power vested in the Secretary of the Interior might itself be +improvidently exercised and subject to abuse. + +No limit of time is fixed within which the construction of railroads +should begin or be completed. Without such limitations speculating +corporations would be enabled to seek out and secure the right of way +over the natural and most feasible routes, with no present intention of +constructing railroads along such lines, but with the view of holding +their advantageous easements for disposal at some future time to some +other corporation for a valuable consideration. In this way the +construction of needed railroad facilities in that country could be +hereafter greatly obstructed and retarded. + +If the United States must exercise its right of eminent domain over the +Indian Territories for the general welfare of the whole country, it +should be done cautiously, with due regard for the interests of the +Indians, and to no greater extent than the exigencies of the public +service require. + +Bills tending somewhat in the direction of this general character of +legislation, affecting the rights of the Indians reserved to them by +treaty stipulations, have been presented to me during the present +session of Congress. They have received my reluctant approval, though +I am by no means certain that a mistake has not been made in passing +such laws without providing for the consent to such grants by the +Indian occupants and otherwise more closely guarding their rights and +interests; and I hoped that each of those bills as it received my +approval would be the last of the kind presented. They, however, +designated particular railroad companies, laid down general routes over +which the respective roads should be constructed through the Indian +lands, and specified their direction and termini, so that I was enabled +to reasonably satisfy myself that the exigencies of the public service +and the interests of commerce probably demanded the construction of the +roads, and that by their construction and operation the Indians would +not be too seriously affected. + +The bill now before me is much more general in its terms than those +which have preceded it. It is a new and wide departure from the general +tenor of legislation affecting Indian reservations. It ignores the right +of the Indians to be consulted as to the disposition of their lands, +opens wide the door to any railroad corporation to do what, under the +treaty covering the greater portion of the reservation, is reserved to +the United States alone; it gives the right to enter upon Indian lands +to a class of corporations carrying with them many individuals not known +for any scrupulous regard for the interest or welfare of the Indians; +it invites a general invasion of the Indian country, and brings into +contact and intercourse with the Indians a class of whites and others +who are independent of the orders, regulations, and control of the +resident agents. + +Corporations operating railroads through Indian lands are strongly +tempted to infringe at will upon the reserved rights and the property of +Indians, and thus are apt to become so arbitrary in their dealings and +domineering in their conduct toward them that the Indians become +disquieted, often threatening outbreaks and periling the lives of +frontier settlers and others. + +I am impressed with the belief that the bill under consideration does +not sufficiently guard against an invasion of the rights and a +disturbance of the peace and quiet of the Indians on the reservation +mentioned; nor am I satisfied that the legislation proposed is demanded +by any exigency of the public welfare. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 9, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 524, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Daniel H. Ross." + +An application for pension was filed in the Pension Bureau by the +beneficiary named in this bill, and considerable testimony was filed in +support of the same. I do not understand that the claim has been finally +rejected. But however that may be, the claimant died, as I am advised, +on the 1st day of February last. This, of course, renders the proposed +legislation entirely inoperative, if it would not actually prejudice the +claim of his surviving widow. She has already been advised of the +evidence necessary to complete the claim of her husband, and it is not +at all improbable that she will be able to prosecute the same to a +successful issue for her benefit. + +At any rate, her rights should not be in the least jeopardized by the +completion of the legislation proposed in this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 9, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 856, entitled "An act +to provide for the erection of a public building in the city of Dayton, +Ohio." + +It is not claimed that the Government has any public department or +business which it should quarter at Dayton except its post-office and +internal-revenue office. The former is represented as employing ten +clerks, sixteen regular and two substitute letter carriers, and two +special-delivery employees, who, I suppose, are boys, only occasionally +in actual service. I do not understand that the present post-office +quarters are either insufficient or inconvenient. By a statement +prepared by the present postmaster it appears that they are rented by +the Government for a period of ten years from the 15th day of October, +1883, at an annual rent of $2,950, which includes the cost of heating +the same. + +The office of the internal-revenue collector is claimed to be +inadequate, but I am-led to believe that this officer is fairly +accommodated at an annual rental of $900. It is not impossible that a +suggestion to change the area of this revenue district may be adopted, +which would relieve any complaint of inadequacy of office room. + +With only these two offices to provide for, I am not satisfied that the +expenditure of $150,000 for their accommodation, as proposed by this +bill, is in accordance with sound business principles or consistent with +that economy in public affairs which has been promised to the people. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 10, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5546, entitled "An act +for the erection of a public building at Asheville, N.C." + +If the needs of the Government are alone considered, the proposed +building is only necessary for the accommodation of two terms of the +United States court in each year and to provide an office for the clerk +of that court and more commodious quarters for the post-office. + +The terms of the court are now held in the county court room at +Asheville at an expense to the Government of $50 for each term; the +clerk of the court occupies a room for which an annual rent of $150 is +paid, and the rent paid for the rooms occupied by the post-office is +$180 each year. + +The postmaster reports that four employees are regularly engaged in his +office, which is now rated as third class. + +I have no doubt that the court could be much more conveniently provided +for in a new building if one should be erected; but it is represented to +me that the regular terms held at Asheville last only two or three weeks +each, though special terms are ordered at times to clear the docket. It +is difficult to see from any facts presented in support of this bill why +the United States court does not find accommodations which fairly answer +its needs in the rooms now occupied by it. The floor space furnished for +the terms of the Federal court is stated to be 75 by 100 feet, which, it +must be admitted, provides a very respectable court room. + +It is submitted that the necessity to the Government of a proper place +to hold its courts is the only consideration which should have any +weight in determining upon the propriety of expending the money which +will be necessary to erect the proposed new building. + +The limit of its cost is fixed in the bill under consideration at the +sum of $80,000, but the history of such projects justifies the +expectation that this limit will certainly be exceeded. + +I am satisfied that the present necessity for this building is not +urgent, and that something may be gained by a delay which will +demonstrate more fully the public needs, and thus better suggest the +style and size of the building to be erected. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 30, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 63, entitled "An act to +authorize the construction of a highway bridge across that part of the +waters of Lake Champlain lying between the towns of North Hero and +Alburg, in the State of Vermont." + +On the 20th day of June, 1884, a bill was approved and became a law +having the same title and containing precisely the same provisions and +in the exact words of the bill herewith returned. + +The records of the War Department indicate that nothing has been done +toward building the bridge permitted by such prior act. It is hardly +possible that the bill now before me is intended to authorize an +additional bridge between the two towns named, and I have been unable to +discover any excuse or necessity for new legislation on the subject. + +I conclude, therefore, that Congress in passing this bill acted in +ignorance of the fact that a law providing for its objects and purposes +was already on the statute book. + +My approval of the bill is withheld for this reason and in order to +prevent an unnecessary and confusing multiplicity of laws. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 30, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without my approval House bill No. 1391, entitled "An +act to provide for the erection of a public building at Springfield, Mo." + +It appears from the report of the committee of the House of +Representatives to which this bill was referred that the city of +Springfield is in a thriving condition, with stores, banks, and +manufactories, and having, with North Springfield, which is an adjoining +town, about 20,000 inhabitants. + +No Federal courts are held at this place, and apparently the only +quarters which the Government should provide are such as are necessary +for the accommodation of the post-office and the land-office located +there. + +The postmaster reports that six employees are engaged in his office. + +The rooms used as a post-office are now furnished the Government free of +expense, and the rent paid for the quarters occupied as a land-office +amounts to $300 annually. + +Upon the facts presented I am satisfied that the business of the +Government at this point can be well transacted for the present without +the construction of the proposed building. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2160, entitled "A bill +granting a pension to Mary J. Hagerman." + +The husband of this proposed beneficiary enlisted in 1861 and was +wounded by a gunshot, which seriously injured his left forearm. In 1864 +he was discharged; was afterwards pensioned for his wound, and died in +August, 1884. + +Dr. Hageman, who attended the deceased in his last illness, testifies +that he was called to attend him in August, 1884; that he was sick with +typhomalarial fever, and that upon inquiry he (the physician) found that +it was caused by hard work or overexertion and exposure. He was ill for +about ten days. + +The application of his widow for pension was rejected in 1885 on the +ground that the fatal disease was not due to military service. + +I am unable to discover how any different determination could have been +reached. + +To grant a pension in this case would clearly contravene the present +policy of the Government, and either establish a precedent which, if +followed, would allow a pension to the widow of every soldier wounded +or disabled in the war, without regard to the cause of death, or would +unjustly discriminate in favor of the few thus receiving the bounty of +the Government against many whose cases were equally meritorious. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without my approval Senate bill No. 1421, entitled "An +act granting a pension to William H. Weaver." + +The claimant named in this bill enlisted August 12, 1862, and was +mustered out of service June 12, 1865. During his service he was treated +in hospital for diarrhea and lumbago, and in the reports for May and +June, as well as July and August, 1864, he is reported as absent sick. + +He filed his application for pension in November, 1877, alleging that in +March, 1863, he contracted measles, and in May, 1864, remittent fever, +and that as a result of the two attacks he was afflicted with weakness +in the limbs and eyes. He made statements afterwards in support of his +application that he was also troubled in the service with rheumatism and +diarrhea. + +The case was examined by several special examiners, from which, as +reported to me, it appeared from the claimant's admission that he had +sore eyes previous to his enlistment, though he claimed they were sound +when he entered the Army. + +A surgeon who made an examination in March, 1881, reported that he could +not find any evidence whatever of disease of the eyes, and nothing to +corroborate the claimant's assertion that he was suffering from +rheumatism, piles, or diarrhea. + +Another surgeon, who examined the claimant in 1879, reported that he +found the eyelids slightly granulated, producing some irritation of the +eyeball and rendering the eyes a little weak, and that he found no other +disability. + +In 1882 a surgeon who made an examination reported that he discovered +indications that the claimant had suffered at some time with chronic +ophthalmia, but that in his opinion his eyes did not disable him in the +least, and that the claimant was well nourished and in good health. + +The report of the committee to whom this bill was referred in the Senate +states that six special examinations have been made in the case and that +two of them were favorable to the claim. + +The trouble and expense incurred by the Pension Bureau to ascertain the +truth and to deal fairly by this claimant, and the entire absence of any +suspicion of bias against the claim in that Bureau, ought to give weight +to its determination. + +The claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau in July, 1885, upon the +ground that disease of the eyes existed prior to enlistment and that the +evidence failed to show that there had existed a pensionable degree of +disability, since discharge, from diarrhea or rheumatism. + +It will be observed that this is not a case where there was a lack of +the technical proof required by the Pension Bureau, but that its +judgment was based upon the merits of the application and affected the +very foundation of the claim. + +I think it should be sustained; and its correctness is somewhat +strengthened by the fact that the claimant continued in active service +for more than a year after his alleged sickness, that after filing his +claim he added thereto allegations of additional disabilities, and that +he made no application for pension until more than twelve years after +his discharge. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 3363, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Jennette Dow." + +The husband of the claimant enlisted August 7, 1862; received a gunshot +wound in his left knee in September, 1863, and was mustered out with his +company June 10, 1865. He was pensioned for his wound in 1878 at the +rate of $4 per month, dating from the time of his discharge, which +amount was increased to $8 per month from June 4, 1880. The pensioned +soldier died December 17, 1882, and in 1883 his widow, the claimant, +filed an application for pension, alleging that her husband's death +resulted from his wound. Her claim was rejected in 1885 upon the ground +that death was not caused by the wound. + +The physician who was present at the time of the death certifies that +the same resulted from apoplexy in twelve hours after the deceased was +attacked. + +It also appears from the statement of this physician that the deceased +was employed for years after his discharge from the Army as a railroad +conductor, and that at the time of his death he had with difficulty +reached his home. He then describes as following the attack the usual +manifestations of apoplexy, and adds that he regards the case as one of +"hemiplegia, the outgrowth primarily of nerve injury, aggravated by the +life's calling, and eventuating in apoplexy as stated." + +Evidence is filed in the Pension Bureau showing that after his discharge +he was more or less troubled with his wound, though one witness +testifies that he railroaded with him for fifteen years after his +injury. I find no medical testimony referred to which with any +distinctness charges death to the wound, and it would be hardly credible +if such evidence was found. + +I am sure that in no case except in an application for pension would an +attempt be made in the circumstances here developed to attribute death +from apoplexy to a wound in the knee received nineteen years before the +apoplectic attack. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9106, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Rachel Barnes." + +William Barnes, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted in the United States infantry in February, 1838, and was +discharged February 24, 1841. + +In 1880 he applied for a pension, alleging that while serving in Florida +in 1840 and 1841 he contracted disease of the eyes. He procured +considerable evidence in support of his claim, but in 1882, and while +still endeavoring to furnish further proof, he committed suicide by +hanging. + +The inference that his death thus occasioned was the result of +despondency and despair brought on by his failure to procure a pension, +while it adds a sad feature to the case, does not aid in connecting his +death with his military service. + +That this was the view of the committee of the House to whom the bill +was referred is evidenced by the conclusion of their report in these +words: + + And while your committee do not feel justified under the law as at + present existing in recommending that the name of the widow be placed + upon the pension roll for the purpose of a pension in her own right as + widow of the deceased soldier and by reason of the soldier's death, + they do think that she should be allowed such pension as, had her + husband's claim been favorably determined on the day of his decease, + he would have received. + + +And yet the bill under consideration directs the Secretary of the +Interior to place this widow's name on the pension roll and to "pay her +a pension as such widow from and after the passage of this act, subject +to the provisions and limitations of the pension laws." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 8336, entitled "An act +granting an increase of pension to Duncan Forbes." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted, under the name of Alexander +Sheret, January 7, 1862, in the Regular Army, and was discharged January +8, 1865. + +He applied for a pension in 1879, alleging that he was wounded in his +right breast December 31, 1862, and in his right ankle September 20, +1863. He was pensioned in 1883, dating from January 9, 1865, for the +ankle wound, but that part of his claim based upon the wound in his +breast was rejected upon the ground that there was no record of the same +and the testimony failed to show that such a wound had its origin in the +service. + +Though the lack of such a record is sufficiently accounted for, I am +convinced that, conceding both the wounds alleged were received, this +pensioner has been fairly and justly treated. + +It appears from the allegations of his application to the Pension Bureau +that after the wound in his breast, in December, 1862, he continued his +service till September, 1863, when he was wounded again in the ankle, +and that with both wounds he served until his discharge in January, +1865. It also appears from the records that after his discharge from +the. Army, and on the 3d day of February, 1865, he enlisted as landsman +in the United States Navy, and served in that branch of the service for +three years. + +A medical examination in May, 1885, disclosed the appearance of a +gunshot wound in the right breast, which is thus described: + + The missile struck the seventh rib of right side and glanced off, + leaving a horizontal scar 2-1/4 inches long and one-half inch wide, + deeply depressed and firmly adherent. + + +I credit this claimant with being a good soldier, and I am willing to +believe that his insistence upon a greater pension than that already +allowed by the Pension Bureau, under liberal general laws, enacted for +the benefit of himself and all his comrades, is the result of the +demoralization produced by ill-advised special legislation on the +subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5389, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Ann Kinney." + +This beneficiary applied for a pension in 1877 as the widow of Edward +Kinney, alleging that he died September 5, 1875, from the effects of a +wound received in the Army. He enlisted November 4, 1861, and was +discharged July 28, 1862, on account of a gunshot wound in his left +elbow, for which wound he was pensioned in the year 1865. + +A physician testifies that the pensioned soldier's death was, in his +opinion, brought on indirectly by the intemperate use of intoxicating +liquors, and that he died from congestion of the brain. + +The marshal of the city where he resided states that on the day of the +soldier's death he was called to remove him from a house in which he was +making a disturbance, and that finding him intoxicated he arrested him +and took him to the lockup and placed him in a cell. In a short time, +not exceeding an hour, thereafter he was found dead. He further states +that he was addicted to periodical sprees. + +Another statement is made that the soldier was an intemperate man, and +died very suddenly in the city lockup, where he had been taken by an +officer while on a drunken spree. + +This is not a pleasant recital, and as against the widow I should be +glad to avoid its effect. But the most favorable phase of the case does +not aid her, since her claim rests upon the allegation that her husband +was subject to epileptic fits and died from congestion of the brain +while in one of these fits. Even upon this showing the connection +between the fits and the wound in the elbow is not made apparent. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8556, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Abraham Points." + +This soldier enlisted August 11, 1864, and was mustered out June 28, +1865. + +He was treated during his short term of service for "catarrhal," +"constipation," "diarrhea," "jaundice," and "colic." + +He filed an application for pension in 1878, alleging that some of his +comrades in a joke twisted his arm in such a manner that the elbow joint +became stiffened and anchylosed, and that his eyes became sore and have +continued to grow worse ever since. There is no record of either of +these disabilities. + +The application was denied upon the ground, as stated in the report from +the Pension Bureau, that the claim "was specially examined, and it was +shown conclusively, from the evidence of neighbors and acquaintances of +good repute and standing, that the alleged disabilities existed at and +prior to claimant's enlistment." + +I am satisfied from an examination of the facts submitted to me that +this determination was correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 3551, entitled "An act +granting a pension to George W. Cutler, late a private in Company B, +Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers." + +This claimant enlisted July 12, 1862, and was discharged June 22, 1863, +for disability resulting from "scrofulous ulceration of the tibia and +fibula of right leg; loss of sight of left eye." + +He made a claim for pension in 1865, alleging an injury while loading +commissary stores, resulting in spitting of blood, injury to lungs, and +heart disease. + +This claim was rejected August 31, 1865. + +In 1867 he again enlisted in the United States infantry, and was +discharged from that enlistment March 29, 1869, for disability, the +certificate stating that-- + + + He is unfit for military service by reason of being subject to bleeding + of the lungs. He was wounded, while in the line of his duty in the + United States Army, at Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862. Said + wound is not the cause of his disability. + + +Afterwards, and in the year 1879, he filed affidavits claiming that he +was wounded by a minie ball at the battle of Fredericksburg, December +13, 1862, and was injured by falling down an embankment. + +In 1883 he filed an affidavit in which he stated that the disability for +which he claims a pension arose from injuries received in falling down a +bank at Fredericksburg and being tramped on by troops, causing a +complication of diseases resulting in general debility. + +The statement in the certificate of discharge from his second enlistment +as to the wound he received by a minie ball at Fredericksburg was of +course derived from his own statement, as it was related to a prior term +of service. + +The records of the Adjutant-General's Office furnish no evidence of +wounds or injury at Fredericksburg. + +The injury alleged at first as a consequence of loading commissary +stores seems to have been abandoned by the claimant for the adoption +of a wound at Fredericksburg, which in its turn seems to have been +abandoned and a fall down a bank and trampling upon by troops +substituted. + +Whatever injuries he may have suffered during his first enlistment, and +to whatever cause he chooses at last to attribute them, they did not +prevent his reenlistment and passing the physical examination necessary +before acceptance. + +The surgeon of the Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers, in which he first +enlisted, states that he remembers the claimant well; that he was +mustered and accepted as a recruit in spite of his (the surgeon's) +protest; that he was physically unfit for duty; that he had the +appearance of impaired health, and that his face and neck were marked by +one or more deep scars, the result, as the claimant himself alleged, of +scrofulous abscesses in early youth. He expresses the opinion that he is +attempting to palm off these old scars as evidence of wounds received, +and that if he had been wounded as he claimed he (the surgeon) would +have known it and remembered it. + +It is true that whenever in this case a wound is described it is located +in the jaw, while some of the medical testimony negatives the existence +of any wound. + +The contrariety of the claimant's statements and the testimony and +circumstances tend so strongly to impeach his claim that I do not think +the decision of the Pension Bureau should be reversed and the claimant +pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 7234, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Susan Hawes." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the mother of Jeremiah Hawes, who +enlisted in February, 1861, in the United States artillery, and was +discharged in February, 1864. He filed a claim for pension in 1881, +alleging that in 1862, by the premature discharge of a cannon, he +sustained paralysis of his right arm and side. In 1883, while his claim +was still pending, he died. + +He does not appear to have made his home with his mother altogether, +if at all. For some years prior to his death and at the time of its +occurrence he was an inmate, or had been an inmate, of a soldiers' home +in Ohio. + +But whatever may be said of the character of any injuries he may have +received in the service or of his relations to his mother, the cause of +his death, it seems to me, can not possibly upon any reasonable theory +be attributable to any incident of his military service. + +It appears that in July, 1883, while the deceased was on his way from +Buffalo, where he had been in a hospital, to the soldiers' home in Ohio, +he attempted to step on a slowly moving freight train, and making a +misstep a wheel of the car passed over his foot, injuring it so badly +that it was deemed necessary by two physicians who were called to +amputate the foot. An anaesthetic was administered preparatory to the +operation, but before it was entered upon the injured man died, having +survived the accident but two hours. + +The physicians who were present stated that in their opinion death was +due to heart disease. + +The above account of the death of the soldier is derived from a report +furnished by the Pension Bureau, and differs somewhat from the statement +contained in the report of the House Committee on Invalid Pensions as +related to the intention of the physicians to amputate the injured foot +and their administration of an anaesthetic. But the accident and the +death two hours thereafter under the treatment of the physicians are +conceded facts. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 4, 1886_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1584, entitled "An act +for the relief of Mrs. Aurelia C. Richardson." + +Albert H. Fillmore, the son of the beneficiary mentioned in this bill, +enlisted in August, 1862, and died in the service of smallpox, May 20, +1865. + +His father having died some time prior to the soldier's enlistment, his +mother in 1858 married Lorenzo D. Richardson. It is stated in the report +upon this case from the Pension Bureau that the deceased did not live +with his mother after her marriage to Richardson, and that there is no +competent evidence that he contributed to her support after that event. + +At the time of the soldier's death his stepfather was a blacksmith, +earning at about that time, as it is represented, not less than $70 a +month, and owning considerable property, a part of which still remains +to him. + +While in ordinary cases of this kind I am by no means inclined to +distinguish very closely between dependence at the date of the soldier's +death and the date of proposed aid to a needy mother, I think the +circumstances here presented, especially the fact of nonresidence by the +son with his mother since her second marriage, do not call for a +departure from the law governing claims based upon dependence. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +POCKET VETOES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, August 17, 1886_. + +Hon. Thos. F. Bayard, + _Secretary of State_. + +DEAR SIR: The President directs me to transmit to you the accompanying +bills and joint resolutions, which failed to become laws at the close of +the late session of Congress, being unsigned and not having been +presented to him ten days prior to adjournment. + +I may add that the printed copy of memorandum (without signature) is by +the President, and is attached to each bill and resolution by his +direction. + +Very respectfully, + +O.L. PRUDEN, + _Assistant Secretary_. + + + +["An act for the relief of Francis W. Haldeman."--Received July 28, +1886.] + +This bill appropriates $200 to the party named therein "as compensation +for services performed and money expended for the benefit of the United +States Army." It appears from a report of the House Committee on War +Claims that in the fall of 1863 Haldeman, a lad 12 years of age, +purchased a uniform and armed himself and attached himself to various +Ohio regiments, and, as is said, performed various duties connected with +the army service until the end of the year 1864, and for this it is +proposed to give him $200. + +Of course he never enlisted and never was regularly attached to any +regiment. What kind of arms this boy 12 years of age armed himself with +is not stated, and it is quite evident that his military service could +not have amounted to much more than the indulgence of a boyish freak and +his being made a pet of the soldiers with whom he was associated. There +is a pleasant sentiment connected with this display of patriotism and +childish military ardor, and it is not a matter of surprise that he +should, as stated by the committee, have "received honorable mention by +name in the history of his regiment;" but when it is proposed twenty-two +years after his one year's experience with troops to pay him a sum +nearly if not quite equal to the pay of a soldier who fought and +suffered all the dangers and privations of a soldier's life, I am +constrained to dissent. + + + +["An act for the relief of R.D. Beckley and Leon Howard."--Received July +28, 1886.] + +These two men were employed by the Doorkeeper of the Forty-eighth +Congress as laborers at the rate of $720 per annum. + +They claim that in both sessions of that Congress they not only +performed the duties appertaining to their positions as laborers, but +also performed the full duties of messengers. Having received their pay +as laborers, this bill proposes to appropriate for them the difference +between their compensation as laborers and $1,200, the pay allowed +messengers. + +Congress, in appropriation bills covering the period in which these men +claim to have performed these dual duties, provided for a certain +specified number of messengers and a fixed number of laborers. They both +accepted the latter position. If they actually performed the duties of +both places, their ability to do so is evidence that the labor of either +place was very light. In any case they owed their time and services to +the Government, and while they were performing the duties of messengers +they were not engaged in the harder tasks which might have been required +of them as laborers. They ought not to complain if they have received +the amount for which they agreed to work, and which was allowed for as +the wages of a place which they were glad enough to secure. If they +really did the work of both places, I don't see why they should not be +paid both compensations. This proposition of course would not be +entertained for a moment. + +I am of the opinion that claims for extra compensation such as these +should be firmly discountenanced, and I am sure no injustice will be +done by my declining to approve this bill. + + + +["An act for the relief of Thomas P. Morgan, jr."--Received July 31, +1886.--Memorandum.] + +Thomas P. Morgan, jr., in the year 1881 entered into a contract with the +Government to do certain excavating in the harbor of Norfolk. + +He performed considerable of the work, but though the time limited by +the contract for the completion was extended by the Government, he +failed to complete the work, which necessitated other arrangements, to +the damage of the Government in quite a large sum. His contract was +forfeited by the Government because the progress he made was so slow and +unsatisfactory. It seems that a certain percentage of the money earned +by him in the progress of the work was, under the terms of the contract, +retained by the Government to insure its completion, and when work was +terminated the sum thus retained amounted to $4,898.04, which sum was +justly forfeited to the Government. + +The object of this bill is to waive this forfeiture and pay this sum to +the derelict contractor. + +Inasmuch as I am unable to see any equities in this case that should +overcome the fact that the amount of loss to the Government through the +contract is greater than the sum thus sought to be released to him, I am +not willing to agree to his release from the consequence of his failure +to perform his contract. + + + +["An act for the relief of Charles F. Bowers."--Received August 2, +1886.] + +It appears that Charles P. Bowers, while acting as regimental +quartermaster in 1862, received of John Weeks, assistant quartermaster +of volunteers, the sum of $230, for which he gave a receipt. On the +settlement of his accounts he was unable to account for said sum, for +the reason, as he alleges, that certain of his papers were lost and +destroyed. Thus in the statement of his account he is represented as a +debtor of the Government in that amount. + +This bill directs that a credit be allowed to him of the said sum of +$230. But since his account was adjusted as above stated, showing him in +debt to the Government in the amount last stated, he has paid the sum of +$75 and been allowed a credit of $125 for the value of a horse; so that +whatever may be said of the merits of his claim that he should not be +charged with the sum of $230, if he should now be credited with that sum +the Government would owe him upon its books the sum of $30. + +The bill is therefore not approved. + + + +["An act to provide for the erection of a public building in the city of +Annapolis, Md."--Received August 3, 1886.--Memorandum.] + +The post-office at Annapolis is now accommodated in quarters for which +the Government pays rent at the rate of $500 per annum, and the office +occupied by the collector of customs is rented for $75 per annum. + +The Government has no other use for a public building at Annapolis than +is above indicated, and the chief argument urged why a building should +be constructed there is based upon the fact that this city is the +capital of the State of Maryland and should have a Government building +because most if not all the other capitals of the States have such +edifices. + +There seems to be so little necessity for the building proposed for the +transaction of Government business, and if there is anything in the +argument last referred to it seems so well answered by the maintenance +of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, this bill is allowed to remain +inoperative. + + + +["An act for the relief of J.A. Henry and others."--Received August 3, +1886.--Memorandum.] + +This bill appropriates various sums to the parties named therein, being +claims of rent of quarters occupied during the war by the +Quartermaster's Department of the Army. + +Among the appropriations there proposed to be made is one of the sum of +$51 to L.F. Green. This account has been once paid, a special act +directing such payment having been approved February 12, 1885. The fact +of this payment and important information bearing upon the validity of +some of the other claims mentioned in the bill could have been easily +obtained by application to the Third Auditor. + + + +["An act for the relief of William H. Wheeler."--Received August 3, +1886.] + +This bill directs the payment of the sum of $633.50 to William H. +Wheeler for quartermaster's stores furnished the Army in the year 1862. + +From the data furnished me by the Quartermaster-General I am quite +certain that this claim has been once paid. The circumstances presented +to prove this are so strong that they should be explained before the +relief provided by this bill is afforded the claimant. + + + +["An act granting a pension to Margaret D. Marchand."--Received August +5, 1886.--Memorandum.] + +A bill presented to me for approval, granting a pension of $50 per month +to the beneficiary named, was disapproved upon the ground that the death +of her husband did not appear to be in any way related to any incident +of his military service. + +This bill differs from the prior one simply in granting a pension +subject to the provisions and limitations of the pension laws instead of +fixing the rate of pension at a specified sum. I am still unable to see +how the objection to the first bill has been obviated. + + + +["Joint resolution providing for the distribution of the Official +Register of the United States."--Received August 5, 1886.--Memorandum.] + +This resolution reached me five minutes after the adjournment of the two +Houses of Congress, and is the only enactment of the session which came +to me too late for official action. + +I do not understand this resolution nor the purposes sought to be +accomplished by its passage, and while in that frame of mind should have +been constrained to withhold my approval from the same even if it had +reached me in time for consideration. + + + +["Joint resolution directing payment of the surplus in the Treasury on +the public debt."--Received August 5, 1886.--Memorandum.] + +This resolution involves so much and is of such serious import that I do +not deem it best to discuss it at this time. It is not approved because +I believe it to be unnecessary and because I am by no means convinced +that its mere passage and approval at this time may not endanger and +embarrass the successful and useful operations of the Treasury +Department and impair the confidence which the people should have in the +management of the finances of the Government. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas it is represented to me by the governor of the Territory of +Washington that domestic violence exists within the said Territory, and +that by reason of unlawful obstructions and combinations and the +assemblage of evil-disposed persons it has become impracticable to +enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the +United States at Seattle and at other points and places within said +Territory, whereby life and property are there threatened and +endangered; and + +Whereas, in the judgment of the President, an emergency has arisen and a +case is now presented which justifies and requires, under the +Constitution and laws of the United States, the employment of military +force to suppress domestic violence and enforce the faithful execution +of the laws of the United States if the command and warning of this +proclamation be disobeyed and disregarded: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, do hereby command and warn all insurgents and all persons who +have assembled at any point within the said Territory of Washington for +the unlawful purposes aforesaid to desist therefrom and to disperse and +retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 6 o'clock in +the afternoon of the 10th day of February instant. + +And I do admonish all good citizens of the United States and all persons +within the limits and jurisdiction thereof against aiding, abetting, +countenancing, or taking any part in such unlawful acts or assemblages. + +In witness whereof I have set my hand and caused the seal of the United +States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 9th day of February, A.D. 1886, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by a proclamation of the President of the United States dated +the 14th day of February, in the year 1884,[5] upon evidence then +appearing satisfactory to him that the Government of Spain had abolished +the discriminating customs duty theretofore imposed upon the products of +and articles proceeding from the United States of America imported into +the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, such abolition to take effect on +and after the 1st day of March of said year 1884, and, by virtue of the +authority vested in him by section 4228 of the Revised Statutes of the +United States, the President did thereby declare and proclaim that on +and after the said 1st day of March, 1884, so long as the products of +and articles proceeding from the United States imported into the islands +of Cuba and Puerto Rico should be exempt from discriminating customs +duties, any such duties on the products of and articles proceeding from +Cuba and Puerto Rico under the Spanish flag should be suspended and +discontinued; and + +Whereas by Article I of the commercial agreement signed at Madrid the +13th day of February, 1884, it was stipulated and provided that "the +duties of the third column of the customs tariffs of Cuba and Puerto +Rico, which implies the suppression of the differential flag duty," +should at once be applied to the products of and articles proceeding +from the United States of America; and + +Whereas the complete suppression of the differential flag duty in +respect of all vessels of the United States and their cargoes entering +the ports of Cuba and Puerto Rico is by the terms of the said agreement +expressly made the consideration for the exercise of the authority +conferred upon the President in respect of the suspension of the +collection of foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and imposts upon +merchandise brought within the United States from Cuba and Puerto Rico +in Spanish vessels by said section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, which +section reads as follows: + + SEC. 4228. Upon satisfactory proof being given to the President by the + government of any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of + tonnage or imposts are imposed or levied in the ports of such nation + upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States, or upon + the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the + United States or from any foreign country, the President may issue his + proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage + and impost within the United States are suspended and discontinued so + far as respects the vessels of such foreign nation, and the produce, + manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States from such + foreign nation or from any other foreign country; the suspension to take + effect from the time of such notification being given to the President, + and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging + to citizens of the United States, and their cargoes, shall be continued, + and no longer. + + +And whereas proof is given to me that such complete suppression of the +differential flag duty in respect of vessels of the United States and +their cargoes entering the ports of Cuba and Puerto Rico has not in fact +been secured, but that, notwithstanding the said agreement dated at +Madrid, February 13, 1884, and in contravention thereof, as well as of +the provisions of the said section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, higher +and discriminating duties continue to be imposed and levied in said +ports upon certain produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into +said ports from the United States or from any foreign country in vessels +of the United States than is imposed and levied on the like produce, +manufactures, or merchandise carried to said ports in Spanish vessels: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, in execution of the aforesaid section 4228 of the Revised +Statutes, do hereby revoke the suspension of the discriminating customs +imposed and levied in the ports of the United States on the products of +and articles proceeding under the Spanish flag from Cuba and Puerto +Rico, which is set forth and contained in the aforesaid proclamation +dated the 14th day of February, 1884; this revocation of said +proclamation to take effect on and after the 25th 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 13th day of October, A.D. 1886, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eleventh. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + +[Footnote 5: See pp. 323-224.] + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me by the Government of +Spain that no discriminating duties of tonnage or imposts are imposed +or levied in the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico upon vessels wholly +belonging to citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, +manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the United States +or from any foreign country; and + +Whereas notification of such abolition of discriminating duties of +tonnage and imposts as aforesaid has been given to me by a memorandum +of agreement signed this day in the city of Washington between the +Secretary of State of the United States and the envoy extraordinary +and minister plenipotentiary of Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain +accredited to the Government of the United States of America: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 4228 of the +Revised Statutes of the United States, do hereby declare and proclaim +that from and after the date of this my proclamation, being also the +date of the notification received as aforesaid, the foreign +discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are +suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of Spain and +the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in said vessels into +the United States from the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico or from any +other foreign country; such suspension to continue so long as the +reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States, and their cargoes, shall be continued in the said islands of +Cuba and Puerto Rico, and no longer. 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 27th day of October, A.D. 1886, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eleventh. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +A PROCLAMATION + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +It has long been the custom of the people of the United States, on a +day in each year especially set apart for that purpose by their Chief +Executive, to acknowledge the goodness and mercy of God and to invoke +His continued care and protection. + +In observance of such custom I, Grover Cleveland, President of the +United States, do hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 25th day +of November instant, to be observed and kept as a day of thanksgiving +and prayer. + +On that day let all our people forego their accustomed employments and +assemble in their usual places of worship to give thanks to the Ruler +of the Universe for our continued enjoyment of the blessings of a free +government, for a renewal of business prosperity throughout our land, +for the return which has rewarded the labor of those who till the soil, +and for our progress as a people in all that makes a nation great. + +And while we contemplate the infinite power of God in earthquake, flood, +and storm let the grateful hearts of those who have been shielded from +harm through His mercy be turned in sympathy and kindness toward those +who have suffered through His visitations. + +Let us also in the midst of our thanksgiving remember the poor and needy +with cheerful gifts and alms so that our service may by deeds of charity +be made acceptable in the sight of the Lord. + +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. 1886, and +of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and +eleventh. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +Whereas in an Executive order dated the 21st day of July, 1875, +directing the distribution of the fund of 400,000 pesetas received from +the Spanish Government in satisfaction of the reclamation of the United +States arising from the capture of the _Virginius_, it was provided +"that should any further order or direction be required the same will +hereafter be made in addition hereto;" and + +Whereas a further order or direction is deemed necessary: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do +hereby direct that all persons entitled to the benefit of any of the +aforesaid fund of 400,000 pesetas who have not yet presented their +claims thereto shall formulate and present their claims to the Secretary +of State of the United States within six months from the date of this +order, or be held as forever barred from the benefits of said fund. + +And I hereby further direct that the balance of the fund which shall +remain unclaimed at the expiration of the aforesaid period of six months +shall be distributed _pro rata_ among the beneficiaries under the +original distribution, provided they or their heirs or representatives +shall within the six months next succeeding the said former period +present to the Secretary of State of the United States petitions for +their shares of said balance. + +And to these ends the Secretary of State is requested to cause public +notice to be given of the above direction. + +In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at the city of +Washington, this 12th day of December, A.D. 1885, and of the +Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and tenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 9, 1886--4 o'clock p.m._ + +Tidings of the death of Winfield Scott Hancock, the senior major-general +of the Army of the United States, have just been received. + +A patriotic and valiant defender of his country, an able and heroic +soldier, a spotless and accomplished gentleman, crowned alike with the +laurels of military renown and the highest tribute of his +fellow-countrymen to his worth as a citizen, he has gone to his reward. + +It is fitting that every mark of public respect should be paid to his +memory. + +Therefore it is now ordered by the President that the national flag be +displayed at half-mast upon all the buildings of the Executive +Departments in this city until after his funeral shall have taken place. + +By direction of the President: + +DANIEL S. LAMONT, + _Private Secretary_. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement +of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as +follows: + + Rule XXII. + + Any person in the classified departmental service may be transferred + and appointed to any other place therein upon the following conditions: + + 1. That he is not debarred by clause 2 of Rule XXI. + + 2. That the head of a Department has, in a written statement to be + filed with the Commission, requested such transfer to a place in said + Department, to be designated in the statement. + + 3. That said person is shown in the statement or by other evidence + satisfactory to the Commission to have been during six consecutive + months in such service since January 16, 1883. + + 4. That such person has passed at the required grade one or more + examinations under the Commission which are together equal to that + required for the place to which the transfer is to be made. + + But any person who has for three years last preceding served as a clerk + in the office of the President of the United States may be transferred + or appointed to any place in the classified service without examination. + + +Approved, April 12, 1886. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 20, 1886_. + +Under the provisions of section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1883, it +is hereby ordered that the several Executive Departments, the Department +of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office be closed on Monday, +the 31st instant, to enable the employees to participate in the +decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 3, 1886_. + +_To Heads of the Government Departments_: + +Inasmuch as the 4th of July of the present year falls upon Sunday and +the celebration of Independence Day is to be generally observed upon +Monday, July 5, it is hereby ordered that the several Executive +Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Government Printing +Office be closed on Monday, the 5th instant. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 14, 1886_. + +_To the Heads of Departments in the Service of the General Government_: + +I deem this a proper time to especially warn all subordinates in the +several Departments and all officeholders under the General Government +against the use of their official positions in attempts to control +political movements in their localities. + +Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters. Not only +is their time and labor due to the Government, but they should +scrupulously avoid in their political action, as well as in the +discharge of their official duty, offending by a display of obtrusive +partisanship their neighbors who have relations with them as public +officials. + +They should also constantly remember that their party friends from whom +they have received preferment have not invested them with the power of +arbitrarily managing their political affairs. They have no right as +officeholders to dictate the political action of their party associates +or to throttle freedom of action within party lines by methods and +practices which pervert every useful and justifiable purpose of party +organization. + +The influence of Federal officeholders should not be felt in the +manipulation of political primary meetings and nominating conventions. +The use by these officials of their positions to compass their selection +as delegates to political conventions is indecent and unfair; and proper +regard for the proprieties and requirements of official place will also +prevent their assuming the active conduct of political campaigns. + +Individual interest and activity in political affairs are by no means +condemned. Officeholders are neither disfranchised nor forbidden the +exercise of political privileges, but their privileges are not enlarged +nor is their duty to party increased to pernicious activity by +officeholding. + +A just discrimination in this regard between the things a citizen may +properly do and the purposes for which a public office should not be +used is easy in the light of a correct appreciation of the relation +between the people and those intrusted with official place and a +consideration of the necessity under our form of government of political +action free from official coercion. + +You are requested to communicate the substance of these views to those +for whose guidance they are intended. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement +of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as +follows: + + + RULE IX. + + All applications for regular competitive examinations for admission to + the classified civil service must be made on blank forms to be + prescribed by the Commission. + + Requests for blank forms of application for competitive examination for + admission to the classified civil service and all regular applications + for such examination shall be made-- + + 1. If for the classified departmental service, to the United States + Civil Service Commission at Washington, D.C. + + 2. If for the classified customs service, to the civil-service board of + examiners for the customs district in which the person desiring to be + examined wishes to enter the customs service. + + 3. If for the classified postal service, to the civil-service board of + examiners for the post-office at which the person desiring to be + examined wishes to enter the postal service. + + Requests for blank forms of application to customs and postal boards of + examiners must be made in writing by the persons desiring examination, + and such blank forms shall not be furnished to any other persons. + + +Approved, August 13, 1886. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 16, 1886_. + +Hon. Daniel Manning, + _Secretary of the Treasury_. + +DEAR SIR: In pursuance of a joint resolution of the Congress approved +March 3, 1877, authorizing the President to cause suitable regulations +to be made for the maintenance of the statue of "Liberty Enlightening +the World," now located on Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York, as +a beacon, I hereby direct that said statue be at once placed under the +care and superintendence of the Light-House Board, and that it be from +henceforth maintained by said board as a beacon, and that it be so +maintained, lighted, and tended in accordance with such rules and +regulations as now exist applicable thereto, or such other and different +rules and regulations as said board may deem necessary to carry out the +design of said joint resolution and this order. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +GENERAL ORDERS, No. 84. + + +HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, + ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, November 18, 1886_. + +I. The following proclamation [order] has been received from the +President: + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., November 18, 1886_. + +_To the People of the United States_: + +It is my painful duty to announce the death of Chester Alan Arthur, +lately the President of the United States, which occurred, after an +illness of long duration, at an early hour this morning at his residence +in the city of New York. + +Mr. Arthur was called to the chair of the Chief Magistracy of the nation +by a tragedy which cast its shadow over the entire Government. + +His assumption of the grave duties was marked by an evident and +conscientious sense of his responsibilities and an earnest desire to +meet them in a patriotic and benevolent spirit. + +With dignity and ability he sustained the important duties of his +station, and the reputation of his personal worth, conspicuous +graciousness, and patriotic fidelity will long be cherished by his +fellow-countrymen. + +In token of respect to the memory of the deceased it is ordered that the +Executive Mansion and the several departmental buildings be draped in +mourning for a period of thirty days and that on the day of the funeral +all public business in the departments be suspended. + +The Secretaries of War and of the Navy will cause orders to be issued +for appropriate military and naval honors to be rendered on that day. + +Done at the city of Washington this 18th day of November, A.D. 1886, and +of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and +eleventh. + +[SEAL.] + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + THOMAS F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + +II. In compliance with the instructions of the President, on the day +of the funeral, at each military post, the troops and cadets will be +paraded and this order read to them, after which all labors for the day +will cease. + +The national flag will be displayed at half-staff. + +At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals +of thirty minutes between the rising and setting of the sun a single +gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-eight guns. + +The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their +swords and the colors of the Battalion of Engineers, of the several +regiments, and of the United States Corps of Cadets will be put in +mourning for the period of six months. + +The date and hour of the funeral will be communicated to department +commanders by telegraph, and by them to their subordinate commanders. + +By command of Lieutenant-General Sheridan: + +R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_. + + + +SPECIAL ORDER. + +NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, November 18, 1886_. + +The President of the United States announces the death of ex-President +Chester Alan Arthur in the following proclamation [order]: + +[For order see preceding page.] + +It is hereby directed, in pursuance of the instructions of the +President, that on the day of the funeral, where this order may be +received in time, otherwise on the day after its receipt, the ensign at +each naval station and of each of the vessels of the United States Navy +in commission be hoisted at half-mast from sunrise to sunset, and that +also, at each naval station and on board of flagships and vessels acting +singly, a gun be fired at intervals of every half hour from sunrise to +sunset. + +The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of +mourning attached to the sword hilt and on the left arm for a period of +thirty days. + +WILLIAM C. WHITNEY, + _Secretary of the Navy_. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 20, 1886_. + +_It is hereby ordered_, That the Department of Agriculture, the +Government Printing Office, and all other Government offices in the +District of Columbia be closed on Monday, the 22d instant, the day of +the funeral of the late Chester Alan Arthur, ex-President of the United +States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1886_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +In discharge of a constitutional duty, and following a well-established +precedent in the Executive office, I herewith transmit to the Congress +at its reassembling certain information concerning the state of the +Union, together with such recommendations for legislative consideration +as appear necessary and expedient. + +Our Government has consistently maintained its relations of friendship +toward all other powers and of neighborly interest toward those whose +possessions are contiguous to our own. Few questions have arisen during +the past year with other governments, and none of those are beyond the +reach of settlement in friendly counsel. + +We are as yet without provision for the settlement of claims of citizens +of the United States against Chile for injustice during the late war +with Peru and Bolivia. The mixed commissions organized under claims +conventions concluded by the Chilean Government with certain European +States have developed an amount of friction which we trust can be +avoided in the convention which our representative at Santiago is +authorized to negotiate. + +The cruel treatment of inoffensive Chinese has, I regret to say, been +repeated in some of the far Western States and Territories, and acts of +violence against those people, beyond the power of the local constituted +authorities to prevent and difficult to punish, are reported even in +distant Alaska. Much of this violence can be traced to race prejudice +and competition of labor, which can not, however, justify the oppression +of strangers whose safety is guaranteed by our treaty with China equally +with the most favored nations. + +In opening our vast domain to alien elements the purpose of our +law-givers was to invite assimilation, and not to provide an arena for +endless antagonism. The paramount duty of maintaining public order and +defending the interests of our own people may require the adoption of +measures of restriction, but they should not tolerate the oppression +of individuals of a special race. I am not without assurance that the +Government of China, whose friendly disposition toward us I am most +happy to recognize, will meet us halfway in devising a comprehensive +remedy by which an effective limitation of Chinese emigration, joined to +protection of those Chinese subjects who remain in this country, may be +secured. + +Legislation is needed to execute the provisions of our Chinese +convention of 1880 touching the opium traffic. + +While the good will of the Colombian Government toward our country is +manifest, the situation of American interests on the Isthmus of Panama +has at times excited concern and invited friendly action looking to the +performance of the engagements of the two nations concerning the +territory embraced in the interoceanic transit. With the subsidence of +the Isthmian disturbances and the erection of the State of Panama into a +federal district under the direct government of the constitutional +administration at Bogota, a new order of things has been inaugurated, +which, although as yet somewhat experimental and affording scope for +arbitrary-exercise of power by the delegates of the national authority, +promises much improvement. + +The sympathy between the people of the United States and France, born +during our colonial struggle for independence and continuing to-day, has +received a fresh impulse in the successful completion and dedication of +the colossal statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" in New York +Harbor--the gift of Frenchmen to Americans. + +A convention between the United States and certain other powers for the +protection of submarine cables was signed at Paris on March 14, 1884, +and has been duly ratified and proclaimed by this Government. By +agreement between the high contracting parties this convention is to go +into effect on the 1st of January next, but the legislation required for +its execution in the United States has not yet been adopted. I earnestly +recommend its enactment. + +Cases have continued to occur in Germany giving rise to much +correspondence in relation to the privilege of sojourn of our +naturalized citizens of German origin revisiting the land of their +birth, yet I am happy to state that our relations with that country have +lost none of their accustomed cordiality. + +The claims for interest upon the amount of tonnage dues illegally +exacted from certain German steamship lines were favorably reported in +both Houses of Congress at the last session, and I trust will receive +final and favorable action at an early day. + +The recommendations contained in my last annual message in relation to a +mode of settlement of the fishery rights in the waters of British North +America, so long a subject of anxious difference between the United +States and Great Britain, was met by an adverse vote of the Senate on +April 13 last, and thereupon negotiations were instituted to obtain an +agreement with Her Britannic Majesty's Government for the promulgation +of such joint interpretation and definition of the article of the +convention of 1818 relating to the territorial waters and inshore +fisheries of the British Provinces as should secure the Canadian rights +from encroachment by the United States fishermen and at the same time +insure the enjoyment by the latter of the privileges guaranteed to them +by such convention. + +The questions involved are of long standing, of grave consequence, and +from time to time for nearly three-quarters of a century have given rise +to earnest international discussions, not unaccompanied by irritation. + +Temporary arrangements by treaties have served to allay friction, which, +however, has revived as each treaty was terminated. The last +arrangement, under the treaty of 1871, was abrogated after due notice by +the United States on June 30, 1885, but I was enabled to obtain for our +fishermen for the remainder of that season enjoyment of the full +privileges accorded by the terminated treaty. + +The joint high commission by whom the treaty had been negotiated, +although invested with plenary power to make a permanent settlement, +were content with a temporary arrangement, after the termination of +which the question was relegated to the stipulations of the treaty of +1818, as to the first article of which no construction satisfactory to +both countries has ever been agreed upon. + +The progress of civilization and growth of population in the British +Provinces to which the fisheries in question are contiguous and the +expansion of commercial intercourse between them and the United States +present to-day a condition of affairs scarcely realizable at the date of +the negotiations of 1818. + +New and vast interests have been brought into existence; modes of +intercourse between the respective countries have been invented and +multiplied; the methods of conducting the fisheries have been wholly +changed; and all this is necessarily entitled to candid and careful +consideration in the adjustment of the terms and conditions of +intercourse and commerce between the United States and their neighbors +along a frontier of over 3,500 miles. + +This propinquity, community of language and occupation, and similarity +of political and social institutions indicate the practicability and +obvious wisdom of maintaining mutually beneficial and friendly +relations. Whilst I am unfeignedly desirous that such relations should +exist between us and the inhabitants of Canada, yet the action of their +officials during the past season toward our fishermen has been such as +to seriously threaten their continuance. + +Although disappointed in my efforts to secure a satisfactory settlement +of the fishery question, negotiations are still pending, with reasonable +hope that before the close of the present session of Congress +announcement may be made that an acceptable conclusion has been reached. + +As at an early day there may be laid before Congress the correspondence +of the Department of State in relation to this important subject, so +that the history of the past fishing season may be fully disclosed and +the action and the attitude of the Administration clearly comprehended, +a more extended reference is not deemed necessary in this communication. +The recommendation submitted last year that provision be made for a +preliminary reconnoissance of the conventional boundary line between +Alaska and British Columbia is renewed. + +I express my unhesitating conviction that the intimacy of our relations +with Hawaii should be emphasized. As a result of the reciprocity treaty +of 1875, those islands, on the highway of Oriental and Australasian +traffic, are virtually an outpost of American commerce and a +stepping-stone to the growing trade of the Pacific. The Polynesian +Island groups have been so absorbed by other and more powerful +governments that the Hawaiian Islands are left almost alone in the +enjoyment of their autonomy, which it is important for us should be +preserved. Our treaty is now terminable on one year's notice, but +propositions to abrogate it would be, in my judgment, most ill advised. +The paramount influence we have there acquired, once relinquished, could +only with difficulty be regained, and a valuable ground of vantage for +ourselves might be converted into a stronghold for our commercial +competitors. I earnestly recommend that the existing treaty stipulations +be extended for a further term of seven years. A recently signed treaty +to this end is now before the Senate. + +The importance of telegraphic communication between those islands and +the United States should not be overlooked. + +The question of a general revision of the treaties of Japan is again +under discussion at Tokyo. As the first to open relations with that +Empire, and as the nation in most direct commercial relations with +Japan, the United States have lost no opportunity to testify their +consistent friendship by supporting the just claims of Japan to autonomy +and independence among nations. + +A treaty of extradition between the United States and Japan, the first +concluded by that Empire, has been lately proclaimed. + +The weakness of Liberia and the difficulty of maintaining effective +sovereignty over its outlying districts have exposed that Republic to +encroachment. It can not be forgotten that this distant community is +an offshoot of our own system, owing its origin to the associated +benevolence of American citizens, whose praiseworthy efforts to create +a nucleus of civilization in the Dark Continent have commanded respect +and sympathy everywhere, especially in this country. Although a formal +protectorate over Liberia is contrary to our traditional policy, the +moral right and duty of the United States to assist in all proper +ways in the maintenance of its integrity is obvious, and has been +consistently announced during nearly half a century. I recommend that in +the reorganization of our Navy a small vessel, no longer found adequate +to our needs, be presented to Liberia, to be employed by it in the +protection of its coastwise revenues. + +The encouraging development of beneficial and intimate relations between +the United States and Mexico, which has been so marked within the past +few years, is at once the occasion of congratulation and of friendly +solicitude. I urgently renew my former representation of the need of +speedy legislation by Congress to carry into effect the reciprocity +commercial convention of January 20, 1883. + +Our commercial treaty of 1831 with Mexico was terminated, according to +its provisions, in 1881, upon notification given by Mexico in pursuance +of her announced policy of recasting all her commercial treaties. Mexico +has since concluded with several foreign governments new treaties of +commerce and navigation, defining alien rights of trade, property, and +residence, treatment of shipping, consular privileges, and the like. +Our yet unexecuted reciprocity convention of 1883 covers none of these +points, the settlement of which is so necessary to good relationship. +I propose to initiate with Mexico negotiations for a new and enlarged +treaty of commerce and navigation. + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, I communicated to that +body on August 2 last, and also to the House of Representatives,[6] the +correspondence in the case of A.K. Cutting, an American citizen, then +imprisoned in Mexico, charged with the commission of a penal offense in +Texas, of which a Mexican citizen was the object. + +After demand had been made for his release the charge against him was +amended so as to include a violation of Mexican law within Mexican +territory. + +This joinder of alleged offenses, one within and the other exterior to +Mexico, induced me to order a special investigation of the case, pending +which Mr. Cutting was released. + +The incident has, however, disclosed a claim of jurisdiction by Mexico +novel in our history, whereby any offense committed anywhere by a +foreigner, penal in the place of its commission, and of which a Mexican +is the object, may, if the offender be found in Mexico, be there tried +and punished in conformity with Mexican laws. + +This jurisdiction was sustained by the courts of Mexico in the Cutting +case, and approved by the executive branch of that Government, upon the +authority of a Mexican statute. The appellate court in releasing Mr. +Cutting decided that the abandonment of the complaint by the Mexican +citizen aggrieved by the alleged crime (a libelous publication) removed +the basis of further prosecution, and also declared justice to have been +satisfied by the enforcement of a small part of the original sentence. + +The admission of such a pretension would be attended with serious +results, invasive of the jurisdiction of this Government and highly +dangerous to our citizens in foreign lands. Therefore I have denied it +and protested against its attempted exercise as unwarranted by the +principles of law and international usages. + +A sovereign has jurisdiction of offenses which take effect within his +territory, although concocted or commenced outside of it; but the right +is denied of any foreign sovereign to punish a citizen of the United +States for an offense consummated on our soil in violation of our laws, +even though the offense be against a subject or citizen of such +sovereign. The Mexican statute in question makes the claim broadly, and +the principle, if conceded, would create a dual responsibility in the +citizen and lead to inextricable confusion, destructive of that +certainty in the law which is an essential of liberty. + +When citizens of the United States voluntarily go into a foreign +country, they must abide by the laws there in force, and will not be +protected by their own Government from the consequences of an offense +against those laws committed in such foreign country; but watchful care +and interest of this Government over its citizens are not relinquished +because they have gone abroad, and if charged with crime committed in +the foreign land a fair and open trial, conducted with decent regard for +justice and humanity, will be demanded for them. With less than that +this Government will not be content when the life or liberty of its +citizens is at stake. + +Whatever the degree to which extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction may +have been formerly allowed by consent and reciprocal agreement among +certain of the European States, no such doctrine or practice was ever +known to the laws of this country or of that from which our institutions +have mainly been derived. + +In the case of Mexico there are reasons especially strong for perfect +harmony in the mutual exercise of jurisdiction. Nature has made us +irrevocably neighbors, and wisdom and kind feeling should make us +friends. + +The overflow of capital and enterprise from the United States is a +potent factor in assisting the development of the resources of Mexico +and in building up the prosperity of both countries. + +To assist this good work all grounds of apprehension for the security of +person and property should be removed; and I trust that in the interests +of good neighborhood the statute referred to will be so modified as to +eliminate the present possibilities of danger to the peace of the two +countries. + +The Government of the Netherlands has exhibited concern in relation to +certain features of our tariff laws, which are supposed by them to be +aimed at a class of tobacco produced in the Dutch East Indies. Comment +would seem unnecessary upon the unwisdom of legislation appearing to +have a special national discrimination for its object, which, although +unintentional, may give rise to injurious retaliation. + +The establishment, less than four years ago, of a legation at Teheran is +bearing fruit in the interest exhibited by the Shah's Government in the +industrial activity of the United States and the opportunities of +beneficial interchanges. + +Stable government is now happily restored in Peru by the election of a +constitutional President, and a period of rehabilitation is entered +upon; but the recovery is necessarily slow from the exhaustion caused by +the late war and civil disturbances. A convention to adjust by +arbitration claims of our citizens has been proposed and is under +consideration. + +The naval officer who bore to Siberia the testimonials bestowed by +Congress in recognition of the aid given to the _Jeannette_ +survivors has successfully accomplished his mission. His interesting +report will be submitted. It is pleasant to know that this mark of +appreciation has been welcomed by the Russian Government and people as +befits the traditional friendship of the two countries. + +Civil perturbations in the Samoan Islands have during the past +few years been a source of considerable embarrassment to the three +Governments--Germany, Great Britain, and the United States--whose +relations and extraterritorial rights in that important group are +guaranteed by treaties. The weakness of the native administration and +the conflict of opposing interests in the islands have led King Malietoa +to seek alliance or protection in some one quarter, regardless of the +distinct engagements whereby no one of the three treaty powers may +acquire any paramount or exclusive interest. In May last Malietoa +offered to place Samoa under the protection of the United States, and +the late consul, without authority, assumed to grant it. The proceeding +was promptly disavowed and the overzealous official recalled. Special +agents of the three Governments have been deputed to examine the +situation in the islands. With a change in the representation of all +three powers and a harmonious understanding between them, the peace, +prosperity, autonomous administration, and neutrality of Samoa can +hardly fail to be secured. + +It appearing that the Government of Spain did not extend to the flag of +the United States in the Antilles the full measure of reciprocity +requisite under our statute for the continuance of the suspension of +discriminations against the Spanish flag in our ports, I was constrained +in October last[7] to rescind my predecessor's proclamation of February +14, 1884,[8] permitting such suspension. An arrangement was, however, +speedily reached, and upon notification from the Government of Spain +that all differential treatment of our vessels and their cargoes, from +the United States or from any foreign country, had been completely and +absolutely relinquished, I availed myself of the discretion conferred by +law and issued on the 27th of October my proclamation[9] declaring +reciprocal suspension in the United States. It is most gratifying to +bear testimony to the earnest spirit in which the Government of the +Queen Regent has met our efforts to avert the initiation of commercial +discriminations and reprisals, which are ever disastrous to the material +interests and the political good will of the countries they may affect. + +The profitable development of the large commercial exchanges between +the United States and the Spanish Antilles is naturally an object of +solicitude. Lying close at our doors, and finding here their main +markets of supply and demand, the welfare of Cuba and Puerto Rico and +their production and trade are scarcely less important to us than to +Spain. Their commercial and financial movements are so naturally a part +of our system that no obstacle to fuller and freer intercourse should be +permitted to exist. The standing instructions of our representatives at +Madrid and Havana have for years been to leave no effort unessayed to +further these ends, and at no time has the equal good desire of Spain +been more hopefully manifested than now. + +The Government of Spain, by removing the consular tonnage fees on +cargoes shipped to the Antilles and by reducing passport fees, has shown +its recognition of the needs of less trammeled intercourse. + +An effort has been made during the past year to remove the hindrances to +the proclamation of the treaty of naturalization with the Sublime Porte, +signed in 1874, which has remained inoperative owing to a disagreement +of interpretation of the clauses relative to the effects of the return +to and sojourn of a naturalized citizen in the land of origin. I trust +soon to be able to announce a favorable settlement of the differences as +to this interpretation. + +It has been highly satisfactory to note the improved treatment of +American missionaries in Turkey, as has been attested by their +acknowledgments to our late minister to that Government of his +successful exertions in their behalf. + +The exchange of ratifications of the convention of December 5, 1885, +with Venezuela, for the reopening of the awards of the Caracas +Commission under the claims convention of 1866, has not yet been +effected, owing to the delay of the Executive of that Republic in +ratifying the measure. I trust that this postponement will be brief; but +should it much longer continue, the delay may well be regarded as a +rescission of the compact and a failure on the part of Venezuela to +complete an arrangement so persistently sought by her during many years +and assented to by this Government in a spirit of international +fairness, although to the detriment of holders of _bona fide_ +awards of the impugned commission. + +I renew the recommendation of my last annual message that existing +legislation concerning citizenship and naturalization be revised. We +have treaties with many states providing for the renunciation of +citizenship by naturalized aliens, but no statute is found to give +effect to such engagements, nor any which provides a needed central +bureau for the registration of naturalized citizens. + +Experience suggests that our statutes regulating extradition might +be advantageously amended by a provision for the transit across our +territory, now a convenient thoroughfare of travel from one foreign +country to another, of fugitives surrendered by a foreign government to +a third state. Such provisions are not unusual in the legislation of +other countries, and tend to prevent the miscarriage of justice. It is +also desirable, in order to remove present uncertainties, that authority +should be conferred on the Secretary of State to issue a certificate, in +case of an arrest for the purpose of extradition, to the officer before +whom the proceeding is pending, showing that a requisition for the +surrender of the person charged has been duly made. Such a certificate, +if required to be received before the prisoner's examination, would +prevent a long and expensive judicial inquiry into a charge which the +foreign government might not desire to press. I also recommend that +express provision be made for the immediate discharge from custody of +persons committed for extradition where the President is of opinion that +surrender should not be made. + +The drift of sentiment in civilized communities toward full recognition +of the rights of property in the creations of the human intellect has +brought about the adoption by many important nations of an international +copyright convention, which was signed at Berne on the 18th of +September, 1885. + +Inasmuch as the Constitution gives to the Congress the power "to promote +the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to +authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings +and discoveries," this Government did not feel warranted in becoming a +signatory pending the action of Congress upon measures of international +copyright now before it; but the right of adhesion to the Berne +convention hereafter has been reserved. I trust the subject will receive +at your hands the attention it deserves, and that the just claims of +authors, so urgently pressed, will be duly heeded. + +Representations continue to be made to me of the injurious effect upon +American artists studying abroad and having free access to the art +collections of foreign countries of maintaining a discriminating duty +against the introduction of the works of their brother artists of other +countries, and I am induced to repeat my recommendation for the +abolition of that tax. + +Pursuant to a provision of the diplomatic and consular appropriation act +approved July 1, 1886, the estimates submitted by the Secretary of State +for the maintenance of the consular service have been recast on the +basis of salaries for all officers to whom such allowance is deemed +advisable. Advantage has been taken of this to redistribute the salaries +of the offices now appropriated for, in accordance with the work +performed, the importance of the representative duties of the incumbent, +and the cost of living at each post. The last consideration has been too +often lost sight of in the allowances heretofore made. The compensation +which may suffice for the decent maintenance of a worthy and capable +officer in a position of onerous and representative trust at a post +readily accessible, and where the necessaries of life are abundant and +cheap, may prove an inadequate pittance in distant lands, where the +better part of a year's pay is consumed in reaching the post of duty, +and where the comforts of ordinary civilized existence can only be +obtained with difficulty and at exorbitant cost. I trust that in +considering the submitted schedules no mistaken theory of economy will +perpetuate a system which in the past has virtually closed to deserving +talent many offices where capacity and attainments of a high order are +indispensable, and in not a few instances has brought discredit on our +national character and entailed embarrassment and even suffering on +those deputed to uphold our dignity and interests abroad. + +In connection with this subject I earnestly reiterate the practical +necessity of supplying some mode of trustworthy inspection and report of +the manner in which the consulates are conducted. In the absence of such +reliable information efficiency can scarcely be rewarded or its opposite +corrected. + +Increasing competition in trade has directed attention to the value of +the consular reports printed by the Department of State, and the efforts +of the Government to extend the practical usefulness of these reports +have created a wider demand for them at home and a spirit of emulation +abroad. Constituting a record of the changes occurring in trade and of +the progress of the arts and invention in foreign countries, they are +much sought for by all interested in the subjects which they embrace. + +The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibits in detail the +condition of the public finances and of the several branches of the +Government related to his Department. I especially direct the attention +of the Congress to the recommendations contained in this and the last +preceding report of the Secretary touching the simplification and +amendment of the laws relating to the collection of our revenues, and in +the interest of economy and justice to the Government I hope they may be +adopted by appropriate legislation. + +The ordinary receipts of the Government for the fiscal year ended June +30, 1886, were $336,439,727.06. Of this amount $192,905,023.41 was +received from customs and $116,805,936.48 from internal revenue. The +total receipts, as here stated, were $13,749,020.68 greater than for the +previous year, but the increase from customs was $11,434,084.10 and from +internal revenue $4,407,210.94, making a gain in these items for the +last year of $15,841,295.04, a falling off in other resources reducing +the total increase to the smaller amount mentioned. + +The expense at the different custom-houses of collecting this increased +customs revenue was less than the expense attending the collection of +such revenue for the preceding year by $490,608, and the increased +receipts of internal revenue were collected at a cost to the +Internal-Revenue Bureau $155,944.99 less than the expense of such +collection for the previous year. + +The total ordinary expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1886, were $242,483,138.50, being less by $17,788,797 than such +expenditures for the year preceding, and leaving a surplus in the +Treasury at the close of the last fiscal year of $93,956,588.56, as +against $63,463,771.27 at the close of the previous year, being an +increase in such surplus of $30,492,817.29. + +The expenditures are compared with those of the preceding fiscal year +and classified as follows: + + ======================================================================== + Year ending Year ending + June 30, 1886. June 30, 1885. + ------------------------------------------------------------------------ + For civil expenses $21,955,604.04 $23,526,942.11 + For foreign intercourse 1,332,320.88 5,439,609.11 + For Indians 6,099,158.17 6,552,494.63 + For pensions 63,404,864.03 56,102,267.49 + For the military, including river and + harbor improvements and arsenals 34,324,152.74 42,670,578.47 + For the Navy, including vessels, + machinery, and improvement of + navy-yards 13,907,887.74 16,021,079.69 + For interest on public debt 50,580,145.97 51,386,256.47 + For the District of Columbia 2,892,321.89 3,499,650.95 + Miscellaneous expenditures, including + public buildings, light-houses, and + collecting the revenue 47,986,683.04 54,728,056.21 + ======================================================================== + +For the current year to end June 30, 1887, the ascertained receipts up +to October 1, 1886, with such receipts estimated for the remainder of +the year, amount to $356,000,000. + +The expenditures ascertained and estimated for the same period are +$266,000,000, indicating an anticipated surplus at the close of the year +of $90,000,000. + +The total value of the exports from the United States to foreign +countries during the fiscal year is stated and compared with the +preceding year as follows: + + ======================================================================== + For the year For the year + ending ending + June 30, 1886. June 30, 1885. + ------------------------------------------------------------------------ + Domestic merchandise $665,964,529 $726,682,946 + Foreign merchandise 13,560,301 15,506,809 + Gold 42,952,191 8,477,892 + Silver 29,511,219 33,753,633 + ======================================================================== + + +The value of some of our leading exports during the last fiscal year, as +compared with the value of the same for the year immediately preceding, +is here given, and furnishes information both interesting and suggestive: + + ======================================================================== + For the year For the year + ending ending + June 30, 1886. June 30, 1885. + ------------------------------------------------------------------------ + Cotton and cotton manufactures $219,045,576 $213,799,049 + Tobacco and its manufactures 30,424,908 24,767,305 + Breadstuffs 125,846,558 160,370,821 + Provisions 90,625,216 107,332,456 + ======================================================================== + + +Our imports during the last fiscal year, as compared with the previous +year, were as follows: + + ======================================================================== + For the year For the year + ending ending + June 30, 1886. June 30, 1885. + ------------------------------------------------------------------------ + Merchandise $635,436,136 $579,580,053.80 + Gold 20,743,349 26,691,696 + Silver 17,850,307 16,550,627 + ======================================================================== + + +In my last annual message to the Congress attention was directed to the +fact that the revenues of the Government exceeded its actual needs, and +it was suggested that legislative action should be taken to relieve the +people from the unnecessary burden of taxation thus made apparent. + +In view of the pressing importance of the subject I deem it my duty to +again urge its consideration. + +The income of the Government, by its increased volume and through +economies in its collection, is now more than ever in excess of public +necessities. The application of the surplus to the payment of such +portion of the public debt as is now at our option subject to +extinguishment, if continued at the rate which has lately prevailed, +would retire that class of indebtedness within less than one year from +this date. Thus a continuation of our present revenue system would soon +result in the receipt of an annual income much greater than necessary to +meet Government expenses, with no indebtedness upon which it could be +applied. We should then be confronted with a vast quantity of money, the +circulating medium of the people, hoarded in the Treasury when it should +be in their hands, or we should be drawn into wasteful public +extravagance, with all the corrupting national demoralization which +follows in its train. + +But it is not the simple existence of this surplus and its threatened +attendant evils which furnish the strongest argument against our present +scale of Federal taxation. Its worst phase is the exaction of such a +surplus through a perversion of the relations between the people and +their Government and a dangerous departure from the rules which limit +the right of Federal taxation. + +Good government, and especially the government of which every American +citizen boasts, has for its objects the protection of every person +within its care in the greatest liberty consistent with the good order +of society and his perfect security in the enjoyment of his earnings +with the least possible diminution for public needs. When more of the +people's substance is exacted through the form of taxation than is +necessary to meet the just obligations of the Government and the expense +of its economical administration, such exaction becomes ruthless +extortion and a violation of the fundamental principles of a free +government. + +The indirect manner in which these exactions are made has a tendency to +conceal their true character and their extent. But we have arrived at a +stage of superfluous revenue which has aroused the people to a +realization of the fact that the amount raised professedly for the +support of the Government is paid by them as absolutely if added to the +price of the things which supply their daily wants as if it was paid at +fixed periods into the hand of the taxgatherer. + +Those who toil for daily wages are beginning to understand that capital, +though sometimes vaunting its importance and clamoring for the +protection and favor of the Government, is dull and sluggish till, +touched by the magical hand of labor, it springs into activity, +furnishing an occasion for Federal taxation and gaining the value which +enables it to bear its burden. And the laboring man is thoughtfully +inquiring whether in these circumstances, and considering the tribute he +constantly pays into the public Treasury as he supplies his daily wants, +he receives his fair share of advantages. + +There is also a suspicion abroad that the surplus of our revenues +indicates abnormal and exceptional business profits, which, under the +system which produces such surplus, increase without corresponding +benefit to the people at large the vast accumulations of a few among our +citizens, whose fortunes, rivaling the wealth of the most favored in +antidemocratic nations, are not the natural growth of a steady, plain, +and industrious republic. + +Our farmers, too, and those engaged directly and indirectly in supplying +the products of agriculture, see that day by day, and as often as the +daily wants of their households recur, they are forced to pay excessive +and needless taxation, while their products struggle in foreign markets +with the competition of nations, which, by allowing a freer exchange of +productions than we permit, enable their people to sell for prices which +distress the American farmer. + +As every patriotic citizen rejoices in the constantly increasing pride +of our people in American citizenship and in the glory of our national +achievements and progress, a sentiment prevails that the leading strings +useful to a nation in its infancy may well be to a great extent +discarded in the present stage of American ingenuity, courage, and +fearless self-reliance; and for the privilege of indulging this +sentiment with true American enthusiasm our citizens are quite willing +to forego an idle surplus in the public Treasury. + +And all the people know that the average rate of Federal taxation upon +imports is to-day, in time of peace, but little less, while upon some +articles of necessary consumption it is actually more, than was imposed +by the grievous burden willingly borne at a time when the Government +needed millions to maintain by war the safety and integrity of the +Union. + +It has been the policy of the Government to collect the principal part +of its revenues by a tax upon imports, and no change in this policy is +desirable. But the present condition of affairs constrains our people to +demand that by a revision of our revenue laws the receipts of the +Government shall be reduced to the necessary expense of its economical +administration; and this demand should be recognized and obeyed by the +people's representatives in the legislative branch of the Government. + +In readjusting the burdens of Federal taxation a sound public policy +requires that such of our citizens as have built up large and important +industries under present conditions should not be suddenly and to their +injury deprived of advantages to which they have adapted their business; +but if the public good requires it they should be content with such +consideration as shall deal fairly and cautiously with their interests, +while the just demand of the people for relief from needless taxation is +honestly answered. + +A reasonable and timely submission to such a demand should certainly be +possible without disastrous shock to any interest; and a cheerful +concession sometimes averts abrupt and heedless action, often the +outgrowth of impatience and delayed justice. + +Due regard should be also accorded in any proposed readjustment to the +interests of American labor so far as they are involved. We congratulate +ourselves that there is among us no laboring class fixed within +unyielding bounds and doomed under all conditions to the inexorable fate +of daily toil. We recognize in labor a chief factor in the wealth of the +Republic, and we treat those who have it in their keeping as citizens +entitled to the most careful regard and thoughtful attention. This +regard and attention should be awarded them, not only because labor is +the capital of our workingmen, justly entitled to its share of +Government favor, but for the further and not less important reason that +the laboring man, surrounded by his family in his humble home, as a +consumer is vitally interested in all that cheapens the cost of living +and enables him to bring within his domestic circle additional comforts +and advantages. + +This relation of the workingman to the revenue laws of the country and +the manner in which it palpably influences the question of wages should +not be forgotten in the justifiable prominence given to the proper +maintenance of the supply and protection of well-paid labor. And these +considerations suggest such an arrangement of Government revenues as +shall reduce the expense of living, while it does not curtail the +opportunity for work nor reduce the compensation of American labor and +injuriously affect its condition and the dignified place it holds in the +estimation of our people. + +But our farmers and agriculturists--those who from the soil produce the +things consumed by all--are perhaps more directly and plainly concerned +than any other of our citizens in a just and careful system of Federal +taxation. Those actually engaged in and more remotely connected with +this kind of work number nearly one-half of our population. None labor +harder or more continuously than they. No enactments limit their hours +of toil and no interposition of the Government enhances to any great +extent the value of their products. And yet for many of the necessaries +and comforts of life, which the most scrupulous economy enables them to +bring into their homes, and for their implements of husbandry, they are +obliged to pay a price largely increased by an unnatural profit, which +by the action of the Government is given to the more favored +manufacturer. + +I recommend that, keeping in view all these considerations, the +increasing and unnecessary surplus of national income annually +accumulating be released to the people by an amendment to our revenue +laws which shall cheapen the price of the necessaries of life and give +freer entrance to such imported materials as by American labor may be +manufactured into marketable commodities. + +Nothing can be accomplished, however, in the direction of this +much-needed reform unless the subject is approached in a patriotic +spirit of devotion to the interests of the entire country and with a +willingness to yield something for the public good. + +The sum paid upon the public debt during the fiscal year ended June 30, +1886, was $44,551,043.36. + +During the twelve months ended October 31, 1886, 3 per cent bonds were +called for redemption amounting to $127,283,100, of which $80,643,200 +was so called to answer the requirements of the law relating to the +sinking fund and $46,639,900 for the purpose of reducing the public debt +by application of a part of the surplus in the Treasury to that object. +Of the bonds thus called $102,269,450 became subject under such calls to +redemption prior to November 1, 1886. The remainder, amounting to +$25,013,650, matured under the calls after that date. + +In addition to the amount subject to payment and cancellation prior +to November 1, there were also paid before that day certain of these +bonds, with the interest thereon, amounting to $5,072,350, which were +anticipated as to their maturity, of which $2,664,850 had not been +called. Thus $107,341,800 had been actually applied prior to the 1st of +November, 1886, to the extinguishment of our bonded and interest-bearing +debt, leaving on that day still outstanding the sum of $1,153,443,112. +Of this amount $86,848,700 were still represented by 3 per cent bonds. +They, however, have been since November 1, or will at once be, further +reduced by $22,606,150, being bonds which have been called, as already +stated, but not redeemed and canceled before the latter date. + +During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, there were coined, under the +compulsory silver-coinage act of 1878, 29,838,905 silver dollars, and +the cost of the silver used in such coinage was $23,448,960.01. There +had been coined up to the close of the previous fiscal year under the +provisions of the law 203,882,554 silver dollars, and on the 1st day of +December, 1886, the total amount of such coinage was $247,131,549. + +The Director of the Mint reports that at the time of the passage of the +law of 1878 directing this coinage the intrinsic value of the dollars +thus coined was 94-1/4 cents each, and that on the 31st day of July, +1886, the price of silver reached the lowest stage ever known, so that +the intrinsic or bullion price of our standard silver dollar at that +date was less than 72 cents. The price of silver on the 30th day of +November last was such as to make these dollars intrinsically worth 78 +cents each. + +These differences in value of the coins represent the fluctuations in +the price of silver, and they certainly do not indicate that compulsory +coinage by the Government enhances the price of that commodity or +secures uniformity in its value. + +Every fair and legal effort has been made by the Treasury Department +to distribute this currency among the people. The withdrawal of +United States Treasury notes of small denominations and the issuing +of small silver certificates have been resorted to in the endeavor to +accomplish this result, in obedience to the will and sentiments of +the representatives of the people in the Congress. On the 27th day +of November, 1886, the people held of these coins, or certificates +representing them, the nominal sum of $166,873,041, and we still had +$79,464,345 in the Treasury, as against about $142,894,055 so in the +hands of the people and $72,865,376 remaining in the Treasury one year +ago. The Director of the Mint again urges the necessity of more vault +room for the purpose of storing these silver dollars which are not +needed for circulation by the people. + +I have seen no reason to change the views expressed in my last annual +message on the subject of this compulsory coinage, and I again urge its +suspension on all the grounds contained in my former recommendation, +reenforced by the significant increase of our gold exportations during +the last year, as appears by the comparative statement herewith +presented, and for the further reasons that the more this currency is +distributed among the people the greater becomes our duty to protect it +from disaster, that we now have abundance for all our needs, and that +there seems but little propriety in building vaults to store such +currency when the only pretense for its coinage is the necessity of its +use by the people as a circulating medium. + +The great number of suits now pending in the United States courts for +the southern district of New York growing out of the collection of +customs revenue at the port of New York and the number of such suits +that are almost daily instituted are certainly worthy the attention of +the Congress. These legal controversies, based upon conflicting views by +importers and the collector as to the interpretation of our present +complex and indefinite revenue laws, might be largely obviated by an +amendment of those laws. + +But pending such amendment the present condition of this litigation +should be relieved. There are now pending about 2,500 of these suits. +More than 1,100 have been commenced within the past eighteen months, and +many of the others have been at issue for more than twenty-five years. +These delays subject the Government to loss of evidence and prevent the +preparation necessary to defeat unjust and fictitious claims, while +constantly accruing interest threatens to double the demands involved. + +In the present condition of the dockets of the courts, well filled with +private suits, and of the force allowed the district attorney, no +greater than is necessary for the ordinary and current business of his +office, these revenue litigations can not be considered. + +In default of the adoption by the Congress of a plan for the general +reorganization of the Federal courts, as has been heretofore +recommended, I urge the propriety of passing a law permitting the +appointment of an additional Federal judge in the district where these +Government suits have accumulated, so that by continuous sessions of the +courts devoted to the trial of these cases they may be determined. + +It is entirely plain that a great saving to the Government would be +accomplished by such a remedy, and the suitors who have honest claims +would not be denied justice through delay. + +The report of the Secretary of War gives a detailed account of the +administration of his Department and contains sundry recommendations for +the improvement of the service, which I fully approve. + +The Army consisted at the date of the last consolidated return of 2,103 +officers and 24,946 enlisted men. + +The expenses of the Department for the last fiscal year were +$36,990,903.38, including $6,294,305.43 for public works and river and +harbor improvements. + +I especially direct the attention of the Congress to the recommendation +that officers be required to submit to an examination as a preliminary +to their promotion. I see no objection, but many advantages, in adopting +this feature, which has operated so beneficially in our Navy Department, +as well as in some branches of the Army. + +The subject of coast defenses and fortifications has been fully and +carefully treated by the Board on Fortifications, whose report was +submitted at the last session of Congress; but no construction work of +the kind recommended by the board has been possible during the last year +from the lack of appropriations for such purpose. + +The defenseless condition of our seacoast and lake frontier is perfectly +palpable. The examinations made must convince us all that certain of our +cities named in the report of the board should be fortified and that +work on the most important of these fortifications should be commenced +at once. The work has been thoroughly considered and laid out, the +Secretary of War reports, but all is delayed in default of Congressional +action. + +The absolute necessity, judged by all standards of prudence and +foresight, of our preparation for an effectual resistance against the +armored ships and steel guns and mortars of modern construction which +may threaten the cities on our coasts is so apparent that I hope +effective steps will be taken in that direction immediately. + +The valuable and suggestive treatment of this question by the Secretary +of War is earnestly commended to the consideration of the Congress. + +In September and October last the hostile Apaches who, under the +leadership of Geronimo, had for eighteen months been on the war path, +and during that time had committed many murders and been the cause of +constant terror to the settlers of Arizona, surrendered to General +Miles, the military commander who succeeded General Crook in the +management and direction of their pursuit. + +Under the terms of their surrender as then reported, and in view of the +understanding which these murderous savages seemed to entertain of the +assurances given them, it was considered best to imprison them in such +manner as to prevent their ever engaging in such outrages again, instead +of trying them for murder. Fort Pickens having been selected as a safe +place of confinement, all the adult males were sent thither and will be +closely guarded as prisoners. In the meantime the residue of the band, +who, though still remaining upon the reservation, were regarded as +unsafe and suspected of furnishing aid to those on the war path, had +been removed to Fort Marion. The women and larger children of the +hostiles were also taken there, and arrangements have been made for +putting the children of proper age in Indian schools. + +The report of the Secretary of the Navy contains a detailed exhibit of +the condition of his Department, with such a statement of the action +needed to improve the same as should challenge the earnest attention of +the Congress. + +The present Navy of the United States, aside from the ships in course of +construction, consists of-- + +First. Fourteen single-turreted monitors, none of which are in +commission nor at the present time serviceable. The batteries of these +ships are obsolete, and they can only be relied upon as auxiliary ships +in harbor defense, and then after such an expenditure upon them as might +not be deemed justifiable. + +Second. Five fourth-rate vessels of small tonnage, only one of which was +designed as a war vessel, and all of which are auxiliary merely. + +Third. Twenty-seven cruising ships, three of which are built of iron, of +small tonnage, and twenty-four of wood. Of these wooden vessels it is +estimated by the Chief Constructor of the Navy that only three will be +serviceable beyond a period of six years, at which time it may be said +that of the present naval force nothing worthy the name will remain. + +All the vessels heretofore authorized are under contract or in course +of construction except the armored ships, the torpedo and dynamite +boats, and one cruiser. As to the last of these, the bids were in excess +of the limit fixed by Congress. The production in the United States of +armor and gun steel is a question which it seems necessary to settle +at an early day if the armored war vessels are to be completed with +those materials of home manufacture. This has been the subject of +investigation by two boards and by two special committees of Congress +within the last three years. The report of the Gun Foundry Board in +1884, of the Board on Fortifications made in January last, and the +reports of the select committees of the two Houses made at the last +session of Congress have entirely exhausted the subject, so far as +preliminary investigation is involved, and in their recommendations they +are substantially agreed. + +In the event that the present invitation of the Department for bids to +furnish such of this material as is now authorized shall fail to induce +domestic manufacturers to undertake the large expenditures required to +prepare for this new manufacture, and no other steps are taken by +Congress at its coming session, the Secretary contemplates with +dissatisfaction the necessity of obtaining abroad the armor and the gun +steel for the authorized ships. It would seem desirable that the wants +of the Army and the Navy in this regard should be reasonably met, and +that by uniting their contracts such inducement might be offered as +would result in securing the domestication of these important interests. + +The affairs of the postal service show marked and gratifying improvement +during the past year. A particular account of its transactions and +condition is given in the report of the Postmaster-General, which will +be laid before you. + +The reduction of the rate of letter postage in 1883, rendering the +postal revenues inadequate to sustain the expenditures, and business +depression also contributing, resulted in an excess of cost for the +fiscal year ended June 30, 1885, of eight and one-third millions of +dollars. An additional check upon receipts by doubling the measure of +weight in rating sealed correspondence and diminishing one-half the +charge for newspaper carriage was imposed by legislation which took +effect with the beginning of the past fiscal year, while the constant +demand of our territorial development and growing population for the +extension and increase of mail facilities and machinery necessitates +steady annual advance in outlay, and the careful estimate of a year ago +upon the rates of expenditure then existing contemplated the unavoidable +augmentation of the deficiency in the last fiscal year by nearly +$2,000,000. The anticipated revenue for the last year failed of +realization by about $64,000, but proper measures of economy have so +satisfactorily limited the growth of expenditure that the total +deficiency in fact fell below that of 1885, and at this time the +increase of revenue is in a gaining ratio over the increase of cost, +demonstrating the sufficiency of the present rates of postage ultimately +to sustain the service. This is the more pleasing because our people +enjoy now both cheaper postage proportionably to distances and a vaster +and more costly service than any other upon the globe. + +Retrenchment has been effected in the cost of supplies, some +expenditures unwarranted by law have ceased, and the outlays for mail +carriage have been subjected to beneficial scrutiny. At the close of the +last fiscal year the expense of transportation on star routes stood at +an annual rate of cost less by over $560,000 than at the close of the +previous year and steamboat and mail-messenger service at nearly +$200,000 less. + +The service has been in the meantime enlarged and extended by the +establishment of new offices, increase of routes of carriage, expansion +of carrier-delivery conveniences, and additions to the railway mail +facilities, in accordance with the growing exigencies of the country and +the long-established policy of the Government. + +The Postmaster-General calls attention to the existing law for +compensating railroads and expresses the opinion that a method may be +devised which will prove more just to the carriers and beneficial to the +Government; and the subject appears worthy of your early consideration. + +The differences which arose during the year with certain of the ocean +steamship companies have terminated by the acquiescence of all in the +policy of the Government approved by the Congress in the postal +appropriation at its last session, and the Department now enjoys the +utmost service afforded by all vessels which sail from our ports upon +either ocean--a service generally adequate to the needs of our +intercourse. Petitions have, however, been presented to the Department +by numerous merchants and manufacturers for the establishment of a +direct service to the Argentine Republic and for semimonthly dispatches +to the Empire of Brazil, and the subject is commended to your +consideration. It is an obvious duty to provide the means of postal +communication which our commerce requires, and with prudent forecast of +results the wise extension of it may lead to stimulating intercourse and +become the harbinger of a profitable traffic which will open new avenues +for the disposition of the products of our industry. The circumstances +of the countries at the far south of our continent are such as to invite +our enterprise and afford the promise of sufficient advantages to +justify an unusual effort to bring about the closer relations which +greater freedom of communication would tend to establish. + +I suggest that, as distinguished from a grant or subsidy for the mere +benefit of any line of trade or travel, whatever outlay may be required +to secure additional postal service, necessary and proper and not +otherwise attainable, should be regarded as within the limit of +legitimate compensation for such service. + +The extension of the free-delivery service as suggested by the +Post-master-General has heretofore received my sanction, and it is to be +hoped a suitable enactment may soon be agreed upon. + +The request for an appropriation sufficient to enable the general +inspection of fourth-class offices has my approbation. + +I renew my approval of the recommendation of the Postmaster-General that +another assistant be provided for the Post-Office Department, and I +invite your attention to the several other recommendations in his +report. + +The conduct of the Department of Justice for the last fiscal year is +fully detailed in the report of the Attorney-General, and I invite the +earnest attention of the Congress to the same and due consideration of +the recommendations therein contained. + +In the report submitted by this officer to the last session of the +Congress he strongly recommended the erection of a penitentiary for the +confinement of prisoners convicted and sentenced in the United States +courts, and he repeats the recommendation in his report for the last +year. + +This is a matter of very great importance and should at once receive +Congressional action. United States prisoners are now confined in more +than thirty different State prisons and penitentiaries scattered in +every part of the country. They are subjected to nearly as many +different modes of treatment and discipline and are far too much removed +from the control and regulation of the Government. So far as they are +entitled to humane treatment and an opportunity for improvement and +reformation, the Government is responsible to them and society that +these things are forthcoming. But this duty can scarcely be discharged +without more absolute control and direction than is possible under the +present system. + +Many of our good citizens have interested themselves, with the most +beneficial results, in the question of prison reform. The General +Government should be in a situation, since there must be United States +prisoners, to furnish important aid in this movement, and should be able +to illustrate what may be practically done in the direction of this +reform and to present an example in the treatment and improvement of its +prisoners worthy of imitation. + +With prisons under its own control the Government could deal with the +somewhat vexed question of convict labor, so far as its convicts were +concerned, according to a plan of its own adoption, and with due regard +to the rights and interests of our laboring citizens, instead of +sometimes aiding in the operation of a system which causes among them +irritation and discontent. + +Upon consideration of this subject it might be thought wise to erect +more than one of these institutions, located in such places as would +best subserve the purposes of convenience and economy in transportation. +The considerable cost of maintaining these convicts as at present, in +State institutions, would be saved by the adoption of the plan proposed, +and by employing them in the manufacture of such articles as were needed +for use by the Government quite a large pecuniary benefit would be +realized in partial return for our outlay. + +I again urge a change in the Federal judicial system to meet the wants +of the people and obviate the delays necessarily attending the present +condition of affairs in our courts. All are agreed that something should +be done, and much favor is shown by those well able to advise to the +plan suggested by the Attorney-General at the last session of the +Congress and recommended in my last annual message. This recommendation +is here renewed, together with another made at the same time, touching a +change in the manner of compensating district attorneys and marshals; +and the latter subject is commended to the Congress for its action in +the interest of economy to the Government, and humanity, fairness, and +justice to our people. + +The report of the Secretary of the Interior presents a comprehensive +summary of the work of the various branches of the public service +connected with his Department, and the suggestions and recommendations +which it contains for the improvement of the service should receive your +careful consideration. + +The exhibit made of the condition of our Indian population and the +progress of the work for their enlightenment, notwithstanding the many +embarrassments which hinder the better administration of this important +branch of the service, is a gratifying and hopeful one. + +The funds appropriated for the Indian service for the fiscal year just +passed, with the available income from Indian land and trust moneys, +amounting in all to $7,850,775.12, were ample for the service under the +conditions and restrictions of laws regulating their expenditure. There +remained a balance on hand on June 30, 1886, of $1,660,023.30, of which +$1,337,768.21 are permanent funds for fulfillment of treaties and other +like purposes, and the remainder, $322,255.09, is subject to be carried +to the surplus fund as required by law. + +The estimates presented for appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year +amount to $5,608,873.64, or $442,386.20 less than those laid before the +Congress last year. + +The present system of agencies, while absolutely necessary and well +adapted for the management of our Indian affairs and for the ends in +view when it was adopted, is in the present stage of Indian management +inadequate, standing alone, for the accomplishment of an object which +has become pressing in its importance--the more rapid transition from +tribal organizations to citizenship of such portions of the Indians as +are capable of civilized life. + +When the existing system was adopted, the Indian race was outside of the +limits of organized States and Territories and beyond the immediate +reach and operation of civilization, and all efforts were mainly +directed to the maintenance of friendly relations and the preservation +of peace and quiet on the frontier. All this is now changed. There is no +such thing as the Indian frontier. Civilization, with the busy hum of +industry and the influences of Christianity, surrounds these people at +every point. None of the tribes are outside of the bounds of organized +government and society, except that the Territorial system has not been +extended over that portion of the country known as the Indian Territory. +As a race the Indians are no longer hostile, but may be considered as +submissive to the control of the Government. Few of them only are +troublesome. Except the fragments of several bands, all are now gathered +upon reservations. + +It is no longer possible for them to subsist by the chase and the +spontaneous productions of the earth. + +With an abundance of land, if furnished with the means and implements +for profitable husbandry, their life of entire dependence upon +Government rations from day to day is no longer defensible. Their +inclination, long fostered by a defective system of control, is to cling +to the habits and customs of their ancestors and struggle with +persistence against the change of life which their altered circumstances +press upon them. But barbarism and civilization can not live together. +It is impossible that such incongruous conditions should coexist on the +same soil. + +They are a portion of our people, are under the authority of our +Government, and have a peculiar claim upon and are entitled to the +fostering care and protection of the nation. The Government can not +relieve itself of this responsibility until they are so far trained and +civilized as to be able wholly to manage and care for themselves. The +paths in which they should walk must be clearly marked out for them, and +they must be led or guided until they are familiar with the way and +competent to assume the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. + +Progress in this great work will continue only at the present slow pace +and at great expense unless the system and methods of management are +improved to meet the changed conditions and urgent demands of the +service. + +The agents, having general charge and supervision in many cases of more +than 5,000 Indians, scattered over large reservations, and burdened with +the details of accountability for funds and supplies, have time to look +after the industrial training and improvement of a few Indians only. The +many are neglected and remain idle and dependent, conditions not +favorable for progress and civilization. + +The compensation allowed these agents and the conditions of the service +are not calculated to secure for the work men who are fitted by ability +and skill to properly plan and intelligently direct the methods best +adapted to produce the most speedy results and permanent benefits. + +Hence the necessity for a supplemental agency or system directed to the +end of promoting the general and more rapid transition of the tribes +from habits and customs of barbarism to the ways of civilization. + +With an anxious desire to devise some plan of operation by which to +secure the welfare of the Indians and to relieve the Treasury as far as +possible from the support of an idle and dependent population, I +recommended in my previous annual message the passage of a law +authorizing the appointment of a commission as an instrumentality +auxiliary to those already established for the care of the Indians. It +was designed that this commission should be composed of six intelligent +and capable persons--three to be detailed from the Army--having +practical ideas upon the subject of the treatment of Indians and +interested in their welfare, and that it should be charged, under the +direction of the Secretary of the Interior, with the management of such +matters of detail as can not with the present organization be properly +and successfully conducted, and which present different phases, as the +Indians themselves differ in their progress, needs, disposition, and +capacity for improvement or immediate self-support. + +By the aid of such a commission much unwise and useless expenditure of +money, waste of materials, and unavailing efforts might be avoided; and +it is hoped that this or some measure which the wisdom of Congress may +better devise to supply the deficiency of the present system may receive +your consideration and the appropriate legislation be provided. + +The time is ripe for the work of such an agency. + +There is less opposition to the education and training of the Indian +youth, as shown by the increased attendance upon the schools, and there +is a yielding tendency for the individual holding of lands. Development +and advancement in these directions are essential, and should have every +encouragement. As the rising generation are taught the language of +civilization and trained in habits of industry they should assume the +duties, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship. + +No obstacle should hinder the location and settlement of any Indian +willing to take land in severalty; on the contrary, the inclination to +do so should be stimulated at all times when proper and expedient. But +there is no authority of law for making allotments on some of the +reservations, and on others the allotments provided for are so small +that the Indians, though ready and desiring to settle down, are not +willing to accept such small areas when their reservations contain ample +lands to afford them homesteads of sufficient size to meet their present +and future needs. + +These inequalities of existing special laws and treaties should be +corrected and some general legislation on the subject should be +provided, so that the more progressive members of the different tribes +may be settled upon homesteads, and by their example lead others to +follow, breaking away from tribal customs and substituting therefor the +love of home, the interest of the family, and the rule of the state. + +The Indian character and nature are such that they are not easily led +while brooding over unadjusted wrongs. This is especially so regarding +their lands. Matters arising from the construction and operation of +railroads across some of the reservations, and claims of title and right +of occupancy set up by white persons to some of the best land within +other reservations require legislation for their final adjustment. + +The settlement of these matters will remove many embarrassments to +progress in the work of leading the Indians to the adoption of our +institutions and bringing them under the operation, the influence, and +the protection of the universal laws of our country. + +The recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior and the +Commissioner of the General Land Office looking to the better protection +of public lands and of the public surveys, the preservation of national +forests, the adjudication of grants to States and corporations and of +private land claims, and the increased efficiency of the public-land +service are commended to the attention of Congress. To secure the widest +distribution of public lands in limited quantities among settlers for +residence and cultivation, and thus make the greatest number of +individual homes, was the primary object of the public-land legislation +in the early days of the Republic. This system was a simple one. It +commenced with an admirable scheme of public surveys, by which the +humblest citizen could identify the tract upon which he wished to +establish his home. The price of lands was placed within the reach of +all the enterprising, industrious, and honest pioneer citizens of the +country. It was soon, however, found that the object of the laws was +perverted, under the system of cash sales, from a distribution of land +among the people to an accumulation of land capital by wealthy and +speculative persons. To check this tendency a preference right of +purchase was given to settlers on the land, a plan which culminated in +the general preemption act of 1841. The foundation of this system was +actual residence and cultivation. Twenty years later the homestead law +was devised to more surely place actual homes in the possession of +actual cultivators of the soil. The land was given without price, the +sole conditions being residence, improvement, and cultivation. Other +laws have followed, each designed to encourage the acquirement and use +of land in limited individual quantities. But in later years these laws, +through vicious administrative methods and under changed conditions of +communication and transportation, have been so evaded and violated that +their beneficent purpose is threatened with entire defeat. The methods +of such evasions and violations are set forth in detail in the reports +of the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of the General Land +Office. The rapid appropriation of our public lands without _bona +fide_ settlements or cultivation, and not only without intention of +residence, but for the purpose of their aggregation in large holdings, +in many cases in the hands of foreigners, invites the serious and +immediate attention of the Congress. + +The energies of the Land Department have been devoted during the present +Administration to remedy defects and correct abuses in the public-land +service. The results of these efforts are so largely in the nature of +reforms in the processes and methods of our land system as to prevent +adequate estimate; but it appears by a compilation from the reports of +the Commissioner of the General Land Office that the immediate effect in +leading cases which have come to a final termination has been the +restoration to the mass of public lands of 2,750,000 acres; that +2,370,000 acres are embraced in investigations now pending before the +Department or the courts, and that the action of Congress has been asked +to effect the restoration of 2,790,000 acres additional; besides which +4,000,000 acres have been withheld from reservation and the rights of +entry thereon maintained. + +I recommend the repeal of the preemption and timber-culture acts, and +that the homestead laws be so amended as to better secure compliance +with their requirements of residence, improvement, and cultivation for +the period of five years from date of entry, without commutation or +provision for speculative relinquishment. I also recommend the repeal of +the desert-land laws unless it shall be the pleasure of the Congress to +so amend these laws as to render them less liable to abuses. As the +chief motive for an evasion of the laws and the principal cause of their +result in land accumulation instead of land distribution is the facility +with which transfers are made of the right intended to be secured to +settlers, it may be deemed advisable to provide by legislation some +guards and checks upon the alienation of homestead rights and lands +covered thereby Until patents issue. + +Last year an Executive proclamation[10] was issued directing the removal +of fences which inclosed the public domain. Many of these have been +removed in obedience to such order, but much of the public land still +remains within the lines of these unlawful fences. The ingenious methods +resorted to in order to continue these trespasses and the hardihood of +the pretenses by which in some cases such inclosures are justified are +fully detailed in the report of the Secretary of the Interior. + +The removal of the fences still remaining which inclose public lands +will be enforced with all the authority and means with which the +executive branch of the Government is or shall be invested by the +Congress for that purpose. + +The report of the Commissioner of Pensions contains a detailed and most +satisfactory exhibit of the operations of the Pension Bureau during the +last fiscal year. The amount of work done was the largest in any year +since the organization of the Bureau, and it has been done at less cost +than during the previous year in every division. + +On the 30th day of June, 1886, there were 365,783 pensioners on the +rolls of the Bureau. + +Since 1861 there have been 1,018,735 applications for pensions filed, of +which 78,834 were based upon service in the War of 1812. There were +621,754 of these applications allowed, including 60,178 to the soldiers +of 1812 and their widows. + +The total amount paid for pensions since 1861 is $808,624,811.57. + +The number of new pensions allowed during the year ended June 30, 1886, +is 40,857, a larger number than has been allowed in any year save one +since 1861. The names of 2,229 pensioners which had been previously +dropped from the rolls were restored during the year, and after +deducting those dropped within the same time for various causes a net +increase remains for the year of 20,658 names. + +From January 1, 1861, to December 1, 1885, 1,967 private pension acts +had been passed. Since the last-mentioned date, and during the last +session of the Congress, 644 such acts became laws. + +It seems to me that no one can examine our pension establishment and its +operations without being convinced that through its instrumentality +justice can be very nearly done to all who are entitled under present +laws to the pension bounty of the Government. + +But it is undeniable that cases exist, well entitled to relief, in which +the Pension Bureau is powerless to aid. The really worthy cases of this +class are such as only lack by misfortune the kind or quantity of proof +which the law and regulations of the Bureau require, or which, though +their merit is apparent, for some other reason can not be justly dealt +with through general laws. These conditions fully justify application to +the Congress and special enactments. But resort to the Congress for a +special pension act to overrule the deliberate and careful determination +of the Pension Bureau on the merits or to secure favorable action when +it could not be expected under the most liberal execution of general +laws, it must be admitted opens the door to the allowance of +questionable claims and presents to the legislative and executive +branches of the Government applications concededly not within the law +and plainly devoid of merit, but so surrounded by sentiment and +patriotic feeling that they are hard to resist. I suppose it will not be +denied that many claims for pension are made without merit and that many +have been allowed upon fraudulent representations. This has been +declared from the Pension Bureau, not only in this but in prior +Administrations. + +The usefulness and the justice of any system for the distribution of +pensions depend upon the equality and uniformity of its operation. + +It will be seen from the report of the Commissioner that there are now +paid by the Government 131 different rates of pension. + +He estimates from the best information he can obtain that 9,000 of those +who have served in the Army and Navy of the United States are now +supported, in whole or in part, from public funds or by organized +charities, exclusive of those in soldiers' homes under the direction and +control of the Government. Only 13 per cent of these are pensioners, +while of the entire number of men furnished for the late war something +like 20 per cent, including their widows and relatives, have been or now +are in receipt of pensions. + +The American people, with a patriotic and grateful regard for our +ex-soldiers, too broad and too sacred to be monopolized by any special +advocates, are not only willing but anxious that equal and exact justice +should be done to all honest claimants for pensions. In their sight the +friendless and destitute soldier, dependent on public charity, if +otherwise entitled, has precisely the same right to share in the +provision made for those who fought their country's battles as those +better able, through friends and influence, to push their claims. Every +pension that is granted under our present plan upon any other grounds +than actual service and injury or disease incurred in such service, and +every instance of the many in which pensions are increased on other +grounds than the merits of the claim, work an injustice to the brave and +crippled, but poor and friendless, soldier, who is entirely neglected or +who must be content with the smallest sum allowed under general laws. + +There are far too many neighborhoods in which are found glaring cases of +inequality of treatment in the matter of pensions, and they are largely +due to a yielding in the Pension Bureau to importunity on the part of +those, other than the pensioner, who are especially interested, or they +arise from special acts passed for the benefit of individuals. + +The men who fought side by side should stand side by side when they +participate in a grateful nation's kind remembrance. + +Every consideration of fairness and justice to our ex-soldiers and the +protection of the patriotic instinct of our citizens from perversion and +violation point to the adoption of a pension system broad and +comprehensive enough to cover every contingency, and which shall make +unnecessary an objectionable volume of special legislation. + +As long as we adhere to the principle of granting pensions for service, +and disability as the result of the service, the allowance of pensions +should be restricted to cases presenting these features. + +Every patriotic heart responds to a tender consideration for those who, +having served their country long and well, are reduced to destitution +and dependence, not as an incident of their service, but with advancing +age or through sickness or misfortune. We are all tempted by the +contemplation of such a condition to supply relief, and are often +impatient of the limitations of public duty. Yielding to no one in the +desire to indulge this feeling of consideration, I can not rid myself of +the conviction that if these ex-soldiers are to be relieved they and +their cause are entitled to the benefit of an enactment under which +relief may be claimed as a right, and that such relief should be granted +under the sanction of law, not in evasion of it; nor should such worthy +objects of care, all equally entitled, be remitted to the unequal +operation of sympathy or the tender mercies of social and political +influence, with their unjust discriminations. + +The discharged soldiers and sailors of the country are our +fellow-citizens, and interested with us in the passage and faithful +execution of wholesome laws. They can not be swerved from their duty of +citizenship by artful appeals to their spirit of brotherhood born of +common peril and suffering, nor will they exact as a test of devotion to +their welfare a willingness to neglect public duty in their behalf. + +On the 4th of March, 1885, the current business of the Patent Office +was, on an average, five and a half months in arrears, and in several +divisions more than twelve months behind. At the close of the last +fiscal year such current work was but three months in arrears, and it is +asserted and believed that in the next few months the delay in obtaining +an examination of an application for a patent will be but nominal. + +The number of applications for patents during the last fiscal year, +including reissues, designs, trade-marks, and labels, equals 40,678, +which is considerably in excess of the number received during any +preceding year. + +The receipts of the Patent Office during the year aggregate +$1,205,167.80, enabling the office to turn into the Treasury a surplus +revenue, over and above all expenditures, of about $163,710.30. + +The number of patents granted during the last fiscal year, including +reissues, trade-marks, designs, and labels, was 25,619, a number also +quite largely in excess of that of any preceding year. + +The report of the Commissioner shows the office to be in a prosperous +condition and constantly increasing in its business. No increase of +force is asked for. + +The amount estimated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, was +$890,760. The amount estimated for the year ending June 30, 1887, was +$853,960. The amount estimated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, +is $778,770. + +The Secretary of the Interior suggests a change in the plan for the +payment of the indebtedness of the Pacific subsidized roads to the +Government. His suggestion has the unanimous indorsement of the persons +selected by the Government to act as directors of these roads and +protect the interests of the United States in the board of direction. +In considering the plan proposed the sole matters which should be taken +into account, in my opinion, are the situation of the Government as a +creditor and the surest way to secure the payment of the principal and +interest of its debt. + +By a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States it has +been adjudged that the laws of the several States are inoperative to +regulate rates of transportation upon railroads if such regulation +interferes with the rate of carriage from one State into another. This +important field of control and regulation having been thus left entirely +unoccupied, the expediency of Federal action upon the subject is worthy +of consideration. + +The relations of labor to capital and of laboring men to their employers +are of the utmost concern to every patriotic citizen. When these are +strained and distorted, unjustifiable claims are apt to be insisted upon +by both interests, and in the controversy which results the welfare of +all and the prosperity of the country are jeopardized. Any intervention +of the General Government, within the limits of its constitutional +authority, to avert such a condition should be willingly accorded. + +In a special message[11] transmitted to the Congress at its last session +I suggested the enlargement of our present Labor Bureau and adding to +its present functions the power of arbitration in cases where +differences arise between employer and employed. When these differences +reach such a stage as to result in the interruption of commerce between +the States, the application of this remedy by the General Government +might be regarded as entirely within its constitutional powers. And I +think we might reasonably hope that such arbitrators, if carefully +selected and if entitled to the confidence of the parties to be +affected, would be voluntarily called to the settlement of controversies +of less extent and not necessarily within the domain of Federal +regulation. + +I am of the opinion that this suggestion is worthy the attention of the +Congress. + +But after all has been done by the passage of laws, either Federal or +State, to relieve a situation full of solicitude, much more remains to +be accomplished by the reinstatement and cultivation of a true American +sentiment which recognizes the equality of American citizenship. This, +in the light of our traditions and in loyalty to the spirit of our +institutions, would teach that a hearty cooperation on the part of all +interests is the surest path to national greatness and the happiness of +all our people; that capital should, in recognition of the brotherhood +of our citizenship and in a spirit of American fairness, generously +accord to labor its just compensation and consideration, and that +contented labor is capital's best protection and faithful ally. It would +teach, too, that the diverse situations of our people are inseparable +from our civilization; that every citizen should in his sphere be a +contributor to the general good; that capital does not necessarily tend +to the oppression of labor, and that violent disturbances and disorders +alienate from their promoters true American sympathy and kindly feeling. + +The Department of Agriculture, representing the oldest and largest of +our national industries, is subserving well the purposes of its +organization. By the introduction of new subjects of farming enterprise +and by opening new sources of agricultural wealth and the dissemination +of early information concerning production and prices it has contributed +largely to the country's prosperity. Through this agency advanced +thought and investigation touching the subjects it has in charge should, +among other things, be practically applied to the home production at a +low cost of articles of food which are now imported from abroad. Such an +innovation will necessarily, of course, in the beginning be within the +domain of intelligent experiment, and the subject in every stage should +receive all possible encouragement from the Government. + +The interests of millions of our citizens engaged in agriculture are +involved in an enlargement and improvement of the results of their +labor, and a zealous regard for their welfare should be a willing +tribute to those whose productive returns are a main source of our +progress and power. + +The existence of pleuro-pneumonia among the cattle of various States has +led to burdensome and in some cases disastrous restrictions in an +important branch of our commerce, threatening to affect the quantity and +quality of our food supply. This is a matter of such importance and of +such far-reaching consequences that I hope it will engage the serious +attention of the Congress, to the end that such a remedy may be applied +as the limits of a constitutional delegation of power to the General +Government will permit. + +I commend to the consideration of the Congress the report of the +Commissioner and his suggestions concerning the interest intrusted to +his care. + +The continued operation of the law relating to our civil service has +added the most convincing proofs of its necessity and usefulness. It is +a fact worthy of note that every public officer who has a just idea of +his duty to the people testifies to the value of this reform. Its +staunchest friends are found among those who understand it best, and its +warmest supporters are those who are restrained and protected by its +requirements. + +The meaning of such restraint and protection is not appreciated by those +who want places under the Government regardless of merit and efficiency, +nor by those who insist that the selection of such places should rest +upon a proper credential showing active partisan work. They mean to +public officers, if not their lives, the only opportunity afforded them +to attend to public business, and they mean to the good people of the +country the better performance of the work of their Government. + +It is exceedingly strange that the scope and nature of this reform are +so little understood and that so many things not included within its +plan are called by its name. When cavil yields more fully to +examination, the system will have large additions to the number of its +friends. + +Our civil-service reform may be imperfect in some of its details; it may +be misunderstood and opposed; it may not always be faithfully applied; +its designs may sometimes miscarry through mistake or willful intent; it +may sometimes tremble under the assaults of its enemies or languish +under the misguided zeal of impracticable friends; but if the people of +this country ever submit to the banishment of its underlying principle +from the operation of their Government they will abandon the surest +guaranty of the safety and success of American institutions. + +I invoke for this reform the cheerful and ungrudging support of the +Congress. I renew my recommendation made last year that the salaries of +the Commissioners be made equal to other officers of the Government +having like duties and responsibilities, and I hope that such reasonable +appropriations may be made as will enable them to increase the +usefulness of the cause they have in charge. + +I desire to call the attention of the Congress to a plain duty which the +Government owes to the depositors in the Freedman's Savings and Trust +Company. + +This company was chartered by the Congress for the benefit of the most +illiterate and humble of our people, and with the intention of +encouraging in them industry and thrift. Most of its branches were +presided over by officers holding the commissions and clothed in the +uniform of the United States. These and other circumstances reasonably, +I think, led these simple people to suppose that the invitation to +deposit their hard-earned savings in this institution implied an +undertaking on the part of their Government that their money should be +safely kept for them. + +When this company failed, it was liable in the sum of $2,939,925.22 to +61,131 depositors. Dividends amounting in the aggregate to 62 per cent +have been declared, and the sum called for and paid of such dividends +seems to be $1,648,181.72. This sum deducted from the entire amount of +deposits leaves $1,291,744.50 still unpaid. Past experience has shown +that quite a large part of this sum will not be called for. There are +assets still on hand amounting to the estimated sum of $16,000. + +I think the remaining 38 per cent of such of these deposits as have +claimants should be paid by the Government, upon principles of equity +and fairness. + +The report of the commissioner, soon to be laid before Congress, will +give more satisfactory details on this subject. + +The control of the affairs of the District of Columbia having been +placed in the hands of purely executive officers, while the Congress +still retains all legislative authority relating to its government, it +becomes my duty to make known the most pressing needs of the District +and recommend their consideration. + +The laws of the District appear to be in an uncertain and unsatisfactory +condition, and their codification or revision is much needed. + +During the past year one of the bridges leading from the District to the +State of Virginia became unfit for use, and travel upon it was +forbidden. This leads me to suggest that the improvement of all the +bridges crossing the Potomac and its branches from the city of +Washington is worthy the attention of Congress. + +The Commissioners of the District represent that the laws regulating the +sale of liquor and granting licenses therefor should be at once amended, +and that legislation is needed to consolidate, define, and enlarge the +scope and powers of charitable and penal institutions within the +District. + +I suggest that the Commissioners be clothed with the power to make, +within fixed limitations, police regulations. I believe this power +granted and carefully guarded would tend to subserve the good order of +the municipality. + +It seems that trouble still exists growing out of the occupation of the +streets and avenues by certain railroads having their termini in the +city. It is very important that such laws should be enacted upon this +subject as will secure to the railroads all the facilities they require +for the transaction of their business and at the same time protect +citizens from injury to their persons or property. + +The Commissioners again complain that the accommodations afforded them +for the necessary offices for District business and for the safe-keeping +of valuable books and papers are entirely insufficient. I recommend that +this condition of affairs be remedied by the Congress, and that suitable +quarters be furnished for the needs of the District government. + +In conclusion I earnestly invoke such wise action on the part of the +people's legislators as will subserve the public good and demonstrate +during the remaining days of the Congress as at present organized its +ability and inclination to so meet the people's needs that it shall be +gratefully remembered by an expectant constituency. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 6: See p. 406.] + +[Footnote 7: See pp. 489-490.] + +[Footnote 8: See pp. 223-224.] + +[Footnote 9: See pp. 490-491.] + +[Footnote 10: See pp. 308-309.] + +[Footnote 11: See pp. 394-397.] + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 8, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, which is +accompanied by the correspondence in relation to the rights of American +fishermen in the British North American waters, and commend to your +favorable consideration the suggestion that a commission be authorized +by law to take perpetuating proofs of the losses sustained during the +past year by American fishermen owing to their unfriendly and +unwarranted treatment by the local authorities of the maritime provinces +of the Dominion of Canada. + +I may have occasion hereafter to make further recommendations during the +present session for such remedial legislation as may become necessary +for the protection of the rights of our citizens engaged in the open-sea +fisheries in the North Atlantic waters. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 13, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 8th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, an +estimate of appropriation in the sum of $22,000, prepared in the Office +of Indian Affairs, to provide for the payment to the Eel River band of +Miami Indians of a principal sum in lieu of all annuities now received +by them under existing treaty stipulations. + +The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 13, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to their ratification, an additional +article, signed June 23, 1884, to the treaty of friendship, commerce, +and navigation of July 27, 1853, between the United States and the +Argentine Confederation; also an additional clause to the said +additional article, signed June 25, 1885. + +The report of the Secretary of State of even date and the papers +inclosed therewith set forth the reasons which have, in my opinion, +rendered it advisable to again transmit for ratification the additional +article above mentioned, which was withdrawn from the Senate at my +request on April 2, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 15, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for your information, a report from the Secretary +of State, inclosing the correspondence which has passed between the +Department of State and the Governments of Switzerland and France on the +subject of international copyright since the date of my message of July +9, 1886, on this question. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 20, 1886_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in relation +to the invitation from Her Britannic Majesty to this Government to +participate in an international exhibition which is to be held at +Adelaide, South Australia, in 1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1886_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate James C. Matthews, of New York, to be recorder of deeds in +the District of Columbia, in the place of Frederick Douglass, resigned. + +This nomination was submitted to the Senate at its last session, upon +the retirement of the previous incumbent, who for a number of years had +held the office to which it refers. In the last days of the session the +Senate declined to confirm the nomination. + +Opposition to the appointment of Mr. Matthews to the office for which he +was named was developed among the citizens of the District of Columbia, +ostensibly upon the ground that the nominee was not a resident of the +District; and it is supposed that such opposition, to some extent at +least, influenced the determination of the question of his confirmation. + +Mr. Matthews has now been in occupancy of the office to which he was +nominated for more than four months, and he has in the performance of +the duties thereof won the approval of all those having business to +transact with such office, and has rendered important service in +rescuing the records of the District from loss and illegibility. + +I am informed that his management of this office has removed much of the +opposition to his appointment which heretofore existed. + +I have ventured, therefore, in view of the demonstrated fitness of this +nominee, and with the understanding that the objections heretofore urged +against his selection have to a great extent subsided, and confessing a +desire to cooperate in tendering to our colored fellow-citizens just +recognition and the utmost good faith, to again submit this nomination +to the Senate for confirmation, at the same time disclaiming any +intention to question its previous action in the premises. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +Referring to my message of the 12th of January last,[12] transmitting +the final report of the commissioners appointed under the act of July 7, +1884, to visit the States of Central and South America, I have now to +submit a special report by Commissioner Thomas C. Reynolds on the +condition and commerce of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 12: See p. 370.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing +statement of customs duties levied by foreign nations upon the produce +and manufactures of the United States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 10, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 22d ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of proposed +legislation, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, providing for +the per capita payment to the Delaware Indians resident in the Cherokee +Nation, in Indian Territory, of the amount of their trust fund, +principal and interest, held by the Government of the United States by +virtue of the several treaties with the said Delaware Indians. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 11, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in relation to +an invitation which has been extended to this Government to appoint a +delegate or delegates to the Fourth International Prison Congress, to +meet at St. Petersburg in the year 1890, and commend its suggestions to +the favorable attention of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 13, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a declaration of the late international conference at +Paris, explanatory of the convention of March 14, 1884, for the +protection of submarine cables, made between the United States of +America and Germany, Argentine Confederation, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, +Brazil, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Spain, United States of +Colombia, France, Great Britain, Guatemala, Greece, Italy, Turkey, +Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Servia, +Sweden and Norway, and Uruguay. + +The declaration has been generally accepted by the signatory powers, and +Mr. McLane, the representative of the United States at the conference, +has been instructed to sign it, subject to the approval of the Senate. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 11th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a copy +of an agreement duly made under the provisions of the act of May 15, +1886 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 44), with the Indians residing upon +the Fort Berthold Reservation, in Dakota, for the cession of a portion +of their reservation in said Territory, and for other purposes. + +The agreement, together with the recommendations of the Department, is +presented for the action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 18, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Referring to the message of the President of the United States dated +February 2, 1885,[13] I transmit herewith, for your consideration, a +report from the Secretary of State, inclosing a translation of the +convention for the protection of industrial property, of the +_protocole de clôture_ of said convention, and of a protocol +proposed by the conference of 1886 for ratification by the Governments +which have adhered to the convention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 13: See p. 270.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +As a matter of national interest, and one solely within the discretion +and control of Congress, I transmit the accompanying memorial of the +executive committee of the subconstitutional centennial commission, +proposing to celebrate on the 17th of September, in the city of +Philadelphia, as the day upon which and the place where the convention +that framed the Federal Constitution concluded their labors and +submitted the results for ratification to the thirteen States then +composing the United States. + +The epoch was one of the deepest interest and the events well worthy of +commemoration. + +I am aware that as each State acted independently in giving its adhesion +to the new Constitution the dates and anniversaries of their several +ratifications are not coincident. Some action looking to a national +expression in relation to the celebration of the close of the first +century of popular government under a written constitution has already +been suggested, and whilst stating the great interest I share in the +renewed examination by the American people of the historical foundations +of their Government, I do not feel warranted in discriminating in favor +or against the propositions to select one day or place in preference to +all others, and therefore content myself with conveying to Congress +these expressions of popular feeling and interest upon the subject, +hoping that in a spirit of patriotic cooperation, rather than of local +competition, fitting measures may be enacted by Congress which will give +the amplest opportunity all over these United States for the +manifestation of the affection and confidence of a free and mighty +nation in the institutions of a Government of which they are the +fortunate inheritors and under which unexampled prosperity has been +enjoyed by all classes and conditions in our social system. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 7th ultimo from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +"for the relief of Hiatt & Co., late traders for the Osage tribe of +Indians, and for other purposes." + +The matter is presented for the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 20, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a draft of +declaration explanatory of Articles II and IV of the convention for the +protection of submarine cables, which has been proposed by the +conference of 1886 for ratification by the Governments adhering to the +said convention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a communication addressed to me by Mr. Samuel C. +Reid, who offers to the United States the battle sword (now in my +custody) of his father, Captain Samuel Chester Reid, who commanded the +United States private armed brig _General Armstrong_ at the battle +of Fayal, in September, 1814. + +I respectfully recommend that appropriate action be taken by Congress +for the acceptance of this gift. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have the honor to transmit to the Senate herewith a report of the +Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +11th instant, requesting "estimates for the contingent fund of each +bureau" in the Department of State. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in answer to the +resolution of the Senate of December 8, 1886, relative to the claims of +Antonio Pelletier and A.H. Lazare against the Republic of Hayti. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st ultimo, calling +for certain correspondence touching the construction of a ship canal +through Nicaragua, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of +State on the subject, with accompanying papers. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, together +with a copy of the report, which it incloses, of Lieutenant William H. +Schuetze, United States Navy, who was designated by the Secretary of +the Navy, in pursuance of the act of Congress of March 3, 1885, making +appropriations for the sundry civil expenses of the Government for +the year ending June 30, 1886, to distribute the testimonials of the +Government to subjects of Russia who extended aid to the survivors of +the _Jeannette_ exploring expedition and to the parties dispatched +by this Government to aid the said survivors. + +The report is interesting alike to the people of the United States and +to the subjects of Russia, and will be gratifying to all who appreciate +the generous and humane action of Congress in providing for the +testimonials. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives adopted on +the 22d ultimo, calling upon me for a "copy of the treaty or convention +proposed to the Senate and ratified by that body between the United +States and the Government of the Hawaiian Islands," I transmit herewith +a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. + +It is proper to remark in this relation that no convention whatever has +been "agreed to and ratified" by "the President and Senate," as is +recited in the preamble to the said resolution of the House of +Representatives, but that the documents referred to, exhibiting the +action of the Executive and the Senate, respectively, are communicated +in compliance with the request of the resolution. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the House of the +24th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying +copies of correspondence between the Governments of the United States +and Great Britain concerning the rights of American fishermen in the +waters of British North America, supplemental to the correspondence +already communicated to Congress with my message of December 8, +1886.[14] + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 14: See pp. 529-530.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 10, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanying +reports by consular officers of the United States on the extent and +character of the emigration from and immigration into their respective +districts. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty of amity, +commerce, and navigation, concluded October 2, 1886, in the harbor of +Nukualofa, Tongatabu, between the United States of America and the King +of Tonga. + +I also transmit, for your information, a report from the Secretary of +State, inclosing copies of the treaties of friendship concluded between +the Kingdom of Tonga and Germany and Great Britain. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report furnished by the Secretary of State in +response to a resolution of the Senate of January 31 ultimo, calling for +particulars of the investment and distribution of the indemnity received +in 1875 from Spain, and known as the "_Virginius_ fund." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 15, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant +(the House of Representatives concurring), I return herewith the bill +(H.R. 5652) for the relief of James W. Goodrich. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 16, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanying +the annual reports of the consuls of the United States on the trade and +industries of foreign countries. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report from the +Secretary of State, in response to a resolution of that body of the 16th +instant, inquiring as to the action of this Department to protect the +interests of American citizens whose property was destroyed by fire +caused by insurgents at Aspinwall in 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, relating +to the arrest, trial, and discharge of A.K. Cutting, a citizen of the +United States, by the authorities of Mexico, I transmit herewith a +letter from the Secretary of State of this date, with its accompaniment. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives (the +Senate concurring), I return herewith the bill (H.R. 367) to amend +section 536 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to +the division of the State of Illinois into judicial districts, and to +provide for holding terms of court of the northern district at the city +of Peoria. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 25, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, an additional +article to the treaty of extradition concluded October 11, 1870, between +the United States of America and the Republic of Guatemala. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, in reply to a resolution of the Senate of the 21st +ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, relative to the seizure +and sale of the American schooner _Rebecca_ at Tampico and the +resignation of Henry R. Jackson, esq., as minister of the United States +to Mexico. It is not thought compatible with the public interests to +publish the correspondence in either case at the present time. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 17th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, two +agreements made with Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota under +the provisions of the act of May 15, 1886 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, +p. 44). + +The papers are presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 1, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d ultimo, requesting +copies of certain letters, dated June 8, 1886, and September 20, 1886, +addressed by the counsel of A.H. Lazare to the Secretary of State, in +regard to the award against the Republic of Hayti in favor of A.H. +Lazare under the protocol signed by the Secretary of State and the +minister of Hayti on May 24, 1884, I transmit a report from the +Secretary of State upon the subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 1, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_:. + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +28th ultimo (the Senate concurring), I return herewith the bill of the +House (H.R. 7310) granting a pension to Mrs. Arlanta T. Taylor. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, +requesting information concerning the service rendered by Count +Casimir Pulaski, a brigadier-general of the Army of the United States +in the years 1777, 1778, and 1779, and also respecting his pay and +compensation, I transmit herewith reports upon the subject from the +Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary +of War. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 2, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers, furnished in response to the resolution of the +Senate of the 26th ultimo, calling for information touching the +conditions under which certain transatlantic telegraph companies have +been permitted to land their cables in the United States, and touching +contracts of such companies with each other or with other cable or +telegraph companies. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 19, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2269, entitled "An act +granting a pension to William Dickens." + +The beneficiary named in this bill filed his application for pension in +the Pension Bureau in 1880, and in December, 1886, the same was granted, +taking effect from the 15th day of October, 1864. + +If the bill herewith returned should become a law, it would permit the +payment of a pension only from the date of its approval. Thus, if it did +not result in loss to the claimant by superseding the action of the +Pension Bureau, it is plain that it would be a useless enactment. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 2173, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Benjamin Obekiah." + +This bill directs that the beneficiary named therein be placed upon the +pension roll, "subject to the provisions and limitations of the pension +laws." + +In July, 1886, the person named in this bill was placed upon the pension +roll at a rate determined upon by the Pension Bureau, pursuant to the +provisions and limitations of the pension laws; and it is entirely +certain that the special act now presented to me would give the claimant +no new rights or additional benefits. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 127, entitled "An act +for the relief of H.K. Belding." + +This bill directs the sum of $1,566 to be paid to the said H.K. Belding +"for carrying the mails of the United States between the years 1858 and +1862." + +In April, 1858, a contract was awarded to the said Belding for carrying +the mails from Brownsville, Minn., to Carimona, in the same State, a +distance of 63 miles, and return, three times a week, for the sum of +$1,800 per annum, said service to begin on the 1st day of July, 1858, +and to terminate on the 30th day of June, 1862. This contract contained +a provision that the Post-Office Department might discontinue the +service in whole or in part, allowing to the contractor one month's +extra pay therefor. + +On May 9, 1859, in consequence of a failure on the part of the Congress +to make the necessary appropriation, a general reduction of mail service +was ordered, and the service under the contract with the claimant was +reduced to two trips per week from May 10, 1859, instead of three, as +stipulated in the contract, and a deduction of one-third of the annual +sum to be paid by the contract was made for such reduced service; and +thereupon one month's extra pay was allowed and paid the contractor on +account of said reduction. + +It is conceded that payment was made in full according to the terms of +the contract up to the 10th day of May, 1859, but it is claimed that +notwithstanding the reduction of the service to two trips per week and +the receipt by the contractor of one month's extra pay by reason +thereof, he continued to perform the full service of three trips per +week from the 10th day of May, 1859, to the 30th day of September, 1860, +being seventeen months. + +Of the sum directed to be paid to him in the bill under consideration, +$850 is allowed him on account of this service, he having been paid +for the period stated at the rate of $1,200 per annum. The contractor +claims that this full service was performed after the reduction by the +Post-Office Department because he had received an intimation from the +Postmaster-General that if the full service was continued after such +reduction there was no doubt that the Congress would at its next session +make provision for the payment of the sum deducted. + +Of course no legal claim in favor of the contractor can be predicated +upon the facts which he alleges; and if he did continue full service +under the circumstances stated, it must be conceded that his conduct was +hardly in accordance with the rules which regulate transactions of this +kind. + +But a thorough search of the correspondence and records in the +Post-Office Department fails to disclose any letter, document, or record +giving the least support to the allegation that any such intimation or +assurance as is claimed was given; nor is there the least evidence in +the Department that the full service was actually performed. There is, +however, on the files of the Department a letter from the claimant, +dated August 25, 1860, containing the following statement: + + When I received official information of the curtailing service, the + reasons why, I wrote to the Department that I would, if allowed, + continue service three times a week and take certificates, if I could + be allowed to connect with La Crosse at _pro rata_ rates. That letter + was never answered and I continued service three times a week till + 3d of September following, then run twice a week. + + +Thus it appears that this contractor, who in August, 1860, claimed that +he continued full service upon the invitation of his own unanswered +letter for less than four months, insists twenty-seven years after the +date of the alleged service that he performed such service for seventeen +months, and up to October, 1860. Not only has he himself in this manner +almost conclusively shown that the claim now made and allowed is +exorbitant, but the evidence gives rise to a strong presumption that it +is entirely fictitious. + +The remainder of the amount allowed to the claimant in this bill is +based upon an alleged performance by the contractor of the same mail +service which has been referred to from October 1, 1860, to February 14, +1861, a period of four months and fourteen days. + +Prior to October 1, 1860, the claimant's contract was annulled and a new +or more extended route established, entirely covering that upon which he +had carried the mails. Thereupon a month's extra pay was allowed to him, +and new contractors undertook the service and were paid therefor by the +Government for the period covered by the claimant's alleged service. +From the 14th day of February, 1861, Mr. Belding's contract with the +Government was reinstated; but if he performed the service alleged +during the period of four months and fourteen days immediately prior to +that date, it is quite clear that he did so under an arrangement with +the new contractors, and not under circumstances creating any legal or +equitable claim against the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I hereby return without approval Senate bill No. 2167, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Margaret Dunlap." + +By this bill it is proposed to grant a pension to the beneficiary +therein named as the mother of James F. Dunlap, who enlisted in the +Seventh Missouri State Militia Cavalry in 1862 and died in July, 1864, +of wounds received at the hand of a comrade. + +The favorable action of the Senate upon this bill appears to be based, +so far as the cause of death is concerned, upon an affidavit contained +in the report of the committee to which the bill was referred, made +by one G. Will Houts, second lieutenant in the company to which the +deceased soldier belonged, in which the affiant deposes that some of +the comrades of the deceased being engaged in an affray he attempted +to separate the combatants, whereupon one of them, without cause or +provocation, stabbed the deceased in the breast, from which, in a few +days thereafter, he died; to which affidavit is added the finding of a +court-martial that the party inflicting the wound was found guilty of +manslaughter and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. + +Upon this showing it might be difficult to spell out the facts that the +injury to the soldier was received in the line of duty or that any +theory of granting pensions covered the case. + +But the weak features of this application are not alluded to in the +committee's report. + +The record of the soldier's death states that he was "killed by one of +his comrades in a difficulty." + +The same Lieutenant Houts who in 1872 made oath that the soldier +was wounded while attempting to separate comrades who were fighting +testified in 1864 before the court-martial upon the trial of the man +who did the wounding, and whose name was Capehart, that Dunlap, the +deceased, stated to him "that he was more to blame than Capehart, and +that they had been scuffling, at first good-naturedly, and then both got +angry; that he was rougher with Capehart than he ought to have been." + +Another witness testified that the affray took place between Dunlap and +Capehart; that Dunlap handled Capehart very roughly, kicking him, etc., +and that finally Capehart stabbed Dunlap, upon which the latter +attempted to get his gun, but was prevented from doing so by the +witness. + +Of course there can be no pretense of any kind of claim against the +Government arising from these facts. + +It is quite evident that the affidavit presented to the Senate committee +was contrived to deceive, and it is to be feared that it is but a sample +of many that are made in support of claims for pensions. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 3, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6443, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Alexander Falconer." + +This claimant filed his application for pension in 1879, alleging that +in 1837, being then an enlisted man in the United States Army, he +received a gunshot wound in his right leg below the knee at the battle +of Okeechobee Lake, Florida. + +The records disclose the fact that this soldier enlisted in 1834, and +was almost continuously in the service and attached to the same company +until 1846. + +It further appears that he is reported sick during the month in which +the battle was fought. The list of casualties does not contain his name +among the wounded. + +He reenlisted in 1846 and again in 1847, and was finally discharged in +1848. These latter enlistments were for service in the Mexican War. + +His claim for pension was denied in 1885 on the ground that no +disability existed in a pensionable degree from the alleged gunshot +wound in his leg. + +It is perfectly clear that the only pretexts for giving this claimant a +pension are military service, old age, and poverty. + +Inasmuch as he was a soldier in the Mexican War, his case is undoubtedly +provided for by a general law approved within the last few days. + +Under this bill the amount to be paid him is fixed, while if the bill +herewith returned were approved the sum to be paid him would depend +upon the determination of the Pension Bureau as to the extent of his +disability as the result of his wound. As that Bureau has quite lately +determined that there was no disability, it is evident that this old +soldier can better rely upon the general law referred to. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 3, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6132, entitled "An act +granting a pension to William Lynch." + +The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted in the Fifth Regiment +United States Infantry in 1849, and was discharged, after a +reenlistment, September 8, 1859. + +He filed a claim for pension more than twenty-four years afterwards, in +April, 1884, claiming that he contracted rheumatism of the right hip and +leg in the winter of 1857-58, while serving in Utah. He admitted that he +was not under treatment while in the service and that he never consulted +a physician in regard to his disability until he commenced proceedings +for a pension. + +The evidence disclosed to me falls far short of establishing this claim +for pension upon its merits. + +The application made to the Pension Bureau is still pending and awaiting +answer to inquiries made by the Bureau in January, 1886. + +I do not understand that the Congress intends to pass special acts in +cases thus situated. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7698, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Robert K. Bennett." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted in September, 1862, and it +appears that very soon after that he was detailed to the cook shop. This +seems to be the only military service he rendered, and on February 7, +1863, five months after enlistment, he was received into the marine +hospital at New Orleans for varicocele. He was discharged from the +service February 22, 1863, and the cause of discharge is stated to be +"varicocele, to which he was subject four years before enlistment." + +Seventeen years thereafter, and in June, 1880, this claimant filed an +application for pension in the Pension Bureau, alleging that about the +10th day of February, 1863, in unloading a barrel it fell upon him, +producing a hernia, shortly after which he was affected by piles. + +It will be seen that he fixes this injury as occurring three days after +his admission to the hospital, but he might well be honestly mistaken as +to this date. If the injury, however, was such as he stated, it is +difficult to see why no mention was made of it in the hospital records. + +He persisted at all times, as I understand the case, until the rejection +of his claim in 1883, that his disability arose from hernia and piles. +The reason of this rejection is stated to be that varicocele existed +prior to enlistment and that there was no evidence of the existence of +piles in the service or at discharge. From a medical examination made in +December, 1882, it appears that there was "no evidence or symptoms of +disability resulting from piles or hernia." + +Subsequent to the rejection of this claim some proof was filed tending +to show that the disability was in the right leg, but it is of such a +nature, in the light of the claimant's own previous allegations, that I +think the Pension Bureau did entirely right in informing his attorney +that the additional evidence did not change the status of the case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 7540, entitled "An act +to increase the pension of Franklin Sweet." + +This soldier was pensioned in 1863 as sergeant, though before that time +he had been acting as captain, and was in command of his company when he +was wounded. He is entitled in equity, and, I think, upon the theory of +an act very recently approved, in law, to be treated in regard to his +pension as a captain; and the Pension Bureau has within the last few +days ordered a certificate for pension to issue to him as captain as of +the date of his discharge. + +I fully approve this action of the Bureau, and as this is much more +favorable to a deserving soldier than his remedy under this bill, I am +not willing that the action, so lately and so justly taken in his behalf +under the general law should be superseded by the approval of this act. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8834, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Abraham P. Griggs." + +The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted in a New Jersey regiment +August 14, 1861, and was discharged for disability November 17, 1863. + +He entered hospital January 2, 1863, and was transferred to general +hospital at Newark, N.J., March 28, 1863, with "debility." He was +discharged from that hospital and from the service in November, 1863, +as above stated, and the following statement from his certificate of +discharge, if trustworthy, sheds some light upon the kind of debility +with which he was afflicted: + + This man has been in this hospital for the past eight months. We do not + believe him sick, or that he has been sick, but completely worthless. + He is obese and a malingerer to such an extent that he is almost an + imbecile--worthlessness, obesity, and imbecility and laziness. He is + totally unfit for the Invalid Corps or for any other military duty. + + +I do not regard it at all strange that this claimant, encouraged by the +ease with which special acts are passed, seeks relief through such +means, after his application, filed in the Pension Bureau nearly twenty +years after his discharge, had been rejected. + +Of the four comrades who make affidavit in support of his claim, two of +them are recorded as deserters. + +His claim is predicated upon rheumatism. He alleges that after his +discharge from his enlistment he was drafted and served in the Third New +York Cavalry, but the Adjutant-General reports that his name does not +appear on the rolls of the company to which he says he was attached. + +The board of United States examining surgeons at Trenton, N.J., report +as the result of an examination as late as May 27, 1885, that they found +"no disease of heart or lungs, no thickening or wasting of any of the +joints of the body, no evidence of any rheumatic diathesis, no rupture +or hemorrhoids, no disease of his spleen or kidney; hands are hard and +indicate an ability to work." + +I can not think that the official statements referred to, and which +militate so strongly against the merits of the claimant, should be +impeached or set aside by any of the other testimony which has been +brought to my attention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 927, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Cudbert Stone." + +The report of the committee of the House of Representatives to whom this +bill was referred states that the claimant enlisted October 3, 1861, in +Company H, Fourteenth Kentucky Volunteers, and was honorably discharged +on the 31st day of January, 1865; that he filed his claim for pension +July 20, 1881, more than sixteen years thereafter, alleging that he +contracted piles while in the service, from exposure while in the line +of duty, and that his claim was rejected in October, 1884, on the ground +that the allegation of the claimant shows that his disability originated +while undergoing the sentence of a court-martial, and therefore not in +the line of duty. + +The report of the committee closes with the statement that-- + + In view of the long and faithful service and high character of the + claimant and the well-established facts that claimant was a stout and + able-bodied man, free from any and all disease when he enlisted, and + that by reason of his faithful service to his country and the great + suffering and hardship through which he passed while in said service + his health was permanently destroyed, the committee earnestly recommend + the passage of the bill. + + +The records of the War Department show that the claimant enlisted +October 25, 1861, and that on the muster-in roll of his company dated +December 10, 1861, he is reported as present; that on the roll dated +December 31, 1861, he is reported as absent without leave; that on the +roll for January and February, 1862, he is reported as deserted; that he +is not borne on subsequent rolls until that for November, 1864, when he +is reported as gained from desertion; he was mustered out with his +company January 31, 1865, and the records offered no evidence of +disability; that in his claim for pension, filed in 1881, he alleges +that he contracted piles in the winter of 1863. + +In a subsequent statement he alleges that this date is erroneous, +and that his disability was contracted in October, 1864, and that he +believes it was the result of his having diarrhea for about twelve +months prior to that date, contracted while he was being carried from +place to place as a prisoner, he having been tried by a court-martial +in May, 1862, for desertion and sentenced to imprisonment until the +expiration of his term of enlistment. + +Thus it quite plainly appears that this claimant spent the most of his +term of enlistment in desertion or in imprisonment as a punishment of +that offense; and thus is exhibited the "long and faithful service and +the high character of the claimant" mentioned as entitling him to +consideration by the committee who reported favorably upon this bill. + +I withhold my assent from this bill because, if the facts before me, +derived from the army records and the statements of the claimant are +true, the allowance of this claim would, in my opinion, be a travesty +upon our whole scheme of pensions and an insult to every decent veteran +soldier. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 8150, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Jesse Campbell." + +The claim for a pension made by the beneficiary named in this bill to +the Pension Bureau, and rejected in 1881, was reopened upon further +proof in January, 1887, and the claimant was ordered before a board of +examining surgeons, upon which a report has not yet been made. + +Inasmuch as the only ground for the rejection of his claim was the +nonexistence of pensionable disability from the cause he alleged, and in +view of the fact that he now alleges a different disability, which the +new evidence seems to support, there is no doubt that justice will be +done the claimant under the general law. + +This bill if passed would only place the name of the beneficiary upon +the pension roll, "subject to the restrictions and limitations of the +pension laws." Whether any sum was allowed him or not would still depend +upon the existence of a disability; and if this is found upon the +examination lately ordered, he will undoubtedly be put upon the pension +roll, under existing law, in accordance with his supplementary claim. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I hereby return without approval House bill No. 6832, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Catharine Sattler." + +The beneficiary named in this bill claims a pension as the surviving +widow of Julius Sattler, who enlisted in Company A, Seventh New York +Volunteers, and was in the service from March 10, 1864, to March 22, +1865, when he was discharged because of the amputation of his left +forearm in consequence of a wound received in the battle of Deep Bottom, +Virginia, on the 14th day of August, 1864. He was pensioned in 1865 at +the rate of $8 per month, which was afterwards increased to $15 per +month, dating from June 6, 1866. + +In October, 1867, he was employed as a watchman in the United States +bonded warehouse in the city of New York, and on the 31st day of that +month he received his monthly pay of $50. He disappeared on that day, +and on the 13th day of November, 1867, his body was found in the North +River, at the foot of West Thirteenth street, in the city of New York +without his hat, coat, watch, or money. + +These facts, with the further statement that he was a strong and healthy +man at the time of his death, constitute the case on the part of the +widow, who filed her application for a pension July 8, 1884, nearly +seventeen years after her husband's death, alleging that she was married +to the deceased in 1865, after the amputation of his arm. + +Her claim was rejected in November, 1884, upon the ground that the +soldier's death was not due to his military service. + +This rejection was clearly right, unless the Government is to be held as +an insurer against every fatal casualty incurred by those who have +served in the Army, without regard to the manner of its occurrence. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6825, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James R. Baylor." + +The claim of the beneficiary named in this bill is based upon an injury +to his left ankle in 1862. + +A medical examination in 1877 showed no appearance of there ever having +been a fracture of the left ankle, as alleged by the claimant, and +it was determined that there was no disability. A later examination +in the same year was had with the same result. Still another medical +examination was had in June, 1884, which, although nearly agreeing with +the previous ones, and giving rise to some suspicion that the claimant +was inclined to exaggerate and prevent a free and fair examination, +still does not absolutely exclude a very slight disability. + +Upon the report of this last examination the case has been reopened for +further proof of disability since discharge, which if found will entitle +the claimant to a pension under general laws. On the question to be +determined he would have no advantage under a special act, inasmuch as +there must be a ratable disability to entitle him to any payment in +pursuance of its provisions. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 11, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 10457, entitled +"An act for the relief of dependent parents and honorably discharged +soldiers and sailors who are now disabled and dependent upon their own +labor for support." + +This is the first general bill that has been sanctioned by the Congress +since the close of the late civil war permitting a pension to the +soldiers and sailors who served in that war upon the ground of service +and present disability alone, and in the entire absence of any injuries +received by the casualties or incidents of such service. + +While by almost constant legislation since the close of this war there +has been compensation awarded for every possible injury received as a +result of military service in the Union Army, and while a great number +of laws passed for that purpose have been administered with great +liberality and have been supplemented by numerous private acts to reach +special cases, there has not until now been an avowed departure from the +principle thus far adhered to respecting Union soldiers, that the bounty +of the Government in the way of pensions is generously bestowed when +granted to those who, in this military service and in the line of +military duty, have to a greater or less extent been disabled. + +But it is a mistake to suppose that service pensions, such as are +permitted by the second section of the bill under consideration, are new +to our legislation. In 1818, thirty-five years after the close of the +Revolutionary War, they were granted to the soldiers engaged in that +struggle, conditional upon service until the end of the war or for a +term not less than nine months, and requiring every beneficiary under +the act to be one "who is, or hereafter by reason of his reduced +circumstances in life shall be, in need of assistance from his country +for support." Another law of a like character was passed in 1828, +requiring service until the close of the Revolutionary War; and still +another, passed in 1832, provided for those persons not included in the +previous statute, but who served two years at some time during the war, +and giving a proportionate sum to those who had served not less than six +months. + +A service-pension law was passed for the benefit of the soldiers of 1812 +in the year 1871, fifty-six years after the close of that war, which +required only sixty days' service; and another was passed in 1878, +sixty-three years after the war, requiring only fourteen days' service. + +The service-pension bill passed at this session of Congress, thirty-nine +years after the close of the Mexican War, for the benefit of the +soldiers of that war, requires either some degree of disability or +dependency or that the claimant under its provisions should be 62 years +of age, and in either case that he should have served sixty days or been +actually engaged in a battle. + +It will be seen that the bill of 1818 and the Mexican pension bill, +being thus passed nearer the close of the wars in which its +beneficiaries were engaged than the others--one thirty-five years and +the other thirty-nine years after the termination of such wars--embraced +persons who were quite advanced in age, assumed to be comparatively few +in number, and whose circumstances, dependence, and disabilities were +clearly defined and could be quite easily fixed. + +The other laws referred to appear to have been passed at a time so +remote from the military service of the persons which they embraced that +their extreme age alone was deemed to supply a presumption of dependency +and need. + +The number of enlistments in the Revolutionary War is stated to be +309,791, and in the War of 1812 576,622; but it is estimated that on +account of repeated reenlistments the number of individuals engaged in +these wars did not exceed one-half of the number represented by these +figures. In the war with Mexico the number of enlistments is reported to +be 112,230, which represents a greater proportion of individuals engaged +than the reported enlistments in the two previous wars. + +The number of pensions granted under all laws to soldiers of the +Revolution is given at 62,069; to soldiers of the War of 1812 and their +widows, 60,178; and to soldiers of the Mexican War and their widows, +up to June 30, 1885, 7,619. The latter pensions were granted to the +soldiers of a war involving much hardship for disabilities incurred as a +result of such service; and it was not till within the last month that +the few remaining survivors were awarded a service pension. + +The War of the Rebellion terminated nearly twenty-two years ago; the +number of men furnished for its prosecution is stated to be 2,772,408. +No corresponding number of statutes have ever been passed to cover every +kind of injury or disability incurred in the military service of any +war. Under these statutes 561,576 pensions have been granted from the +year 1861 to June 30, 1886, and more than 2,600 pensioners have been +added to the rolls by private acts passed to meet cases, many of them of +questionable merit, which the general laws did not cover. + +On the 1st day of July, 1886, 365,763 pensioners of all classes were +upon the pension rolls, of whom 305,605 were survivors of the War of the +Rebellion and their widows and dependents. For the year ending June 30, +1887, $75,000,000 have been appropriated for the payment of pensions, +and the amount expended for that purpose from 1861 to July 1, 1886, is +$808,624,811.51. + +While annually paying out such a vast sum for pensions already granted, +it is now proposed by the bill under consideration to award a service +pension to the soldiers of all wars in which the United States has been +engaged, including of course the War of the Rebellion, and to pay those +entitled to the benefits of the act the sum of $12 per month. + +So far as it relates to the soldiers of the late civil war, the bounty +it affords them is given thirteen years earlier than it has been +furnished the soldiers of any other war, and before a large majority of +its beneficiaries have advanced in age beyond the strength and vigor of +the prime of life. + +It exacts only a military or naval service of three months, without any +requirement of actual engagement with an enemy in battle, and without a +subjection to any of the actual dangers of war. + +The pension it awards is allowed to enlisted men who have not suffered +the least injury, disability, loss, or damage of any kind, incurred in +or in any degree referable to their military service, including those +who never reached the front at all and those discharged from rendezvous +at the close of the war, if discharged three months after enlistment. +Under the last call of the President for troops, in December, 1864, +11,303 men were furnished who were thus discharged. + +The section allowing this pension does, however, require, besides a +service of three months and an honorable discharge, that those seeking +the benefit of the act shall be such as "are now or may hereafter be +suffering from mental or physical disability, not the result of their +own vicious habits or gross carelessness, which incapacitates them for +the performance of labor in such a degree as to render them unable to +earn a support, and who are dependent upon their daily labor for +support." + +It provides further that such persons shall, upon making proof of the +fact, "be placed on the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, +and be entitled to receive for such total inability to procure their +subsistence by daily labor $12 per month; and such pension shall +commence from the date of the filing of the application in the Pension +Office, upon proof that the disability then existed, and continue during +the existence of the same in the degree herein provided: _Provided_, +That persons who are now receiving pensions under existing laws, or +whose claims are pending in the Pension Office, may, by application to +the Commissioner of Pensions, in such form as he may prescribe, receive +the benefit of this act." + +It is manifestly of the utmost importance that statutes which, like +pension laws, should be liberally administered as measures of +benevolence in behalf of worthy beneficiaries should admit of no +uncertainty as to their general objects and consequences. + +Upon a careful consideration of the language of the section of this bill +above given it seems to me to be so uncertain and liable to such +conflicting constructions and to be subject to such unjust and +mischievous application as to alone furnish sufficient ground for +disapproving the proposed legislation. + +Persons seeking to obtain the pension provided by this section must be +now or hereafter-- + +1. "Suffering from mental or physical disability." + +2. Such disability must not be "the result of their own vicious habits +or gross carelessness." + +3. Such disability must be such as "incapacitates them for the +performance of labor in such a degree as to render them unable to earn +a support." + +4. They must be "dependent upon their daily labor for support." + +5. Upon proof of these conditions they shall "be placed on the lists of +invalid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled to receive for +such total inability to procure their subsistence by daily labor $12 per +month." + +It is not probable that the words last quoted, "such total inability to +procure their subsistence by daily labor," at all qualify the conditions +prescribed in the preceding language of the section. The "total +inability" spoken of must be "such" inability--that is, the inability +already described and constituted by the conditions already detailed in +the previous parts of the section. + +It thus becomes important to consider the meaning and the scope of these +last-mentioned conditions. + +The mental and physical disability spoken of has a distinct meaning in +the practice of the Pension Bureau and includes every impairment of +bodily or mental strength and vigor. For such disabilities there are now +paid 131 different rates of pension, ranging from $1 to $100 per month. + +This disability must not be the result of the applicant's "vicious +habits or gross carelessness." Practically this provision is not +important. The attempt of the Government to escape the payment of a +pension on such a plea would of course in a very large majority of +instances, and regardless of the merits of the case, prove a failure. +There would be that strange but nearly universal willingness to help the +individual as between him and the public Treasury which goes very far to +insure a state of proof in favor of the claimant. + +The disability of applicants must be such as to "incapacitate them for +the performance of labor in such a degree as to render them unable to +earn a support." + +It will be observed that there is no limitation or definition of the +incapacitating injury or ailment itself. It need only be such a degree +of disability from any cause as renders the claimant unable to earn a +support by labor. It seems to me that the "support" here mentioned as +one which can not be earned is a complete and entire support, with no +diminution on account of the least impairment of physical or mental +condition. If it had been intended to embrace only those who by disease +or injury were totally unable to labor, it would have been very easy to +express that idea, instead of recognizing, as is done, a "degree" of +such inability. + +What is a support? Who is to determine whether a man earns it, or has +it, or has it not? Is the Government to enter the homes of claimants for +pension and after an examination of their surroundings and circumstances +settle those questions? Shall the Government say to one man that his +manner of subsistence by his earnings is a support and to another that +the things his earnings furnish are not a support? Any attempt, however +honest, to administer this law in such a manner would necessarily +produce more unfairness and unjust discrimination and give more scope +for partisan partiality, and would result in more perversion of the +Government's benevolent intentions, than the execution of any statute +ought to permit. + +If in the effort to carry out the proposed law the degree of disability +as related to earnings be considered for the purpose of discovering if +in any way it curtails the support which the applicant, if entirely +sound, would earn, and to which he is entitled, we enter the broad field +long occupied by the Pension Bureau, and we recognize as the only +difference between the proposed legislation and previous laws passed for +the benefit of the surviving soldiers of the Civil War the incurrence in +one case of disabilities in military service and in the other +disabilities existing, but in no way connected with or resulting from +such service. + +It must be borne in mind that in no case is there any grading of this +proposed pension. Under the operation of the rule first suggested, if +there is a lack in any degree, great or small, of the ability to earn +such a support as the Government determines the claimant should have, +and, by the application of the rule secondly suggested, if there is a +reduction in any degree of the support which he might earn if sound, he +is entitled to a pension of $12. + +In the latter case, and under the proviso of the proposed bill +permitting persons now receiving pensions to be admitted to the benefits +of the act, I do not see how those now on the pension roll for +disabilities incurred in the service, and which diminish their earning +capacity, can be denied the pension provided in this bill. + +Of course none will apply who are now receiving $12 or more per month. +But on the 30th day of June, 1886, there were on the pension rolls +202,621 persons who were receiving fifty-eight different rates of +pension from $1 to $11.75 per month. Of these, 28,142 were receiving $2 +per month; 63,116, $4 per month; 37,254, $6 per month, and 50,274, whose +disabilities were rated as total, $8 per month. + +As to the meaning of the section of the bill under consideration there +appears to have been quite a difference of opinion among its advocates +in the Congress. The chairman of the Committee on Pensions in the House +of Representatives, who reported the bill, declared that there was in it +no provision for pensioning anyone who has a less disability than a +total inability to labor, and that it was a charity measure. The +chairman of the Committee on Pensions in the Senate, having charge of +the bill in that body, dissented from the construction of the bill +announced in the House of Representatives, and declared that it not only +embraced all soldiers totally disabled, but, in his judgment, all who +are disabled to any considerable extent; and such a construction was +substantially given to the bill by another distinguished Senator, who, +as a former Secretary of the Interior, had imposed upon him the duty of +executing pension laws and determining their intent and meaning. + +Another condition required of claimants under this act is that they +shall be "dependent upon their daily labor for support." + +This language, which may be said to assume that there exists within the +reach of the persons mentioned "labor," or the ability in some degree to +work, is more aptly used in a statute describing those not wholly +deprived of this ability than in one which deals with those utterly +unable to work. + +I am of the opinion that it may fairly be contended that under the +provisions of this section any soldier whose faculties of mind or body +have become impaired by accident, disease, or age, irrespective of his +service in the Army as a cause, and who by his labor only is left +incapable of gaining the fair support he might with unimpaired powers +have provided for himself, and who is not so well endowed with this +world's goods as to live without work, may claim to participate in its +bounty; that it is not required that he should be without property, but +only that labor should be necessary to his support in some degree; nor +is it required that he should be now receiving support from others. + +Believing this to be the proper interpretation of the bill, I can not +but remember that the soldiers of our Civil War in their pay and bounty +received such compensation for military service as has never been +received by soldiers before since mankind first went to war; that never +before on behalf of any soldiery have so many and such generous laws +been passed to relieve against the incidents of war; that statutes have +been passed giving them a preference in all public employments; that the +really needy and homeless Union soldiers of the rebellion have been to a +large extent provided for at soldiers' homes, instituted and supported +by the Government, where they are maintained together, free from the +sense of degradation which attaches to the usual support of charity; and +that never before in the history of the country has it been proposed to +render Government aid toward the support of any of its soldiers based +alone upon a military service so recent, and where age and circumstances +appeared so little to demand such aid. + +Hitherto such relief has been granted to surviving soldiers few in +number, venerable in age, after a long lapse of time since their +military service, and as a parting benefaction tendered by a grateful +people. + +I can not believe that the vast peaceful army of Union soldiers, who, +having contentedly resumed their places in the ordinary avocations of +life, cherish as sacred the memory of patriotic service, or who, having +been disabled by the casualties of war, justly regard the present +pension roll on which appear their names as a roll of honor, desire at +this time and in the present exigency to be confounded with those who +through such a bill as this are willing to be objects of simple charity +and to gain a place upon the pension roll through alleged dependence. + +Recent personal observation and experience constrain me to refer to +another result which will inevitably follow the passage of this bill. It +is sad, but nevertheless true, that already in the matter of procuring +pensions there exists a widespread disregard of truth and good faith, +stimulated by those who as agents undertake to establish claims for +pensions heedlessly entered upon by the expectant beneficiary, and +encouraged, or at least not condemned, by those unwilling to obstruct +a neighbor's plans. + +In the execution of this proposed law under any interpretation a wide +field of inquiry would be opened for the establishment of facts largely +within the knowledge of the claimants alone, and there can be no doubt +that the race after the pensions offered by this bill would not only +stimulate weakness and pretended incapacity for labor, but put a further +premium on dishonesty and mendacity. + +The effect of new invitations to apply for pensions or of new advantages +added to causes for pensions already existing is sometimes startling. + +Thus in March, 1879, large arrearages of pensions were allowed to be +added to all claims filed prior to July 1, 1880. For the year from July +1, 1879, to July 1, 1880, there were filed 110,673 claims, though in the +year immediately previous there were but 36,832 filed, and in the year +following but 18,455. + +While cost should not be set against a patriotic duty or the recognition +of a right, still when a measure proposed is based upon generosity or +motives of charity it is not amiss to meditate somewhat upon the expense +which it involves. Experience has demonstrated, I believe, that all +estimates concerning the probable future cost of a pension list are +uncertain and unreliable and always fall far below actual realization. + +The chairman of the House Committee on Pensions calculates that the +number of pensioners under this bill would be 33,105 and the increased +cost $4,767,120. This is upon the theory that only those who are +entirely unable to work would be its beneficiaries. Such was the +principle of the Revolutionary pension law of 1818, much more clearly +stated, it seems to me, than in this bill. When the law of 1818 was upon +its passage in Congress, the number of pensioners to be benefited +thereby was thought to be 374; but the number of applicants under the +act was 22,297, and the number of pensions actually allowed 20,485, +costing, it is reported, for the first year, $1,847,900, instead of +$40,000, the estimated expense for that period. + +A law was passed in 1853 for the benefit of the surviving widows of +Revolutionary soldiers who were married after January 1, 1800. It was +estimated that they numbered 300 at the time of the passage of the act; +but the number of pensions allowed was 3,742, and the amount paid for +such pensions during the first year of the operation of the act was +$180,000, instead of $24,000, as had been estimated. + +I have made no search for other illustrations, and the above, being at +hand, are given as tending to show that estimates can not be relied upon +in such cases. + +If none should be pensioned under this bill except those utterly unable +to work, I am satisfied that the cost stated in the estimate referred to +would be many times multiplied, and with a constant increase from year +to year; and if those partially unable to earn their support should be +admitted to the privileges of this bill, the probable increase of +expense would be almost appalling. + +I think it may be said that at the close of the War of the Rebellion +every Northern State and a great majority of Northern counties and +cities were burdened with taxation on account of the large bounties paid +our soldiers; and the bonded debt thereby created still constitutes +a large item in the account of the tax gatherer against the people. +Federal taxation, no less borne by the people than that directly levied +upon their property, is still maintained at the rate made necessary by +the exigencies of war. If this bill should become a law, with its +tremendous addition to our pension obligation, I am thoroughly convinced +that further efforts to reduce the Federal revenue and restore some part +of it to our people will, and perhaps should, be seriously questioned. + +It has constantly been a cause of pride and congratulation to the +American citizen that his country is not put to the charge of +maintaining a large standing army in time of peace. Yet we are now +living under a war tax which has been tolerated in peaceful times to +meet the obligations incurred in war. But for years past, in all parts +of the country, the demand for the reduction of the burdens of taxation +upon our labor and production has increased in volume and urgency. + +I am not willing to approve a measure presenting the objections to which +this bill is subject, and which, moreover, will have the effect of +disappointing the expectation of the people and their desire and hope +for relief from war taxation in time of peace. + +In my last annual message the following language was used: + + Every patriotic heart responds to a tender consideration for those who, + having served their country long and well, are reduced to destitution + and dependence, not as an incident of their service, but with advancing + age or through sickness or misfortune. We are all tempted by the + contemplation of such a condition to supply relief, and are often + impatient of the limitations of public duty. Yielding to no one in the + desire to indulge this feeling of consideration, I can not rid myself + of the conviction that if these ex-soldiers are to be relieved they + and their cause are entitled to the benefit of an enactment under + which relief may be claimed as a right, and that such relief should be + granted under the sanction of law, not in evasion of it; nor should + such worthy objects of care, all equally entitled, be remitted to the + unequal operation of sympathy or the tender mercies of social and + political influence, with their unjust discriminations. + + +I do not think that the objects, the conditions, and the limitations +thus suggested are contained in the bill under consideration. + +I adhere to the sentiments thus heretofore expressed. But the evil +threatened by this bill is, in my opinion, such that, charged with a +great responsibility in behalf of the people, I can not do otherwise +than to bring to the consideration of this measure my best efforts of +thought and judgment and perform my constitutional duty in relation +thereto, regardless of all consequences except such as appear to me +to be related to the best and highest interests of the country. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 16, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without my approval House bill No. 10203, entitled "An act to +enable the Commissioner of Agriculture to make a special distribution of +seeds in the drought-stricken counties of Texas, and making an +appropriation therefor." + +It is represented that a long-continued and extensive drought has +existed in certain portions of the State of Texas, resulting in a +failure of crops and consequent distress and destitution. + +Though there has been some difference in statements concerning the +extent of the people's needs in the localities thus affected, there +seems to be no doubt that there has existed a condition calling for +relief; and I am willing to believe that, notwithstanding the aid +already furnished, a donation of seed grain to the farmers located in +this region, to enable them to put in new crops, would serve to avert +a continuance or return of an unfortunate blight. + +And yet I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan, as proposed +by this bill, to indulge a benevolent and charitable sentiment through +the appropriation of public funds for that purpose. + +I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and +I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought +to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no +manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent +tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, +I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be +constantly enforced that though the people support the Government the +Government should not support the people. + +The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon +to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly +and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the +expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens +the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the +indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which +strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood. + +It is within my personal knowledge that individual aid has to some +extent already been extended to the sufferers mentioned in this bill. +The failure of the proposed appropriation of $10,000 additional to meet +their remaining wants will not necessarily result in continued distress +if the emergency is fully made known to the people of the country. + +It is here suggested that the Commissioner of Agriculture is annually +directed to expend a large sum of money for the purchase, propagation, +and distribution of seeds and other things of this description, +two-thirds of which are, upon the request of Senators, Representatives, +and Delegates in Congress, supplied to them for distribution among their +constituents. + +The appropriation of the current year for this purpose is $100,000, and +it will probably be no less in the appropriation for the ensuing year. +I understand that a large quantity of grain is furnished for such +distribution, and it is supposed that this free apportionment among +their neighbors is a privilege which may be waived by our Senators and +Representatives. + +If sufficient of them should request the Commissioner of Agriculture +to send their shares of the grain thus allowed them to the suffering +farmers of Texas, they might be enabled to sow their crops, the +constituents for whom in theory this grain is intended could well bear +the temporary deprivation, and the donors would experience the +satisfaction attending deeds of charity. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 859, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Charlotte O'Neal." + +This bill proposes to grant a pension to the beneficiary therein named +as the widow of Richard O'Neal, late colonel of the Twenty-sixth +Regiment Indiana Volunteers. + +In the report of the committee in the Senate to whom this bill was +referred it is stated that the deceased soldier was the first colonel of +the regiment named; that he resigned from the Army, and was by order of +the governor of Indiana put in charge of the United States camps at +Indianapolis. A military order is made part of the report, announcing +that the funeral of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard O'Neal will take place +January 6, 1863, and reciting the fact that the deceased had charge of +the camps near Indianapolis for the preceding four months. + +It is distinctly alleged in the report that the beneficiary did not +apply to the Pension Bureau for relief because the disease of which her +husband died was incurred after his resignation. + +The records of the War Department fail to show that there was a colonel +of the Twenty-sixth Indiana Regiment named Richard O'Neal, but it does +appear that Richard Neal was lieutenant-colonel of said regiment; that +he was mustered in August 31, 1861, and resigned June 30, 1862. + +If this is the officer whose widow is named in the bill, the proposition +is to pension a widow of a soldier who, after ten months' service, +resigned, and who seven months after his resignation died of disease +which was in no manner related to his military service. + +There is besides such a discrepancy between the name given in the bill +and the name of the officer who served as lieutenant-colonel in the +regiment mentioned that if the merits were with the widow the bill would +need further Congressional consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 1626, entitled "An +act granting a pension to John Reed, Sr." + +The report of the Senate Committee on Pensions merely states that the +mother of John Reed was granted a pension, commencing the 5th day of +December, 1862; that she has since died, and that the proposed bill is +to secure a pension to John Reed, Sr., the aged and dependent father of +the deceased soldier. + +The records show that the beneficiary named in this bill filed an +application for a pension in 1877, alleging that he was the father of +John Reed, who died in the service, and that his wife, the mother of the +deceased soldier, died May 10, 1872, and that he, the father, was mainly +dependent upon his son for support. He filed evidence of the mother's +death, and one witness alleged that he was present at her death and +attended her funeral. + +In 1864 Martha Reed, the mother of the soldier, filed her application +for pension, in which she at first claimed to be the widow of John Reed. +She afterwards, however, alleged that her husband, John Reed, abandoned +his family in 1859 and had not thereafter contributed to their support, +and that the soldier was her main support after such abandonment. She +was allowed a pension as dependent mother, which commenced in 1862, the +date of her son's death, and seems to have terminated July 22, 1884, +when she died. + +The claim of the father was rejected in 1883 for the reason that the +mother, who had a prior right, was still living, and when his claim was +again pressed in 1886 he was informed that his abandonment of his family +in 1859 precluded the idea that he was entitled to a pension as being +dependent upon the soldier for support. + +Of course these decisions were correct in law, in equity, and in morals. + +This case demonstrates the means employed in attempts to cheat the +Government in applications for pensions--too often successful. + +The allegation in 1877 of the man who now poses as the aged and +dependent father of a dead soldier that the mother died in 1872, when +at that time her claim was pending for pension largely based upon his +abandonment; the affidavit of the man who testified that he saw her die +in 1872; the effrontery of this unworthy father renewing his claim after +the detection of his fraud and the actual death of the mother, and the +allegation of the mother that she was a widow when in fact she was an +abandoned wife, show the processes which enter into these claims for +pensions and the boldness with which plans are sometimes concocted to +rob the Government by actually trafficking in death and imposing upon +the sacred sentiments of patriotism and national gratitude. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 2452, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Rachel Ann Pierpont." + +At the time this bill was introduced and passed an application for +pension on behalf of the beneficiary named was pending in the Pension +Bureau. This application was filed in December, 1879. Within the last +few days, and on the 17th day of February, 1887, a pension was granted +upon said application and a certificate issued at precisely the same +rate which the bill herewith returned authorizes. + +But the pension under the general laws dates from the time of filing the +application in 1879, while under a special act it would date only from +the time of its passage. + +In the interest of the beneficiary and for her advantage the special +bill is therefore disapproved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 21, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 2111, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Jacob Smith." + +The beneficiary named in this bill filed his claim for a pension +November 11, 1882. He seems upon the facts presented to be justly +entitled to it, and since this bill has been in my hands the +Commissioner of Pensions has reported to me that a certificate therefor +would at once be issued. + +Under such a certificate this disabled soldier's pension will commence +November 11, 1882. Under this bill, if approved, it would date only from +the time of its approval. I suppose his certificate has already been +issued, and I am unwilling to jeopardize the advantages he has gained +thereunder, as might be done if the bill herewith returned became a law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 1768, entitled "An +act granting a pension to John D. Fincher." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted August 6, 1862, and was +discharged for disability February 24, 1863. + +The surgeon's certificate of disability given at the time of the +soldier's discharge recites "general debility, which will disable him +from performing the duties of a soldier for a good period of time. The +disease was contracted by exposure and fatigue while performing the +duties of a soldier." + +The claimant filed his application for pension in September, 1882, +nearly twenty years after his discharge, alleging that in November, +1862, he was attacked with bilious fever, followed by chronic diarrhea +and lung trouble. + +In support of his application an affidavit of a comrade was filed, +setting forth the fact that the claimant was taken sick, as he alleged, +in the fall of 1862, and that he was sent to the hospital on that +account. The affidavit further expresses the belief that the claimant +still suffers from the effects of his sickness and exposure. + +So far as I am informed, and so far as the committee's report discloses, +this is the only proof furnished of any continuance of disability at the +time of filing the application for pension, and this proof, if it may +be so regarded, is the mere expression of an opinion or belief, not +necessarily based upon any personal knowledge, and which might have been +honestly expressed if derived from representations of the claimant +himself. + +In this condition of the case the claimant was examined by a surgeon in +1882, whose report seems to negative all ailments except as one may be +found in the fact alleged therein that he had pneumonia in 1868, and +that there might be some pleuritic adhesions, plainly inferring that if +such adhesions existed they were the result of the sickness to which he +refers. + +In February, 1885, the claimant was again examined by a board of +surgeons. This examination seems to have been very carefully and +thoroughly made, and as a result of the same the board reported that +there was no disability. On this ground the claim was rejected. + +There is no doubt as to the sickness of the claimant during his service +and his disability at the time of his discharge, but unless the report +of the board of surgeons is to be impeached without apparent reason +there is as little doubt of the claimant's complete recovery. + +No case has been presented to me in which the evidence afforded of a +continuance of disability seems so inconclusive. In these circumstances +the report of the board of surgeons appears to be upon the evidence +before me almost uncontradicted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No 7327, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Anthony McRobertson." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was badly wounded in a battle which +occurred about the 17th day of November, 1863. + +He applied for pension in 1874, and the same was granted in November, +1886, to date from the time of his disability, November 17, 1863. + +He is now receiving the highest rate allowed under the general law for +cases such as his, and he would be entitled to no more under the special +act. + +It could not, therefore, by any possibility be of the least benefit to +him, but, on the other hand, might jeopardize his advantages already +gained. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8002, entitled "An act +to increase the pension of Loren Burritt." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted in October, 1863, and in +December of that year was mustered in as major of the Eighth Regiment +United States Colored Troops; was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and +very badly wounded in February, 1864, and was mustered out with his +regiment November 10, 1865. + +His condition at the present time is most pitiable, and his helplessness +is such that he needs the constant care and assistance of others. He was +obliged to give up business about the year 1873. + +In 1866 he was pensioned for his wound, which was in the right leg; and +such pension has been increased from time to time until he is now in the +receipt of $72 per month, the highest pension allowed under general +laws. This rate was awarded him under a law passed in 1880, increasing +from $50 to $72 per month the pensions of those who were rendered +permanently and totally helpless, so that they required the regular and +personal attendance of another. + +On the 30th day of June, 1886, there were 1,009 persons on the rolls +receiving this rate of pension. + +This bill was reported upon adversely by the House Committee on +Pensions, and they, while fully acknowledging the distressing +circumstances surrounding the case, felt constrained to adverse action +on the ground, as stated in the language of their report, that "there +are many cases just as helpless and requiring as much attention as this +one, and were the relief asked for granted in this instance it might +reasonably be looked for in all." + +No man can check, if he would, the feeling of sympathy and pity aroused +by the contemplation of utter helplessness as the result of patriotic +and faithful military service; but in the midst of all this I can not +put out of mind the soldiers in this condition who were privates in the +ranks, who sustained the utmost hardships of war, but who, because they +were privates and in the humble walks of life, are not so apt to share +in special favors of Congressional action. I find no reason why this +beneficiary should be singled out from his class, except it be that he +was a lieutenant-colonel instead of a private. + +I am aware of a precedent for the legislation proposed, which is +furnished by an enactment of the last session of Congress, to which I +assented, as I think improvidently; but I am certain that exact equality +and fairness in the treatment of our veterans is, after all, more just, +beneficent, and useful than unfair discrimination in favor of officers +or the special benefit born of sympathy in individual cases. + +I am constrained, therefore, to agree with the House Committee on +Pensions in their views of this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 10082, entitled "An +act to increase the pension of Margaret R. Jones." + +The beneficiary mentioned in this bill is now receiving the highest rate +of pension allowed in cases such as hers under the general law. + +All the information which is available to me fails to furnish any reason +why this pension should be specially increased, except the general +statement in the claimant's petition that she is in necessitous +circumstances and that the rate now allowed her is insufficient for her +support. + +The further statement in the petition that her husband's death "was +caused prematurely by his endeavor to comply with unusual, +disrespectful, and indefinite orders" to go to League Island Navy-Yard +certainly does not in all its bearings furnish conclusive proof that his +widow's pension should be increased beyond that furnished others in her +situation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5877, entitled "An act for the +relief of William H. Morhiser." + +This beneficiary, though apparently not regularly enlisted in the +military service of the country during the time covered by this bill for +his relief, performed military duty, was captured and imprisoned. No +technicality should be interposed in considering this bill to prevent +the receipt by him of the same pay and allowances awarded under like +circumstances to soldiers regularly enlisted. + +But this bill proposes to appropriate for the benefit of this claimant +such sum as pay and allowances as would be allowed a private of cavalry +from November 30, 1863, to January 1, 1865. It appears from the records +of the War Department that he has already been paid for at least two +months of that time. + +The bill also provides that there shall also be allowed to the claimant +such additional pay and allowances, as commutation of rations and so +forth, as were allowed prisoners of war, from July 30, 1864, to January +1, 1865. The records disclose the fact that he has been allowed +commutation of rations from July 30, 1864, to December 11, 1864. + +As the purpose of this bill, as gathered from the report of the +committee to whom it was referred, appears to be to secure for the +claimant therein named compensation "at the rate at which other soldiers +in the same situation were paid," and as he seems already to have +received a considerable part of the compensation provided for in the +bill, I am led to suppose that a mistake has been made in framing the +same. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 24, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 7648, entitled "An act +for the relief of the estate of the late John How, Indian agent, and his +sureties." + +John How was appointed Indian agent in July, 1878, and upon such +appointment gave a bond to the Government in the penal sum of $10,000 +conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties as such agent and +to protect the Government from loss by mismanagement or malfeasance in +his official conduct. The parties named in the bill were his sureties on +said bond. + +On the 23d day of December, 1881, upon a report of inspectors connected +with the Indian Bureau suggesting frauds and mismanagement in the +conduct of this agency, Mr. How was suspended from his office, which +suspension was approved by the President in January, 1882. + +After such suspension the accounts of the agent were examined and +various explanations offered by him in relation thereto. It is stated, +however, in a report from the Indian Office now before me, that such +explanations were deemed by that office sufficient to remove only a +small part of the items in the accounts which were questioned. The +matter was thereupon referred to the Treasury Department for further +examination and adjustment. + +The Second Comptroller reports that the final settlement of this agent's +accounts was pending before the accounting officers for upward of +eighteen months, affording ample opportunity for any explanation which +might be deemed necessary and proper, and that on the 21st day of July, +1885, a final adjustment was made of the said accounts, by which a sum +very much in excess of the penalty of his bond was found due from said +agent to the Government. + +A suit was afterwards instituted against the agent and his sureties to +recover the amount thus found due, so far as the bond covered the same. + +This suit is still pending. + +The object of the bill now under consideration is to wholly release and +discharge these sureties from any liability upon said bond. + +It seems to be the opinion of all the officers of the Government who +have examined the matter at all that a debt exists in favor of the +Government upon this bond. It is reported that a large amount of +evidence has been taken, and that in the opinion of these officers the +amount due the Government can not be reduced to a less amount than the +penalty of the bond. + +The Second Comptroller states, as results of examinations made in his +office and by the Second Auditor, that it appears that many of the +vouchers presented by the agent were fictitious, the persons in whose +names they were given testifying that services and supplies therein +mentioned were never rendered or furnished; that in other cases parties +denied the genuineness of vouchers purporting to be made by them; that a +large voucher apparently given for cattle was actually given for money +loaned, and that supplies bought with Government funds were appropriated +for the agent's personal benefit. + +I do not suppose that it was intended by the Congress to entirely +relieve these sureties if a condition exists such as is above set out, +which results in an indebtedness to the Government. The proposed +legislation, judging from the report of the House Committee on Claims, +seems rather to proceed upon the theory that no sum is due the +Government in the premises. + +I think it will hardly be claimed that the patient investigation of the +accounting officers should be lightly discredited in this case; and it +seems to me that justness to the Government and fairness to the sureties +seeking relief will presumably be secured by the further prosecution of +the suit already instituted, in which the truth of all matters involved +can be thoroughly tested. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 1162, entitled "An +act for the erection of a post-office building at Lynn, Mass." + +The title of this bill sufficiently indicates its purpose. + +Congressional action in its favor appears to be based, as usual in such +cases, upon representations concerning the population of the town in +which it is proposed to erect the building, and the increase in such +population, the number of railroad trains arriving and departing daily, +and various other items calculated to demonstrate the importance of the +city selected for Federal decoration. + +These statements are supplemented by a report from the postmaster, +setting forth that his postal receipts are increasing, giving the number +of square feet now occupied by his office, the amount of rent paid, and +the number of his employees. + +This bill, unlike others of its class which seek to provide a place for +a number of Federal offices, simply authorizes the construction of a +building for the accommodation of the post-office alone. + +The report of the postmaster differs also in this case from those which +are usually furnished, inasmuch as it is therein distinctly stated that +the space now furnished for his office is sufficient for its present +operations. He adds, however, that from present indications there will +be a large increase in the business of the office during the next ten +years. + +It is quite apparent that there is no necessity for the expenditure of +$100,000, the amount limited in this bill, or any other sum, for the +construction of the proposed building to meet the wants of the +Government, and for this reason I am constrained to disapprove the +proposed legislation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 2045, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Mrs. Sarah Hamilton." + +Thomas Hamilton, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted September 2, 1862. Upon the records he is reported present +to April 30, 1863; deserted May 27, 1863. His name is dropped from +subsequent rolls to February 29, 1864, when he is reported as a deserter +in arrest. He is not borne upon the rolls for March and April, 1864; +for May and June, 1864, he is reported absent in arrest; for July and +August, present under arrest; and for September and October, present for +duty. He was mustered out with his company May 24, 1865. + +He applied for a pension in 1872, alleging that he received an injury to +his left leg about February 15, 1863, at St. Louis, by falling from a +ladder, causing varicose veins and stiffening of the leg. + +He was granted a pension January 29, 1881, to commence May 25, 1865. + +He subsequently applied for an increase of pension, claiming that +his eyes had become affected as a result of his varicose veins. This +application was rejected upon the ground that the disability for which +he was pensioned had not increased and that the disease of his eyes was +not a result of such disability. + +The pensioner died April 22, 1883, twenty years after his alleged +injury, of cerebral apoplexy; and a physician states it as his judgment +that the varicosed condition of the venous system was primarily the +cause of his disabilities and death. + +His widow filed an application for pension October 31, 1883, which was +rejected upon the ground that the soldier's death was not the result of +his military service. + +Notwithstanding the record of the deceased soldier, stained as it is +with the charge of desertion, and the entire absence of any record proof +of sickness and injury, I should consider myself, in favor of his widow, +bound by the act of the Pension Bureau in allowing him a pension, and +should cheerfully aid her attempt to procure a pension for herself in +her needy condition, if I was not thoroughly convinced that her +husband's death had no relation to his military service or any injury +for which he was pensioned. + +To the ordinary mind it seems impossible that apoplexy could result +from such a varicosed condition as is described in this case. I do not +understand that the physician who gives a contrary opinion bases his +judgment upon actual observation at the time the soldier died. The last +medical examination by the Pension Bureau before the soldier's death was +in October, 1882, and resulted in the following report of the examining +surgeon: + + Weight, 180 pounds; age, 69 years; has varicose veins of left leg, but + not to such an extent as to increase the size of the leg or result in + marked disability; he is entirely blind in both eyes from glaucoma, + which does not in any degree, in my opinion, depend upon the pensioned + disability--varicose veins. + + +It appears that the benefit proposed by this bill can neither be +properly regarded as a gratuity, based upon the honorable service and +record of the soldier, nor predicated on his death resulting from a +disability incurred in such service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 2210, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Anna Wright." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was granted a pension on the 17th day +of November, 1886, dating from May 25, 1863, and is now under the +general law receiving precisely the pension which she would receive +under the bill herewith returned if the same should be approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 26, 1887_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6976, entitled "An act +to erect a public building at Portsmouth, Ohio." + +It is represented in support of this bill that Portsmouth by its last +census had a population of 11,321, and that, it contains at present +not less than 15,000 inhabitants; that it is a place of considerable +manufacturing and commercial importance, and that there is no public +building for the transaction of the business of the General Government +nearer than Columbus or Cincinnati, both about 100 miles distant. + +It is further stated in a communication from the promoter of this bill +that-- + + There is not a Federal public building in the State of Ohio east of the + line drawn on the accompanying map from Cleveland through Columbus to + Cincinnati; and when wealth and population and the needs of the public + service are considered, the distribution of public buildings in the + State is an unfair one. + + +Here is disclosed a theory of expenditure for public buildings which I +can hardly think should be adopted. If an application for the erection +of such a building is to be determined by the distance between its +proposed location and another public building, or upon the allegation +that a certain division of a State is without a Government building, +or that the distribution of these buildings in a particular State +is unfair, we shall rapidly be led to an entire disregard of the +considerations of necessity and public need which it seems to me should +alone justify the expenditure of public funds for such a purpose. + +The care and protection which the Government owes to the people do +not embrace the grant of public buildings to decorate thriving and +prosperous cities and villages, nor should such buildings be erected +upon any principle of fair distribution among localities. + +The Government is not an almoner of gifts among the people, but an +instrumentality by which the people's affairs should be conducted upon +business principles, regulated by the public needs. + +Applying these principles to the case embraced in the bill under +consideration, we find that at Portsmouth there is a post-office and +an internal revenue collector's office for which the Government should +provide. + +It is represented that the quarters now furnished for these offices +are inadequate and that more spacious rooms are desirable. In the +post-office there are six employees, and the collector of internal +revenue has five assistants. The annual rent paid for both these offices +is $600. + +Upon these facts the proposition is to expend $60,000 for a building to +accommodate these offices, entailing after its completion quite a large +sum annually for its care and superintendence. + +Though the sum of $60,000 is the limit fixed for the cost of this +building, if it should be completed for this sum it would be an +exception to the rule in such cases; and if it is absolutely impossible +to do the public business in the quarters now occupied by these offices, +which does not appear to be claimed, there can be no difficulty in +securing in this enterprising city adequate accommodations at a rent not +largely in excess of that at present paid. + +Upon the whole it does not appear, as a business proposition, that the +building proposed should be undertaken. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1887_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 531, entitled "An act +to provide for the erection of a public building at Lafayette, Ind." + +This bill appropriates $50,000 for the purpose indicated in its title. + +It is represented that a deputy internal-revenue collector is located at +Lafayette, but no information is furnished that he has an office there +which is or ought to be furnished by the Government. It is not claimed +that the Federal business at this point requires other accommodation +except for the post-office located there. + +As usual in such cases, the postmaster reports, in reply to inquiries, +that his present quarters are inadequate, and, as usual, it appears that +the postal business is increasing. The rent paid for the rooms or +building in which the post-office is kept is $1, 100 per annum. + +I have been informed since this bill has been in my hands that last +spring a building was erected at Lafayette with special reference to +its use for the post-office, and that a part of it was leased by the +Government for that purpose for the term of five years. Upon the faith +of such lease the premises thus rented were fitted up and furnished by +the owner of the building in a manner especially adapted to postal uses, +and an account of such fitting up and furnishing is before me, showing +the expense of the same to have been more than $2,500. + +In view of such new and recent arrangements made by the Government for +the transaction of its postal business at this place, it seems that the +proposed expenditure for the erection of a building for that purpose is +hardly necessary or justifiable. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me by the Government +of the Netherlands that no light-house and light dues, tonnage dues, +or beacon and buoy dues are imposed in the ports of the Kingdom of the +Netherlands; that no other equivalent tax of any kind is imposed upon +vessels in said ports, under whatever flag they may sail; that vessels +belonging to the United States of America and their cargoes are not +required in the Netherlands to pay any fee or due of any kind or nature, +or any import due higher or other than is payable by vessels of the +Netherlands or their cargoes; that no export duties are imposed in the +Netherlands; and that in the free ports of the Dutch East Indies, to +wit, Riouw (in the island of Riouw), Pabean, Sangrit, Loloan, and +Tamboekoes (in the island of Bali), Koepang (in the island of Timor), +Makassar, Menado, Kema, and Gorontalo (in the island of Celebes), +Amboina, Saparoa, Banda, Ternate, and Kajeli (in the Moluccas), Olehleh +and Bengkalis (in the island of Sumatra), vessels are subjected to no +fiscal tax, and no import or export duties are there levied: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the +act of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official +services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping +commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes," +approved June 19, 1886, do hereby declare and proclaim that from and +after the date of this my proclamation shall be suspended the collection +of the whole of the duty of 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30 cents per +ton per annum (which is imposed by said section of said act), upon +vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports +of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe, or from any of the above +named free ports of the Dutch East Indies. + +_Provided_, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of the +suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreign +country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed on +vessels of the United States, or the import or export duties on their +cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the +vessels of such foreign country or their cargoes, or of the fees, dues, +or duties imposed on the vessels of the country in which are the ports +mentioned in this proclamation, or the cargoes of such vessels. + +And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so long +as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the +United States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports of +the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe and the said free ports of the +Dutch East Indies, and no longer. + +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 22d day of April, A.D. 1887, and of +the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eleventh. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me by the Government of +Spain that no discriminating duties of tonnage or imposts are imposed +or levied in the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and +all belonging to the Crown of Spain, upon vessels wholly belonging to +citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or +merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any +foreign country; and + +Whereas notification of such abolition of discriminating duties of +tonnage and imposts as aforesaid has been given to me by a memorandum +of agreement signed this day at the city of Washington between the +Secretary of State of the United States and the envoy extraordinary +and minister plenipotentiary of Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain +accredited to the Government of the United States of America: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States +of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 4228 +of the Revised Statutes of the United States, do hereby declare and +proclaim that from and after the date of this my proclamation, being +also the date of the notification received as aforesaid, the foreign +discriminating duties of tonnage and imposts within the United States +are suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of Spain +and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in said vessels +into the United States from the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, the +Philippines, and all other countries belonging to the Crown of Spain, or +from any other foreign country; such suspension to continue so long as +the reciprocal exemption of Vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said islands of Cuba +and Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and all other Spanish possessions, +and no longer. + +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 21st day of September, A.D. 1887, +and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and +twelfth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +A PROCLAMATION + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +The goodness and the mercy of God, which have followed the American +people during all the days of the past year, claim their grateful +recognition and humble acknowledgment. By His omnipotent power He has +protected us from war and pestilence and from every national calamity; +by His gracious favor the earth has yielded a generous return to the +labor of the husbandman, and every path of holiest toil has led to +comfort and contentment; by His loving kindness the hearts of our people +have been replenished with fraternal sentiment and patriotic endeavor, +and by His unerring guidance we have been directed in the way of +national prosperity. + +To the end that we may with one accord testify our gratitude for all +these blessings, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do +hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 24th day of November next, +as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by all the people of +the land. + +On that day let all secular work and employment be suspended, and let +our people assemble in their accustomed places of worship and with +prayer and songs of praise give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all +that He has done for us, while we humbly implore the forgiveness of our +sins and a continuance of His mercy. + +Let families and kindred be reunited on that day, and let their hearts, +filled with kindly cheer and affectionate reminiscence, be turned in +thankfulness to the source of all their pleasures and the giver of all +that makes the day glad and joyous. + +And in the midst of our worship and our happiness let us remember the +poor, the needy, and the unfortunate, and by our gifts of charity and +ready benevolence let us increase the number of those who with grateful +hearts shall join in our thanksgiving. + +In witness whereof I have set my hand and caused the seal of the United +States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of October, A.D. 1887, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twelfth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +JANUARY 4, 1887. + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following regulations governing promotions in the +customs service at the city of New York are hereby approved and +promulgated: + + REGULATION 1. + + The board of examiners at the New York customs district may at any time, + with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, order an examination + for promotion, and at least five days before the examination is to take + place shall cause a notice to be posted conspicuously in the office for + which such examination is to be held, and shall state in said notice the + class or classes to test fitness for promotion to which the examination + is to be held and the time and place of examination. Promotions shall + be from class to class, and the examination of persons in one class + shall be to test their fitness for promotion to the next higher class: + _Provided, however_, That if in any examination for promotion the + competitors in the next lower class shall not exceed three in number, + the board may, at its discretion, open the competition to one or more + of the classes below the class in which there are not more than three + competitors. All persons in the class immediately below the class for + which promotions are to be made, and who have been in said class at + least six months, must be examined for promotion. + + REGULATION 2. + + The examination must be held upon such subjects as in the opinion + of the board of examiners, with the approval of the Commission, the + general nature of the business of the office and the special nature + of the positions to be filled may require. In grading the competitors + due weight must be given to the efficiency with which the several + competitors shall have performed their duties in the office; but none + who shall fail to attain a minimum standard of 75 per cent in the + written examination shall be certified for promotion. + + REGULATION 3. + + The whole list of eligibles from which the promotion is to be made shall + be certified to the nominating officer. + + REGULATION 4. + + Any person employed in any of the offices to which these regulations + apply may be transferred without examination, after service of six + months consecutively since January 16, 1883, from one office to a + class no higher in another office, upon certification by the board of + examiners that he has passed an examination for the class in which he + is doing duty, and with the consent of the heads of the respective + offices and the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. + + REGULATION 5. + + The Civil Service Commission may at any time amend these regulations + or substitute other regulations therefor. + + +The foregoing regulations are adopted and approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement +of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as +follows: + + + RULE IV. + + 1. The Civil Service Commission shall have authority to appoint the + following-named boards of civil-service examiners: + + _The central board_.--This board shall be composed of seven + members, who shall be detailed from the Departments in which they may + be serving at the time of appointment for continuous service at the + office of the Civil Service Commission. Under the supervision of the + Commission, the central board shall examine and mark the papers of all + examinations for entrance to the departmental service, and also such + of the papers of examinations for entrance to either the customs or + the postal service as shall be submitted to it by the Commission. The + Commission shall have authority to require any customs or postal board + to send the papers of any examination conducted by said board to be + examined and marked by the central board. The persons composing this + board shall be in the departmental service. + + _Special boards_.--These boards shall mark the papers of special + examinations for the classified departmental service, and shall be + composed of persons in the public service. + + _Supplementary boards_.--These boards shall mark the papers of + supplementary examinations for the classified departmental service, and + shall be composed of persons in the public service. + + _Local departmental boards_.--These boards shall be organized at + one or more places in each State and Territory where examinations for + the departmental service are to be held, and shall each be composed of + persons in the public service residing in the State or Territory in + which the board is to act. + + _Customs boards_.--One for each classified customs district, to be + composed of persons in the customs service in the district for which + the board is to act. These boards shall conduct examinations for + entrance to and promotion in the classified customs service. + + _Postal boards_.--One for each classified post-office, to be + composed of persons in the postal service at the post-office for which + said board is to act. These boards shall conduct examinations for + entrance to and promotions in the postal service. + + 2. No person shall be appointed a member of any board of examiners named + herein until after consultation by the Civil Service Commission with the + head of the Department or office in which the person whom it desires to + appoint is serving. + + 3. It shall be the duty of the head of any classified customs office or + classified post-office to promptly inform the Civil Service Commission, + in writing, of the removal or resignation from the public service, or + of the death, of any member of a board of examiners appointed from his + office; and upon request of the Commission such officer shall state to + the Commission which of the persons employed in his office he regards as + most competent to fill the vacancy thus occasioned, or any vacancy which + may otherwise occur; and in making this statement the officer shall + mention generally the qualifications of each of the persons named + therein by him. + + 4. The duties of a member of a special, supplementary, local, + departmental, customs, or postal board of examiners shall be regarded as + a part of the public duties of such examiner, and each examiner shall be + allowed time during office hours to perform the duties required of him. + + 5. The Civil Service Commission shall have authority to adopt + regulations which shall (1) prescribe the manner of organizing the + several boards of civil-service examiners herein named, (2) more + particularly state the powers of each of said boards, and (3) + specifically define the duties of the members thereof. + + 6. The Civil Service Commission shall have authority to change at any + time the membership of any of the above-named boards of civil-service + examiners. + + +Approved, January 15, 1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +REGULATIONS FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARMS, ORDNANCE STORES, +QUARTERMASTER'S STORES, AND CAMP EQUIPAGE TO THE TERRITORIES AND THE +DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, PRESCRIBED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES +IN CONFORMITY WITH THE SECOND SECTION OF THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO +AMEND SECTION 1661, REVISED STATUTES, MAKING AN ANNUAL APPROPRIATION TO +PROVIDE ARMS AND EQUIPMENTS FOR THE MILITIA." + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 22, 1887_. + +1. Each Territory shall, if included within the provisions of said act, +annually receive arms, ordnance stores, quartermaster's stores, and camp +equipage equivalent to the quota of a State having the least +representation in Congress, and the District of Columbia shall annually +receive arms, ordnance stores, quartermaster's stores, and camp equipage +not exceeding double the quota of a State having the least +representation in Congress. + +2. Arms, ordnance stores, quartermaster's stores, and camp equipage +shall be issued to the Territories on requisitions of the governors +thereof and to the District of Columbia on requisitions approved by the +senior general of the District Militia present for duty. Returns shall +be made annually by the senior general of the District Militia in the +manner as required by sections 3 and 4 of the act above referred to in +the case of States and Territories. + +3. It is forbidden to make issues to States and Territories in excess of +the amount to their credit under the provisions of section 1161, Revised +Statutes, as amended by the above act. + +4. The regulations established by President Pierce April 30, 1855, under +the act approved March 30, 1855, are hereby revoked. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the +Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third +section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved +January 16, 1883, Rules IV, VI, XIX, XXI of the rules for the regulation +and improvement of the executive civil service are hereby amended and +promulgated as follows: + + + RULE IV. + + I. The Commission may appoint boards of examiners as follows: + + _The central board_.--A board composed of seven members, who shall + be detailed from the Departments in which they are serving when + appointed for continuous service at the office of the Commission. This + board shall mark such papers of examinations for admission to the + departmental, customs, and postal services as the Commission may direct. + + _Departmental special boards_.--These boards shall mark such papers + of special examinations for the departmental service as the Commission + may direct, and shall be composed of persons in the public service. + + _Departmental supplementary boards_.--These boards shall mark the + papers of such supplementary examinations for the departmental service + as the Commission may direct, and shall be composed of persons in the + public service. + + _Departmental promotion boards_.--One for each of the Executive + Departments, of three members, and one auxiliary member for each bureau + of the Department for which the board is to act. + + _Departmental local boards_.--These boards shall be organized at + one or more places in each State and Territory where examinations for + the departmental service are to be held, and shall each be composed of + persons in the public service residing in the State or Territory in + which the board is to act. + + _Customs boards_.--One for each classified customs district, to be + composed of persons in the customs service in the district for which + said board is to act. These boards shall conduct examinations for + entrance to and promotions in the classified customs service, and shall + mark such of the examination papers for that service as the Commission + shall direct. They shall also conduct such departmental examinations as + the Commission may direct. + + _Postal boards_.--One for each classified post-office, to be + composed of persons in the postal service at the post-office in which + said board is to act. These boards shall conduct examinations for + entrance to and promotions in the postal service, and shall mark such of + the examination papers for that service as the Commission may direct. + They shall also conduct such departmental examinations as the Commission + may direct. + + 2. No person shall be appointed an examiner until after consultation by + the Commission with the head of the Department or office in which the + person whom it desires to appoint is serving. + + 3. It shall be the duty of the head of any classified customs office or + post-office to promptly give written information to the Commission of + the removal or resignation from the public service, or of the inability + or refusal to act, of any examiner in his office; and on request of the + Commission such officer shall state which of the persons in his office + he regards as most competent to fill the vacancy, and shall mention + generally the qualifications of each person named by him. + + 4. The duties of an examiner shall be regarded as a part of his public + duties, and each examiner shall be allowed time during office hours to + perform the duties required of him. + + 5. The Commission may adopt regulations which shall prescribe (1) the + manner of organizing the boards of examiners, (2) the powers of each + board, and (3) the duties of the members thereof. + + 6. The Commission may create additional boards of examiners and may + change the membership of any board; and boards of examiners shall + perform such other appropriate duties as the Commission may impose + upon them. + + + RULE VI. + + 1. There shall be open competitive examinations for testing the fitness + of applicants for admission to the service. Such examinations shall be + practical in their character, and so far as may be shall relate to those + matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the + persons examined to discharge the duties of the branch of the service + which they seek to enter. + + 2. And for the purpose of establishing in the classified service the + principle of compulsory competitive examination for promotion there + shall be, so far as practicable and useful, such examinations of a + suitable character to test the fitness of persons for promotion in the + service, and the Commission may make regulations applying them to any + classified Department, customs office, or post-office, under which + regulations examinations for promotion shall be conducted and all + promotions made; but until regulations made by the Commission in + accordance herewith have been applied to a classified Department, + customs office, or post-office, promotions therein may be made upon any + test of fitness determined upon by the promoting officer. And in any + classified Department, customs office, or post-office in which + promotions are made under examinations as herein provided the Commission + may, in special session, if the exigencies of the service require such + action, provide noncompetitive examinations for promotion. + + + RULE XIX. + + There are excepted from examination the following: (1) The confidential + clerk or secretary of any head of a Department or office; (2) cashiers + of collectors; (3) cashiers of postmasters; (4) superintendents of + money-order divisions in post-offices; (5) the direct custodians of + money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond, and + disbursing officers having the custody of money, who give bonds; but + these exceptions shall not extend to any official below the grade of + assistant cashier or teller; (6) persons employed exclusively in the + secret service of the Government, or as translators or interpreters or + stenographers; (7) persons whose employment is exclusively professional, + but medical examiners are not included among such persons; (8) chief + clerks, deputy collectors, deputy naval officers, deputy surveyors of + customs, and superintendents or chiefs of divisions or bureaus. But no + person so excepted shall be either transferred, appointed, or promoted, + unless to some excepted place, without an examination under the + Commission, which examination shall not take place within six months + after entering the service. + + + RULE XXI. + + 1. No person, unless excepted under Rule XIX, shall be admitted into the + classified civil service from any place not within said service without + an examination and certification under the rules, with this exception, + that any person who shall have been an officer for one year or more last + preceding in any Department or office in a grade above the classified + service thereof may be transferred or appointed to any place in the + service of the same without examination. + + 2. No person who has passed only a limited examination under clause 4 of + Rule VII for the lower classes or grades in the departmental or customs + service shall be appointed or be promoted within two years after + appointment to any position giving a salary of $1,000 or upward without + first passing an examination under clause 1 of said rule; and such + examination shall not be allowed within the first year after + appointment. + + 3. But a person who has passed the examination under said clause 1 and + has accepted a position giving a salary of $900 or less shall have the + same right of promotion as if originally appointed to a position giving + a salary of $1,000 or more. + + 4. The Commission may at any time certify for a $900 or any lower place + in the classified service any person upon the register who has passed + the examination under clause 1 of Rule VII, if such person does not + object before such certification is made. + + 5. The provisions of this rule relating to promotions shall cease to be + operative in any classified Department, customs office, or post-office + when regulations for promotions have been applied thereto by the + Commission under the authority conferred by clause 2 of Rule VI. + + +Approved, May 5, 1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 9, 1887_. + +The executive offices and Departments at the seat of Government, +including the public printing establishment, will be closed at noon on +Thursday, the 12th instant, to enable persons employed therein to attend +the exercises at the unveiling of the statue of the late President +Garfield. + +And employees in such offices and Departments who desire to accompany +any organization to which they belong in the parade or other exercises +preceding on that day the unveiling ceremonies may, by permission of the +heads of their respective offices or Departments, also be granted such +leave of absence as may be necessary for that purpose. + +Members of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland desiring to attend +any meeting of such society on Wednesday, the 11th instant, may, by +special permission of the respective heads of Departments and offices, +be excused from duty during the hours on that day as said meetings may +be held. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, April 30, 1887_. + +HON. WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT, + _Secretary of War_. + +SIR: I have the honor to state that there are now in this office, stored +in one of the attic rooms of the building, a number of Union flags +captured in action, but recovered on the fall of the Confederacy and +forwarded to the War Department for safe-keeping, together with a number +of Confederate flags which the fortunes of war placed in our hands +during the late Civil War. + +While in the past favorable action has been taken on applications +properly supported for the return of Union flags to organizations +representing survivors of the military regiments in the service of the +Government, I beg to submit that it would be a graceful act to +anticipate future requests of this nature, and venture to suggest the +propriety of returning all the flags (Union and Confederate) to the +authorities of the respective States in which the regiments which bore +these colors were organized, for such final disposition as they may +determine. + +While in all the civilized nations of the world trophies taken in war +against foreign enemies have been carefully preserved and exhibited as +proud mementos of the nation's military glories, wise and obvious +reasons have always excepted from the rule evidences of past internecine +troubles which by appeals to the arbitrament of the sword have disturbed +the peaceful march of a people to its destiny. + +Over twenty years have elapsed since the termination of the late Civil +War. Many of the prominent leaders, civil and military, of the late +Confederate States are now honored representatives of the people in the +national councils, or in other eminent positions lend the aid of their +talents to the wise administration of affairs of the whole country; and +the people of the several States composing the Union are now united, +treading the broader road to a glorious future. + +Impressed with these views, I have the honor to submit the suggestion +made in this letter for the careful consideration it will receive at +your hands. + +Very truly, yours, + +R.C. DRUM, + _Adjutant-General_. + +[Indorsement.] + +WAR DEPARTMENT, _May 26, 1887_. + +The within recommendation approved by the President, and the +Adjutant-General will prepare letters to governors of those States whose +troops carried the colors and flags now in this Department, with the +offer to return them as herein proposed. The history of each flag and +the circumstances of its capture or recapture should be given. + +HON. WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT, + _Secretary of War_. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, June 7, 1887_. + +Honorable GOVERNOR OF ----. + +SIR: The President of the United States having approved the +recommendation that all the flags in the custody of the War Department +be returned to the authorities of the respective States in which the +regiments which bore them were organized, for such final disposition as +they may determine, I am instructed by the honorable Secretary of War to +make you, in the name of the War Department, a tender of the flags now +in this office belonging to the late volunteer organizations of the +State of ----. + +In discharging this pleasant duty I beg you will please advise me of +your wishes in this matter. It is the intention in returning each flag +to give its history as far as it is possible to do so, stating the +circumstances of its capture and recovery. + +I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General._ + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 16, 1887_. + +The SECRETARY OF WAR: + +I have to-day considered with more care than when the subject was orally +presented me the action of your Department directing letters to be +addressed to the governors of all the States offering to return, if +desired, to the loyal States the Union flags captured in the War of the +Rebellion by the Confederate forces and afterwards recovered by +Government troops, and to the Confederate States the flags captured by +the Union forces, all of which for many years have been packed in boxes +and stored in the cellar and attic of the War Department. + +I am of the opinion that the return of these flags in the manner thus +contemplated is not authorized by existing law nor justified as an +executive act. + +I request, therefore, that no further steps be taken in the matter +except to examine and inventory these flags and adopt proper measures +for their preservation. Any direction as to the final disposition of +them should originate with Congress. + +Yours, truly, + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, June --, 1887_. + +Hon. ---- ----, + _Governor of ----_. + +SIR: Referring to the letter from this office dated June --, 1887, on +the subject of the return to the respective States of the flags now in +the custody of the War Department, I am instructed by the Secretary of +War to inform you of the withdrawal of the offer made therein, as on a +more careful consideration of the legal points involved in the proposed +action the President of the United States is of the opinion that the +return of these flags is not authorized by existing law nor justified as +an executive act, and that any direction as to their final disposition +should originate with Congress. + +I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +---- ----, _Adjutant-General_. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, August 25, 1887_. + +It appearing to me that the promoters of the International Military +Encampment to be held in Chicago in October proximo, in commemoration of +the fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of that city, have extended +to the militia organizations of foreign countries, in behalf of the +citizen soldiers of the State of Illinois, an invitation to take part +in said encampment as the guests of the city of Chicago, and that +representatives of the soldiery of certain foreign countries have +accepted such invitation and are about to arrive in the United States: + +I hereby direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the collectors +of customs at the several ports of entry that upon being satisfied that +such visitors come as guests, in pursuance of the aforesaid invitation, +they shall permit the entrance of such foreign soldiers into the United +States, with their personal baggage, uniforms, arms, and equipments, +without payment of customs duties thereon, and without other formality +than such as may be necessary to insure the reexportation of said +uniforms, baggage, arms, and equipments. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _Washington, October 24, 1887_. + +By direction of the President the undersigned is charged with the sad +duty of announcing the death, on the 22d instant, at 4 o'clock p.m., at +his residence, Chicago, Ill., of Elihu B. Washburne, an illustrious +citizen, formerly Secretary of State of the United States. + +Mr. Washburne rendered great service to the people of the United States +in many and important capacities. As a Representative from the State +of Illinois in the National Legislature, and subsequently as envoy +extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to +France, his career was marked by eminent usefulness, in which abilities +of a high order were applied with unsparing devotion and fidelity in the +performance of the trusts of public power. + +His private life was unstained, his public service unquestionably great, +and his memory will be cherished with affection and respect by his +grateful countrymen. + +On the day of his funeral this Department will be closed for all public +business, and be draped in mourning for ten days thereafter. + +The diplomatic and consular officers of the United States in foreign +countries will be directed to make proper expression of the public +sorrow experienced by the death of Mr. Washburne. + +T.F. BAYARD, _Secretary of State_. + + + + +THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1887_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties with a +condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate +and careful consideration. + +The amount of money annually exacted, through the operation of present +laws, from the industries and necessities of the people largely exceeds +the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Government. + +When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every +citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and +enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his share toward the +careful and economical maintenance of the Government which protects him, +it is plain that the exaction of more than this is indefensible +extortion and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice. This +wrong inflicted upon those who bear the burden of national taxation, +like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil consequences. The public +Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the people's +tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding +place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, +thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's +development, preventing investment in productive enterprise, threatening +financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder. + +This condition of our Treasury is not altogether new, and it has more +than once of late been submitted to the people's representatives in the +Congress, who alone can apply a remedy. And yet the situation still +continues, with aggravated incidents, more than ever presaging financial +convulsion and widespread disaster. + +It will not do to neglect this situation because its dangers are not now +palpably imminent and apparent. They exist none the less certainly, and +await the unforeseen and unexpected occasion when suddenly they will be +precipitated upon us. + +On the 30th day of June, 1885, the excess of revenues over public +expenditures, after complying with the annual requirement of the +sinking-fund act, was $17,859,735.84; during the year ended June 30, +1886, such excess amounted to $49,405,545.20, and during the year ended +June 30, 1887, it reached the sum of $55,567,849.54. + +The annual contributions to the sinking fund during the three years +above specified, amounting in the aggregate to $138,058,320.94, and +deducted from the surplus as stated, were made by calling in for that +purpose outstanding 3 per cent bonds of the Government. During the six +months prior to June 30, 1887, the surplus revenue had grown so large by +repeated accumulations, and it was feared the withdrawal of this great +sum of money needed by the people would so affect the business of the +country, that the sum of $79,864,100 of such surplus was applied to +the payment of the principal and interest of the 3 per cent bonds +still outstanding, and which were then payable at the option of the +Government. The precarious condition of financial affairs among the +people still needing relief, immediately after the 30th day of June, +1887, the remainder of the 3 per cent bonds then outstanding, amounting +with principal and interest to the sum of $18,877,500, were called in +and applied to the sinking-fund contribution for the current fiscal +year. Notwithstanding these operations of the Treasury Department, +representations of distress in business circles not only continued, but +increased, and absolute peril seemed at hand. In these circumstances +the contribution to the sinking fund for the current fiscal year was at +once completed by the expenditure of $27,684,283.55 in the purchase of +Government bonds not yet due bearing 4 and 4-1/2 per cent interest, +the premium paid thereon averaging about 24 per cent for the former and +8 per cent for the latter. In addition to this, the interest accruing +during the current year upon the outstanding bonded indebtedness of +the Government was to some extent anticipated, and banks selected as +depositories of public money were permitted to somewhat increase their +deposits. + +While the expedients thus employed to release to the people the money +lying idle in the Treasury served to avert immediate danger, our surplus +revenues have continued to accumulate, the excess for the present year +amounting on the 1st day of December to $55,258,701.19, and estimated to +reach the sum of $113,000,000 on the 30th of June next, at which date it +is expected that this sum, added to prior accumulations, will swell the +surplus in the Treasury to $140,000,000. + +There seems to be no assurance that, with such a withdrawal from use of +the people's circulating medium, our business community may not in the +near future be subjected to the same distress which was quite lately +produced from the same cause. And while the functions of our National +Treasury should be few and simple, and while its best condition would be +reached, I believe, by its entire disconnection with private business +interests, yet when, by a perversion of its purposes, it idly holds +money uselessly subtracted from the channels of trade, there seems to be +reason for the claim that some legitimate means should be devised by the +Government to restore in an emergency, without waste or extravagance, +such money to its place among the people. + +If such an emergency arises, there now exists no clear and undoubted +executive power of relief. Heretofore the redemption of 3 per cent +bonds, which were payable at the option of the Government, has afforded +a means for the disbursement of the excess of our revenues; but these +bonds have all been retired, and there are no bonds outstanding the +payment of which we have a right to insist upon. The contribution to +the sinking fund which furnishes the occasion for expenditure in the +purchase of bonds has been already made for the current year, so that +there is no outlet in that direction. + +In the present state of legislation the only pretense of any existing +executive power to restore at this time any part of our surplus revenues +to the people by its expenditure consists in the supposition that the +Secretary of the Treasury may enter the market and purchase the bonds +of the Government not yet due, at a rate of premium to be agreed upon. +The only provision of law from which such a power could be derived is +found in an appropriation bill passed a number of years ago, and it is +subject to the suspicion that it was intended as temporary and limited +in its application, instead of conferring a continuing discretion and +authority. No condition ought to exist which would justify the grant +of power to a single official, upon his judgment of its necessity, to +withhold from or release to the business of the people, in an unusual +manner, money held in the Treasury, and thus affect at his will the +financial situation of the country; and if it is deemed wise to lodge +in the Secretary of the Treasury the authority in the present juncture +to purchase bonds, it should be plainly vested, and provided, as far +as possible, with such checks and limitations as will define this +official's right and discretion and at the same time relieve him from +undue responsibility. + +In considering the question of purchasing bonds as a means of restoring +to circulation the surplus money accumulating in the Treasury, it +should be borne in mind that premiums must of course be paid upon +such purchase, that there may be a large part of these bonds held +as investments which can not be purchased at any price, and that +combinations among holders who are willing to sell may unreasonably +enhance the cost of such bonds to the Government. + +It has been suggested that the present bonded debt might be refunded +at a less rate of interest and the difference between the old and new +security paid in cash, thus finding use for the surplus in the Treasury. +The success of this plan, it is apparent, must depend upon the volition +of the holders of the present bonds; and it is not entirely certain that +the inducement which must be offered them would result in more financial +benefit to the Government than the purchase of bonds, while the latter +proposition would reduce the principal of the debt by actual payment +instead of extending it. + +The proposition to deposit the money held by the Government in banks +throughout the country for use by the people is, it seems to me, +exceedingly objectionable in principle, as establishing too close a +relationship between the operations of the Government Treasury and the +business of the country and too extensive a commingling of their money, +thus fostering an unnatural reliance in private business upon public +funds. If this scheme should be adopted, it should only be done as a +temporary expedient to meet an urgent necessity. Legislative and +executive effort should generally be in the opposite direction, and +should have a tendency to divorce, as much and as fast as can be safely +done, the Treasury Department from private enterprise. + +Of course it is not expected that unnecessary and extravagant +appropriations will be made for the purpose of avoiding the accumulation +of an excess of revenue. Such expenditure, besides the demoralization of +all just conceptions of public duty which it entails, stimulates a habit +of reckless improvidence not in the least consistent with the mission of +our people or the high and beneficent purposes of our Government. + +I have deemed it my duty to thus bring to the knowledge of my +countrymen, as well as to the attention of their representatives charged +with the responsibility of legislative relief, the gravity of our +financial situation. The failure of the Congress heretofore to provide +against the dangers which it was quite evident the very nature of the +difficulty must necessarily produce caused a condition of financial +distress and apprehension since your last adjournment which taxed to the +utmost all the authority and expedients within executive control; and +these appear now to be exhausted. If disaster results from the continued +inaction of Congress, the responsibility must rest where it belongs. + +Though the situation thus far considered is fraught with danger which +should be fully realized, and though it presents features of wrong to +the people as well as peril to the country, it is but a result growing +out of a perfectly palpable and apparent cause, constantly reproducing +the same alarming circumstances--a congested National Treasury and a +depleted monetary condition in the business of the country. It need +hardly be stated that while the present situation demands a remedy, we +can only be saved from a like predicament in the future by the removal +of its cause. + +Our scheme of taxation, by means of which this needless surplus is +taken from the people and put into the public Treasury, consists of a +tariff or duty levied upon importations from abroad and internal-revenue +taxes levied upon the consumption of tobacco and spirituous and malt +liquors. It must be conceded that none of the things subjected to +internal-revenue taxation are, strictly speaking, necessaries. There +appears to be no just complaint of this taxation by the consumers of +these articles, and there seems to be nothing so well able to bear the +burden without hardship to any portion of the people. + +But our present tariff laws, the vicious, inequitable, and illogical +source of unnecessary taxation, ought to be at once revised and amended. +These laws, as their primary and plain effect, raise the price to +consumers of all articles imported and subject to duty by precisely the +sum paid for such duties. Thus the amount of the duty measures the tax +paid by those who purchase for use these imported articles. Many of +these things, however, are raised or manufactured in our own country, +and the duties now levied upon foreign goods and products are called +protection to these home manufactures, because they render it possible +for those of our people who are manufacturers to make these taxed +articles and sell them for a price equal to that demanded for the +imported goods that have paid customs duty. So it happens that while +comparatively a few use the imported articles, millions of our people, +who never used and never saw any of the foreign products, purchase and +use things of the same kind made in this country, and pay therefor +nearly or quite the same enhanced price which the duty adds to the +imported articles. Those who buy imports pay the duty charged thereon +into the public Treasury, but the great majority of our citizens, +who buy domestic articles of the same class, pay a sum at least +approximately equal to this duty to the home manufacturer. This +reference to the operation of our tariff laws is not made by way of +instruction, but in order that we may be constantly reminded of the +manner in which they impose a burden upon those who consume domestic +products as well as those who consume imported articles, and thus create +a tax upon all our people. + +It is not proposed to entirely relieve the country of this taxation. +It must be extensively continued as the source of the Government's +income; and in a readjustment of our tariff the interests of American +labor engaged in manufacture should be carefully considered, as well +as the preservation of our manufacturers. It may be called protection +or by any other name, but relief from the hardships and dangers of +our present tariff laws should be devised with especial precaution +against imperiling the existence of our manufacturing interests. But +this existence should not mean a condition which, without regard +to the public welfare or a national exigency, must always insure the +realization of immense profits instead of moderately profitable returns. +As the volume and diversity of our national activities increase, new +recruits are added to those who desire a continuation of the advantages +which they conceive the present system of tariff taxation directly +affords them. So stubbornly have all efforts to reform the present +condition been resisted by those of our fellow-citizens thus engaged +that they can hardly complain of the suspicion, entertained to a certain +extent, that there exists an organized combination all along the line to +maintain their advantage. + +We are in the midst of centennial celebrations, and with becoming pride +we rejoice in American skill and ingenuity, in American energy and +enterprise, and in the wonderful natural advantages and resources +developed by a century's national growth. Yet when an attempt is made to +justify a scheme which permits a tax to be laid upon every consumer in +the land for the benefit of our manufacturers, quite beyond a reasonable +demand for governmental regard, it suits the purposes of advocacy to +call our manufactures infant industries still needing the highest and +greatest degree of favor and fostering care that can be wrung from +Federal legislation. + +It is also said that the increase in the price of domestic manufactures +resulting from the present tariff is necessary in order that higher +wages may be paid to our workingmen employed in manufactories than are +paid for what is called the pauper labor of Europe. All will acknowledge +the force of an argument which involves the welfare and liberal +compensation of our laboring people. Our labor is honorable in the eyes +of every American citizen; and as it lies at the foundation of our +development and progress, it is entitled, without affectation or +hypocrisy, to the utmost regard. The standard of our laborers' life +should not be measured by that of any other country less favored, and +they are entitled to their full share of all our advantages. + +By the last census it is made to appear that of the 17,392,099 of our +population engaged in all kinds of industries 7,670,493 are employed in +agriculture, 4,074,238 in professional and personal service (2,934,876 +of whom are domestic servants and laborers), while 1,810,256 are +employed in trade and transportation and 3,837,112 are classed as +employed in manufacturing and mining. + +For present purposes, however, the last number given should be +considerably reduced. Without attempting to enumerate all, it will be +conceded that there should be deducted from those which it includes +375,143 carpenters and joiners, 285,401 milliners, dressmakers, and +seamstresses, 172,726 blacksmiths, 133,756 tailors and tailoresses, +102,473 masons, 76,241 butchers, 41,309 bakers, 22,083 plasterers, and +4,891 engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements, amounting in the +aggregate to 1,214,023, leaving 2,623,089 persons employed in such +manufacturing industries as are claimed to be benefited by a high +tariff. + +To these the appeal is made to save their employment and maintain their +wages by resisting a change. There should be no disposition to answer +such suggestions by the allegation that they are in a minority among +those who labor, and therefore should forego an advantage in the +interest of low prices for the majority. Their compensation, as it may +be affected by the operation of tariff laws, should at all times be +scrupulously kept in view; and yet with slight reflection they will not +overlook the fact that they are consumers with the rest; that they too +have their own wants and those of their families to supply from their +earnings, and that the price of the necessaries of life, as well as the +amount of their wages, will regulate the measure of their welfare and +comfort. + +But the reduction of taxation demanded should be so measured as not to +necessitate or justify either the loss of employment by the working-man +or the lessening of his wages; and the profits still remaining to the +manufacturer after a necessary readjustment should furnish no excuse +for the sacrifice of the interests of his employees, either in their +opportunity to work or in the diminution of their compensation. Nor can +the worker in manufactures fail to understand that while a high tariff +is claimed to be necessary to allow the payment of remunerative wages, +it certainly results in a very large increase in the price of nearly all +sorts of manufactures, which, in almost countless forms, he needs for +the use of himself and his family. He receives at the desk of his +employer his wages, and perhaps before he reaches his home is obliged, +in a purchase for family use of an article which embraces his own labor, +to return in the payment of the increase in price which the tariff +permits the hard-earned compensation of many days of toil. + +The farmer and the agriculturist, who manufacture nothing, but who pay +the increased price which the tariff imposes upon every agricultural +implement, upon all he wears, and upon all he uses and owns, except +the increase of his flocks and herds and such things as his husbandry +produces from the soil, is invited to aid in maintaining the present +situation; and he is told that a high duty on imported wool is necessary +for the benefit of those who have sheep to shear, in order that the +price of their wool may be increased. They, of course, are not reminded +that the farmer who has no sheep is by this scheme obliged, in his +purchases of clothing and woolen goods, to pay a tribute to his +fellow-farmer as well as to the manufacturer and merchant, nor is any +mention made of the fact that the sheep owners themselves and their +households must wear clothing and use other articles manufactured from +the wool they sell at tariff prices, and thus as consumers must return +their share of this increased price to the tradesman. + +I think it may be fairly assumed that a large proportion of the sheep +owned by the farmers throughout the country are found in small flocks, +numbering from twenty-five to fifty. The duty on the grade of imported +wool which these sheep yield is 10 cents each pound if of the value of +30 cents or less and 12 cents if of the value of more than 30 cents. If +the liberal estimate of 6 pounds be allowed for each fleece, the duty +thereon would be 60 or 72 cents; and this may be taken as the utmost +enhancement of its price to the farmer by reason of this duty. Eighteen +dollars would thus represent the increased price of the wool from +twenty-five sheep and $36 that from the wool of fifty sheep; and at +present values this addition would amount to about one-third of its +price. If upon its sale the farmer receives this or a less tariff +profit, the wool leaves his hands charged with precisely that sum, which +in all its changes will adhere to it until it reaches the consumer. When +manufactured into cloth and other goods and material for use, its cost +is not only increased to the extent of the farmer's tariff profit, but a +further sum has been added for the benefit of the manufacturer under the +operation of other tariff laws. In the meantime the day arrives when the +farmer finds it necessary to purchase woolen goods and material to +clothe himself and family for the winter. When he faces the tradesman +for that purpose, he discovers that he is obliged not only to return in +the way of increased prices his tariff profit on the wool he sold, and +which then perhaps lies before him in manufactured form, but that he +must add a considerable sum thereto to meet a further increase in cost +caused by a tariff duty on the manufacture. Thus in the end he is +aroused to the fact that he has paid upon a moderate purchase, as a +result of the tariff scheme, which when he sold his wool seemed so +profitable, an increase in price more than sufficient to sweep away all +the tariff profit he received upon the wool he produced and sold. + +When the number of farmers engaged in wool raising is compared with all +the farmers in the country and the small proportion they bear to our +population is considered; when it is made apparent that in the case of +a large part of those who own sheep the benefit of the present tariff +on wool is illusory; and, above all, when it must be conceded that +the increase of the cost of living caused by such tariff becomes a +burden upon those with moderate means and the poor, the employed and +unemployed, the sick and well, and the young and old, and that it +constitutes a tax which with relentless grasp is fastened upon the +clothing of every man, woman, and child in the land, reasons are +suggested why the removal or reduction of this duty should be included +in a revision of our tariff laws. + +In speaking of the increased cost to the consumer of our home +manufactures resulting from a duty laid upon imported articles of the +same description, the fact is not overlooked that competition among our +domestic producers sometimes has the effect of keeping the price of +their products below the highest limit allowed by such duty. But it is +notorious that this competition is too often strangled by combinations +quite prevalent at this time, and frequently called trusts, which have +for their object the regulation of the supply and price of commodities +made and sold by members of the combination. The people can hardly hope +for any consideration in the operation of these selfish schemes. + +If, however, in the absence of such combination, a healthy and free +competition reduces the price of any particular dutiable article of home +production below the limit which it might otherwise reach under our +tariff laws, and if with such reduced price its manufacture continues to +thrive, it is entirely evident that one thing has been discovered which +should be carefully scrutinized in an effort to reduce taxation. + +The necessity of combination to maintain the price of any commodity to +the tariff point furnishes proof that someone is willing to accept lower +prices for such commodity and that such prices are remunerative; and +lower prices produced by competition prove the same thing. Thus where +either of these conditions exists a case would seem to be presented for +an easy reduction of taxation. + +The considerations which have been presented touching our tariff laws +are intended only to enforce an earnest recommendation that the surplus +revenues of the Government be prevented by the reduction of our customs +duties, and at the same time to emphasize a suggestion that in +accomplishing this purpose we may discharge a double duty to our people +by granting to them a measure of relief from tariff taxation in quarters +where it is most needed and from sources where it can be most fairly and +justly accorded. + +Nor can the presentation made of such considerations be with any +degree of fairness regarded as evidence of unfriendliness toward our +manufacturing interests or of any lack of appreciation of their value +and importance. + +These interests constitute a leading and most substantial element of +our national greatness and furnish the proud proof of our country's +progress. But if in the emergency that presses upon us our manufacturers +are asked to surrender something for the public good and to avert +disaster, their patriotism, as well as a grateful recognition of +advantages already afforded, should lead them to willing cooperation. No +demand is made that they shall forego all the benefits of governmental +regard; but they can not fail to be admonished of their duty, as well +as their enlightened self-interest and safety, when they are reminded +of the fact that financial panic and collapse, to which the present +condition tends, afford no greater shelter or protection to our +manufactures than to other important enterprises. Opportunity for safe, +careful, and deliberate reform is now offered; and none of us should +be unmindful of a time when an abused and irritated people, heedless of +those who have resisted timely and reasonable relief, may insist upon +a radical and sweeping rectification of their wrongs. + +The difficulty attending a wise and fair revision of our tariff laws is +not underestimated. It will require on the part of the Congress great +labor and care, and especially a broad and national contemplation of the +subject and a patriotic disregard of such local and selfish claims as +are unreasonable and reckless of the welfare of the entire country. + +Under our present laws more than 4,000 articles are subject to duty. +Many of these do not in any way compete with our own manufactures, and +many are hardly worth attention as subjects of revenue. A considerable +reduction can be made in the aggregate by adding them to the free list. +The taxation of luxuries presents no features of hardship; but the +necessaries of life used and consumed by all the people, the duty upon +which adds to the cost of living in every home, should be greatly +cheapened. + +The radical reduction of the duties imposed upon raw material used in +manufactures, or its free importation, is of course an important factor +in any effort to reduce the price of these necessaries. It would not +only relieve them from the increased cost caused by the tariff on +such material, but the manufactured product being thus cheapened that +part of the tariff now laid upon such product, as a compensation to +our manufacturers for the present price of raw material, could be +accordingly modified. Such reduction or free importation would serve +besides to largely reduce the revenue. It is not apparent how such a +change can have any injurious effect upon our manufacturers. On the +contrary, it would appear to give them a better chance in foreign +markets with the manufacturers of other countries, who cheapen their +wares by free material. Thus our people might have the opportunity of +extending their sales beyond the limits of home consumption, saving them +from the depression, interruption in business, and loss caused by a +glutted domestic market and affording their employees more certain and +steady labor, with its resulting quiet and contentment. + +The question thus imperatively presented for solution should be +approached in a spirit higher than partisanship and considered in the +light of that regard for patriotic duty which should characterize the +action of those intrusted with the weal of a confiding people. But the +obligation to declared party policy and principle is not wanting to +urge prompt and effective action. Both of the great political parties +now represented in the Government have by repeated and authoritative +declarations condemned the condition of our laws which permit the +collection from the people of unnecessary revenue, and have in the most +solemn manner promised its correction; and neither as citizens nor +partisans are our countrymen in a mood to condone the deliberate +violation of these pledges. + +Our progress toward a wise conclusion will not be improved by dwelling +upon the theories of protection and free trade. This savors too much of +bandying epithets. It is a _condition_ which confronts us, not a +theory. Relief from this condition may involve a slight reduction +of the advantages which we award our home productions, but the entire +withdrawal of such advantages should not be contemplated. The question +of free trade is absolutely irrelevant, and the persistent claim made in +certain quarters that all the efforts to relieve the people from unjust +and unnecessary taxation are schemes of so-called free traders is +mischievous and far removed from any consideration for the public good. + +The simple and plain duty which we owe the people is to reduce taxation +to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the Government +and to restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in +the Treasury through the perversion of governmental powers. These things +can and should be done with safety to all our industries, without danger +to the opportunity for remunerative labor which our workingmen need, and +with benefit to them and all our people by cheapening their means of +subsistence and increasing the measure of their comforts. + +The Constitution provides that the President "shall from time to time +give to the Congress information of the state of the Union." It has been +the custom of the Executive, in compliance with this provision, to +annually exhibit to the Congress, at the opening of its session, the +general condition of the country, and to detail with some particularity +the operations of the different Executive Departments. It would be +especially agreeable to follow this course at the present time and to +call attention to the valuable accomplishments of these Departments +during the last fiscal year; but I am so much impressed with the +paramount importance of the subject to which this communication has thus +far been devoted that I shall forego the addition of any other topic, +and only urge upon your immediate consideration the "state of the Union" +as shown in the present condition of our Treasury and our general fiscal +situation, upon which every element of our safety and prosperity +depends. + +The reports of the heads of Departments, which will be submitted, +contain full and explicit information touching the transaction, of +the business intrusted to them and such recommendations relating to +legislation in the public interest as they deem advisable. I ask for +these reports and recommendations the deliberate examination and action +of the legislative branch of the Government. + +There are other subjects not embraced in the departmental reports +demanding legislative consideration, and which I should be glad to +submit. Some of them, however, have been earnestly presented in previous +messages, and as to them I beg leave to repeat prior recommendations. + +As the law makes no provision for any report from the Department of +State, a brief history of the transactions of that important Department, +together with other matters which it may hereafter be deemed essential +to commend to the attention of the Congress, may furnish the occasion +for a future communication. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 14, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a final protocol, +signed at Paris on the 7th day of July, 1887, by the plenipotentiaries +of the United States and of the other powers parties to the convention +of March 14, 1884, for the protection of submarine cables, fixing the +1st day of May, 1888, as the date on which the said convention of March +14, 1884, shall take effect, provided that those of the contracting +Governments that have not adopted the measures provided for by article +12 of the said convention shall have conformed to that stipulation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 14, 1887_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a convention +between the United States and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the +extradition of criminals, signed at Washington on the 2d day of June, +1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in relation +to the invitation from Her Britannic Majesty to this Government to +participate in the international exhibition which is to be held at +Melbourne in 1888 to celebrate the centenary of the founding of New +South Wales, the first Australian colony. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in relation to +an invitation which has been extended to this Government to appoint a +delegate or delegates to the International Exposition of Labor to be +held in April, 1888, at Barcelona, Spain, and commend its suggestions to +the favorable attention of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 20, 1887_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +accompanied by the report of Mr. Edward Atkinson, of Massachusetts, who +was specially designated by me, under the provisions of successive acts +of Congress in that behalf, to visit the financial centers of Europe in +order to ascertain the feasibility of establishing by international +arrangement a fixity of rates between the two precious metals in free +coinage of both. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 23d ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill to +amend section 2148 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, +relating to trespasses upon Indian lands. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 23d ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +granting a right of way to the Jamestown and Northern Railroad Company +through the Devils Lake Indian Reservation, in the Territory of Dakota. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 22d ultimo from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +to amend section 5388 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, +relating to timber trespasses upon the public lands, so as to include +Indian lands. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 27th December, 1887, from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, draft +of a bill "to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to fix the amount +of compensation to be paid for the right of way for railroads through +Indian reservations in certain contingencies." + +The matter is commended to the consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 22d ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +to accept and ratify an agreement made with the Indians of the Yakima +Reservation, in Washington Territory, for the right of way of the +Northern Pacific Railroad across said reservation, etc. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 24th ultimo from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill to +accept and ratify an agreement made by the Pi-Ute Indians, and granting +a right of way to the Carson and Colorado Railroad Company through the +Walker River Reservation, in Nevada. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 24th ultimo from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made with the Sisseton and +Wahpeton Indians, and to grant a right of way for the Chicago, Milwaukee +and St. Paul Railway through the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, in +Dakota. + +The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 23d ultimo from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting a draft of a bill "to provide for the +reduction of the Round Valley Indian Reservation, in the State of +California, and for other purposes," with accompanying papers relating +thereto. The documents thus submitted exhibit extensive and entirely +unjustifiable encroachments upon lands set apart for Indian occupancy +and disclose a disregard of Indian rights so long continued that the +Government can not further temporize without positive dishonor. Efforts +to dislodge trespassers upon these lands have in some cases been +resisted upon the ground that certain moneys due from the Government for +improvements have not been paid. So far as this claim is well founded +the sum necessary to extinguish the same should be at once appropriated +and paid. In other cases the position of these intruders is one of +simple and barefaced wrongdoing, plainly questioning the inclination of +the Government to protect its dependent Indian wards and its ability to +maintain itself in the guaranty of such protection. + +These intruders should forthwith feel the weight of the Government's +power. I earnestly commend the situation and the wrongs of the Indians +occupying the reservation named to the early attention of the Congress, +and ask for the bill herewith transmitted careful and prompt attention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of February last, +requesting the President of the United States to obtain certain +information from the Government of Great Britain relative to the +proceedings of the authorities of New Zealand concerning the titles to +lands in that colony claimed by American citizens, I transmit a report +of the Secretary of State, together with the accompanying documents. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty of +friendship, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the +Republic of Peru, signed at Lima on the 31st day of August, 1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, an additional article, +signed October 22, 1887, to the treaty for the extradition of criminals +concluded October 11, 1870, between the United States and the Republic +of Guatemala, and, for the reasons suggested by the Secretary of State +in his report, request the return of the additional article to the +above-mentioned treaty signed February 4, 1887, and transmitted to the +Senate on February 24[*25] of the same year.[15] + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 15: See p. 538.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 30th of December, 1887, from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, two +additional reports from the commission appointed to conduct negotiations +with certain tribes and bands of Indians for reduction of reservations, +etc., under the provisions of the act of May 15, 1886 (24 U.S. Statutes +at Large, p. 44), providing therefor. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +relative to the requests which have been received from various maritime +associations and chambers of commerce of this country asking that +measures be taken to convoke an international conference at Washington +of representatives of all maritime nations to devise measures for the +greater security of life and property at sea. + +I commend this important subject to the favorable consideration of +Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, recommending +that this Government take action to approve the resolutions of the +Washington International Meridian Conference, held in October, 1884, in +favor of fixing a prime meridian and a universal day, and to invite the +powers with whom this country has diplomatic relations to accede to the +same. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, relative to the +legislation required to carry into effect the international convention +of March 14, 1884, for the protection of submarine cables, to which this +country is a party. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in relation to +the invitation from the Government of France to this Government to +participate in the international exhibition which is to be held at Paris +in 1889. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the +21st ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State touching correspondence +of this Government with that of Hawaii, or of any foreign country, +concerning any change or proposed change in the Government of the +Hawaiian Islands. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +On the 3d day of March last an act was passed authorizing the +appointment of three commissioners who should investigate the affairs of +such railroads as have received aid from the United States Government. +Among other things, the contemplated investigation included a history of +the construction of these roads, their relations and indebtedness to the +Government, and the question whether in the interest of the United +States any extension of the time for the performance of the obligations +of said roads to the Government should be granted; and if so, the said +commissioners were directed to submit a scheme for such extension. + +The commissioners were further directed by said act to report in full to +the President upon all the matters submitted to them, and he was by said +act required to forward said report to Congress with such +recommendations or comments as he should see fit to make in the +premises. + +The commissioners immediately after their selection entered upon the +discharge of their duties, and have prosecuted their inquiries with +commendable industry, intelligence, and thoroughness. A large amount of +testimony has been taken, and all the facts have been developed which +appear to be necessary for the consideration of the questions arising +from the condition of these aided railroads and their relations to the +Government. + +The commissioners have, however, been unable to agree upon the manner in +which these railroads should be treated respecting their indebtedness to +the United States, or to unite upon the plan best calculated to secure +the payment of such indebtedness. + +This disagreement has resulted in the preparation of two reports, both +of which are herewith submitted to the Congress. + +These reports exhibit such transactions and schemes connected with the +construction of the aided roads and their management, and suggest the +invention of such devices on the part of those having them in charge, +for the apparent purpose of defeating any chance for the Government's +reimbursement, that any adjustment or plan of settlement should be +predicated upon the substantial interests of the Government rather than +any forbearance or generosity deserved by the companies. + +The wide publication which has already been given to the substance of +the commissioners' reports obviates the necessity of detailing in this +communication the facts found upon the investigation. + +The majority report, while condemning the methods adopted by those who +formerly had charge of the Union Pacific Railroad, declares that since +its present management was inaugurated, in 1884, its affairs have been +fairly and prudently conducted, and that the present administration "has +devoted itself honestly and intelligently to the herculean task of +rescuing the Union Pacific Railway from the insolvency which seriously +threatened it at the inception of its work;" that it "has devoted +itself, by rigid economy, by intelligent management, and by an +application of every dollar of the earning capacity of the system to its +improvement and betterment, to place that company on a sound and +enduring financial foundation." + +The condition of the present management of the Union Pacific Company has +an important bearing upon its ability to comply with the terms of any +settlement of its indebtedness which may be offered by the Government. + +The majority of the commission are in favor of an extension of the time +for the payment of the Government indebtedness of these companies, upon +certain conditions; but the chairman of the commission, presenting the +minority report, recommends, both upon principle and policy, the +institution of proceedings for the forfeiture of the charters of the +corporations and the winding up of their affairs. + +I have been furnished with a statement or argument in defense of the +transactions connected with the construction of the Central Pacific road +and its branch lines, from which it may not be amiss to quote for the +purpose of showing how some of the operations of the directors of such +road, strongly condemned by the commissioners, are defended by the +directors themselves. After speaking of a contract for the construction +of one of these branch lines by a corporation called the Contract and +Finance Company, owned by certain directors of the Central Pacific +Railroad, this language is used: + + It may be said of this contract, as of many others that were let to the + different construction companies in which the directors of the Central + Pacific have been stockholders, that they built the road with the moneys + furnished by themselves and had the road for their outlay. In other + words, they paid to the construction company the bonds and stock of the + railroad so constructed, and waited until such time as they could + develop sufficient business on the road built to induce the public to + buy the bonds or the stock. If the country through which the railroad + ran developed sufficient business, then the project was a success; if it + did not, then the operation was a loss. These gentlemen took all the + responsibility; any loss occurring was necessarily theirs, and of right + the profit belonged to them. + + But it is said that they violated a well-known rule of equity in dealing + with themselves; that they were trustees, and that they were + representing both sides of the contract. + + The answer is that they did not find anybody else to deal with. They + could not find anyone who would take the chances of building a road + through what was then an almost uninhabited country and accept the bonds + and stock of the road, in payment. And when it is said that they were + trustees, if they did occupy such relation it was merely technical, for + they represented only their own interests on both sides, there being no + one else concerned in the transaction. They became the incorporators of + the company that was to build the road, subscribed for its stock, and + were the only subscribers; therefore it is difficult to see how anyone + was wronged by their action. The rule of equity invoked, which has its + origin in the injunction "No man can serve two masters," certainly did + not apply to them, because they were acting in their own interests and + were not charged with the duty of caring for others' rights, there being + no other persons interested in the subject-matter. + + +In view of this statement and the facts developed in the commissioners' +reports, it seems proper to recall the grants and benefits derived from +the General Government by both the Union and Central Pacific companies +for the purpose of aiding the construction of their roads. + +By an act passed in 1862 it was provided that there should be advanced +to said companies by the United States, to aid in such construction, the +bonds of the Government amounting to $16,000 for every mile constructed, +as often as a section of 40 miles of said roads should be built; that +there should also be granted to said companies, upon the completion of +every said section of 40 miles of road, five entire sections of public +land for each mile so built; that the entire charges earned by said +roads on account of transportation and service for the Government should +be applied to the reimbursement of the bonds advanced by the United +States and the interest thereon, and that to secure the repayment of +the bonds so advanced, and interest, the issue and delivery to said +companies of said bonds should constitute a first mortgage on the whole +line of their roads and on their rolling stock, fixtures, and property +of every kind and description. + +The liberal donations, advances, and privileges provided for in this law +were granted by the General Government for the purpose of securing the +construction of these roads, which would complete the connection between +our eastern and western coasts; and they were based upon a consideration +of the public benefits which would accrue to the entire country from +such consideration. + +But the projectors of these roads were not content, and the sentiment +which then seemed to pervade the Congress had not reached the limit +of its generosity. Two years after the passage of this law it was +supplemented and amended in various important particulars in favor of +these companies by an act which provided, among other things, that the +bonds, at the rate already specified, should be delivered upon the +completion of sections of 20 miles in length instead of 40; that the +lands to be conveyed to said companies on the completion of each section +of said road should be ten sections per mile instead of five; that only +half of the charges for transportation and service due from time to time +from the United States should be retained and applied to the advances +made to said companies by the Government, thus obliging immediate +payment to its debtor of the other half of said charges, and that the +lien of the United States to secure the reimbursement of the amount +advanced to said companies in bonds, which lien was declared by the law +of 1862 to constitute a first mortgage upon all the property of said +companies, should become a junior lien and be subordinated to a mortgage +which the companies were by the amendatory act authorized to execute +to secure bonds which they might from time to time issue in sums not +exceeding the amount of the United States bonds which should be advanced +to them. + +The immense advantages to the companies of this amendatory act are +apparent; and in these days we may well wonder that even the anticipated +public importance of the construction of these roads induced what must +now appear to be a rather reckless and unguarded appropriation of the +public funds and the public domain. + +Under the operation of these laws the principal of the bonds which +have been advanced is $64,023,512, as given in the reports of the +commissioners; the interest to November 1, 1887, is calculated +to be $76,024,206.58, making an aggregate at the date named of +$140,047,718.58. The interest calculated to the maturity of the bonds +added to the principal produces an aggregate of $178,884,759.50. +Against these amounts there has been repaid by the companies the sum +of $30,955,039.61. + +It is almost needless to state that the companies have availed +themselves to the utmost extent of the permission given them to issue +their bonds and to mortgage their property to secure the payment of the +same, by an incumbrance having preference to the Government's lien and +precisely equal to it in amount. + +It will be seen that there was available for the building of each mile +of these roads $16,000 of United States bonds, due in thirty years, with +6 per cent interest; $16,000 in bonds of the companies, secured by a +first mortgage on all their property, and ten sections of Government +land, to say nothing of the stock of the companies. + +When the relations created between the Government and these companies by +the legislation referred to is considered, it is astonishing that the +claim should be made that the directors of these roads owed no duty +except to themselves in their construction; that they need regard no +interests but their own, and that they were justified in contracting +with themselves and making such bargains as resulted in conveying +to their pockets all the assets of the companies. As a lienor the +Government was vitally interested in the amount of the mortgage to which +its security had been subordinated, and it had the right to insist that +none of the bonds secured by this prior mortgage should be issued +fraudulently or for the purpose of division among these stockholders +without consideration. + +The doctrine of complete independence on the part of the directors of +these companies and their freedom from any obligation to care for other +interests than their own in the construction of these roads seems to +have developed the natural consequences of its application, portrayed as +follows in the majority report of the commissioners: + + The result is that those who have controlled and directed the + construction and development of these companies have become possessed + of their surplus assets through issues of bonds, stocks, and payment + of dividends voted by themselves, while the great creditor, the United + States, finds itself substantially without adequate security for the + repayment of its loans. + + +The laws enacted in aid of these roads, while they illustrated a profuse +liberality and a generous surrender of the Government's advantages, +which it is hoped experience has corrected, were nevertheless passed +upon the theory that the roads should be constructed according to the +common rules of business, fairness, and duty, and that their value and +their ability to pay their debts should not be impaired by unfair +manipulations; and when the Government subordinated its lien to another +it was in the expectation that the prior lien would represent in its +amount only such bonds as should be necessarily issued by the companies +for the construction of their roads at fair prices, agreed upon in an +honest way between real and substantial parties. For the purpose of +saving or improving the security afforded by its junior lien the +Government should have the right now to purge this paramount lien of all +that is fraudulent, fictitious, or unconscionable. If the transfer to +innocent hands of bonds of this character secured by such first mortgage +prevents their cancellation, it might be well to seek a remedy against +those who issued and transferred them. If legislation is needed to +secure such a remedy, the Congress can readily supply it. + +I desire to call attention also to the fact that if all that was to be +done on the part of the Government to fully vest in these companies the +grants and advantages contemplated by the acts passed in their interest +has not yet been perfected, and if the failure of such companies to +perform in good faith their part of the contract justifies such a +course, the power rests with the Congress to withhold further +performance on the part of the Government. If donated lands are not yet +granted to these companies, and if their violation of contract and of +duty are such as in justice and morals forfeit their rights to such +lands, Congressional action should intervene to prevent further +consummation. Executive power must be exercised according to existing +laws, and Executive discretion is probably not broad enough to reach +such difficulties. + +The California and Oregon Railroad is now a part of the Central Pacific +system, and is a land-grant road. Its construction has been carried on +with the same features and incidents which have characterized the other +constructions of this system, as is made apparent on pages 78, 79, and +80 of the report of the majority of the commissioners. I have in my +hands for approval the report of the commissioners appointed to examine +two completed sections of this road. Upon such approval the company or +the Central Pacific Company will be entitled to patents for a large +quantity of public lands. I especially commend to the attention of +Congress this condition of affairs, in order that it may determine +whether or not it should intervene to save these lands for settlers, +if such a course is justifiable. + +It is quite time that the troublesome complications surrounding this +entire subject, which has been transmitted to us as a legacy from former +days, should be adjusted and settled. + +No one, I think, expects that these railroad companies will be able to +pay their immense indebtedness to the Government at its maturity. + +Any proceeding or arrangement that would result now, or at any other +time, in putting these roads, or any portion of them, in the possession +and control of the Government is, in my opinion, to be rejected, +certainly as long as there is the least chance for indemnification +through any other means. + +I suppose we are hardly justified in indulging the irritation and +indignation naturally arising from a contemplation of malfeasance to +such an extent as to lead to the useless destruction of these roads or +loss of the advances made by the Government. I believe that our efforts +should be in a more practical direction, and should tend, with no +condonation of wrongdoing, to the collection by the Government, on +behalf of the people, of the public money now in jeopardy. + +While the plan presented by a majority of the commission appears to be +well devised and gives at least partial promise of the results sought, +the fact will not escape attention that its success depends upon its +acceptance by the companies and their ability to perform its conditions +after acceptance. It is exceedingly important that any adjustment now +made should be final and effective. These considerations suggest the +possibility that the remedy proposed in the majority report might well +be applied to a part only of these aided railroad companies. + +The settlement and determination of the questions involved are +peculiarly within the province of the Congress. The subject has been +made quite a familiar one by Congressional discussion. This is now +supplemented in a valuable manner by the facts presented in the reports +herewith submitted. + +The public interest urges prompt and efficient action. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith the first report of the board of control created by +the act of Congress approved August 4, 1886 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, +p. 252), for the management of an industrial home in the Territory of +Utah, containing a statement of the action of the board in establishing +the home and an account of expenditures from the appropriation made for +that purpose in the act above mentioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 30, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the +21st of December last, a report from the Secretary of State, in relation +to Midway Island. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, a declaration, signed +December 1, 1886, and March 23, 1887, for Germany, by the delegates of +the powers signatories of the convention of March 14, 1884, for the +protection of submarine cables, defining the sense of articles 2 and 4 +of the said convention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of 4th instant from the Secretary of +the Interior, submitting, with other papers, a draft of a bill to accept +and ratify an agreement made with the Shoshone and Bannock Indians for +the surrender and relinquishment to the United States of a portion of +the Fort Hall Reservation, in the Territory of Idaho, for the purposes +of a town site, and for the grant of a right of way through said +reservation to the Utah and Northern Railway Company, and for other +purposes. + +The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report furnished by the Secretary of State in +response to a resolution of the Senate of the 2d instant, making inquiry +respecting the present condition of the _Virginius_ indemnity fund. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith and commend to your favorable consideration a report +from the Secretary of State, in relation to an invitation which this +Government has received from the Belgian Government to participate in an +international exhibition of sciences and industry which will open at +Brussels in the month of May next. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In my annual message transmitted to the Congress in December, 1886, it +was stated that negotiations were then pending for the settlement of the +questions growing out of the rights claimed by American fishermen in +British North American waters. + +As a result of such negotiations a treaty has been agreed upon between +Her Britannic Majesty and the United States, concluded and signed in +this capital, under my direction and authority, on the 15th of February +instant, and which I now have the honor to submit to the Senate with the +recommendation that it shall receive the consent of that body, as +provided in the Constitution, in order that the ratifications thereof +may be duly exchanged and the treaty be carried into effect. + +Shortly after Congress had adjourned in March last, and in continuation +of my efforts to arrive at such an agreement between the Governments of +Great Britain and the United States as would secure to the citizens of +the respective countries the unmolested enjoyment of their just rights +under existing treaties and international comity in the territorial +waters of Canada and of Newfoundland, I availed myself of opportune +occurrences indicative of a desire to make without delay an amicable and +final settlement of a long-standing controversy, productive of much +irritation and misunderstanding between the two nations, to send through +our minister in London proposals that a conference should take place on +the subject at this capital. + +The experience of the past two years had demonstrated the dilatory and +unsatisfactory consequences of our indirect transaction of business +through the foreign office in London, in which the views and wishes of +the government of the Dominion of Canada were practically predominant, +but were only to find expression at second hand. + +To obviate this inconvenience and obstruction to prompt and well-defined +settlement, it was considered advisable that the negotiations should be +conducted in this city and that the interests of Canada and Newfoundland +should be directly represented therein. + +The terms of reference having been duly agreed upon between the two +Governments and the conference arranged to be held here, by virtue of +the power in me vested by the Constitution I duly authorized Thomas F. +Bayard, the Secretary of State of the United States, William L. Putnam, +a citizen of the State of Maine, and James B. Angell, a citizen of the +State of Michigan, for and in the name of the United States, to meet and +confer with the plenipotentiaries representing the Government of Her +Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of considering and adjusting in a +friendly spirit all or any questions relating to rights of fishery in +the seas adjacent to British North America and Newfoundland which were +in dispute between the Government of the United States and that of Her +Britannic Majesty, and jointly and severally to conclude and sign any +treaty or treaties touching the premises; and I herewith transmit for +your information full copies of the power so given by me. + +In execution of the powers so conveyed the said Thomas F. Bayard, +William L. Putnam, and James B. Angell, in the month of November last, +met in this city the plenipotentiaries of Her Britannic Majesty and +proceeded in the negotiation of a treaty as above authorized. After many +conferences and protracted efforts an agreement has at length been +arrived at, which is embodied in the treaty which I now lay before you. + +The treaty meets my approval, because I believe that it supplies a +satisfactory, practical, and final adjustment, upon a basis honorable +and just to both parties, of the difficult and vexed question to which +it relates. + +A review of the history of this question will show that all former +attempts to arrive at a common interpretation, satisfactory to both +parties, of the first article of the treaty of October 20, 1818, have +been unsuccessful, and with the lapse of time the difficulty and +obscurity have only increased. + +The negotiations in 1854 and again in 1871 ended in both cases in +temporary reciprocal arrangements of the tariffs of Canada and +Newfoundland and of the United States, and the payment of a money award +by the United States, under which the real questions in difference +remained unsettled, in abeyance, and ready to present themselves anew +just so soon as the conventional arrangements were abrogated. + +The situation, therefore, remained unimproved by the results of the +treaty of 1871, and a grave condition of affairs, presenting almost +identically the same features and causes of complaint by the United +States against Canadian action and British default in its correction, +confronted us in May, 1886, and has continued until the present time. + +The greater part of the correspondence which has taken place between the +two Governments has heretofore been communicated to Congress, and at as +early a day as possible I shall transmit the remaining portion to this +date, accompanying it with the joint protocols of the conferences which +resulted in the conclusion of the treaty now submitted to you. + +You will thus be fully possessed of the record and history of the case +since the termination on June 30, 1885, of the fishery articles of the +treaty of Washington of 1871, whereby we were relegated to the +provisions of the treaty of October 20, 1818. + +As the documents and papers referred to will supply full information of +the positions taken under my Administration by the representatives of +the United States, as well as those occupied by the representatives of +the Government of Great Britain, it is not considered necessary or +expedient to repeat them in this message. But I believe the treaty will +be found to contain a just, honorable, and therefore satisfactory +solution of the difficulties which have clouded our relations with our +neighbors on our northern border. + +Especially satisfactory do I believe the proposed arrangement will be +found by those of our citizens who are engaged in the open-sea fisheries +adjacent to the Canadian coast, and resorting to those ports and harbors +under treaty provisions and rules of international law. + +The proposed delimitation of the lines of the exclusive fisheries from +the common fisheries will give certainty and security as to the area +of their legitimate field. The headland theory of imaginary lines is +abandoned by Great Britain, and the specification in the treaty of +certain named bays especially provided for gives satisfaction to the +inhabitants of the shores, without subtracting materially from the value +or convenience of the fishery rights of Americans. + +The uninterrupted navigation of the Strait of Canso is expressly and for +the first time affirmed, and the four purposes for which our fishermen +under the treaty of 1818 were allowed to enter the bays and harbors of +Canada and Newfoundland within the belt of 3 marine miles are placed +under a fair and liberal construction, and their enjoyment secured +without such conditions and restrictions as in the past have embarrassed +and obstructed them so seriously. + +The enforcement of penalties for unlawfully fishing or preparing to fish +within the inshore and exclusive waters of Canada and Newfoundland is to +be accomplished under safeguards against oppressive or arbitrary action, +thus protecting the defendant fishermen from punishment in advance of +trial, delays, and inconvenience and unnecessary expense. + +The history of events in the last two years shows that no feature of +Canadian administration was more harassing and injurious than the +compulsion upon our fishing vessels to make formal entry and clearance +on every occasion of temporarily seeking shelter in Canadian ports and +harbors. + +Such inconvenience is provided against in the proposed treaty, and this +most frequent and just cause of complaint is removed. + +The articles permitting our fishermen to obtain provisions and the +ordinary supplies of trading vessels on their homeward voyages, and +under which they are accorded the further and even more important +privilege on all occasions of purchasing such casual or needful +provisions and supplies as are ordinarily granted to trading vessels, +are of great importance and value. + +The licenses, which are to be granted without charge and on application, +in order to enable our fishermen to enjoy these privileges, are +reasonable and proper checks in the hands of the local authorities to +identify the recipients and prevent abuse, and can form no impediment to +those who intend to use them fairly. + +The hospitality secured for our vessels in all cases of actual distress, +with liberty to unload and sell and transship their cargoes, is full and +liberal. + +These provisions will secure the substantial enjoyment of the treaty +rights for our fishermen under the treaty of 1818, for which contention +has been steadily made in the correspondence of the Department of State +and our minister at London and by the American negotiators of the +present treaty. + +The right of our fishermen under the treaty of 1818 did not extend to +the procurement of distinctive fishery supplies in Canadian ports and +harbors, and one item supposed to be essential--to wit, bait--was +plainly denied them by the explicit and definite words of the treaty of +1818, emphasized by the course of the negotiation and express decisions +which preceded the conclusion of that treaty. + +The treaty now submitted contains no provision affecting tariff duties, +and, independently of the position assumed upon the part of the United +States that no alteration in our tariff or other domestic legislation +could be made as the price or consideration of obtaining the rights of +our citizens secured by treaty, it was considered more expedient to +allow any change in the revenue laws of the United States to be made by +the ordinary exercise of legislative will and in the promotion of the +public interests. Therefore the addition to the free list of fish, fish +oil, whale and seal oil, etc., recited in the last article of the +treaty, is wholly left to the action of Congress; and in connection +therewith the Canadian and Newfoundland right to regulate sales of bait +and other fishing supplies within their own jurisdiction is recognized, +and the right of our fishermen to freely purchase these things is made +contingent by this treaty upon the action of Congress in the +modification of our tariff laws. + +Our social and commercial intercourse with those populations who have +been placed upon our borders and made forever our neighbors is made +apparent by a list of United States common carriers, marine and inland, +connecting their lines with Canada, which was returned by the Secretary +of the Treasury to the Senate on the 7th day of February, 1888, in +answer to a resolution of that body; and this is instructive as to the +great volume of mutually profitable interchanges which has come into +existence during the last half century. + +This intercourse is still but partially developed, and if the amicable +enterprise and wholesome rivalry between the two populations be not +obstructed the promise of the future is full of the fruits of an +unbounded prosperity on both sides of the border. + +The treaty now submitted to you has been framed in a spirit of liberal +equity and reciprocal benefits, in the conviction that mutual advantage +and convenience are the only permanent foundation of peace and +friendship between States, and that with the adoption of the agreement +now placed before the Senate a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse +between the two countries will be established so as to secure perpetual +peace and harmony. + +In connection with the treaty herewith submitted I deem it also my duty +to transmit to the Senate a written offer or arrangement, in the nature +of a _modus vivendi_, tendered after the conclusion of the treaty +on the part of the British plenipotentiaries, to secure kindly and +peaceful relations during the period that may be required for the +consideration of the treaty by the respective Governments and for the +enactment of the necessary legislation to carry its provisions into +effect if approved. + +This paper, freely and on their own motion signed by the British +conferees, not only extends advantages to our fishermen pending the +ratification of the treaty, but appears to have been dictated by a +friendly and amicable spirit. + +I am given to understand that the other Governments concerned in this +treaty will within a few days, in accordance with their methods of +conducting public business, submit said treaty to their respective +legislatures, when it will be at once published to the world. In view of +such action it appears to be advisable that by publication here early +and full knowledge of all that has been done in the premises should be +afforded to our people. + +It would also seem to be useful to inform the popular mind concerning +the history of the long-continued disputes growing out of the subject +embraced in the treaty and to satisfy the public interests touching the +same, as well as to acquaint our people with the present status of the +questions involved, and to give them the exact terms of the proposed +adjustment, in place of the exaggerated and imaginative statements which +will otherwise reach them. + +I therefore beg leave respectfully to suggest that said treaty and all +such correspondence, messages, and documents relating to the same as may +be deemed important to accomplish those purposes be at once made public +by the order of your honorable body. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, relative to an +invitation from the Imperial German Government to the Government of the +United States to become a party to the International Geodetic +Association. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 27, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report furnished by the Secretary of State in +response to a resolution of the Senate of January 12, 1888, making +various inquiries respecting the awards of the late Spanish and American +Claims Commission and the disposition of moneys received in satisfaction +thereof. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of +America_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information and consideration of Congress, +a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying correspondence, +touching the action of the Government of Venezuela in conveying to that +country for interment the remains of the distinguished Venezuelan +soldier and statesman, General Jose Antonio Paez, and take pleasure in +expressing my concurrence in the suggestion therein referred to, that +the employment of a national vessel of war for the transportation of +General Paez's remains from New York to La Guayra be authorized and +provided for by Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, relative to an +invitation which the Royal Bavarian Government has extended to this +Government to participate in the Third International Exhibition of the +Fine Arts, which is to be held at Munich, Bavaria, during the present +year. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanied by +documents and correspondence, in relation to the recent negotiations +with Great Britain concerning American fishing interests in British +North American waters. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with its +inclosures, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st of +December, 1887, and the 16th of January, 1888, touching the awards of +the late Mexican Claims Commission, and especially those in favor of +Benjamin Weil and La Abra Silver Mining Company. + +It will be seen that the report concludes with a suggestion that these +claims be referred to the Court of Claims, or such other court as may be +deemed proper, in order that the charges of fraud made in relation to +said claims may be fully investigated. + +If for any reason this proceeding be considered inadvisable, I +respectfully ask that some final and definite action be taken directing +the executive department of the Government what course to pursue in the +premises. + +In view of the long delay that has already occurred in these cases, it +would seem but just to all parties concerned that the Congress should +speedily signify its final judgment upon the awards referred to and make +the direction contemplated by the act of 1878, in default of which the +money now on hand applicable to such awards now remains undistributed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th of February, +1888, calling for information as to whether the Government of France has +prohibited the importation into the country of any American products, +and, if so, what products of the United States are affected thereby, and +also as to whether any correspondence upon said subject has passed +between the Governments of the United States and France, I transmit +herewith a report from the Secretary of State on the subject, with the +accompanying correspondence. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 8, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +A copy of the following resolution, passed by the Senate on the 1st day +of the present month, was delivered to me on the 3d instant: + + _Resolved_, That in view of the difficulties and embarrassments + that have attended the regulation of the immigration of Chinese laborers + to the United States under the limitations of our treaties with China, + the President of the United States be requested to negotiate a treaty + with the Emperor of China containing a provision that no Chinese laborer + shall enter the United States. + + +The importance of the subject referred to in this resolution has by no +means been overlooked by the executive branch of the Government, charged +under the Constitution with the formulation of treaties with foreign +countries. + +Negotiation with the Emperor of China for a treaty such as is mentioned +in said resolution was commenced many months ago and has been since +continued. The progress of the negotiation thus inaugurated has +heretofore been freely communicated to such members of the Senate and of +its Committee on Foreign Relations as sought information concerning the +same. It is, however, with much gratification that I deem myself now +justified in expressing to the Senate, in response to its resolution, +the hope and expectation that a treaty will soon be concluded concerning +the immigration of Chinese laborers which will meet the wants of our +people and the approbation of the body to which it will be submitted for +confirmation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty between +the United States of America and Zanzibar, concluded July 3, 1886, +enlarging and defining the stipulations of the treaty of September 21, +1833, between the United States of America and His Majesty Seyed Syed +bin Sultan of Muscat and Sovereign of Zanzibar, which treaty has +continued in force as to Zanzibar and its dependencies after the +separation of Zanzibar from Muscat, and has been accepted, ratified, +and confirmed by the Sultan of Zanzibar on October 20, 1879. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith and recommend for your +constitutional approval a convention signed and concluded in this city +on the 12th instant, under my direction, between the United States and +China, for the exclusion hereafter of Chinese laborers from coming into +this country. + +This treaty is accompanied by a letter from the Secretary of State in +recital of its provisions and explanatory of the reasons for its +negotiation, and with it are transmitted sundry documents giving the +history of events connected with the presence and treatment of Chinese +subjects in the United States. + +In view of the public interest which has for a long time been manifested +in relation to the question of Chinese immigration, it would seem +advisable that the full text of this treaty should be made public, and I +respectfully recommend that an order to that effect be made by your +honorable body. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit, in compliance with the resolution of the Senate of +the 16th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by +certain correspondence in regard to the Mexican _zona libre_. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 20, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 13th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers, and submitting the +draft of a proposed bill to forfeit lands granted to the State of Oregon +for the construction of certain wagon roads, and for other purposes. + +The presentation of facts by the Secretary of the Interior herewith +transmitted is the result of an examination made under his direction, +which has developed, as it seems to me, the most unblushing frauds upon +the Government, which, if remaining unchallenged, will divert several +hundred thousand acres of land from the public domain and from the reach +of honest settlers to those who have attempted to prevent and prostitute +the beneficent designs of the Government. The Government sought by the +promise of generous donations of land to promote the building of wagon +roads for public convenience and for the purpose of encouraging +settlement upon the public lands. The roads have not been built, and yet +an attempt is made to claim the lands under a title which depends for +its validity entirely upon the construction of these roads. + +The evidence which has been collected by the Secretary of the Interior, +plainly establishing this attempt to defraud the Government and exclude +the settlers who are willing to avail themselves of the liberal policy +adopted for the settlement of the public lands, is herewith submitted +to the Congress, with the recommendation that the bill which has been +prepared, and which is herewith transmitted, may become a law, and with +the earnest hope that the opportunity thus presented to demonstrate a +sincere desire to preserve the public domain for settlers and to +frustrate unlawful attempts to appropriate the same may not be +neglected. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, for your advice and consent to the ratification +thereof, a convention between the United States and Venezuela, signed +the 15th instant, supplementary to the convention between the same +powers for the settlement of claims signed December 5, 1885. + +I transmit also a report of the Secretary of State thereon and copies of +correspondence had with the diplomatic representative of Venezuela at +this capital in relation thereto. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In response to the resolution adopted by your honorable body on the 16th +instant, as follows-- + + _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested, + if in his judgment not incompatible with the public interest, to + transmit to the Senate copies of the minutes and daily protocols of + the meetings of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty with Great + Britain submitted by the President to the Senate on the 20th of + February, 1888-- + + +I submit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, which I hope will +satisfactorily meet the request for information embraced in said +resolution. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 27, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from Hon. George H. Pendleton, our minister +to Germany, dated January 30, 1888, from which it appears that +trichinosis prevails to a considerable extent in certain parts of +Germany and that a number of persons have already died from the effects +of eating the meat of diseased hogs which were grown in that country. + +I also transmit a report from our consul at Marseilles, dated February +4, 1888, representing that for a number of months a highly contagious +and fatal disease has prevailed among the swine of a large section of +France, which disease is thought to be very similar to hog cholera by +the Commissioner of Agriculture, whose statement is herewith submitted. + +It is extremely doubtful if the law passed April 29, 1878, entitled "An +act to prevent the introduction of contagious or infectious diseases +into the United States," meets cases of this description. + +In view of the danger to the health and lives of our people and the +contagion that may be spread to the live stock of the country by the +importation of swine or hog products from either of the countries named, +I recommend the passage of a law prohibiting such importation, with +proper regulations as to the continuance of such prohibition, and +permitting such further prohibitions in other future cases of a like +character as safety and prudence may require. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 2, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with its +inclosures, in response to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 8th ultimo, in relation to affairs in Samoa. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[A similar message was sent to the Senate in answer to a resolution of +that body of December 21, 1887.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 3d instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill +to provide for the revocation of the withdrawal of lands made for the +benefit of certain railroads, and for other purposes. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 9, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication of the 6th instant from the +Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft +of proposed legislation, prepared in the Office of Indian Affairs, to +authorize the use of certain funds therein specified in the purchase of +lands in the State of Florida upon which to locate the Seminole Indians +in that State. + +The matter is presented for the favorable consideration of Congress. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith and commend to your favorable consideration a letter +from the Secretary of State, outlining a plan for publishing the +important collections of historical manuscripts now deposited in the +Department of State. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate dated March 8, calling for +the correspondence respecting the seizure of the American steamships +_Hero_, _San Fernando_, and _Nutrias_, the property of the Venezuela +Steam Transportation Company of New York, and the imprisonment of their +officers by the authorities in Venezuela, I transmit herewith the report +of the Secretary of State on the subject, together with the accompanying +documents. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 5th of March last, +calling upon the Secretary of State for copies of the correspondence +relating to the claim of William H. Frear against the Government of +France for money due him for provisions furnished in March, 1871, for +revictualing Paris, I transmit a report from that officer, together with +the correspondence called for by the resolution. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 23, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and +accompanying papers, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the +25th of January last, requesting correspondence and other information in +relation to the claims convention of December 5, 1885, between the +United States and Venezuela. + +This resolution was adopted in open session; but in view of the change +of circumstances since its adoption, by the signature on the 15th ultimo +of the convention which I transmitted to the Senate with my message of +the 22d ultimo,[16] and which is now under consideration there in +executive session, I transmit the accompanying report as a confidential +document also. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 16: See p. 611.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 8, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I retransmit herewith a convention for the surrender of criminals +between the United States and the Republic of Guatemala, concluded +October 11, 1870, and ratified by the President of the United States, +as amended by the Senate, on April 11, 1871, calling attention to the +accompanying report of the Secretary of State as explanatory of my +action. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 8, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of April 12, directing +the Secretary of State to transmit to the Senate a copy of the +correspondence in his Department in regard to the case of John Fruchier, +an American citizen who has been impressed into the military service of +France, I transmit herewith a report in relation thereto from the +Secretary of State, together with the accompanying papers, not +considering their communication to be incompatible with the public +interests. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, relative to +the claim of Mr. Rudolph Lobsiger, a Swiss citizen, against the United +States, and recommend that provision be made by law for referring the +matter to the Court of Claims for examination on its merits. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +accompanied by a report of Mr. Somerville P. Tuck, appointed to carry +out certain provisions of section 5 of an act entitled "An act to +provide for the ascertainment of claims of American citizens for +spoliations committed by the French prior to the 31st day of July, +1801," approved January 20, 1885. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 15, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution originating in the House of +Representatives and concurred in by the Senate, I return herewith the +bill (H.R. 2699) entitled "An act for the relief of the heirs of the +late Solomon Spitzer." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of +the 11th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, to whom said +resolution was addressed, together with a copy of the letter addressed +by William H. Seward, Secretary of State, to the governors of certain +States of the Union, under date of October 14, 1861, as described in +said resolution. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 26, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied +with selected correspondence relating to foreign affairs for the year +1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a convention for +the extradition of criminals between the United States of America and +the Republic of Colombia, signed at Bogota on the 7th of May, 1888, and +I at the same time call attention to the accompanying report of the +Secretary of State, suggesting certain amendments to the convention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, a convention between the +United States and Mexico, signed July 11, 1888, regulating the crossing +and recrossing of the frontier between the two countries by pasturing +estray or stolen cattle, and I at the same time call attention to the +report of the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, relating to +the convention in question. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +submitting a series of reports on taxation, prepared by the consular +officers of the United States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanying +the annual reports of the consuls of the United States on the trade and +industries of foreign countries. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Acting Secretary of State and +accompanying documents, being reports from the consuls of the United +States on the production of and trade in coffee among the Central and +South American States. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 23, 1888_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +Pursuant to the second section of chapter 27 of the laws of 1883, +entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United +States," I herewith transmit the fourth report of the United States +Civil Service Commission, covering the period between the 16th day of +January, 1886, and the 1st day of July, 1887. + +While this report has especial reference to the operations of the +Commission during the period above mentioned, it contains, with its +accompanying appendixes, much valuable information concerning the +inception of civil-service reform and its growth and progress which can +not fail to be interesting and instructive to all who desire improvement +in administrative methods. + +During the time covered by the report 15,852 persons were examined for +admission in the classified civil service of the Government in all its +branches, of whom 10,746 passed the examination and 5,106 failed. Of +those who passed the examination 2,977 were applicants for admission +to the departmental service at Washington, 2,547 were examined for +admission to the customs service, and 5,222 for admission to the postal +service. During the same period 547 appointments were made from the +eligible lists to the departmental service, 641 to the customs service, +and 3,254 to the postal service. + +Concerning separations from the classified service, the report only +informs us of such as have occurred among employees in the public +service who had been appointed from eligible lists under civil-service +rules. When these rules took effect, they did not apply to the persons +then in the service, comprising a full complement of employees, who +obtained their positions independently of the new law. The Commission +has no record of the separations in this numerous class. And the +discrepancy apparent in the report between the number of appointments +made in the respective branches of the service from the lists of the +Commission and the small number of separations mentioned is to a great +extent accounted for by vacancies, of which no report was made to the +Commission, occurring among those who held their places without +examination and certification, which vacancies were filled by +appointment from the eligible lists. + +In the departmental service there occurred between the 16th day of +January, 1886, and the 30th day of June, 1887, among the employees +appointed from the eligible lists under civil-service rules, 17 +removals, 36 resignations, and 5 deaths. This does not include 14 +separations in the grade of special pension examiners--4 by removal, +5 by resignation, and 5 by death. + +In the classified customs and postal services the number of separations +among those who received absolute appointments under civil-service rules +is given for the period between the 1st day of January, 1886, and the +30th day of June, 1887. It appears that such separations in the customs +service for the time mentioned embraced 21 removals, 5 deaths, and 18 +resignations, and in the postal service 256 removals, 23 deaths, and 469 +resignations. + +More than a year has passed since the expiration of the period covered +by the report of the Commission. Within the time which has thus elapsed +many important changes have taken place in furtherance of a reform in +our civil service. The rules and regulations governing the execution of +the law upon the subject have been completely remodeled in such manner +as to render the enforcement of the statute more effective and greatly +increase its usefulness. + +Among other things, the scope of the examinations prescribed for those +who seek to enter the classified service has been better defined and +made more practical, the number of names to be certified from the +eligible lists to the appointing officers from which a selection is made +has been reduced from four to three, the maximum limitation of the age +of persons seeking entrance to the classified service to 45 years has +been changed, and reasonable provision has been made for the transfer +of employees from one Department to another in proper cases. A plan +has also been devised providing for the examination of applicants for +promotion in the service, which, when in full operation, will eliminate +all chance of favoritism in the advancement of employees, by making +promotion a reward of merit and faithful discharge of duty. + +Until within a few weeks there was no uniform classification of +employees in the different Executive Departments of the Government. As a +result of this condition, in some of the Departments positions could be +obtained without civil-service examination, because they were not within +the classification of such Department, while in other Departments an +examination and certification were necessary to obtain positions of the +same grade, because such positions were embraced in the classifications +applicable to those Departments. + +The exception of laborers, watchmen, and messengers from examination and +classification gave opportunity, in the absence of any rule guarding +against it, for the employment, free from civil-service restrictions, of +persons under these designations, who were immediately detailed to do +clerical work. + +All this has been obviated by the application to all the Departments of +an extended and uniform classification embracing grades of employees not +theretofore included, and by the adoption of a rule prohibiting the +detail of laborers, watchmen, or messengers to clerical duty. + +The path of civil-service reform has not at all times been pleasant nor +easy. The scope and purpose of the reform have been much misapprehended; +and this has not only given rise to strong opposition, but has led to +its invocation by its friends to compass objects not in the least +related to it. Thus partisans of the patronage system have naturally +condemned it. Those who do not understand its meaning either mistrust it +or, when disappointed because in its present stage it is not applied to +every real or imaginary ill, accuse those charged with its enforcement +with faithlessness to civil-service reform. Its importance has +frequently been underestimated, and the support of good men has thus +been lost by their lack of interest in its success. Besides all these +difficulties, those responsible for the administration of the Government +in its executive branches have been and still are often annoyed and +irritated by the disloyalty to the service and the insolence of +employees who remain in place as the beneficiaries and the relics and +reminders of the vicious system of appointment which civil-service +reform was intended to displace. + +And yet these are but the incidents of an advance movement which is +radical and far-reaching. The people are, notwithstanding, to be +congratulated upon the progress which has been made and upon the firm, +practical, and sensible foundation upon which this reform now rests. + +With a continuation of the intelligent fidelity which has hitherto +characterized the work of the Commission; with a continuation and +increase of the favor and liberality which have lately been evinced by +the Congress in the proper equipment of the Commission for its work; +with a firm but conservative and reasonable support of the reform by +all its friends, and with the disappearance of opposition which must +inevitably follow its better understanding, the execution of the +civil-service law can not fail to ultimately answer the hopes in which +it had its origin. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 26, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of 11th +April last, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying +correspondence, relating to the pending dispute between the Government +of Venezuela and the Government of Great Britain concerning the +boundaries between British Guiana and Venezuela. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 6, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +It becomes my painful duty to announce to the Congress and to the people +of the United States the death of Philip H. Sheridan, General of the +Army, which occurred at a late hour last night at his summer home in the +State of Massachusetts. + +The death of this valiant soldier and patriotic son of the Republic, +though his long illness has been regarded with anxiety, has nevertheless +shocked the country and caused universal grief. + +He had established for himself a stronghold in the hearts of his +fellow-countrymen, who soon caught the true meaning and purpose of his +soldierly devotion and heroic temper. + +His intrepid courage, his steadfast patriotism, and the generosity of +his nature inspired with peculiar warmth the admiration of all the +people. + +Above his grave affection for the man and pride in his achievements will +struggle for mastery, and too much honor can not be accorded to one who +was so richly endowed with all the qualities which make his death a +national loss. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant (the +House of Representatives concurring), I return herewith the enrolled +bill (S. 3303) amendatory of "An act relating to postal crimes and +amendatory of the statutes therein mentioned," approved June 18, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, +accompanied by a report of the delegate on the part of the United States +to the Fourth International Conference of the Red Cross Association, +held at Carlsruhe, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in September last. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 23, 1888_. + +_To the Congress_: + +The rejection by the Senate of the treaty lately negotiated for the +settlement and adjustment of the differences existing between the United +States and Great Britain concerning the rights and privileges of +American fishermen in the ports and waters of British North America +seems to justify a survey of the condition to which the pending question +is thus remitted. + +The treaty upon this subject concluded in 1818, through disagreements as +to the meaning of its terms, has been a fruitful source of irritation +and trouble. Our citizens engaged in fishing enterprises in waters +adjacent to Canada have been subjected to numerous vexatious +interferences and annoyances; their vessels have been seized upon +pretexts which appeared to be entirely inadmissible, and they have been +otherwise treated by the Canadian authorities and officials in a manner +inexcusably harsh and oppressive. + +This conduct has been justified by Great Britain and Canada by the claim +that the treaty of 1818 permitted it and upon the ground that it was +necessary to the proper protection of Canadian interests. We deny that +treaty agreements justify these acts, and we further maintain that aside +from any treaty restraints of disputed interpretation the relative +positions of the United States and Canada as near neighbors, the growth +of our joint commerce, the development and prosperity of both countries, +which amicable relations surely guarantee, and, above all, the +liberality always extended by the United States to the people of Canada +furnished motives for kindness and consideration higher and better than +treaty covenants. + +While keenly sensitive to all that was exasperating in the condition and +by no means indisposed to support the just complaints of our injured +citizens, I still deemed it my duty, for the preservation of important +American interests which were directly involved, and in view of all the +details of the situation, to attempt by negotiation to remedy existing +wrongs and to finally terminate by a fair and just treaty these +ever-recurring causes of difficulty. + +I fully believe that the treaty just rejected by the Senate was well +suited to the exigency, and that its provisions were adequate for our +security in the future from vexatious incidents and for the promotion of +friendly neighborhood and intimacy, without sacrificing in the least our +national pride or dignity. + +I am quite conscious that neither my opinion of the value of the +rejected treaty nor the motives which prompted its negotiation are of +importance in the light of the judgment of the Senate thereupon. But it +is of importance to note that this treaty has been rejected without any +apparent disposition on the part of the Senate to alter or amend its +provisions, and with the evident intention, not wanting expression, that +no negotiation should at present be concluded touching the matter at +issue. + +The cooperation necessary for the adjustment of the long-standing +national differences with which we have to deal by methods of conference +and agreement having thus been declined, I am by no means disposed to +abandon the interests and the rights of our people in the premises or to +neglect their grievances; and I therefore turn to the contemplation of a +plan of retaliation as a mode which still remains of treating the +situation. + +I am not unmindful of the gravity of the responsibility assumed in +adopting this line of conduct, nor do I fail in the least to appreciate +its serious consequences. It will be impossible to injure our Canadian +neighbors by retaliatory measures without inflicting some damage upon +our own citizens. This results from our proximity, our community of +interests, and the inevitable commingling of the business enterprises +which have been developed by mutual activity. + +Plainly stated, the policy of national retaliation manifestly embraces +the infliction of the greatest harm upon those who have injured us, +with the least possible damage to ourselves. There is also an evident +propriety, as well as an invitation to moral support, found in visiting +upon the offending party the same measure or kind of treatment of which +we complain, and as far as possible within the same lines. And above all +things, the plan of retaliation, if entered upon, should be thorough and +vigorous. + +These considerations lead me at this time to invoke the aid and counsel +of the Congress and its support in such a further grant of power as +seems to me necessary and desirable to render effective the policy I +have indicated. + +The Congress has already passed a law, which received Executive assent +on the 3d day of March, 1887, providing that in case American fishing +vessels, being or visiting in the waters or at any of the ports of +the British dominions of North America, should be or lately had been +deprived of the rights to which they were entitled by treaty or law, or +if they were denied certain other privileges therein specified or vexed +and harassed in the enjoyment of the same, the President might deny to +vessels and their masters and crews of the British dominions of North +America any entrance into the waters, ports, or harbors of the United +States, and also deny entry into any port or place of the United States +of any product of said dominions or other goods coming from said +dominions to the United States. + +While I shall not hesitate upon proper occasion to enforce this act, +it would seem to be unnecessary to suggest that if such enforcement is +limited in such a manner as shall result in the least possible injury to +our own people the effect would probably be entirely inadequate to the +accomplishment of the purpose desired. + +I deem it my duty, therefore, to call the attention of the Congress to +certain particulars in the action of the authorities of the Dominion +of Canada, in addition to the general allegations already made, which +appear to be in such marked contrast to the liberal and friendly +disposition of our country as in my opinion to call for such legislation +as will, upon the principles already stated, properly supplement the +power to inaugurate retaliation already vested in the Executive. + +Actuated by the generous and neighborly spirit which has characterized +our legislation, our tariff laws have since 1866 been so far waived +in favor of Canada as to allow free of duty the transit across the +territory of the United States of property arriving at our ports and +destined to Canada, or exported from Canada to other foreign countries. + +When the treaty of Washington was negotiated, in 1871, between the +United States and Great Britain, having for its object very largely the +modification of the treaty of 1818, the privileges above referred to +were made reciprocal and given in return by Canada to the United States +in the following language, contained in the twenty-ninth article of said +treaty: + + It is agreed that for the term of years mentioned in Article XXXIII of + this treaty goods, wares, or merchandise arriving at the ports of New + York, Boston, and Portland, and any other ports in the United States + which have been or may from time to time be specially designated by the + President of the United States, and destined for Her Britannic Majesty's + possessions in North America, may be entered at the proper custom-house + and conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, through the + territory of the United States, under such rules, regulations, and + conditions for the protection of the revenue as the Government of the + United States may from time to time prescribe; and, under like rules, + regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or merchandise may be + conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, from such + possessions through the territory of the United States, for export from + the said ports of the United States. + + It is further agreed that for the like period goods, wares, or + merchandise arriving at any of the ports of Her Britannic Majesty's + possessions in North America, and destined for the United States, may + be entered at the proper custom-house and conveyed in transit, without + the payment of duties, through the said possessions, under such rules + and regulations and conditions for the protection of the revenue as the + governments of the said possessions may from time to time prescribe; + and, under like rules, regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or + merchandise may be conveyed in transit, without payment of duties, from + the United States through the said possessions to other places in the + United States, or for export from ports in the said possessions. + + +In the year 1886 notice was received by the representatives of our +Government that our fishermen would no longer be allowed to ship their +fish in bond and free of duty through Canadian territory to this +country, and ever since that time such shipment has been denied. + +The privilege of such shipment, which had been extended to our +fishermen, was a most important one, allowing them to spend the time +upon the fishing grounds which would otherwise be devoted to a voyage +home with their catch, and doubling their opportunities for profitably +prosecuting their vocation. + +In forbidding the transit of the catch of our fishermen over their +territory in bond and free of duty the Canadian authorities deprived us +of the only facility dependent upon their concession and for which we +could supply no substitute. + +The value to the Dominion of Canada of the privilege of transit for +their exports and imports across our territory and to and from our +ports, though great in every aspect, will be better appreciated when +it is remembered that for a considerable portion of each year the St. +Lawrence River, which constitutes the direct avenue of foreign commerce +leading to Canada, is closed by ice. + +During the last six years the imports and exports of British Canadian +Provinces carried across our territory under the privileges granted by +our laws amounted in value to about $270,000,000, nearly all of which +were goods dutiable under our tariff laws, by far the larger part of +this traffic consisting of exchanges of goods between Great Britain and +her American Provinces brought to and carried from our ports in their +own vessels. + +The treaty stipulation entered into by our Government was in harmony +with laws which were then on our statute book and are still in force. + +I recommend immediate legislative action conferring upon the Executive +the power to suspend by proclamation the operation of all laws and +regulations permitting the transit of goods, wares, and merchandise in +bond across or over the territory of the United States to or from +Canada. + +There need be no hesitation in suspending these laws arising from the +supposition that their continuation is secured by treaty obligations, +for it seems quite plain that Article XXIX of the treaty of 1871, which +was the only article incorporating such laws, terminated the 1st day of +July, 1885. + +The article itself declares that its provisions shall be in force "for +the term of years mentioned in Article XXXIII of this treaty." Turning +to Article XXXIII, we find no mention of the twenty-ninth article, but +only a provision that Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article +XXX shall take effect as soon as the laws required to carry them into +operation shall be passed by the legislative bodies of the different +countries concerned, and that "they shall remain in force for the period +of ten years from the date at which they may come into operation, and, +further, until the expiration of two years after either of the high +contracting parties shall have given notice to the other of its wish to +terminate the same." + +I am of the opinion that the "term of years mentioned in Article +XXXIII," referred to in Article XXIX as the limit of its duration, means +the period during which Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article +XXX, commonly called the "fishery articles," should continue in force +under the language of said Article XXXIII. + +That the joint high commissioners who negotiated the treaty so +understood and intended the phrase is certain, for in a statement +containing an account of their negotiations, prepared under their +supervision and approved by them, we find the following entry on the +subject: + + The transit question was discussed, and it was agreed that any + settlement that might be made should include a reciprocal arrangement + in that respect for the period for which the fishery articles should + be in force. + + +In addition to this very satisfactory evidence supporting this +construction of the language of Article XXIX, it will be found that +the law passed by Congress to carry the treaty into effect furnishes +conclusive proof of the correctness of such construction. + +This law was passed March 1, 1873, and is entitled "An act to carry into +effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great +Britain signed in the city of Washington the 8th day of May, 1871, +relating to the fisheries." After providing in its first and second +sections for putting in operation Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and +Article XXX of the treaty, the third section is devoted to Article XXIX, +as follows: + + + SEC. 3. That from the date of the President's proclamation authorized by + the first section of this act, and so long as the articles eighteenth to + twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty shall + remain in force according to the terms and conditions of article + thirty-third of said treaty, all goods, wares, and merchandise, arriving + + +etc., etc., following in the remainder of the section the precise words +of the stipulation on the part of the United States as contained in +Article XXIX, which I have already fully quoted. + +Here, then, is a distinct enactment of the Congress limiting the +duration of this article of the treaty to the time that Articles XVIII +to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX should continue in force. That in +fixing such limitation it but gave the meaning of the treaty itself is +indicated by the fact that its purpose is declared to be to carry into +effect the provisions of the treaty, and by the further fact that this +law appears to have been submitted before the promulgation of the treaty +to certain members of the joint high commission representing both +countries, and met with no objection or dissent. + +There appearing to be no conflict or inconsistency between the treaty +and the act of the Congress last cited, it is not necessary to invoke +the well-settled principle that in case of such conflict the statute +governs the question. + +In any event, and whether the law of 1873 construes the treaty or +governs it, section 29 of such treaty, I have no doubt, terminated with +the proceedings taken by our Government to terminate Articles XVIII to +XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty. These proceedings had +their inception in a joint resolution of Congress passed May 3, 1883, +declaring that in the judgment of Congress these articles ought to +be terminated, and directing the President to give the notice to the +Government of Great Britain provided for in Article XXXIII of the +treaty. Such notice having been given two years prior to the 1st day of +July, 1885, the articles mentioned were absolutely terminated on the +last-named day, and with them Article XXIX was also terminated. + +If by any language used in the joint resolution it was intended to +relieve section 3 of the act of 1873, embodying Article XXIX of the +treaty, from its own limitations, or to save the article itself, I am +entirely satisfied that the intention miscarried. + +But statutes granting to the people of Canada the valuable privileges of +transit for their goods from our ports and over our soil, which had been +passed prior to the making of the treaty of 1871 and independently of +it, remained in force; and ever since the abrogation of the treaty, and +notwithstanding the refusal of Canada to permit our fishermen to send +their fish to their home market through her territory in bond, the +people of that Dominion have enjoyed without diminution the advantages +of our liberal and generous laws. + +Without basing our complaint upon a violation of treaty obligations, +it is nevertheless true that such refusal of transit and the other +injurious acts which have been recited constitute a provoking insistence +upon rights neither mitigated by the amenities of national intercourse +nor modified by the recognition of our liberality and generous +considerations. + +The history of events connected with this subject makes it manifest +that the Canadian government can, if so disposed administer its laws +and protect the interests of its people without manifestation of +unfriendliness and without the unneighborly treatment of our fishing +vessels of which we have justly complained, and whatever is done on our +part should be done in the hope that the disposition of the Canadian +government may remove the occasion of a resort to the additional +executive power now sought through legislative action. + +I am satisfied that upon the principles which should govern retaliation +our intercourse and relations with the Dominion of Canada furnish no +better opportunity for its application than is suggested by the +conditions herein presented, and that it could not be more effectively +inaugurated than under the power of suspension recommended. + +While I have expressed my clear conviction upon the question of the +continuance of section 29 of the treaty of 1871, I of course fully +concede the power and the duty of the Congress, in contemplating +legislative action, to construe the terms of any treaty stipulation +which might upon any possible consideration of good faith limit such +action, and likewise the peculiar propriety in the case here presented +of its interpretation of its own language, as contained in the laws +of 1873 putting in operation said treaty and of 1883 directing the +termination thereof; and if in the deliberate judgment of Congress any +restraint to the proposed legislation exists, it is to be hoped that the +expediency of its early removal will be recognized. I desire also to +call the attention of the Congress to another subject involving such +wrongs and unfair treatment to our citizens as, in my opinion, require +prompt action. + +The navigation of the Great Lakes and the immense business and carrying +trade growing out of the same have been treated broadly and liberally +by the United States Government and made free to all mankind, while +Canadian railroads and navigation companies share in our country's +transportation upon terms as favorable as are accorded to our own +citizens. + +The canals and other public works built and maintained by the Government +along the line of the lakes are made free to all. + +In contrast to this condition, and evincing a narrow and ungenerous +commercial spirit, every lock and canal which is a public work of the +Dominion of Canada is subject to tolls and charges. + +By Article XXVII of the treaty of 1871 provision was made to secure to +the citizens of the United States the use of the Welland, St. Lawrence, +and other canals in the Dominion of Canada on terms of equality with the +inhabitants of the Dominion, and to also secure to the subjects of Great +Britain the use of the St. Clair Flats Canal on terms of equality with +the inhabitants of the United States. + +The equality with the inhabitants of the Dominion which we were promised +in the use of the canals of Canada did not secure to us freedom from +tolls in their navigation, but we had a right to expect that we, being +Americans and interested in American commerce, would be no more burdened +in regard to the same than Canadians engaged in their own trade; and +the whole spirit of the concession made was, or should have been, that +merchandise and property transported to an American market through these +canals should not be enhanced in its cost by tolls many times higher +than such as were carried to an adjoining Canadian market. All our +citizens, producers and consumers as well as vessel owners, were to +enjoy the equality promised. + +And yet evidence has for some time been before the Congress, furnished +by the Secretary of the Treasury, showing that while the tolls charged +in the first instance are the same to all, such vessels and cargoes as +are destined to certain Canadian ports are allowed a refund of nearly +the entire tolls, while those bound for American ports are not allowed +any such advantage. + +To promise equality, and then in practice make it conditional upon our +vessels doing Canadian business instead of their own, is to fulfill a +promise with the shadow of performance. + +I recommend that such legislative action be taken as will give Canadian +vessels navigating our canals, and their cargoes, precisely the +advantages granted to our vessels and cargoes upon Canadian canals, and +that the same be measured by exactly the same rule of discrimination. + +The course which I have outlined and the recommendations made relate to +the honor and dignity of our country and the protection and preservation +of the rights and interests of all our people. A government does but +half its duty when it protects its citizens at home and permits them +to be imposed upon and humiliated by the unfair and over-reaching +disposition of other nations. If we invite our people to rely upon +arrangements made for their benefit abroad, we should see to it that +they are not deceived; and if we are generous and liberal to a +neighboring country, our people should reap the advantage of it by a +return of liberality and generosity. + +These are subjects which partisanship should not disturb or confuse. Let +us survey the ground calmly and moderately; and having put aside other +means of settlement, if we enter upon the policy of retaliation let us +pursue it firmly, with a determination only to subserve the interests of +our people and maintain the high standard and the becoming pride of +American citizenship. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 27, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +27th instant (the Senate concurring), I return herewith House bill No. +10060, entitled "An act prescribing the times for sales and for notice +of sales of property in the District of Columbia for overdue taxes." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In reply to the resolution of the Senate in the words following-- + + IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, _September 5, 1888_. + + _Resolved_, That the President is requested, if not incompatible + with the public interests, to inform the Senate whether the recent + treaty with China and the amendments adopted by the Senate have been + ratified by the Emperor of China-- + + +I have to communicate the annexed copies of dispatches from our minister +to China, giving the only official information at hand in relation to +the matter to which reference is had. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +Responding to the inquiries contained in the subjoined resolution of the +Senate of the 28th ultimo, I have the honor to state in reply to the +subject first therein mentioned, calling upon the Executive for "copies +of all communications, if any, addressed by his direction to the +Government of Great Britain, remonstrating with that Government against +the wrongs and unfair treatment to our citizens by the action of the +Canadian Government in refunding to vessels and cargoes which pass +through the Welland and other Canadian canals nearly the entire tolls +if they are destined to Canadian ports, while those bound for American +ports are not allowed any such advantage, and the breach of the +engagement contained in the treaty of 1871 whereby Great Britain +promised to the United States equality in the matter of such canal +transportation; also copies of any demand made by his direction upon +Great Britain for the redress of such wrongs, and the replies of Great +Britain to such communication and demand," that I herewith transmit +copies of all communications between the Department of State and the +United States consul at Ottawa, which are accompanied by copies of the +orders of the Canadian officials in relation to the subject inquired of; +also correspondence between the Department of State and the British +minister at this capital, with copies of the documents therein referred +to. + +I also inclose, as connected therewith, a copy of Executive Document +No. 406, House of Representatives, Fiftieth Congress, first session, +containing the answer of the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, dated +July 23, 1888, in reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives +relating to the navigation of the Welland Canal, and the documents thus +transmitted comprise the entire correspondence in relation to the +subjects referred to in that portion of the resolution of inquiry which +is above quoted. + +The second branch of inquiry is in the words following: + + And also that there be communicated to the Senate copies of all papers, + correspondence, and information touching the matter of the refusal of + the British Government, or that of any of her North American dominions, + to allow the entry at Dominion seaports of American fish or other + cargoes for transportation in bond to the United States since the 1st + day of July, 1885. + + +It will be remembered that though the fishing articles of the treaty of +1871 expired on the said 1st day of July, 1885, a temporary arrangement +was made whereby the privileges accorded to our fishermen under said +articles were continued during the remainder of that year's fishing +season. + +No instance of refusal by the Canadian authorities since July 1, 1885, +up to the present time to allow the entry at Dominion seaports of +American cargoes other than fish for transportation in bond across the +territory of Canada to the United States has been made known to the +Department of State. + +The case of the fishing steamer _Novelty_, involving, among +other things, a refusal, on July 1, 1886, of the right to permit the +transshipment of fish in bond at the port of Pictou, Nova Scotia, was +duly communicated to Congress in my message of December 8, 1886, a copy +of which I herewith transmit. (Ex. Doc. No. 19, Forty-ninth Congress, +second session, p. 1.) + +On page 16 of this document will be found a copy of a communication +addressed by the Secretary of State to the British minister, dated June +14, 1886, on the subject of the refusal of transshipment of fish in +bond. At page 24 of the same publication will be found the protest of +the Secretary of State in the case of the _Novelty_, and at pages +49-50 are the response of the British minister and report of the +Canadian privy council. + +On the 26th of January, 1887, a revised list of cases of alleged ill +treatment of our fishing vessels in Canadian waters was furnished by the +Secretary of State to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, +in which the above case is included, a copy of which, being Senate +Executive Document No. 55 of the second session Forty-ninth Congress, is +herewith inclosed; and in the report by Mr. Edmunds, from the Committee +on Foreign Relations (No. 1683 of the same session), the case referred +to was again published. And, as relating to the subject of the +resolution now before me, the following pertinent passage, taken from +the said report, may be of interest: + + As regards commercial and other friendly business intercourse between + ports and places in the Dominion and the United States, it is, of + course, of much importance that regulations affecting the same should + be mutually reasonable and fairly administered. If an American vessel + should happen to have caught a cargo of fish at sea 100 miles distant + from some Canadian port, from which there is railway communication to + the United States, and should be denied the privilege of landing and + shipping its cargo therefrom to the United States, as the Canadians + do, it would be, of course, a serious disadvantage; and there is, it + is thought, nothing in the treaty of 1818 which would warrant such an + exclusion. But the Dominion laws may make such a distinction, and it is + understood that in fact the privilege of so shipping fish from American + vessels has been refused during the last year. + + +I also respectfully refer to Senate Miscellaneous Document No. 54, +Forty-ninth Congress, second session, being a communication from the +Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries to Hon. George F. Edmunds, chairman +of the Committee on Foreign Relations, dated February 5, 1887, which is +accompanied by a partial list of vessels injuriously treated by the +Canadian authorities, based upon information furnished to the United +States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. + +This list is stated to be supplementary to the revised list which had +been transmitted to the committee by the Secretary of State January 26, +1887. + +Of the sixty-eight vessels comprised in this list it is stated that six, +to wit, the _Nellie M. Snow_, _Andrew Burnham_, _Harry G. French_, +_Col. J.H. French_, _W.H. Wellington_, and _Ralph Hodgdon_, were +refused permission to transship fish. None of these cases, however, were +ever reported to the Department of State by the parties interested, or +were accompanied by affidavit; nor does it appear the facts ever were +investigated in any of the cases by the parties making the reports, +which were obtained by circulars issued by order of the Commissioner of +Fish and Fisheries. The concluding inquiry is as follows: + + And also that he communicate to the Senate what instances have occurred + since the 3d of March, 1887, of wrongs to American fishing vessels or + other American vessels in the ports or waters of British North America, + and what steps, if any, have been taken in respect thereto. + + +Soon after the passage of the act of March 3, 1887, the negotiation +which had been proceeding for several months previously progressed +actively, and the proposed conference and the presence at this capital +of the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, out of which the since +rejected treaty of February 7, 1888, eventuated, had their natural +influence in repressing causes of complaint in relation to the +fisheries. Therefore since March 3, 1887, no case has been reported to +the Department of State wherein complaint was made of unfriendly or +unlawful treatment of American fishing vessels on the part of the +Canadian authorities in which reparation was not promptly and +satisfactorily obtained by the United States consul-general at Halifax. + +A single case of alleged unjust treatment of an American merchant +vessel, not engaged in fishing, has been reported since March 3, 1887. +This was the ship _Bridgewater_, which was first brought to the +attention of the Department of State by the claimant by petition filed +June 1, 1888. + +On June 18, 1888, legal counsel, who appeared and desired to be +heard, filed their formal authority and the claim was at once duly +investigated, and on June 22, 1888, a communication was addressed by the +Secretary of State to the British minister, which sets forth the history +of the claim, and a copy of which is herewith transmitted; and of this +formal acknowledgment was made, but no further reply has been received. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit, in reply to the resolution of the Senate of the +11th instant, a copy of a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents, relative to the pending treaty with China. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 1, 1888_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I have this day approved House bill No. 11336, supplementary to an act +entitled "An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to +Chinese," approved the 6th day of May, 1882. + +It seems to me that some suggestions and recommendations may properly +accompany my approval of this bill. + +Its object is to more effectually accomplish by legislation the +exclusion from this country of Chinese laborers. + +The experiment of blending the social habits and mutual race +idiosyncrasies of the Chinese laboring classes with those of the great +body of the people of the United States has been proved by the +experience of twenty years, and ever since the Burlingame treaty of +1868, to be in every sense unwise, impolitic, and injurious to both +nations. With the lapse of time the necessity for its abandonment has +grown in force, until those having in charge the Government of the +respective countries have resolved to modify and sufficiently abrogate +all those features of prior Conventional arrangements which permitted +the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States. + +In modification of prior conventions the treaty of November 17, 1880, +was concluded, whereby, in the first article thereof, it was agreed that +the United States should at will regulate, limit, or suspend the coming +of Chinese laborers to the United States, but not absolutely prohibit +it; and under this article an act of Congress, approved on May 6, 1882 +(see 22 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 58), and amended July 5, 1884 (23 +U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 115), suspended for ten years the coming of +Chinese laborers to the United States, and regulated the going and +coming of such Chinese laborers as were at that time in the United +States. + +It was, however, soon made evident that the mercenary greed of the +parties who were trading in the labor of this class of the Chinese +population was proving too strong for the just execution of the law, and +that the virtual defeat of the object and intent of both law and treaty +was being fraudulently accomplished by false pretense and perjury, +contrary to the expressed will of both Governments. + +To such an extent has the successful violation of the treaty and the +laws enacted for its execution progressed that the courts in the Pacific +States have been for some time past overwhelmed by the examination of +cases of Chinese laborers who are charged with having entered our ports +under fraudulent certificates of return or seek to establish by perjury +the claim of prior residence. + +Such demonstration of the inoperative and inefficient condition of the +treaty and law has produced deep-seated and increasing discontent among +the people of the United States, and especially with those resident on +the Pacific Coast. This has induced me to omit no effort to find an +effectual remedy for the evils complained of and to answer the earnest +popular demand for the absolute exclusion of Chinese laborers having +objects and purposes unlike our own and wholly disconnected with +American citizenship. + +Aided by the presence in this country of able and intelligent diplomatic +and consular officers of the Chinese Government, and the representations +made from time to time by our minister in China under the instructions +of the Department of State, the actual condition of public sentiment and +the status of affairs in the United States have been fully made known to +the Government of China. + +The necessity for remedy has been fully appreciated by that Government, +and in August, 1886, our minister at Peking received from the Chinese +foreign office a communication announcing that China, of her own accord, +proposed to establish a system of strict and absolute prohibition of her +laborers, under heavy penalties, from coming to the United States, and +likewise to prohibit the return to the United States of any Chinese +laborer who had at any time gone back to China, "in order" (in the words +of the communication) "that the Chinese laborers may gradually be +reduced in number and causes of danger averted and lives preserved." + +This view of the Chinese Government, so completely in harmony with that +of the United States, was by my direction speedily formulated in a +treaty draft between the two nations, embodying the propositions so +presented by the Chinese foreign office. + +The deliberations, frequent oral discussions, and correspondence on the +general questions that ensued have been fully communicated by me to the +Senate at the present session, and, as contained in Senate Executive +Document O, parts 1 and 2, and in Senate Executive Document No. 272, +may be properly referred to as containing a complete history of the +transaction. + +It is thus easy to learn how the joint desires and unequivocal mutual +understanding of the two Governments were brought into articulated +form in the treaty, which, after a mutual exhibition of plenary powers +from the respective Governments, was signed and concluded by the +plenipotentiaries of the United States and China at this capital on +March 12 last. + +Being submitted for the advice and consent of the Senate, its +confirmation, on the 7th day of May last, was accompanied by two +amendments which that body ingrafted upon it. + +On the 12th day of the same month the Chinese minister, who was the +plenipotentiary of his Government in the negotiation and the conclusion +of the treaty, in a note to the Secretary of State gave his approval to +these amendments, "as they did not alter the terms of the treaty," and +the amendments were at once telegraphed to China, whither the original +treaty had previously been sent immediately after its signature on March +12. + +On the 13th day of last month I approved Senate bill No. 3304, "to +prohibit the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States." This bill +was intended to supplement the treaty, and was approved in the confident +anticipation of an early exchange of ratifications of the treaty and its +amendments and the proclamation of the same, upon which event the +legislation so approved was by its terms to take effect. + +No information of any definite action upon the treaty by the Chinese +Government was received until the 21st ultimo--the day the bill which +I have just approved was presented to me--when a telegram from our +minister at Peking to the Secretary of State announced the refusal of +the Chinese Government to exchange ratifications of the treaty unless +further discussion should be had with a view to shorten the period +stipulated in the treaty for the exclusion of Chinese laborers and to +change the conditions agreed on, which should entitle any Chinese +laborer who might go back to China to return again to the United States. + +By a note from the chargé d'affaires _ad interim_ of China to the +Secretary of State, received on the evening of the 25th ultimo (a copy +of which is herewith transmitted, together with the reply thereto), a +third amendment is proposed, whereby the certificate under which any +departing Chinese laborer alleging the possession of property in the +United States would be enabled to return to this country should be +granted by the Chinese consul instead of the United States collector, +as had been provided in the treaty. + +The obvious and necessary effect of this last proposition would be +practically to place the execution of the treaty beyond the control of +the United States. + +Article I of the treaty proposed to be so materially altered had in the +course of the negotiations been settled in acquiescence with the request +of the Chinese plenipotentiary and to his expressed satisfaction. + +In 1886, as appears in the documents heretofore referred to, the Chinese +foreign office had formally proposed to our minister strict exclusion of +Chinese laborers from the United States without limitation, and had +otherwise and more definitely stated that no term whatever for exclusion +was necessary, for the reason that China would of itself take steps to +prevent its laborers from coming to the United States. + +In the course of the negotiations that followed suggestions from the +same quarter led to the insertion in behalf of the United States of a +term of "thirty years," and this term, upon the representations of the +Chinese plenipotentiary, was reduced to "twenty years," and finally so +agreed upon. + +Article II was wholly of Chinese origination, and to that alone owes its +presence in the treaty. + +And it is here pertinent to remark that everywhere in the United States +laws for the collection of debts are equally available to all creditors +without respect to race, sex, nationality, or place of residence, and +equally with the citizens or subjects of the most favored nations and +with the citizens of the United States recovery can be had in any court +of justice in the United States by a subject of China, whether of the +laboring or any other class. + +No disability accrues from nonresidence of a plaintiff, whose claim can +be enforced in the usual way by him or his assignee or attorney in our +courts of justice. + +In this respect it can not be alleged that there exists the slightest +discrimination against Chinese subjects, and it is a notable fact that +large trading firms and companies and individual merchants and traders +of that nation are profitably established at numerous points throughout +the Union, in whose hands every claim transmitted by an absent Chinaman +of a just and lawful nature could be completely enforced. + +The admitted and paramount right and duty of every government to exclude +from its borders all elements of foreign population which for any reason +retard its prosperity or are detrimental to the moral and physical +health of its people must be regarded as a recognized canon of +international law and intercourse. China herself has not dissented from +this doctrine, but has, by the expressions to which I have referred, led +us confidently to rely upon such action on her part in cooperation with +us as would enforce the exclusion of Chinese laborers from our country. + +This cooperation has not, however, been accorded us. Thus from the +unexpected and disappointing refusal of the Chinese Government to +confirm the acts of its authorized agent and to carry into effect an +international agreement, the main feature of which was voluntarily +presented by that Government for our acceptance, and which had been the +subject of long and careful deliberation, an emergency has arisen, in +which the Government of the United States is called upon to act in +self-defense by the exercise of its legislative power. I can not but +regard the expressed demand on the part of China for a reexamination and +renewed discussion of the topics so completely covered by mutual treaty +stipulations as an indefinite postponement and practical abandonment of +the objects we have in view, to which the Government of China may justly +be considered as pledged. + +The facts and circumstances which I have narrated lead me, in the +performance of what seems to me to be my official duty, to join the +Congress in dealing legislatively with the question of the exclusion of +Chinese laborers, in lieu of further attempts to adjust it by +international agreement. + +But while thus exercising our undoubted right in the interest of our +people and for the general welfare of our country, justice and fairness +seem to require that some provision should be made by act or joint +resolution under which such Chinese laborers as shall actually have +embarked on their return to the United States before the passage of the +law this day approved, and are now on their way, may be permitted to +land, provided they have duly and lawfully obtained and shall present +certificates heretofore issued permitting them to return in accordance +with the provisions of existing law. + +Nor should our recourse to legislative measures of exclusion cause us to +retire from the offer we have made to indemnify such Chinese subjects as +have suffered damage through violence in the remote and comparatively +unsettled portions of our country at the hands of lawless men. Therefore +I recommend that, without acknowledging legal liability therefor, but +because it was stipulated in the treaty which has failed to take effect, +and in a spirit of humanity befitting our nation, there be appropriated +the sum of $276,619.75, payable to the Chinese minister at this capital +on behalf of his Government, as full indemnity for all losses and +injuries sustained by Chinese subjects in the manner and under the +circumstances mentioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, October 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, a convention between the +United States of America and Venezuela to further extend the period for +the exchange of ratifications of the claims convention of December 5, +1885, between the said contracting parties and to extend the period for +the exchange of ratifications of the convention of March 15, 1888, +between the same contracting parties, also relating to claims. + +I invite attention to the accompanying report of the Secretary of State +and the papers inclosed therein. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 4, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill 2477, entitled "An act for +the relief of Nathaniel McKay and the executors of Donald McKay." + +It is proposed by this bill to allow the beneficiaries named therein to +present to the Court of Claims for determination certain demands made +by them against the Government on account of the construction of two +ironclad monitors called the _Squando_ and the _Nauset_ and a +side-wheel steamer called the _Ashuelot_. + +The contracts for building these vessels were made early in 1863. It was +agreed that they should be completed within six or eight months. It was +also provided in these contracts that the Government "should have the +privilege of making alterations and additions to the plans and +specifications at any time during the progress of the work, as it may +deem necessary and proper," and that if said alterations and additions +should cause extra expense to the contractors the Government would "pay +for the same at fair and reasonable rates." + +It thus appears that the time allowed for the completion of these +vessels was with the assent of the contractors made exceedingly short; +that notwithstanding this fact they consented to permit such alterations +of plans as must almost necessarily prolong the time, fixing no limit to +such extension, and that in the same breath they fix their measure of +compensation for such alterations and an extended time consequent +thereon at "a fair and reasonable rate" for the extra expense caused +thereby. + +Almost immediately upon the beginning of their work alterations and +changes were made in the original plans for these vessels, and they were +repeated and continued to such a degree that the completion of the +vessels was delayed many months. + +In the latter part of the year 1864 and early in the year 1865 payments +in excess of the contract price were made by the Navy Department to the +contractors under the provisions of the contract above recited. The +contract price for the _Squando_ was $395,000. The contractors +claimed extra compensation amounting to $337,329.46, and there was +allowed $194,525.70. The contract price of the _Nauset_ was +$386,000, the extra compensation claimed was $314,768.93, and the amount +allowed $192,110.98. The contract price of the side-wheel steamer +_Ashuelot_ was $275,000, the extra compensation claimed was +$81,447.50, and the amount allowed was $22,415.92. The different sums as +thus adjusted were received by the contractors in settlement of their +claims for extra expense, and receipts in full were given by them to the +Government. + +A number of other contractors had done like work for the Government and +claimed to have demands growing out of the same for extra compensation. + +Evidently with the view of investigating and settling these claims, on +the 9th day of March, 1865, the Senate passed the following resolution: + + _Resolved_, That the Secretary of the Navy be requested to organize + a board of not less than three persons, whose duty it shall be to + inquire into and determine how much the vessels of war and steam + machinery contracted for by the Department in the years 1862 and 1863 + cost the contractors over and above the contract price and allowance + for extra work, and report the same to the Senate at its next session; + none but those that have given satisfaction to the Department to be + considered. + + +This board was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy on the 25th +day of May, 1865, and consisted of a commodore, a chief engineer, +and a paymaster in the Navy. Its powers were broad and liberal, and +comprehended an inquiry touching all things that made up "the cost to +the contractors" of their work in excess of the contract price and +allowances for extra work. + +The board convened on the 6th day of June, 1865, and sat continuously +until the 23d day of December following, and made numerous awards to +contractors. The parties mentioned in the bill now under consideration +were notified on the 9th and 15th days of June, 1865, to prepare and +submit testimony to the board in support of their claims, and they +repeatedly signified their intention to do so. + +Donald McKay was the contractor for the construction of the monitor +_Nauset_ and the steamer _Ashuelot_. The proceedings of the +board show that on the 11th day of August, 1865, he notified the board +that the only claim he made for loss was on the hull, boiler, and +machinery of the _Ashuelot_, which he would be prepared to present +in about six weeks. + +Neither of these parties presented any statement to the board, and no +claim of theirs was passed upon. + +On the 2d day of March, 1867, an act was passed directing the Secretary +of the Navy to investigate the claims of all contractors for building +vessels of war and steam machinery for the same under contracts made +after May 1, 1861, and before January 1, 1864. He was by said act +required "to ascertain the additional cost which was necessarily +incurred by each contractor in the completion of his work by reason of +any changes or alterations in the plans and specifications required and +delays in the prosecution of the work occasioned by the Government which +were not provided for in the original contract." It was further provided +that there should be reported to Congress a tabular statement of each +case, which should contain "the name of the contractor, a description of +the work, the contract price, the whole increased cost of the work over +the contract price, and the amount of such increased cost caused by the +delay and action of the Government as aforesaid, and the amount already +paid the contractor over and above the contract price." + +Under this act Commodore J.A. Marchand, Chief Engineer J.W. King, and +Paymaster Edward Foster, of the Navy, were designated by the Secretary +of the Navy to make the investigation required. These officers on the +26th day of November, 1867, made a report of their proceedings, which +was submitted to the Senate with a tabulated statement of all the claims +examined by them and their findings thereon. + +It appears by this report that the claims of the beneficiaries mentioned +in the bill herewith returned were examined by the board, and that +nothing was found due thereon under the terms of the law directing their +examination. + +These claims have frequently been before Congress since that time. They +have been favorably reported and acted upon a number of times, and have +also been more than once strongly condemned by committees to whom they +were referred. + +A resolution was passed in 1871 by the Congress referring these and +other claims of a like character to the Court of Claims for +adjudication, but it was vetoed by the President for reasons not +necessarily affecting the merits of the claims. + +The case of Chouteau _vs_. The United States, reported in Fifth +Otto, page 61, which arose out of the contract to build a vessel called +the _Etlah_, appears to present the same features that belong to +the claims here considered. It is stated in the report of the House +committee on this bill that "the _Squando_ and _Nauset_ were +identical in the original plans and the changes and alterations thereon +with the _Etlah_ and _Shiloh_, built in St. Louis;" and yet +the Supreme Court of the United States distinctly decided in the +_Etlah_ case that the only pretext for further compensation should +be sought for in the contract, where the contractor had evidently been +content to provide for all the remedy he desired. + +It seems, then, that the contractors mentioned in this bill, after +entering into contracts plainly indicating that changes of plans and +consequent delay in their work were in their contemplation, availed +themselves of the remedy which they themselves had provided, and +thereupon received about 50 per cent in the case of two of these vessels +of the contract price for extra work, giving the Government a receipt in +full. When soon thereafter opportunity was offered them to make further +claim of as broad a nature as they could desire, they failed to do so, +and one of them disclaimed any right to recover on account of one of the +vessels, though all are now included in the present bill. In 1867 the +claims were fully examined under a law of Congress and rejected, and the +Supreme Court in an exactly similar case finds neither law nor equity +supporting them. + +If it be claimed that no compensation has been yet allowed solely for +the increase in the price of labor and material caused by delay in +construction, it is no hardship to say that as the contractors made +provision for change of plans and delay they must be held to have taken +the risk of such rise in price and be satisfied with the provision they +have made against it. Besides, much of the increase in the price of +labor and material is included in the extra cost which has already been +reimbursed to them. + +But the bill does not provide that these contractors shall be limited in +the Court of Claims to a recovery solely for loss occasioned by increase +of the cost of labor and material during the delay caused by the +Government. By the terms of the proposed act the court is directed to +ascertain the additional cost necessarily incurred in building the +vessels by reason of any changes or alterations in the plans and +specifications and delays in the prosecution of the work. This, it seems +to me, would enable these contractors to open the whole question of +compensation for extra work. + +It hardly seems fair to the Government to permit these claims to be +presented after a lapse of twenty-three years since a settlement in full +was made and receipts given, after the opportunity which has been +offered for establishing further claims if they existed, and when, as a +consequence of the contractor's neglect, the Government would labor +under great disadvantages in its defense. + +I am of the opinion, in view of the history of these claims and the +suspicion naturally excited as to their merit, that no injustice will be +done if they are laid at rest instead of being given new life and vigor +in the Court of Claims. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 445, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Laura A. Wright." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of Charles H. Wright, +who was pensioned for a gunshot wound received in the military service +of the United States on the 19th day of September, 1864. He continued +in the receipt of such pension until June 25, 1884, when he committed +suicide by hanging. + +It is alleged on behalf of his widow that the pain caused by his wound +was so great that it caused temporary insanity, under the influence of +which he destroyed himself. + +There is not a particle of proof that I can discover tending to show an +unsound mind, unless it be the fact of his suicide. He suffered much +pain at intervals. He was a farmer in comfortable circumstances, and +according to the testimony of one of the physicians, filed in support +of the widow's claim, his health was good up to the time of his death, +except for the wound and its results. The day before his death he was +engaged in work connected with his farming occupation, though he +complained of pain from his wound. Early the next morning, still +complaining, as it is alleged, of his wound, he went out, declaring he +was going out to milk, and not returning in due time, upon search his +body was found and his self-destruction discovered. This was nearly +twenty years after the deceased received his wound, and there is not +a suggestion of any act or word of his in all that time indicating +insanity. It seems to me it can hardly be assumed in such circumstances +that the insanity and death of the soldier resulted from pain arising +from his wound, merely because no other explanation can be given. In +numerous cases of suicide no cause or motive for self-destruction is +discovered. + +We have within our borders thousands of widows living in poverty, and +some of them in need, whose dead husbands fought bravely and well in +defense of the Government, but whose deaths were not occasioned by any +incident of military service. In these cases the wife's long vigil at +the bed of wasting disease, the poverty that came before the death, and +the distressing doubt and uncertainty which darkened the future have not +secured to such widows the aid of our pension laws. + +With these in sight the bounty of the Government may without injustice +be withheld from one whose soldier husband received a pension for nearly +twenty years, though all that time able to labor, and who, having +reached a stage of comfortable living, made his wife a widow by +destroying his own life. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 809, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Betsey Mannsfield." + +It is proposed to grant a pension to the beneficiary named in this bill +as the mother of Franklin J. Mannsfield, who enlisted as a private April +27, 1861, and died in camp of disease on the 14th day of November, in +the same year. His mother filed an application for pension in June, +1882. + +The testimony filed in the Pension Bureau discloses the following facts: + +At the time of the death of the soldier the family, besides himself, +consisted of three persons--his father and mother and an unmarried +sister. They owned and resided upon a homestead in Wisconsin comprising +293 acres, 20 of which were cleared, the balance being in timber, all +unencumbered. The assessed valuation was $1,170, the real value being +considerably more. The father was a farmer and blacksmith, healthy and +able-bodied, and furnishing a comfortable support, but shortly after the +soldier's death he began to drink and his health began to fail. Upon the +marriage of the daughter he deeded her 50 acres of the land. He became +indebted, and from time to time sold portions of his homestead to pay +debts; but in 1882, at the time the mother's application for pension was +filed, there still remained 110 acres of land, valued at about $3,300, +40 acres of which was mortgaged in 1880 for $600. Since 1879 the farm +had been rented, except 8 or 10 acres reserved for a residence for the +family. They owned two cows, and the rent averaged about $125 a year. + +This was the condition of affairs as late as 1886, when the claim of the +mother for a pension was, after investigation, rejected by the Pension +Bureau, and it is supposed to be substantially the same now. + +It also appears that a son, born since the soldier's death, and upward +of 18 years of age, resides with his parents and furnishes them some +assistance. + +The claimant certainly was not dependent in the least degree upon the +soldier at the time of his death, and she did not file her claim for +pension until nearly twenty-one years thereafter. + +Though the lack of dependence at the date of the soldier's death is +sufficient to defeat a parent's claim for pension under our laws, I +believe that in proper cases a relaxation of rules and a charitable +liberality should be shown to parents old and in absolute need through +default of the help which, it may be presumed, a son would have +furnished if his life had not been sacrificed in his country's service. + +But it seems to me the case presented here can not be reached by any +theory of pensions which has yet been suggested. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 549, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Hannah R. Langdon." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill entered the military +service of the United States as assistant surgeon in a Vermont regiment +on the 7th day of October, 1862, and less than six months thereafter +tendered his resignation, based upon a surgeon's certificate of +disability on account of chronic hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) +and diarrhea. + +On the 12th day of June, 1880, more than seventeen years after his +discharge, he filed a claim for pension, alleging chronic diarrhea and +resulting piles. He was allowed a pension in January, 1881, and died of +consumption on the 24th day of September, in the same year. + +Prior to the allowance of his claim for pension he wrote to the Bureau +of Pensions a full history of his disability as resulting from chronic +diarrhea and piles, and in that letter he made the following statement: + + I have had no other disease, except last September (1880) I had + pleurisy and congestion of my left lung. + + +From other sources the Bureau derived the information that the deceased +had suffered an attack of pleuro-pneumonia on his left side, and that +his recovery had been partial. + +In December, 1880, he was examined by two members of the board of +surgeons at Burlington, Vt., of which board he was also a member, and +the following facts were certified: + + For the past fifteen years claimant has practiced his profession in this + city, and has up to within a year or a year and a half of this date + shown a vigor and power of endurance quite equal to the labor imposed + upon him by the popular demand for his services. About a year ago he + evinced symptoms of breaking down, cough, emaciation, and debility. + + +These results--"breaking down, cough, emaciation, and debility"--are +the natural effects of such an attack as the deceased himself reported, +though not made by him any ground of a claim for pension, and it seems +quite clear that his death in September, 1881, must be chargeable to the +same cause. + +His widow, the beneficiary named in this bill, filed her claim for +pension December 5, 1881, based upon the ground that her husband's death +from consumption was due to the chronic diarrhea for which he was +pensioned. Upon such application the testimony of Dr. H.H. Atwater was +filed, to the effect that about 1879 he began to treat the deceased +regularly for pleuro-pneumonia, followed by abscesses and degeneration +of lung tissue, which finally resulted in death, and that these diseased +conditions were complicated with digestive affections, such as diarrhea, +dyspepsia, and indigestion. Another affidavit of Dr. Atwater, made in +1886, will be found in the report upon this bill made by the House +Committee on Invalid Pensions. + +The claimant's application for a pension was rejected by the Pension +Bureau on the ground that the cause of her husband's death was not shown +to have been connected in any degree with the disease on account of +which he was pensioned or with his military service. + +I am entirely satisfied that this determination was correct. + +I am constrained to disapprove the bill under consideration, because +it is thus far our settled and avowed policy to grant pensions only to +widows whose husbands have died from causes related to military service, +and because the proposed legislation would, in my opinion, result in +a discrimination in favor of this claimant unfair and unjust toward +thousands of poor widows who are equally entitled to our sympathy and +benevolence. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 258, entitled "An act for the +relief of Major Daniel N. Bash, paymaster, United States Army." + +The object of this bill is to release Paymaster Bash from all liability +to the Government for the loss by theft of $7,350.93, which was +intrusted to him for the payment of United States troops at various +posts, one of which was Fort McKinney, in Wyoming Territory. + +He started from Cheyenne Depot, accompanied by his clerk, D.F. Bash. +Before starting he attempted to procure an iron safe in which he could +deposit the money which he should have in his possession during his +absence, but was unable to do so. It is alleged that it is customary for +paymasters in such cases to be furnished with safes by the Government. + +On the 17th day of March, 1887, Major Bash arrived at Douglas, Wyoming +Territory, having in his possession $350.93, which was a balance left +in his hands after making previous payments on the way. At Douglas he +received by express $7,000, $250 of which were in silver. He was met +here by an escort consisting of a sergeant and private soldier, who had +been sent from Fort McKinney, and who were under orders to report to the +paymaster at Douglas and to act as guard from that place to Fort +McKinney. + +Another unsuccessful attempt having been made at Douglas to obtain +a safe or treasure box in which to carry the money, the same was +put in a leather valise as the best thing that could be done in the +circumstances. The money was first handed by the paymaster to his clerk, +and by the clerk put in the valise and handed to the sergeant of the +escort. There is evidence that the sergeant was told not to permit it +to be out of his sight. Immediately after supper at Douglas the entire +party entered the stage and proceeded upon their journey, the sergeant +carrying the valise. Major Bash asserts that he said to the sergeant, +"You must take good care of the valise; it contains the money." + +The next morning, on the 18th day of March, the party arrived at Dry +Cheyenne. When the paymaster went in to breakfast at that place, he +found all the party at the breakfast table. After breakfast he walked +out to the stage, the sergeant going at the same time. He asked him what +he had done with the valise, and received the reply that it was in the +stage. He then said to the sergeant, "You ought to have brought it in +with you; you should take better care of that valise." The valise was +then examined and the money was found untouched. + +Pursuing their journey, the party arrived at Antelope Springs, Wyoming +Territory, at half past 10 o'clock the same morning. The paymaster +alleges that he asked the sergeant if he should take dinner there, and +that, being answered in the negative, he remarked to him that he might +then stay at the stage; that he then went to the stage station, leaving +the two soldiers and the clerk at the stage; that he remained at the +station warming himself a short time, finding there three citizens, one +of whom he afterwards learned was Parker, the thief; that he left the +room in which he had been warming himself and went to the dining room, +passing along the front of the house, and as he did so noticed the stage +standing there with no one near it except a stock tender; that on +reaching the dining room he found his entire party at the table; that he +looked "pretty sharp" at the sergeant, as he was surprised to see him +there, but as he was just eating his pie he (the paymaster) said nothing +to him; that not more than a minute after that the sergeant and driver +got up and went out; that three or four minutes after they went out they +rushed back and said that the valise had been taken. + +It was found that the valise and money had been taken by Parker, who had +mounted a horse and ridden away. He was pursued so closely that revolver +shots were exchanged between the sergeant, who was badly mounted, and +the thief. The sergeant alleged that he could have shot Parker if he had +been provided with a gun instead of a revolver. + +The facts in relation to this subject were developed upon a court of +inquiry called for that purpose; and much of the above recited is +derived from the evidence of Major Bash himself, taken upon such +inquiry. + +The following is the finding of the court concerning the conduct of the +paymaster in the premises: + + That Major Daniel N. Bash, paymaster, United States Army, did not give + such direct and detailed orders to the members of the escort as to the + manner in which they should guard the public money in his (Bash's) + possession while en route to Fort McKinney as the importance of the + matter required, and that he did not take the proper and necessary pains + to see that any orders which he had given on this subject were duly + obeyed. + + +This finding defines a case of negligence which renders the paymaster +liable for the loss of these funds. But a number of army officers, +including the members of the court of inquiry, suggest that the +paymaster thus found at fault should be relieved from responsibility. +This is much the fashion in these days. + +It is said that a safe should have been provided; that the paymaster +had the right to rely upon the fidelity and efficiency of the escort, +and that the two men furnished him as an escort were unintelligent +and negligent; that they should have been armed with guns instead of +pistols, and that the instructions given to the escort by the paymaster +were sufficient to acquit him of culpable neglect. + +It seems to me that the omissions of care on the part of this officer +are of such a nature as to render much that is urged in his favor +irrelevant. He had the charge of this money. It was his care, vigilance, +and intelligence which were the safeguards of its protection. If he had +as full an appreciation as he indicates of the importance of having a +safe, he must have known that in its absence additional care and +watchfulness on his part were necessary, whatever his escort or his +clerk might do. + +But notwithstanding all this he seemed quite content to leave this large +sum of money in the hands of those sent to him, not to have the custody +of his funds, but to guard him from violence and robbery. On the very +morning of the day the theft was committed he had found fault with the +sergeant for leaving the money in the stage while he took breakfast, and +had said to him that he (the sergeant) ought to have brought it in with +him. He here furnishes his own definition of the kind of care which +should have been taken of the money--the sergeant "ought to have brought +it in with him;" and this suggests the idea that it would have been +quite consistent with his duty, and perhaps not much beneath his +dignity, if he had taken it in himself. (Chief Paymaster Terrell, in a +letter favoring leniency, states that the coin could not have weighed +less than 15 pounds.) + +It must certainly be conceded that what then took place plainly warned +him that to insure the safety of this money he must either take personal +charge of it or he must at least be sure that those to whom he +surrendered it were watchful and vigilant. And yet when, a few hours +later, on the same day, upon arriving at Antelope Springs, he was +informed by the sergeant that he did not propose to take dinner there, +the paymaster almost casually said to him, "Then you stay at the stage," +and he himself went to a room at the station to warm himself. When, as +he went from there to the dining room, he passed the stage and saw no +one near it except a stock tender, a very conservative idea of duty and +care would have induced him to stop at the stage and ascertain the +condition of affairs. If he had done so, he probably would have found +the money there, and could have taken it in with him or watched it until +some of his party came out from dinner. Instead of doing this, he +himself went to the dining room, and indicated his surprise at seeing +the sergeant there by looking at him sharply. However, as he was just +eating his pie, nothing was said. + +It is not improbable that the thief waited for the clerk and escort, and +lastly the paymaster himself, to enter the dining room before venturing +to take, entirely unmolested, the valise containing the money. When it +is considered that after finishing his pie the sergeant came out to +the stage so nearly the exact moment of the theft that, though badly +mounted, he was able to approach near enough in pursuit of the fleeing +thief to exchange revolver shots with him, it is quite apparent that the +loss might have been prevented if the paymaster had remained a short +time by the stage when he saw it unprotected, or had taken the valise in +with him, or promptly diverted the attention of the sergeant from his +pie to the money which all had abandoned. + +When, therefore, it is said that this loss can be charged in any degree +to the neglect or default of the Government, it is answered that the +direct and immediate cause of the loss was the omission on the part of +this paymaster of the Government, in whose custody these funds were +placed, of the plainest and simplest acts of prudence and care. + +The temptation is very strong to yield assent to the proposition for +the relief of a citizen from liability to the Government arising from +conduct not absolutely criminal; but the bonds and the security wisely +exacted by the Government from its officers to insure proper discharge +of public duty will be of very limited value if everything is to be +excused except actual dishonesty. + +I am thoroughly convinced that the interests of the public would +be better protected if fewer private bills were passed relieving +officials, upon slight and sentimental grounds, from their pecuniary +responsibilities; and the readiness with which army officers join in +applications for the condonation of negligence on the part of their +army comrades does not tend, in my opinion, to maintain that regard +for discipline and that scrupulous observance of duty which should +characterize those belonging to their honorable profession. + +I can not satisfy myself that the negligence made apparent in this case +should be overlooked. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 823, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Hannah C. De Witt." + +An act the precise duplicate of this was passed at the present session +of the Congress, and received Executive approval on the 10th day of +March, 1888. Pursuant to said act the name of the beneficiary mentioned +in the bill herewith returned has been placed upon the pension rolls. +The second enactment is of course entirely useless, and was evidently +passed by mistake. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 418, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William H. Brokenshaw." + +The history of the military service of the beneficiary mentioned in this +bill, as derived from the records of the War Department, shows that he +was received at draft rendezvous at Jackson, Mich., on the 25th day of +March, 1865; that he was sent to the Twenty-fourth Regiment of Michigan +Volunteers on the 29th day of the same month, and that he was present +with his command, without any record of disability, from that date until +the 30th day of June, 1865, when he was mustered out with his company. +It will thus be seen that he was in the service a few days more than +three months, just at the close of the war. It is not alleged that he +did any actual fighting. + +In 1883 he filed an application for pension, alleging that on the +evening of the 25th of March, 1865, being the day he was received at +rendezvous, he was injured in his ribs while getting into his bunk by +three other recruits, who were scuffling in the room and who jumped upon +him or crushed him against the side of his bunk. + +An examination upon such application made in 1884 tended to show an +injury to his ribs, but the claim was rejected upon the ground that no +injury was incurred in the line of duty. It must be conceded that upon +the claimant's own showing he was not injured as an incident to military +service. + +Aside from this objection, it is hardly possible that an injury of this +kind, producing the consequences which it is alleged followed its +infliction, could have been sustained by this soldier and not in the +least interrupted the performance of his military service, though such +service was very short and probably not severe. When with this it is +considered that eighteen years elapsed between the date of the alleged +injury and the soldier's application for pension, I am satisfied that no +injustice will be done if the disposition made of this case by the +Pension Bureau is allowed to stand. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4633, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Morris T. Mantor." + +The records in this case show that the beneficiary named in this bill +enlisted on the 25th day of February, 1864, and that he was mustered out +July 18, 1865. + +It is also shown that though he was reported sick a considerable part of +his period of service there is no mention of any trouble with his eyes. + +In the year 1880 he filed an application for pension, alleging dropsy +and disease of his eyes, caused by an explosion of ammunition. + +The case was examined in 1882 and 1883, and was again specially examined +very thoroughly and critically in 1885. + +The evidence thus secured seemed to establish the fact that the +claimant's eyes were sore for many years before enlistment, and that +their condition before that date, during his service, and after his +discharge did not materially differ. It also appeared that no +pensionable disability from dropsy had existed since the filing of his +application. + +On these grounds the application was rejected, and I am convinced such +action was entirely justified. + +The reported conduct of the claimant on the last examination and his +attempts to influence witnesses in their testimony add weight to the +proposition, quite well established by the proof, that his claim to a +pension lacks merit. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 24, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5247, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William H. Brimmer." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted September 5, 1864, as a +wagon master, and was discharged on the 30th day of May, 1865. There is +no record of any disability during his short service. + +In February, 1888, nearly twenty-three years after his discharge, he +filed an application for a pension, alleging that in the fall of 1864 he +was made to carry sacks of corn, which produced a weakness of the walls +of the abdomen, resulting in rupture. In an affidavit filed upon said +application the claimant testifies that he said nothing about his injury +or disability to anyone while in the service and can furnish no evidence +except his own statement. + +The first and only medical evidence presented touching this claim is +that of Dr. Reynolds, who examined him in 1880 or 1881, who then came +to the conclusion that the claimant was suffering from an incomplete +hernia, which a few months thereafter developed in the right groin. From +this examination and testimony no hint is furnished that the injury was +due to military service, nor any intimation that it might be. + +In February, 1888, a medical examination was made under direction of +the Pension Bureau, when it was found that the claimant had the general +appearance of being healthy and well nourished, but that he had a small +uncomplicated inguinal hernia on the right side, which was easily +retained. + +I can not believe upon the facts presented that an injury of the +character alleged could have been sustained in the service and still +permitted the performance of all the duties of wagon master for months +thereafter, remaining undeveloped for so many years, and that there +should now be such a lack of testimony connecting it with any incident +of military service. + +I believe the rejection of this claim was right and just upon its +merits. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 24, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill 6908, entitled "An act granting a +pension to William P. Witt." + +The beneficiary named in the bill was enrolled for one hundred days' +service on the 13th day of July, 1864, and was mustered out on the 16th +day of November, in the same year. The record shows that he was reported +present on all rolls until he was mustered out. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1884, alleging that he incurred chronic +diarrhea, liver disease, rheumatism, and a disease of the head affecting +his hearing during his military service. Two comrades testify to his +being sick and being in the hospital to such an extent as to wholly +discredit his presence with his company. A physician testifies that he +prescribed for him some time in the month of November, 1864, for liver +disease and jaundice, to which rheumatism supervened, confining him six +weeks or more. + +There seems to be a complete hiatus of any medical or other evidence +concerning his physical condition from that time until nearly twenty +years thereafter, in July, 1884, when he was examined, and it was found +that he had impaired hearing in both ears, but no symptoms of +rheumatism, and that his liver was normal. + +Without further detailing particulars, the entire complexion of this +case satisfies me that the claimant contracted no pensionable disability +during his one hundred days of service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 24, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4550, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Chloe Quiggle, widow of Phillip Quiggle." + +The husband of the beneficiary named enlisted February 11, 1865, and was +discharged September 27, 1865. The records show that he was reported +August 31, 1865, as "absent, confined in post prison at Chattanooga +since August 18, 1865." + +He filed a claim for pension June 25, 1880, alleging that after a march +from Chattanooga to a point 1-1/2 miles distant and back he upon his +return drank some water, which produced diarrhea, since which time he +had been troubled also with disease of kidneys and rheumatism. + +He died in September, 1882, and the claim then pending on his behalf +was completed by his widow. After a special examination the claim for +diarrhea was, on the 21st day of April, 1887, allowed from September 28, +1865, to January 1, 1870, when it was shown that any disability from +this cause ceased. The claim for disease of kidneys and rheumatism was +rejected upon the ground that no such disabilities were shown to be due +to military service. + +The widow filed a claim on her own behalf August 27, 1883, alleging the +death of the soldier from the results of prostration by heat while +marching near Nashville, Tenn., and also from disease of kidneys, +rheumatism, and chronic diarrhea. + +It is reported to me that the evidence taken during a special +examination of this case established that before and after enlistment +the soldier was addicted to the excessive use of intoxicating liquors. + +One physician stated to the examiner that shortly after the soldier's +discharge he found him suffering from disease of kidneys and from +rheumatism and diarrhea, but that he concluded the disease of the +kidneys had been coming on for a year; that it could not have been +caused by a sunstroke a few weeks previously, and that the diseases were +of longer standing than that. + +Another physician who attended the soldier during his last illness +testified that he did not know that he suffered from any disease until +the summer of 1882; that he found him suffering from retention of urine, +and that the difficulty rapidly developed into an acute attack of +Bright's disease; that no indications of rheumatism were found, but that +the disease progressed steadily and was a well-marked case of Bright's +disease of the kidneys. He also testified that the origin of the disease +was no doubt recent, though possibly it might have existed in a low form +for some years. + +A medical examination in May, 1882, developed no disease of the kidneys. + +It seems to me that all the reliable testimony in the case tends to show +beyond a doubt that the soldier's death was not due to any incident of +his military service. I do not find that the medical testimony given by +his neighbors makes a suggestion that it was, and upon all the facts I +am of the opinion that the pension which has been already allowed was a +liberal disposition of the case. + +The beneficiary named in this bill is aged, and it would certainly be a +gratification to grant her relief; but the question is whether we do +well to establish a precedent for the allowance of claims of this +character in the distribution of pension funds. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 30, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 465, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William Sackman, sr." + +The beneficiary named in this bill served from December 24, 1861, to +February 29, 1864, in the Fifth Regiment of the Missouri Militia +Cavalry. + +He was discharged on the day last named for disability. His certificate +of discharge states his disability as follows: + + Palpitation of the heart and defective lungs, the disability caused by + falling off his horse near Fredericktown, Mo., while intoxicated, on + detached service, in the month of September, 1862. Not having done any + duty since, a discharge would benefit the Government and himself. + + +It appears that a claim for pension was filed in the year 1881, in which +the claimant alleged that-- + + At Fredericktown, Mo., about the 10th or 12th of April, 1863, he had + three ribs broken by falling from his horse while surrounded by + guerrillas. + + +It will be seen that while the certificate of discharge mentions a fall +in September, 1862, no allusion is made to any fracture of ribs, while +the claimant alleges such an injury occurred in April, 1863. + +In 1885 the surgeon who made the medical certificate attached to the +discharge, in answer to an inquiry made by the Commissioner of Pensions, +says: + + I have to state that I remember the case very distinctly. I made the + examination in person, and was thoroughly acquainted with the case. I + read the statement on which the application for discharge was based to + the man, and he consented to have the papers forwarded as they read. + The application for pension is fraudulent and should not be allowed. + + +I have omitted references made to the habits of the soldier by this +medical officer. + +Of course much reliance should be placed upon these statements made by +an officer whose business it was to know the exact facts, and who made +his certificate at a time when such facts were fresh in his mind. There +is no intimation that the surgeon who made the statement referred to was +inimical to the soldier or influenced by any unjust motive. + +The attempt to impeach the record thus made is based upon affidavits +made by a number of the soldier's comrades, who testify to his character +and habits, and only three of whom speak of an injury to the soldier +caused by falling from his horse. Two of these affiants allege that they +were with the claimant on detached duty when his horse took fright and +ran away with him, injuring him so that he could not rise and get on his +horse without assistance. So far as these affidavits are before me, no +date of this occurrence is given, nothing is said as to the character of +the injuries, and no reference is made to the condition of the soldier +at the time. The third affiant, who speaks of an injury, says that it +occurred while on duty on the march from Pilot Knob to Cape Girardeau, +in the year 1862 or 1863, and that it was caused by the soldier's being +thrown from his horse. He says further that the soldier was not +intoxicated at that time. + +No mention is made that I can discover of any fracture of the ribs +except in the claimant's application for pension made in 1881, seventeen +years after his discharge, and in a report of an examining surgeon made +in 1882. + +With no denial of the soldier's condition, as stated by the surgeon, +on the part of the only parties who claim to have been present at +the time of the injury, I can not satisfy myself, in view of the other +circumstances surrounding this case, that the allegations contained in +the claimant's discharge are discredited. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 30, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 838, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary Sullivan." + +On the 1st day of July, 1886, an act was approved which is an exact copy +of the one herewith returned. In pursuance of that act the beneficiary's +name was placed upon the pension rolls. + +A second law for the same purpose is of course unnecessary. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 1, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 19, entitled "An act for the +relief of H.B. Wilson, administrator of the estate of William Tinder, +deceased." + +The purpose of this bill is to refund to the estate of William Tinder +the sum of $5,000, which was paid to the Government by his administrator +in June, 1880, upon the following facts: + +In 1876 two indictments were found against one Evans, charging him with +passing counterfeit money. In May, 1878, he was tried upon one of said +indictments and the jury failed to agree. Thereupon the prisoner entered +into two recognizances in the sum of $5,000 each, with W.R. Evans and +William Tinder as sureties, conditioned for the appearance of the +prisoner Evans at the next term of the court, in November, 1878, for +trial upon said indictment. Before that date, however, the prisoner fled +the country and failed to appear according to the condition of his bond. +In the meantime William Tinder died and H.B. Wilson was appointed his +administrator. + +Suits were brought upon the two bail bonds, and, the liability of the +sureties not being admitted, the suits were tried in March, 1880, +resulting in two judgments in favor of the United States and against the +surety Evans and the estate of Tinder for $5,000 each and the costs. + +Soon thereafter an application was made by the administrator of the +estate of William Tinder for relief, and an offer was made by him to pay +$5,000 and the costs in compromise and settlement of the liability of +said estate upon said two judgments. + +These judgments were a preferred claim against the estate, which was +represented to be worth sixteen or eighteen thousand dollars. The other +surety, Evans, was alleged to be worthless, and it was claimed that +neither the administrator of the Tinder estate nor his attorneys had +known the whereabouts of the indicted party since his flight, and that +some time would elapse before certain litigation in which the estate was +involved could be settled and the claims against it paid. + +It was considered best by the officers of the Government to accept the +proposition of the administrator, which was done in June, 1880. The sum +of $5,099.06, the amount of one of said judgments, with interest and +costs, was paid into the United States Treasury, and the estate of +Tinder was in consideration thereof released and discharged from all +liability upon both of said judgments. + +Thus was the transaction closed, in exact accordance with the wishes and +the prayer of the representative of this estate and by the favor and +indulgence of the Government upon his application. There was, so far as +I can learn, no condition attached, and no understanding or agreement +that any future occurrence would affect the finality of the compromise +by which the Government had accepted one-half of its claim in full +settlement. + +It appears that in 1881 the party indicted was arrested and brought to +trial, which resulted in his conviction; and apparently for this reason +alone it is proposed by the bill under consideration to open the +settlement made at the request of the administrator and refund to him +the sum which he paid on such settlement pursuant to his own offer. + +I can see no fairness or justice to the Government in such a proposition. +I do not find any statement that the administrator delivered the +prisoner to the United States authorities for trial. On the contrary, it +appears from an examination made in the First Comptroller's Office that +he was arrested by the marshal on the 25th day of May, 1881, who charged +and was paid his fees therefor. And if the administrator had surrendered +the prisoner to justice it would not entitle him to the repayment of the +money he has paid to compromise the two judgments against him. + +The temptation to relieve from contracts with the Government upon +plausible application is, in my opinion, not sufficiently resisted; +but to refund money paid into the public Treasury upon such a liberal +compromise as is exhibited in this case seems like a departure from all +business principles and an unsafe concession that the interests of the +Government are to be easily surrendered. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 3, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4534, entitled "An act for the +relief of Emily G. Mills." + +The object of this bill is to provide a pension for the beneficiary +named therein as the widow of Oscar B. Mills, late a second assistant +engineer, retired, in the United States Navy. The deceased was appointed +an acting third assistant engineer in October, 1862, and in 1864 he was +promoted to the place of second assistant engineer. + +It is supposed that while in active service he did his full duty, though +I am not informed of any distinguished acts of bravery or heroism. In +February, 1871, he was before a naval retiring board, which found that +he was incapacitated for active service on account of malarious fever, +contracted in 1868, and recommended that he be allowed six months' leave +of absence to recover his health. + +In December, 1871, he was again examined for retirement, and the board +found that he was not in any way incapacitated from performing the +duties of his office. The next year, in 1872, another retiring board, +upon an examination of his case, found that he was "laboring under +general debility, the effect of intermittent fever acting upon an +originally delicate constitution," and he was thereupon placed upon the +retired list of the Navy. + +On the 10th day of August, 1873, he was accidentally shot and killed by +a neighbor, who was attempting to shoot an owl. + +As long as there is the least pretense of limiting the bestowal of +pensions to disability or death in some way related to the incidents of +military and naval service, claims of this description can not +consistently be allowed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 1406, entitled "An act to +provide for the sale of certain New York Indian lands in Kansas." + +Prior to the year 1838 a number of bands and tribes of New York +Indians had obtained 500,000 acres of land in the State of Wisconsin, +upon which they proposed to reside. In the year above named a treaty was +entered into between the United States and these Indians whereby they +relinquished to the Government these Wisconsin lands. In consideration +thereof, and, as the treaty declares, "in order to manifest the deep +interest of the United States in the future peace and prosperity of +the New York Indians," it was agreed there should be set apart as a +permanent home for all the New York Indians then residing in the State +of New York, or in Wisconsin, or elsewhere in the United States, who +had no permanent home, a tract of land amounting to 1,824,000 acres, +directly west of the State of Missouri, and now included in the State +of Kansas--being 320 acres for each Indian, as their number was then +computed--"to have and to hold the same in fee simple to the said tribes +or nations of Indians by patent from the President of the United +States." + +Full power and authority was also given to said Indians "to divide said +lands among the different tribes, nations, or bands in severalty," with +the right to sell and convey to and from each other under such rules and +regulations as should be adopted by said Indians in their respective +tribes or in general council. + +The treaty further provided that such of the tribes of these Indians as +did not accept said treaty and agree to remove to the country set apart +for their new homes within five years or such other time as the +President might from time to time appoint should forfeit all interest +in the land so set apart to the United States; and the Government +guaranteed to protect and defend them in the peaceable possession and +enjoyment of their new homes. + +I have no positive information that any considerable number of these +Indians removed to the lands provided for them within the five years +limited by the treaty. Their omission to do so may have been owing to +the failure of the Government to appropriate the money to pay the +expense of such removal, as it agreed to do in the treaty. + +It is, however, stated in a letter of the Secretary of the Interior +dated April 6, 1878, contained in the report of the Senate committee to +whom the bill under consideration was referred, that in the year 1842 +some of these Indians settled upon the lands described in the treaty; +and it is further alleged in said report that in 1846 about two hundred +more of them were removed to said lands. + +The letter of the Secretary of the Interior above referred to contains +the following statement concerning these Indian occupants: + + From death and the hostility of the settlers, who were drawn in that + direction by the fertility of the soil and other advantages, all of the + Indians gradually relinquished their selections, until of the Indians + who had removed thither from the State of New York only thirty-two + remained in 1860. + + +And the following further statement is made: + + The files of the Indian Office show abundant proof that they did not + voluntarily relinquish their occupation. + + +The proof thus referred to is indeed abundant, and is found in official +reports and affidavits made as late as the year 1859. By these it +appears that during that year, in repeated instances, Indian men and +widows of deceased Indians were driven from their homes by the threats +of armed men; that in one case at least the habitation of an Indian +woman was burned, and that the kind of outrages were resorted to which +too often follow the cupidity of whites and the possession of fertile +lands by defenseless and unprotected Indians. + +An agent, in an official letter dated August 9, 1859, after detailing +the cruel treatment of these occupants of the lands which the Government +had given them, writes: + + Since these Indians have been placed under my charge, which was, I + think, in 1855, I have endeavored to protect them; but complaint after + complaint has reached me, and I have reported their situation again and + again; and I hope that it will not be long when the Indians who are + entitled to land under the decision of the Indian Office shall have it + set apart to them. + + +The same agent, under date of January 18, 1860, referring to these +Indians, declares: + + These Indians have been driven off their land and claims upon the New + York tract by the whites, and they are now very much scattered and many + of them are very destitute. + + +It was found in 1860 that of all the Indians who had prior to that +date selected and occupied part of these lands but thirty-two remained, +and it seems to have been deemed but justice to them to confirm their +selections by some kind of governmental grant or declaration, though +it does not appear that any of them had been able to maintain actual +possession of all their selected lands against white intrusion. Thus +certain special commissioners appointed to examine this subject, under +date of May 29, 1860, make the following statement: + + In this connection it may be proper to remark that many of the tracts + so selected were claimed by lawless men who had compelled the Indians + to abandon them under threats of violence; but we are confident that no + serious injury will be done to anyone, as the improvements are of but + little value. + + +On the 14th day of September, 1860, certificates were issued to the +thirty-two Indians who had made selections of lands and who still +survived, with a view of securing to them such selections and at the +same time granting to them the number of acres which it was provided +they should have by the treaty of 1838. These certificates were made +by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and declared that in conformity +with the provisions of the treaty of 1838 there had been assigned and +allotted to the person named therein 320 acres of the land designated in +said treaty, which land was particularly described in said certificates, +which concluded as follows: + + And the selection of said tract for the exclusive use and benefit of + said reserve, having been approved by the Secretary of the Interior, is + not subject to be alienated in fee, leased, or otherwise disposed of + except to the United States. + + +In a letter dated September 13, 1860, from the Indian Commissioner to +the agent in the neighborhood of these lands reference is made to the +conduct of white intruders upon the same, and the following instructions +were given to said agent: + + +In view of these representations and the fact that these white persons +who are in possession of the land are intruders, I have to direct +that you will visit the New York Reserve in Kansas at your earliest +convenience, accompanied by those Indians living among the Osages to +whom said lands have been allotted, with a view to place them in +possession of the lands to which they are entitled; and if you should +meet with any forcible resistance from white settlers you will report +their names to this office, in order that appropriate action may be +taken in the premises, and you will inform them that if they do not +immediately abandon said lands they will be removed by force. When you +shall have given the thirty-two Indians peaceable possession of their +lands, or attempted to do so and have been prevented by forcible +resistance, you will make a report of your action to this Bureau. + +The records of the Indian Bureau do not disclose that any report was +ever made by the agent to whom these instructions were given. + +In 1861 and 1862 mention was made by the agents of the destitute +condition of these Indians and of their being deprived of their lands, +and in these years petitions were presented in their behalf asking that +justice be done them on account of the failure of the Government to +provide them with homes. + +In the meantime, and in December, 1860, the remainder of the reserve not +allotted to the thirty-two survivors was thrown open to settlement by +Executive proclamation. Of course this was followed by increased +conflict between the settlers and the Indians. It is presumed that it +became dangerous for those to whom lands had been allotted to attempt to +gain possession of them. On the 4th day of December, 1865, Agent Snow +returned twenty-seven of the certificates of allotment which had not +been delivered, and wrote as follows to the Indian Bureau: + + A few of these Indians were at one time put in possession of their + lands. They were driven off by the whites; one Indian was killed, others + wounded, and their houses burned. White men at this time have possession + of these lands, and have valuable improvements on them. The Indians are + deterred even asking for possession. I would earnestly ask, as agent for + these wronged and destitute people, that some measure be adopted by the + Government to give these Indians their rights. + + +An official report made to the Secretary of the Interior dated February +16, 1871, gives the history of these lands, and concludes as follows: + + These lands are now all or nearly all occupied by white persons who have + driven the Indians from their homes--in some instances with violence. + There is great necessity that some relief should be afforded to them by + legislation of Congress, authorizing the issue of patents to the + allottees or giving them power to sell and convey. + + In this way they will be enabled to realize something from the land, and + the occupants can secure titles for their homes. + + +Apparently in the line of this recommendation, and in an attempt to +remedy the condition of affairs then existing, an act was passed on the +19th day of February, 1873, permitting heads of families and single +persons over 21 years of age who had made settlements and improvements +upon and were _bona fide_ claimants and occupants of the lands for +which the thirty-two certificates of allotments were issued to enter and +purchase at the proper land office such lands so occupied by them, not +exceeding 160 acres, upon paying therefor the appraised value of said +tracts respectively, to be ascertained by three disinterested and +competent appraisers, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, +who should report the value of such lands, exclusive of improvements, +but that no sale should be made under said act for less than $3.75 per +acre. + +It was further provided that the entries allowed should be made within +twelve months after the promulgation by the Secretary of the Interior of +regulations to carry said act into effect, and that the money arising +upon such sales should be paid into the Treasury of the United States +in trust for and to be paid to the Indians respectively to whom such +certificates of allotment had been issued, or to their heirs, upon +satisfactory proof of their identity, at any time within five years from +the passage of the act, and that in default of such proof the money +should become a part of the public moneys of the United States. + +It was also further provided that any Indian to whom any certificate of +allotment had been issued, and who was then occupying the land allotted +thereby, should be entitled to receive a patent therefor. + +Pursuant to this statute these lands were appraised. The lowest value +per acre fixed by the appraisers was $3.75, and the highest was $10, +making the average for the whole $4.90 per acre. + +It is reported that only eight pieces, containing 879.76 acres of land +taken from six of these Indian allotments, were sold under this statute +to the settlers thereon, producing the sum of $4,058.06, and that the +price paid in no case was less than $4.50 per acre. + +It is proposed by the bill under consideration to sell the remainder of +this allotted land to those who failed to avail themselves of the law of +1873 for the sum of $2.50 per acre. + +Whatever may be said of the effect of the action of the Indian Bureau in +issuing certificates of allotment to individual Indians as it relates to +the title of the lands described therein, it was the only way that the +Government could perform its treaty obligation to furnish homes for any +number of Indians less than a tribe or band; and if these allotments did +not vest a title in these individual Indians they secured to them such +rights to the lands as the Government was bound to protect and which it +could not refuse to confirm if it became necessary by the issuance of +patents therefor. + +These rights are fully recognized by the statute of 1873, as well as by +the bill under consideration. + +The right and power of the Government to divest these allottees of their +interests under their certificates is so questionable that perhaps it +could only be done under the plan proposed, through an estoppel arising +from the acceptance of the price for which their allotted lands were +sold. + +But whatever the effect of a compliance with the provisions of this bill +would be upon the title of the settlers to these lands, I can see no +fairness or justice in permitting them to enter and purchase such lands +at a sum much less than their appraised value in 1873 and for hardly +one-half the price paid by their neighbors under the law passed in that +year. + +The occupancy upon these lands of the settlers seeking relief, and of +their grantors, is based upon wrong, violence, and oppression. A +continuation of the wrongful exclusion of these Indians from their lands +should not inure to the benefit of the wrongdoers. The opportunities +afforded by the law of 1873 were neglected, perhaps, in the hope and +belief that death would remove the Indians who by their appeals for +justice annoyed those who had driven them from their homes, and perhaps +in the expectation that the heedlessness of the Government concerning +its obligations to the Indians would supply easier terms. The idea is +too prevalent that, as against those who by emigration and settlement +upon our frontier extend our civilization and prosperity, the rights of +the Indians are of but little consequence. But it must be absolutely +true that no development is genuine or valuable based upon the violence +and cruelty of individuals or the faithlessness of a government. + +While it might not result in exact justice or precisely rectify the +wrong committed, it may well be that in existing circumstances the +interests of the allottees or their heirs demand an adjustment of the +kind now proposed. But their lands certainly are worth much more than +they were in 1873, and the settlers, if they are not subjected to a +reappraisement, should at least pay the price at which the lands were +appraised in that year. + +If the holders of the interests of the allottees have such a title as +will give them a standing in the courts of Kansas, I do not think they +need fear defeat by being charged with improvements under the occupying +claimants' act, for it has been decided in a case to be found in the +twentieth volume of Kansas Reports, at page 374, that-- + + Neither the title nor possession of the Indian owner, secured by + treaty with the United States Government, can be disturbed by State + legislation; and the occupying claimants' act has no application in + this case. + + +And yet the delay, uncertainty, and expense of legal contests should be +considered. + +I suggest that any bill which is passed to adjust the rights of these +Indians by such a general plan as is embodied in the bill herewith +returned should provide for the payment by the settlers within a +reasonable time of an appraised value, and that in case the same is not +paid by the respective occupants that the lands be sold at public +auction for a price not less than the appraisement. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 9, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4357, entitled "An act to erect +a public building at Allentown, Pa." + +The accommodation of the postal business is the only public purpose for +which the Government can be called on to provide, which is suggested as +a pretext for the erection of this building. It is proposed to expend +$100,000 for a structure to be used as a post-office. It is said that a +deputy collector of internal revenue and a board of pension examiners +are located at Allentown, but I do not understand that the Government is +obliged to provide quarters for these officers. + +The usual statement is made in support of this bill setting forth the +growth of the city where it is proposed to locate the building and the +amount and variety of the business which is there transacted; and the +postmaster in stereotyped phrase represents the desirability of +increased accommodation for the transaction of the business under his +charge. + +But I am thoroughly convinced that there is no present necessity for the +expenditure of $100,000 for any purpose connected with the public +business at this place. + +The annual rent now paid for the post-office is $1,300. + +The interest, at 3 per cent, upon the amount now asked for this +new building is $3,000. As soon as it is undertaken the pay of a +superintendent of its construction will begin, and after its completion +the compensation of janitors and other expenses of its maintenance will +follow. + +The plan now pursued for the erection of public buildings is, in my +opinion, very objectionable. They are often built where they are not +needed, of dimensions and at a cost entirely disproportionate to any +public use to which they can be applied, and as a consequence they +frequently serve more to demonstrate the activity and pertinacity of +those who represent localities desiring this kind of decoration at +public expense than to meet any necessity of the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7715, entitled "An act for the +relief of Georgia A. Stricklett." + +By the terms of this bill a pension is allowed to the beneficiary above +named, whose husband died on the 21st day of July, 1873. It appears from +the records that he was mustered into the service to date from October +10, 1863, to serve for one year. It is alleged in the report of the +committee of the House who reported this bill that he was wounded with +buckshot in the face and head by bushwhackers, when on recruiting +service, on the 23d day of July, 1863. If these dates are correct, he +was wounded before he entered the service; but this fact is not made the +basis of the disapproval of the widow's application for relief. There +seems, however, to be no mention of any such injury during his term of +service, though he is reported sick much of the time when present with +his regiment, and is reported as once in hospital for a disease which, +to say the least of it, can not be recognized as related to the service. + +The soldier himself made no application for pension. + +A physician testifies that he was present on the 21st day of July, 1873, +when the soldier died; that he examined the body after death, and to the +best of his knowledge such death was caused partially by epilepsy, and +that the epilepsy was the result of "wounds about the face and head +received during his service during the war." + +Another physician testifies that the soldier applied to him for +treatment in 1868, and that his disability was the development of +confirmed epilepsy, and he expresses the opinion that this was due to a +wound from a buckshot. This physician, while not giving epilepsy as the +cause of death, says that "had he lived to die a natural death he +certainly would have died an insane epileptic." + +The report speaks of his death by "an accidental shot." + +The truth appears to be that he was killed by a pistol shot in an +altercation with another man. + +Unless it shall be assumed that the epilepsy was caused by the buckshot +wound spoken of, and unless a pension should be allowed because, if the +soldier had not been killed in an altercation, he might have soon died +from such epilepsy, this bill is entirely devoid of merit. + +Surely no one will seriously propose that a claim for pension should +rest upon a conjecture as to what would have caused death if it had not +occurred in an entirely different way. + +The testimony of the physician who testified in this case that death was +caused partially by epilepsy suggests the extreme recklessness which may +characterize medical testimony in applications for pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 18, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2282, entitled "An act to +pension Mrs. Theodora M. Piatt." + +The deceased husband of the beneficiary named in this bill served +faithfully and well in the volunteer service, and after his discharge as +major entered the Regular Army and was on the retired list at the time +of his death, which occurred on the 17th day of April, 1885. At that +time he seems to have been engaged in the practice of the law at +Covington, Ky. + +He does not appear to have contracted any distinct and definite +disability in his army service, though his health and strength were +doubtless somewhat impaired by hardship and exposure. + +It is conceded that he committed suicide by shooting himself with a +pistol. + +A coroner's inquest was held and the following verdict was returned: + + Benjamin M. Piatt came to his death from a pistol bullet through the + brain, fired from a pistol in his own hand, with suicidal intent, + while laboring under a fit of temporary insanity, caused by morbid + sensitiveness of wasted opportunities and constantly brooding over + imaginary troubles and financial difficulties. + + +It is said in support of his widow's claim for pension that, being lame +as a result, in part at least, of his military service, he, by reason of +such lameness, fell from a staircase a few months before his death, the +injury from which affected his mind, causing insanity, which in its turn +resulted in his suicide. + +Much interest is manifested in this case, based upon former friendship +and intimacy with the deceased and kind feeling and sympathy for his +widow. I should be glad to respond to these sentiments to the extent of +approving this bill, but it is one of the misfortunes of public life and +official responsibility that a sense of duty frequently stands between a +conception of right and a sympathetic inclination. + +The verdict returned upon the coroner's inquest, founded upon a friendly +examination of all the facts surrounding the melancholy death of this +soldier, made at the time of death and in the midst of his neighbors and +friends, both by what it contains and by what is omitted, together with +the other facts developed, leads me to the conclusion that if a pension +is granted in this case no soldier's widow's application based upon +suicide can be consistently rejected. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 18, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5545, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Nancy F. Jennings." + +William Jennings, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted in October, 1861, and was discharged June 24, 1862, upon a +surgeon's certificate of disability, the cause of disability being +therein stated as "hemorrhoids." + +He never applied for a pension, and died in 1877 of apoplexy. + +In the report of the committee which reported this bill the allegation +is made that the deceased came home from the Army with chronic diarrhea +and suffered from the same to the date of his death. + +The widow filed a claim for pension in 1878, which was rejected on the +ground that the fatal disease (apoplexy) was not due to military service +nor the result of either of the complaints mentioned. + +If we are to adhere to the rule that in order to entitle the widow of a +soldier to a pension the death of her husband must be in some way +related to his military service, there can be no doubt that upon its +merits this case was properly disposed of by the Pension Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 18, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval a joint resolution, which originated in the +House of Representatives, "authorizing the use and improvement of Castle +Island, in Boston Harbor." + +This island is separated from the mainland of the city of Boston by a +channel over one-half mile wide. Fort Independence is located on the +island, and it is regarded by our military authorities as quite +important to the defense of the city. + +The proposition contained in the joint resolution is to permit the city +of Boston, through its park commissioners, to improve and beautify this +island in connection with a public park to be laid out in the city, with +the intention of joining the mainland and the island by the construction +of a viaduct or causeway across the water now separating the same. + +It is quite plain that the occupancy of this island as a place of +pleasure and recreation, as contemplated under this resolution, would be +entirely inconsistent with military or defensive uses. I do not regard +the control reserved in the resolution to the Secretary of War over such +excavations, fillings, and structures upon the island as may be proposed +as of much importance. When a park is established there, the island is +no longer a defense in time of need. + +This scheme, or one of the same character, was broached more than four +years ago, and met the disapproval of the Secretary of War and the +Engineer Department. + +I am now advised by the Secretary of War, the Chief of Engineers, and +the Lieutenant-General of the Army, in quite positive terms, that the +resolution under consideration should not, for reasons fully stated by +them, become operative. + +I deem the opinions of these officers abundant justification for my +disapproval of the resolution without further statement of objections. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 18, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_. + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1064, entitled "An act for the +relief of L.J. Worden." + +This bill directs the Postmaster-General to allow to L.J. Worden, +recently the postmaster at Lawrence, Kans., the sum of $625 paid out by +him as such postmaster for clerk hire during the period from July 1, +1882, to June 30, 1883. + +The allowances to these officers for clerk hire and other like expenses +are fixed in each case by the Post-Office Department and are paid out of +an appropriation made in gross to cover them all. The excess of receipts +for box rents and commissions over and above the salary of the +postmaster is adopted by law as the maximum amount of such allowances in +each case, and within that limit the amount appropriated is apportioned +by the Post-Office Department to the different offices according to +their needs. + +The allowances to the Lawrence post-office for the year ending June 30, +1883, was $3,100. This was fully its proportion of the appropriation +made by Congress for that year, and as much as was in most cases given +to other offices of the same grade. In September, 1882, during the +first quarter of the year in question, the postmaster made application +for an increase of his allowances, which was declined, and a similar +application in December of the same year was also declined. The reason +given for noncompliance with this request in both cases was a lack of +funds. It is the rule to make only such allowances in any year as can +be paid from the appropriation made for that period. + +No further application for increase of allowances was made by Mr. Worden +until March, 1884, when the same were increased $300 for the year, to +date from the 1st day of January preceding. + +It was found at that time, after a full and fair investigation by the +Department, which had in hand abundant funds for an increase of these +allowances, that notwithstanding the increase of business at this +post-office, $300 added to the allowances for the year from July 1, +1882, to June 30, 1883, was sufficient; and yet more than twice that sum +is added by the bill under consideration to the allowances for the year +last named. + +Forty-four postmasters have submitted vouchers, amounting to nearly +$9,000, for clerk hire during that year in excess of allowances; but +they were all rejected, and I understand have not been insisted upon. + +I assume that the Post-Office Department in 1884 dealt justly and fairly +by the postmaster at Lawrence, and upon this theory, if he should be +reimbursed any expenditure for a previous year, the demand he now makes +is excessive. + +But the cases should be exceedingly rare in which postmasters are +awarded any more than the allowances made by the Department officers. +They have the very best means of ascertaining the amount necessary to +meet the demands of the service in any particular case, and it certainly +may be assumed that they desire to properly accommodate the public in +the matter of postal facilities. When the appropriation is sufficient, +the decision of the Department should be final; and when the money in +hand does not admit of adequate allowances, postmasters should only be +reimbursed money voluntarily expended by them when recommended by the +Postmaster-General. + +Any other course leads to the expenditure of money by postmasters for +work which they should do themselves and to the employment of clerks +which are unnecessary. The least encouragement that they may be repaid +such expenditure by a special appropriation would dangerously tend to +the substitution of their judgment for that of the Department and to the +relaxation of wholesome discipline. + +I think, when the application of Mr. Worden for an increase in his +allowances was twice declined for any cause during the year covering his +present demand, that if he made personal expenditures for clerk hire, +and especially if he did so without the encouragement of the Department, +they were made at his own risk. It appears, too, that the amount of his +claim is larger than can be justified in any event. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + +The time allowed the Executive by the Constitution for the examination +of bills presented to him by Congress for his action expired in the case +of the bill herewith returned on Saturday, May 19. The Senate adjourned +or took a recess on Thursday afternoon, May 17, until to-day, the 21st +of May. + +On the day of said recess or adjournment the above message, disapproving +said bill and accompanying its return to the Senate, where it +originated, was drawn, and on May 18 was engrossed and signed. On +Saturday, the 19th of May, the Senate not being in session, the message +and the bill were tendered to the Secretary of the Senate, who declined +to receive them, and thereupon they were on the same day tendered to the +President of the Senate, who also declined to receive the same, both of +these officials claiming that the return of said bill and the delivery +of said message could only properly be made to the Senate when in actual +session. + +They are therefore transmitted as soon as the Senate reconvenes after +its recess, with this explanation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + +[May 22 the Senate proceeded, as the Constitution prescribes, to +reconsider the said bill returned by the President of the United States +with his objections, pending which it was ordered that the said bill and +message be referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections. No +action was taken.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 88, entitled "An act granting a +pension to Sally A. Randall." + +Antipas Taber enlisted in the War of 1812 and was discharged in the year +1814. There is no claim made that he received any injury in the Army or +that his death, which happened long after his discharge, was in the +slightest degree related to his military service. It does not appear +that he ever made any application for a pension or was ever upon the +pension rolls. He died at Trinidad, in the island of Cuba, April 11, +1831, leaving as his widow the beneficiary mentioned in this bill. About +twenty-two years after his death, and in February, 1853, she married +Albert Randall, and twenty years thereafter, in October, 1873, Randall +died, leaving her again a widow. + +It is alleged in the report of the committee in the House to which this +bill was referred that Mrs. Randall is a worthy woman, 75 years of age, +in needy circumstances, with health much impaired, and that the petition +for her relief was signed by prominent citizens of Norwich, Conn., where +she now resides. + +All this certainly commends her case to the kindness and benevolence of +the citizens mentioned, and the State of Connecticut ought not to allow +her to be in needy circumstances. + +It seems to me, however, that it would establish a bad precedent to +provide for her from the Federal Treasury. From the statement of her +present age she must have been born during the time of her first +husband's enlistment. She knew nothing of his military service except as +the same may have been detailed to her. Her first widowhood had no +connection with any incident or condition of health traceable to such +service, and her second husband, with whom she lived for twenty years, +never entered the military service of the Government. + +I do not see how the relief proposed can be granted in this case without +an unjustifiable departure from the rules under which applications for +pension should be determined. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 879, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Royal J. Hiar." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted November 11, 1861, in the +First Regiment of Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. He is reported as +absent without proper authority from May 24, 1862, to January 15, 1863, +when he was discharged by reason of varicose veins of the left leg and +thigh, claimed to have existed before enlistment. + +He filed a claim for pension August 30, 1876, alleging disease of the +right side and hip, due to typhoid pneumonia, contracted while repairing +a hospital tent in March, 1862. + +There is no record of this disease. The proof he furnishes of the same +is extremely slight, though he was furnished ample opportunity. The +disability of which he complains has no natural relation to the sickness +he claims to have had during his service, but is quite a natural result +of "an injury while logging," to which some of the witnesses examined in +a special examination of the case attribute it. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5234, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Cyrenius G. Stryker." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted for nine months in +September, 1862, and was discharged June 27, 1863. + +His enlistment was in Company A, Thirtieth New Jersey Regiment. The bill +proposes to pension him as "a private in Company A, Thirtieth Regiment +New York Volunteers." + +He alleges that he was pushed or fell from the platform of a car in +which he was transported to Washington after enlistment and injured his +spine. On the claim which he presented to the Pension Bureau in June, +1879, repeated medical examinations failed to reveal any disability from +the cause alleged, and after a special examination his claim was +rejected because, with the assistance of such special examination, the +claimant did not prove the origin of alleged injury in service and the +line of duty or a pensionable degree of disability therefrom since +discharge. + +The evidence now offered in support of this claim appears to have +reference to a time long anterior to its rejection by the Pension Bureau +in 1886, and does not impeach the finding of the Bureau that at the +latter date there existed no pensionable disability. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3579, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Ellen Shea." + +This beneficiary is an old lady and a widow. Her son, Michael Shea, +enlisted in January, 1862. The records show that he was sick on one or +two occasions during his service. He is also reported as a deserter and +absent without leave and in arrest and confinement fully as often as he +was sick. He was discharged January 20, 1865. + +No application for a pension has been made on his behalf. The mother +filed a claim for pension in July, 1884, alleging that her son +contracted a fever in the service which resulted in insanity, which was +the cause of his death on the 10th day of March, 1884. + +He was killed by a snow slide in the State of Colorado. The only hint +that his death was in any way connected with the service is the +suggestion that not having the proper use of his mind he wandered away +and was killed. + +His mother now lives in Chicago and, I suppose, lived there at the +time of her son's death. There is very little evidence offered of any +unsoundness of mind, and his death occurring at Woodstock, Colo., it is +hardly to be supposed that he wandered that far. And as tending to show +that unsoundness of mind had nothing to do with his death it may be +mentioned that an attorney having the mother's application for pension +in charge withdrew from the case in October, 1884, for the reason that, +having made inquiries at the place where the soldier was killed, he +found that his death was caused by a snow slide, and that he was +informed that a number of other persons lost their lives at the same +time. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8164, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William H. Hester." + +It is claimed that the beneficiary named in this bill was injured by +sand blowing in his eyes during a sand storm while in the service in the +year 1869, resulting in nearly if not quite total blindness. + +It is conceded in the report of the committee to which this bill was +referred in the House that the claim for pension made by this man to the +Pension Bureau was largely supported by perjury and forgery; but the +criminality of these methods is made to rest upon three rogues and +scoundrels who undertook to obtain a pension for the soldier, and it is +stated by the committee as their opinion that the claimant himself was +innocent of any complicity in the crimes committed and attempted. + +I have quite a full report of the papers filed and proceedings taken in +relation to the claim presented to the Pension Bureau, and I am sorry +that I can not agree with the committee of the House as to the merits of +the application now made or the good faith and honesty of the +beneficiary named in the bill herewith returned. + +Among the facts presented I shall refer to but one or two touching the +conduct of the claimant himself. + +Upon his examination, under oath, by a special examiner, he stated that +he was brought to Washington to further his claim by a man named Miller, +one of the rascally attorneys spoken of in the committee's report; that +Miller was to pay his expenses while in Washington, and was to receive +one-third of the money paid upon the claim. + +This is not the conduct of a man claiming in good faith a pension from +the Government. + +He further stated under oath that his eyes became affected about January +15, 1869, by reason of a sand storm; that the sand blew into them and +cut them all to pieces; that he was thereafter hardly able to see or get +around and wait on himself, and that Edward N. Baldwin took care of him +in his tent. + +This Mr. Baldwin was found by the special examiner and testified that he +knew the claimant and served in same regiment and bunked with him; that +he never knew of the sand storm spoken of by Hester; that he never knew +that he had sore eyes in the service; that he (Baldwin) did not take +care of him when he was suffering with sore eyes, and that he never knew +of Hester being sick but once, and that was when he had eaten too much. +He was shown an affidavit purporting to be made by him and declared the +entire thing to be false and a forgery. + +I believe this claim for pension to be a fraud from beginning to end, +and the effrontery with which it has been pushed shows the necessity of +a careful examination of these cases. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6609, entitled "An act for the +relief of Sarah E. McCaleb." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill was wounded in the +head at the battle of Fort Donelson on the 15th day of February, 1862. +He served thereafter and was promoted, and was discharged June 30, 1865. + +He died by suicide in 1878. + +He never applied for a pension. + +The suggestion is made that the wound in his head predisposed him to +mental unsoundness, but it does not appear to be claimed that he was +insane. + +I can not believe that his suicide had any connection with his army +service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4580, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Farnaren Ball." + +In the report of the committee to which this bill was referred the name +of this beneficiary is given as "Farnaren Ball," and in a report from +the Pension Bureau it is insisted that the correct name is "Tamezen +Ball." + +Her son, Augustus F. Coldecott, was pensioned for disease of the lungs +up to the time of his death, which occurred June 2, 1872. + +The cause of his death was an overdose of laudanum, and whether it was +taken by mistake or design is uncertain. + +The mother is not entirely destitute, deriving an income, though small, +from the interest upon a mortgage given to her upon a sale of some real +estate. + +The proofs with which I have been furnished fail to satisfy me that the +Government should grant a pension on account of death produced by a +self-administered narcotic in the circumstances which surround this +case. + +As a general proposition I see nothing unjust or unfair in holding that +if a pensioner is sick and through ignorance or design takes laudanum +without the direction or regulation of a physician the Government should +not be held responsible for the consequences. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 339, entitled "An act for the +relief of J.E. Pilcher." + +This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the party +named therein the sum of $905, being the amount of one bond of $100 and +$805 in paper money of the Republic of Texas. + +It is directed, however, that this money be paid out of the Texas +indemnity fund. + +This fund was created under a law passed on the 28th day of February, +1855, appropriating the sum of $7,750,000 to pay certain claims against +the Republic of Texas. By the terms of said law a certain time was fixed +within which such claims were to be presented to the Treasury +Department. + +Between the passage of said act and the year 1870 the sum of +$7,648,786.73 was paid upon said claims, leaving of the money +appropriated an unexpended balance of $101,213.27. + +This balance was on the 30th day of June, 1877, carried to the surplus +fund and covered into the Treasury, pursuant to section 5 of chapter 328 +of the laws of 1874. + +Thus since that date it seems there has been no Texas indemnity fund, +nor is there any such fund now from which the money mentioned in the +bill herewith returned can be paid. + +In this condition of affairs the proposed law could not be executed and +would be of no possible use. + +If the claims mentioned are such as should be paid by the United States, +there appears to be no difficulty in making an appropriation for their +payment from the general funds of the Government. I notice an item to +meet a similar claim was inserted in a deficiency bill passed on the 7th +day of July, 1884. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 347, entitled "An act to +provide for the erection of a public building in the city of Youngstown, +Ohio." + +By the census of 1880 the population of Youngstown appears to be 15,435. +It is claimed by those urging the erection of a public building there +that its population has nearly doubled since that date. The amount +appropriated in the bill herewith returned is $75,000. There does not +seem to be any governmental purpose to which such a building could be +properly devoted except the accommodation of the post-office. + +I have listened to an unusual amount of personal representation in favor +of this bill from parties whose desires I should be glad to meet on this +or any other question; but none of them have insisted that there is any +present governmental need of the proposed new building even for postal +purposes. On the contrary, I am informed that the post-office is at +present well accommodated in quarters held under a lease which does not +expire, I believe, until 1892. A letter addressed to the postmaster at +Youngstown containing certain questions bearing upon the necessity of a +new building failed to elicit a reply. This fact is very unusual and +extraordinary, for the postmaster can almost always be relied upon to +make an exhibit of the great necessity of larger quarters when a new +public building is in prospect. + +The fact was communicated to me early in the present session of the +Congress that the aggregate sum of the appropriations contained in bills +for the erection and extension of public buildings which had up to that +time been referred to the House Committee on Public Buildings and +Grounds was about $37,000,000. + +Of course this fact would have no particular relevancy if all the +buildings asked for were necessary for the transaction of public +business, as long as we have the money to pay for them; but inasmuch as +a large number of the buildings proposed are unnecessary and their +erection would be wasteful and extravagant, besides furnishing +precedents for further and more extended reckless expenditures of a like +character, it seems to me that applications for new and expensive public +buildings should be carefully scrutinized. + +I am satisfied that the appropriation of $75,000 for a building at +Youngstown is at present not justified. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1237, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Anna Mertz." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of Charles A. Mertz, who +served in the Army as captain from April, 1862, to June, 1863, when he +resigned on account of impaired health. It is stated in the committee's +report that after his return from the Army he worked occasionally at his +trade, though subject to attacks of very severe diarrhea, accompanied +with acute catarrhal pains in the head and face, which he constantly +attributed to his army service. + +It is alleged that he had several times taken morphine, under medical +advice, to allay pain caused by these attacks. + +He did not apply for a pension. + +On the 1st day of December, 1884, more than twenty-one years after +his discharge from the Army, he died from an overdose of morphine +self-administered, for the purpose, it is claimed, of alleviating his +suffering. + +I do not think that in this case the death of the soldier was so related +to his military service as to entitle his widow to a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 820, entitled "An act granting +a pension to David A. Servis." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted August 14, 1862, and was +discharged June 8, 1865. + +It is alleged that about the month of January, 1863, a comrade, by way +of a joke, put powder into a pipe which the beneficiary was accustomed +to smoke and covered it with tobacco, so that when he lighted it the +powder exploded and injured his eyes. The report of the Senate committee +states that it does not appear that "any notice was taken of this wanton +act of his tent mate." + +There is no mention of any disability or injury in the record of the +soldier's service. He seems to have served nearly two years and a half +after the injury. He filed an application for a pension in May, 1885, +more than twenty-two years thereafter. + +Whatever may be the extent of the injury sustained, in regard to which +the evidence is apparently quite meager, I can not see that it was such +a result of military service as to entitle the applicant to a pension. + +The utmost liberality to those who were in our Army hardly justifies a +compensation by way of pension for injuries incurred in sport or pastime +or as the result of a practical joke. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 835, entitled "An act for the +relief of Elisha Griswold." + +The beneficiary named in this bill, which awards him a pension, enlisted +in January, 1864, and was discharged February 12, 1866. + +His claim for pension, as developed in the report of the Senate +Committee on Pensions, is based upon the allegation that in January, +1866, he fell from a swing which had been put up in the building +occupied as a barrack and struck on his head and shoulder. + +The committee report in favor of the bill upon the grounds that the +soldier was injured "while engaged in recreation" and that "such +recreation is a necessary part of a soldier's life." + +The beneficiary filed an application in January, 1880, and in support of +such application he filed on the 16th day of July, 1886, an affidavit in +which he testifies that at the time of the injury he was in prison at +San Antonio, Tex., upon charges the character of which he could not +ascertain, and that the swing from which he fell was erected by himself +and others for pastime and exercise. + +It will be seen that the injury complained of is alleged to have been +sustained less than a month before his discharge. There is, however, no +record of any disability. + +His claim based upon this injury was, in my opinion, properly rejected +as having no connection with his military service, and I think the facts +in his case as herein detailed do not justify the award of a pension to +him by special enactment. + +On the 23d day of March, 1888, after the introduction of the bill +herewith returned, the beneficiary, apparently having abandoned the +claim upon which the bill is predicated, filed another application for a +pension in the Pension Bureau, alleging that he contracted diarrhea and +malarial poisoning in the service. This application is still pending. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 1275, entitled "An act for the +erection of a public building at Columbus, Ga., and appropriating money +therefor." + +The city of Columbus, Ga., is undoubtedly a thriving, growing city. +The only present necessity for a public building there is for the +accommodation of its post-office. It is stated in the report of the +House committee that the gross revenues of the office for the year +ending June 30, 1887, were $16,700. The postmaster, in a letter upon the +subject, makes the following statement: + + I estimate the gross receipts at $17,500 for the fiscal year ending + March 31, which will be an increase of nearly 7 per cent over last + year's receipts. + + +There are nine persons employed in the post-office at present, including +the postmaster. The present quarters are leased by the Government at an +annual rent of $900. The postmaster represents that his accommodations +are not adequate or convenient, and that instead of a space of 1,900 +square feet, which he now has, he should be provided with 2,500 square +feet. + +The population of the city in 1880 was 10,123. It is claimed that it is +now about 20,000. + +In my opinion the facts presented do not exhibit the necessity of the +expenditure of $100,000 to afford the increased room for the post-office +which may be desirable. I believe a private person would erect a +building abundantly sufficient for all our postal needs in that city for +many years to come for one-third of that sum. + +Business prudence and good judgment seem to dictate that the erection +of the proposed building should be delayed until its necessity is more +manifest, and so that it can be better determined what expenditure for +such a purpose will be justified by the continued growth of the city and +the needs of the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 5, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith without approval House bill No. 4467, entitled "An act +for the erection of a public building at Bar Harbor, in Maine." + +The entire town within which Bar Harbor is situated contained in 1880 +1,639 inhabitants, as appears by the census of that year. + +There is no pretense that there is any need of a public building there +except to accommodate the post-office. + +This is a third-class office, and the Government does not pay the rent +for offices of that class. The gross receipts of the office for the year +ended June 30, 1887, are reported by the Postmaster-General at $5,337. +The postmaster reports that he employs five clerks in the summer and +three in the winter. The fact that Bar Harbor is a place of very +extensive summer resort makes its population exceedingly variable, and +during a part of the year it is quite likely that the influx of pleasure +seekers may make a more commodious post-office desirable, though there +does not seem to be much complaint of present inconvenience. + +The postmaster pays a rent of $500 per annum for his present quarters. + +The amount appropriated by the bill is quite moderate, being only +$25,000, but the postmaster expresses the opinion that a proper site +alone would cost from twenty to thirty thousand dollars. + +I am decidedly of the opinion that if a public building is to be erected +at this place, of which at present there appears to be no necessity, it +should be done under a system which will not give the post-office and +the postmaster there an advantage over others of their class. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 5, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 1394, entitled "An act +authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase additional ground +for the accommodation of Government offices in Council Bluffs, Iowa." + +A new public building at Council Bluffs will be completed in a short +time. The ground upon which it is located has a frontage of 192 feet +and a depth of 106 feet and 10 inches. The proposition is to add 30 +feet to its depth. The act under which this building has been thus far +constructed provides that the ground purchased therefor shall be of such +dimensions as to leave the building unexposed to fire by an open space +of at least 40 feet, including streets and alleys. The building is +located on land now belonging to the Government sufficient in size to +comply with this provision, and in point of fact more than the open +space required is left on all sides of the same. There is no pretense +that any enlargement of the building is necessary or contemplated. + +The report of the committee to which this bill was referred in the House +simply states that "the grounds on which said building is situated are +inadequate for its proper accommodation and safety." + +If this is so, I can see no reason why additional ground should not +be purchased for "the proper accommodation and safety" of a large +proportion of the public buildings completed and in process of erection, +since the provision that there shall exist 40 feet of open space on +all sides is, I think, contained in all the bills authorizing their +construction. In this view the proposed legislation would establish a +very bad precedent. + +It is provided in the bill that the additional 30 feet mentioned shall +be purchased for a sum not to exceed $10,000. The adjoining 106 feet and +10 inches, located on the corner of two streets, were purchased in the +year 1882 by the Government for $15,000. The permission to purchase this +addition at a price per foot greatly in excess of that already owned by +the Government seems so unnecessary, except to benefit the owner, that I +am of the opinion it should not be granted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 739, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Johanna Loewinger." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill enlisted June 28, +1861, and was discharged May 8, 1862, upon a surgeon's certificate of +disability. He was pensioned for chronic diarrhea. He died July 17, +1876. A coroner's inquest was held, who found by their verdict that the +deceased came to his death "from suicide by cutting his throat with a +razor, caused by long-continued illness." + +This inquest was held immediately after the soldier's death, and it +appears that the case was fully investigated, with full opportunities to +discover the truth. Upon the verdict found, in the absence of insanity +caused by any disability, it can hardly be claimed that his death was +caused by his military service. The attempts afterwards to impeach this +verdict and introduce another cause of death do not seem to be +successful. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1772, entitled "An act for the +relief of John H. Marion." + +It is proposed by this bill to relieve the party named therein from an +indebtedness to the Government amounting to $1,042.45, arising from the +nonfulfillment of a contract made by him in 1884 with the Government, by +which he agreed to furnish for the use of the Quartermaster's Department +a quantity of grama hay. + +The contractor wholly failed to furnish the hay as agreed, and thereupon +the Government, pursuant to the terms of the contract, obtained the hay +in other quarters, paying therefor a larger sum by $1,042.45 than it +would have been obliged to pay the contractor if he had fulfilled his +agreement. This amount was charged against the contractor. + +It is alleged that the crop of the particular kind of hay which was to +be furnished under the contract failed the season in which it was to be +supplied on account of drought, and that thus performance became +impossible on the part of the contractor. + +Between individuals no injustice could be claimed if the contractor in +such circumstances should be held to have taken the chances of the crop; +and if an equitable adjustment should be suggested in such a case as is +here presented it would hardly be asked that the party suffering from +the default or failure of the other should sustain all the loss. + +It seems that the contractor was the proprietor of a newspaper in +Arizona, and that he did some printing for the Government besides +agreeing to furnish hay to the Quartermaster's Department. After the +ascertainment of the loss to the Government arising out of the hay +transactions, certain accounts for printing presented by the contractor +were credited against the amount of such loss charged against him. In +this way his debt to the Government has been reduced more than $700. The +proposed legislation would cause to be paid to the contractor the sums +so retained for printing and to relieve him from the remainder of the +Government's claims. + +Inquiry at the Quartermaster-General's Office fails to substantiate the +allegation that there is any understanding when such contracts are made +that their performance is to be at all relaxed by the failure of the +crop. + +There really seems to be no good reason why the contractor should not +make good the entire loss consequent upon his default. If, however, +strict rights are to be relinquished and the liberality of the +Government invoked, it should not be taxed beyond the limit of sharing +the loss with the delinquent. This result would be accomplished by +discharging the remainder of the contractor's debt after crediting the +bills for printing above referred to. + +The Government is obliged in the transaction of its business to make +numerous contracts with private parties, and if these contracts are to +be of any use or protection they should not be lightly set aside on +behalf of citizens who are disappointed as to their profitable nature or +their ability to perform them. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1017, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Stephen Schiedel." + +The beneficiary named in this bill served in the First Regiment Missouri +Light Artillery from October 24, 1861, to October, 1864. There is no +record of any injury or disability while in the service. + +In March, 1880, sixteen years after his discharge, he filed an +application for a pension, alleging that about June, 1862, while +carrying logs to aid in building quarters, a log slipped and fell upon a +lever, which flew up and struck him, injuring his back and shoulder. + +He furnished the testimony of two witnesses tending to support his +statement of the manner in which he was injured, but upon investigation +this evidence was found to be unreliable. + +Medical examinations failed to disclose any disability from the cause +alleged, but do tend to show that he was disabled since his discharge by +an injury to his right hand and arm and some rheumatic trouble. + +It is not claimed that he incurred any disability from rheumatism while +in the Army. It appears distinctly that he was wounded in the right +wrist and arm while firing a cannon at the village of Hamburg, Erie +County, N.Y., on the 4th day of July, 1866. The doctor who testifies to +this injury and who dressed the wound negatives any other illness before +the accident. + +Even if he has, since his discharge, suffered from rheumatism, he does +not claim that this was incurred in the Army. He bases his right to a +pension entirely upon an injury which he particularly describes, and +which the medical examination does not sustain. It will be observed, +too, that he continued his military service for two years and four +months after the date of his alleged injury. It seems hardly possible +that he could have done this if he had been injured in the manner he +alleges. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 18, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3959, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Dolly Blazer." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill was apparently a good +soldier and was confined for a time in a Confederate prison. He was +mustered out of the service in June, 1865, and never applied for a +pension. + +He died in 1878, leaving as survivors his widow and several children, +two of whom are alleged to be still under 16 years of age. + +The cause of the soldier's death was yellow fever. There is in my mind +no doubt of this fact, and the attempt to establish any other cause of +death, if successful, would go far toward fixing a precedent for the +rejection of all evidence which stood in the way of a claim for pension. + +The bill herewith returned is disapproved for the reason that the death +of the soldier had no relation to his military service, and I do not +think there should be a discrimination in favor of this applicant and +against many thousands of widows fully as well entitled. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 18, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5522, entitled "An act for the +relief of Elijah Martin." + +By this bill it is proposed to increase the pension now paid to the +beneficiary therein named, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, from $8 +to $20 per month. + +Prior to May 22, 1888, an application was made for reimbursement of the +expenses attending the last sickness and burial of this pensioner, and +on the day mentioned such application was transmitted to the proper +auditing officer for adjustment. + +I have no other information of the death of this soldier, but as his age +is stated in the report of the House committee to be 87 years, and as +there can hardly be a mistake as to the identity of the person named in +the application mentioned, I am satisfied that the beneficiary has died +since the introduction of the bill for his relief. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 488, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Elizabeth Burr." + +It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension to the beneficiary +therein named as the widow of William Burr, who enlisted for one hundred +days in 1864 and was discharged on the 3d day of September in that year. + +He is reported as present on all roll calls during his service. He died +April 7, 1867, of dropsy, never having made any application for a +pension. + +His widow filed an application for pension in 1880, thirteen years after +the soldier's death, alleging that the disease of which he died, claimed +to be dropsy, was contracted in the service. + +The claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground that the +dropsy causing his death was not due to his military service, but that +he was subject to the same before his enlistment. + +I am perfectly satisfied that the rejection upon the ground claimed was +correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1957, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Virtue Smith." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of David M. Smith +(incorrectly named David W. Smith in the bill), who served as a bugler +in a Minnesota regiment from August 22, 1862, to September 28, 1862, in +a campaign against the Sioux Indians. + +He received a gunshot wound in the right elbow, for which in 1867 he was +granted a pension of $6 a month, which was very soon thereafter +increased to $8, and in August, 1875, said pension was further increased +to $10 a month, which he received to the date of his death. + +He died in the city of Washington on the 22d day of January, 1880. + +He obtained a position in the Second Auditor's Office of the Treasury +Department in 1864, and worked steadily there until about six months +before his death. + +Medical examinations had from time to time up to 1877 seem to have found +him in excellent physical condition except the wound in his right elbow, +which caused stiffness, and an injury to his left forearm not received +in the Army. + +In 1879 he was examined by a physician of this city who stands among the +best in the profession, and found in the last stages of consumption, and +this physician declares he died from that cause. A female physician +certified that the cause of death was "wounds in the Army." + +The pensioner was 64 years old at the time of his death. + +I am perfectly satisfied from the medical testimony and from other facts +connected with this case that the death of the husband of the +beneficiary was in no manner related to his military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3016, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary F. Harkins." + +The husband of this beneficiary was discharged from the military service +in 1865, and was pensioned for a gunshot wound in the right foot at the +rate of $6 per month. + +He died in 1882, seventeen years after his discharge, "from rupture of +the heart, caused by the bursting and parting of the fibers of the right +ventricle." + +The claim is now made that the death was the result of the wound in the +foot. + +An application to the Pension Bureau was rejected on the ground that the +death cause was not the result of the wound. + +I am satisfied that this was a just conclusion. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 600, entitled "An act +increasing the pension of Mary Minor Hoxey." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill was, while on military +duty, wounded in the left hand and afterwards in the thigh. He was +pensioned in 1871 on account of these wounds, and in 1879 was allowed +arrearages from time of his discharge. He died in December, 1881, of +consumption, being at that time in the receipt of a pension at the rate +of $17 per month. + +In 1884 his widow was allowed a pension at the same rate, with $2 a +month each for two minor children. The children have now attained the +age of 16 years, but the widow still receives the pension awarded to +her, which is the same as that allowed to all widows of her class. + +I discover no reason of any substance why this pension should be +increased, and if it should be done it would only be a manifestation of +unjust favoritism. + +I can not forget the thousands of poor widows with claims superior to +this beneficiary, but with no interested friends to push their claims +for increase of pension, who would be discriminated against if this +proposed bill becomes a law. + +It seems to me that there is a chance to do injustice by unfair caprice +in fixing the rates of pension, as well as by refusing them altogether +when they should be granted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8281, entitled "An act for the +relief of Lieutenant James G.W. Hardy." + +It is proposed by this bill to award a pension to the beneficiary above +named. + +In the month of January, 1864, he was on recruiting service in the State +of Indiana. On the 15th day of that month he was traveling between +Indianapolis and Lafayette in a railroad car, and he alleges that he +raised a window of the car to obtain air, and placed his arm on the +window sill, when it was struck by something from the outside and one of +the bones of his arm broken. + +In February, 1865, he resigned on account of disability caused by the +accident above mentioned, the medical certificate then stating that he +had a fracture of the right humerus of ten months' standing which had +not been properly adjusted. + +He made an application for a pension to the Pension Bureau, which was +rejected. + +Although it is stated in a general way that he was traveling on business +connected with his recruiting service at the time of his injury, he has +given no information as to the precise purpose of his journey; and it is +conceded that he was guilty of such negligence that he had no right of +action against the railroad company. + +It also appears by the medical certificate upon which his resignation +was permitted that the fracture, not necessarily serious, was never +properly treated. It seems, too, that he remained in the service ten +months after the injury. + +I am unable to discover why a pension should be granted in this case, +unless the Government is to be held as an insurer of the safety of every +person in the military service in all circumstances and at all times and +places. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8174, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Ellen Sexton." + +The husband of the beneficiary served in the Union Volunteer Army from +October, 1862, to June, 1864, having been during the last seven months +of his service in the Veteran Reserve Corps. He was discharged for a +disability which, to say the least of it, certainly had no relation to +his military service, unless the Government is to be held responsible +for injury arising from vicious indulgence. + +He died in the city of Cork, Ireland, May 29, 1875, of consumption, +certified by the health authorities there to have been of seven years' +duration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2215, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Charles Glamann." + +This beneficiary served in an Illinois regiment from September, 1864, to +July, 1865, and his record shows no injury or sickness except an attack +of remittent fever. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1880, alleging that he was struck +accidentally with a half brick by a comrade and injured in his left arm. + +There is no doubt that whatever disability he thus incurred was the +result of a personal altercation between himself and the man who threw +the brick. + +The extent to which the power to grant pensions by special act has been +made to cover all sorts of claims is illustrated by the fact that, in +the light of many pensions that have been allowed, this case, though +presenting an absurd claim, does not appear to be much out of the way. +The effect of precedent as an inducement to increase and expand claims +and causes for pensions is also shown by the allegation in the report of +the House committee, as follows: + + Your committee and Congress have, however, frequently relaxed the rule, + and granted pension for injuries and disabilities incurred in such + circumstances. + + +I believe that if the veterans of the war knew all that was going on +in the way of granting pensions by private bills they would be more +disgusted than any class of our citizens. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 26, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 845, entitled "An act granting +a pension to the widow of John A. Turley." + +The husband of this beneficiary belonged to a Kentucky regiment of +volunteers, and in 1863, having been in camp and on leave of absence, +he and others of the regiment embarked on a steamboat, in charge of a +lieutenant, to be taken to Louisville, whither they had been ordered. + +While on the steamboat an altercation arose between two of the soldiers, +and the deceased interfered to prevent, as is alleged, an affray. By so +doing he was pushed or struck by one of the parties quarreling and fell +upon the deck of the boat, striking his head against a plank, thus +receiving a fatal injury. + +It is quite clear to me that the death of this soldier was not the +result of his military service. His presence on the boat was in the line +of duty, but he had no charge of the rest of the men and was in no +degree responsible for them, and whether he should be in any way +implicated in the dispute which occurred was a matter entirely within +his own control and determined by his own volition. If he had refrained +from interference, he would have saved himself and performed to the +utmost his military duty. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 432, entitled "An act for the +relief of Joel B. Morton." + +Calvin Morton, the son of the beneficiary named in this bill, enlisted +in the volunteer infantry in 1861, and after his discharge again +enlisted in the United States cavalry, from which he was discharged in +1867. + +It is alleged by his father that he was killed in the battle with the +Indians at Little Big Horn, called the "Custer massacre," June 25, 1876. + +His name does not appear in any record of the soldiers engaged in that +battle. The casualty records of the affair are reported as very +complete, but they contain no mention of any soldier of that name. + +His father claims in his application before the Pension Bureau to have +had a letter from his son in the fall of 1875, dated at some place in +the Black Hills, stating that he was a lieutenant in the army under +General Custer, but that the letter was lost. He also alleges that he +read an account of the massacre in a newspaper, the name of which he has +forgotten, and that his son was there mentioned as among the slain. + +The report of the House committee states that the only evidence of the +death of this soldier is found in a letter of Anderson G. Shaw, who +writes that he was present on the field of the battle mentioned when the +killed were buried, and that one of the burial party called a corpse +found there Morton's. It is further claimed that the description of this +body agreed with that given by the father of his son. + +Considering the complete list of the casualties attending this battle +now in the War Department, it must be conceded that the death of the son +of the beneficiary is far from being satisfactorily established. + +The claim of the father is still pending in the Pension Bureau, and +perhaps with further effort more information on the subject can be +obtained. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 43, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Polly H. Smith." + +John H. Smith, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted in the Regular Army in 1854 and served until the year 1870. + +In 1868 a fistula developed, which was probably the result of quite +continuous riding in the saddle. In 1870 he was placed upon the retired +list as first lieutenant on account of the incapacity arising from such +fistula. + +In September, 1885, fifteen years after his retirement, he died suddenly +at Portland, Oreg., of heart disease, while attempting to raise a trunk +to his shoulder. + +I can not see how the cause of death can be connected with his service +or with the incapacity for which he was placed upon the retired list. + +The application made by the widow for a pension is still pending before +the Pension Bureau, and I understand that she or her friends prefer +taking the chance of favorable consideration there to the approval of +this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1547, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary Ann Dougherty." + +A large share of the report of the Senate committee to which this bill +was referred, and which report is adopted by the committee of the House, +as is usual in such cases, consists of a petition signed by Mary Ann +Dougherty, addressed to the Congress, in which she states that she +resides in Washington, having removed here with her husband in 1863 +from New Jersey; that shortly after their arrival in this city her +husband, Daniel Dougherty, returned to New Jersey and enlisted in +the Thirty-fourth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers; that she obtained +employment in the United States arsenal making cartridges, and that +while so engaged she was injured by an explosion. + +She also states that she had a young son killed by machinery in the +navy-yard, and that at the grand review of the Army after the close of +the war another son, 6 years old, was stolen by an officer of the Army +and has not been heard of since. She further says that her husband left +his home in 1865 and has not been heard of since, and that she believes +he deserted her on account of her infirmities. + +It is alleged in the report that she received a pension as the widow of +Daniel Dougherty until it was discovered that he was alive, when her +name was dropped from the rolls. + +The petition of this woman is indorsed by the Admiral and several other +officers of the Navy and a distinguished clergyman of Washington, +certifying that they know Mrs. Dougherty and believe the facts stated to +be true. + +There is no pretense made now that this beneficiary is a widow, though +she at one time claimed to be, and was allowed a pension on that +allegation. Her present claim rests entirely upon injuries received by +her when she was concededly not employed in the military service. If the +pension now proposed is allowed her, it will be a mere act of charity. + +Her husband, Daniel Dougherty, is now living in Philadelphia, and is a +pensioner in his own right for disability alleged to have been incurred +while serving in the Thirty-fourth New Jersey Volunteers. Of this fact +this beneficiary has been repeatedly informed; and yet she states in her +petition that her husband deserted her in 1865 and has not been heard of +since. + +It is alleged in the Pension Bureau that in 1878 she succeeded in +securing a pension as the widow of Daniel Dougherty through fraudulent +testimony and much false swearing on her part. + +The police records of the precinct in which she has lived for years show +that she is a woman of very bad character, and that she has been under +arrest nine times for drunkenness, larceny, creating disturbance, and +misdemeanors of that sort. + +It happens that this claimant, by reason of her residence here, has been +easily traced and her character and untruthfulness discovered. But there +is much reason to fear that this case will find its parallel, in many +that have reached a successful conclusion. + +I can not spell out any principle upon which the bounty of the +Government is bestowed through the instrumentality of the flood of +private pension bills that reach me. The theory seems to have been +adopted that no man who served in the Army can be the subject of death +or impaired health except they are chargeable to his service. Medical +theories are set at naught and the most startling relation is claimed +between alleged incidents of military service and disability or death. +Fatal apoplexy is admitted as the result of quite insignificant wounds, +heart disease is attributed to chronic diarrhea, consumption to hernia, +and suicide is traced to army service in a wonderfully devious and +curious way. + +Adjudications of the Pension Bureau are overruled in the most peremptory +fashion by these special acts of Congress, since nearly all the +beneficiaries named in these bills have unsuccessfully applied to that +Bureau for relief. + +This course of special legislation operates very unfairly. + +Those with certain influence or friends to push their claims procure +pensions, and those who have neither friends nor influence must be +content with their fate under general laws. It operates unfairly by +increasing in numerous instances the pensions of those already on the +rolls, while many other more deserving cases, from the lack of fortunate +advocacy, are obliged to be content with the sum provided by general +laws. + +The apprehension may well be entertained that the freedom with which +these private pension bills are passed furnishes an inducement to fraud +and imposition, while it certainly teaches the vicious lesson to our +people that the Treasury of the National Government invites the approach +of private need. + +None of us should be in the least wanting in regard for the veteran +soldier, and I will yield to no man in a desire to see those who +defended the Government when it needed defenders liberally treated. +Unfriendliness to our veterans is a charge easily and sometimes +dishonestly made. + +I insist that the true soldier is a good citizen, and that he will be +satisfied with generous, fair, and equal consideration for those who are +worthily entitled to help. + +I have considered the pension list of the Republic a roll of honor, +bearing names inscribed by national gratitude, and not by improvident +and indiscriminate almsgiving. + +I have conceived the prevention of the complete discredit which must +ensue from the unreasonable, unfair, and reckless granting of pensions +by special acts to be the best service I can render our veterans. + +In the discharge of what has seemed to me my duty as related to +legislation, and in the interest of all the veterans of the Union Army, +I have attempted to stem the tide of improvident pension enactments, +though I confess to a full share of responsibility for some of these +laws that should not have been passed. + +I am far from denying that there are cases of merit which can not be +reached except by special enactment, but I do not believe there is a +member of either House of Congress who will not admit that this kind of +legislation has been carried too far. + +I have now before me more than 100 special pension bills, which can +hardly be examined within the time allowed for that purpose. + +My aim has been at all times, in dealing with bills of this character, +to give the applicant for a pension the benefit of any doubt that might +arise, and which balanced the propriety of granting a pension if there +seemed any just foundation for the application; but when it seemed +entirely outside of every rule in its nature or the proof supporting it, +I have supposed I only did my duty in interposing an objection. + +It seems to me that it would be well if our general pension laws should +be revised with a view of meeting every meritorious case that can arise. +Our experience and knowledge of any existing deficiencies ought to make +the enactment of a complete pension code possible. + +In the absence of such a revision, and if pensions are to be granted +upon equitable grounds and without regard to general laws, the present +methods would be greatly improved by the establishment of some tribunal +to examine the facts in every case and determine upon the merits of the +application. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8291, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Julia Welch." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill served in the Army +from December, 1863, to May, 1866. + +He never filed an application for pension, and died February 24, 1880, +of inflammation of the lungs. + +The claim filed by his widow for pension alleged that her husband +suffered from chronic diarrhea and disease of the heart and lungs as +results of his army service. + +The claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground that they +soldier died from an acute disease which bore no relation to any +complaint contracted in the Army. + +I think the action of the Bureau was correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7907, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary Ann Lang." + +The husband of this beneficiary was wounded in the nose on the 1st day +of June, 1864, and was mustered out of the service July 8, 1865. He was +pensioned on account of this wound and died February 21, 1881. Prior to +his death he had executed a declaration claiming pension also for +rheumatism, but the application was not filed before he died. + +The cause of his death was dropsy. The widow filed her claim for pension +in 1884, which was rejected on the ground that the soldier's fatal +disease was not the result of his military service. + +A physician of good repute, who appears to have attended him more than +any other physician for a number of years prior to his death, gives an +account of rheumatic ailments and other troubles, and states that about +a year and a half before he died he had a liver trouble which resulted +in dropsy, which caused his death. He adds that the soldier was a man +who drank beer, and at times to excess, and that he drank harder toward +the last of his life. He further states that he is unable to connect the +liver trouble with his rheumatism, and could not give any other reason +for it except his long use of beer and liquor, and if that was not the +cause it greatly aggravated it; that he had cautioned him about +drinking, and at times he heeded the advice. + +An appeal was taken from the action rejecting the claim and the case was +submitted to the medical referee of the Pension Bureau, who decided upon +all the testimony that the soldier's fatal disease (dropsy) was due to +disease of the liver, which was not a sequence of rheumatism and was the +result of excessive use of alcoholic stimulants. + +It will be observed that no claim is made that death in any way resulted +from the wound for which a pension had been allowed, and that even if +rheumatism was connected with the death its incurrence in the Army had +never been established. + +I am satisfied that this case was properly disposed of by the Pension +Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9184, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William M. Campbell, jr." + +This beneficiary was not enrolled in the service of the United States +until August 5, 1862. Previous to that time he had been a member of the +same regiment in which he was so enrolled, and was in the service of the +State of Kentucky. + +He alleges that in the month of February, 1862, he was vaccinated with +impure virus and in the same month contracted mumps. He claims that as +a result of these troubles he has been afflicted with ulcers and other +serious consequences. + +It is perfectly clear that at the time these disabilities were incurred, +if they were incurred, the claimant was not in the military service of +the United States. + +The records show that he deserted September 16, 1862, a little more than +a month after he was mustered into the United States service; that he +was arrested April 25, 1864, one year and seven months after his +desertion; that he was restored to duty by general court-martial with +loss of pay and allowances during absence (the time lost by desertion to +be made good), and that he was mustered out July 16, 1865. + +This enactment seems neither to have law nor meritorious equity to +support it. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8807, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Harriet E. Cooper." + +The husband of this beneficiary served as a major in an Illinois +regiment from September 3, 1862, to April 1, 1863, when his resignation +was accepted, it having been tendered on account of business affairs. + +He was pensioned for rheumatism from April, 1863, and died October 3, +1883. + +It is admitted on all hands that Major Cooper drank a good deal, but the +committee allege that they can not arrive at the conclusion that death +was attributable to that cause. + +There is some medical testimony tending to show that death was caused +from rheumatism, but one physician gives it as his opinion that death +resulted from rheumatism and chronic alcoholism. + +The physician who last attended the soldier testifies that the cause +of death was chronic alcoholism. This should be the most reliable of +all the medical testimony, and taken in connection with the conceded +intemperate habits of the deceased and the fact, that the brain was +involved, it satisfies me that the rejection of the widow's claim by +the Pension Bureau on the ground that the cause of death was mainly +intemperance was correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_; + +I return without approval House bill No. 6431, entitled "An act for the +relief of Van Buren Brown." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was discharged from the Army +September 11, 1865. + +He filed an application for pension in the Pension Bureau May 19, 1883, +alleging chronic diarrhea, rheumatism, spinal disease the result of an +injury, and deafness. + +His claim was very thoroughly examined and reopened and examined again +after rejection, and rejected a second time. + +The case is full of uncertainty and contradiction. Without discussing +these features, I am entirely satisfied that a pension should not be +allowed, for the reason, among others, that three careful medical +examinations made in 1883, 1884, and 1886 failed to disclose any +pensionable disability. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 6, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 367, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Nathaniel D. Chase." + +This beneficiary enlisted September 3, 1863. The records show that +he was admitted to a hospital March 3, 1864, with a disease of a +discreditable nature and by no means connected with the military +service, and that he was discharged from the Army May 20, 1864, upon a +certificate of paralysis of left arm, which came on suddenly February +20, 1864, and that the cause was unknown, but believed not to be +incident to the service. + +He filed an application for a pension in June, 1864, alleging paralysis +of the left arm from causes unknown to him. + +This claim was not prosecuted at that time, and the claimant reenlisted +in January, 1865, and served until September 5, 1865, without any +evidence of disability appearing upon the records. + +He renewed his claim in 1870, stating that he was first taken with a +pain in his left arm about March 1, 1864, and that it became partially +paralyzed. + +It will be observed that thus far in his application he gives no +explanation of the incurrence of his disability which leads to the +belief that it was related to his service. + +In a letter dated May 31, 1864, his captain states that he can but think +that the disability of the claimant was the result of his folly and +indiscretion, and that he feels it his duty to decline giving him a +certificate. + +In 1880 the claimant stated the cause of his disability was an injury to +his arm while expelling a soldier from a railroad train at Augusta, Me., +he acting as provost guard at the time. Upon this allegation the case +was reopened at the Pension Bureau. + +In reply to a letter from the Bureau the captain of claimant's company +stated that he had no knowledge of such an injury. The same officer, +in a letter dated February 25, 1887, expresses the belief that the +disability of the applicant, if any existed, was caused by the +injudicious use of mercurial medicine self-administered for venereal +disease contracted at Augusta, Me., in January, 1864, and that such was +the rumor among his comrades when he was sent to the hospital. + +I can not believe that an injury was sustained such as was specified +by the applicant in 1880 and that nothing was said of it either in the +claim made in 1864 or in 1870. In the absence of this or some other +definite cause consistent with an honest claim we are left in the face +of some contrary evidence to guess that his arm was injured in the +service. + +The application of this beneficiary is still pending in the Pension +Bureau awaiting further information. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9520, entitled "An act for the +relief of Mary Fitzmorris." + +It is proposed by this bill to pension the beneficiary named therein, as +the widow of Edmund Fitzmorris, under the provisions and limitations of +the general pension laws. The name of the beneficiary is already upon +the pension roll, and she is now entitled to receive precisely the sum +as a pensioner which is allowed her under this bill. + +As her application to the Pension Bureau was quite lately favorably +acted upon, it is supposed this special bill for her relief was passed +by the Congress in ignorance of that fact. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 121, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Tobias Baney." + +This soldier was enrolled on the 28th day of February, 1865, and was +discharged on the 31st day of January, 1866. + +He filed an application for a pension in 1878, which was supplemented +by statements from time to time, not always in exact agreement, but +alleging uniformly that during his service, fixing the date at one time +as in January, 1866, and at another time as in November, 1865, he was +attacked in the city of Washington by palpitation of the heart, which +increased after his discharge and resulted in disability. After a +careful special examination by the Pension Bureau the claim was rejected +upon the ground that origin of disability in the service and line of +duty had not been shown, nor that the same existed for some time after +discharge. + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted shortly before the surrender +of the Confederate forces, and it appears did little, if anything, more +than garrison duty. He does not seem to have suffered any of the +exposures usually incident to a soldier's service, and, as I understand +his claim, does not himself give any instance of exposure or exertion +from which his difficulty arose. + +There is no record of any sickness or disability during the time he was +in the Army nor any satisfactory proof that he was suffering with any +ailment at the time of his discharge. His own statement, which some of +the proof taken tends to show is not entirely reliable, goes no further +than to claim that during his term of service his difficulty began. + +On appeal from the rejection of the beneficiary's claim the case was +thoroughly examined at the Interior Department and the rejection +affirmed. + +I am entirely satisfied that the case was properly determined. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 16, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 470, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Amanda F. Deck." + +The husband of this beneficiary was pensioned for a gunshot wound in his +right shoulder which he received in 1864 in a battle with Indians. + +The report of the committee to which the bill was referred states +nothing concerning the death of the soldier and gives no information as +to the date or cause of the same, and the recommendation that a pension +should be given the widow is based upon the service and injury of the +soldier and the circumstances of the beneficiary. + +No claim was filed in the Pension Bureau on behalf of the widow. This +perhaps is accounted for by the fact that information is lodged in that +Bureau to the effect that the deceased soldier died on the 21st day of +September, 1883, "from a pistol ball fired by Luther Cultor." + +If he was killed in a personal encounter, as the report of his death +would seem to indicate, I am unable to see how his death can be in any +way attributed to his military service or his widow be justly pensioned +therefor. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 17, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1613, entitled "An act +granting an increase of pension to John F. Ballier." + +This pensioner is now receiving the full amount of pension allowed for +total disability to ex-soldiers of his rank. + +Inasmuch as the bill herewith returned limits any increase to the rate +fixed by law for cases of total disability, it appears to accomplish +nothing of benefit to the beneficiary therein named. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5913, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Thomas Shannon." + +This beneficiary enlisted on the 31st day of May, 1870, in the Tenth +Regiment of United States Infantry. + +On the 4th day of July, 1872, he was upon leave at the city of Rio +Grande, in the State of Texas. Some of the citizens were celebrating the +day, and one of them had a can of powder in his hand which, according +to the report of the accident, "was about to explode." The soldier +endeavored to knock the can from the hand of the person who held it, +when the powder exploded, severely injuring the soldier and +necessitating the amputation of his right forearm. + +Though this was a most unfortunate accident, it is quite plain that it +had no connection with the military service. + +To grant a pension in such a case would establish a precedent in the +appropriation of money from the public Treasury which I can hardly think +we should be justified in following. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9174, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Woodford M. Houchin." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was enrolled September 18, 1861 and +discharged December 17, 1864. + +He filed a claim for pension in the Pension Bureau December 22, 1876, +alleging that he had a sore or ulcer on his left leg "which existed in a +small way prior to enlistment," but was aggravated and enlarged by the +exposures of the service. + +This claim was rejected in 1877 on the ground that the disability +existed prior to enlistment. + +In September, 1879, he filed another application for pension, alleging a +disability arising from an affection of his right eye caused by an +attack of measles in September, 1861, and also again alleging ulcerated +varicose veins of his left leg. + +In October, 1886, the rejection of the claim for ulcerated varicose +veins was adhered to and the added claim for disease of the eyes was +rejected on the ground that it was not incurred in the service and line +of duty. + +On appeal from the action of the Pension Bureau to the Secretary of the +Interior the rejection of the claim was sustained. + +The claimant stated in support of his application that about three +months before he enlisted a little yellow blister appeared on his left +leg, which made a small sore, which existed when he enlisted; that while +he was in Central America with General Walker he received a wound in the +temple from a musket ball, and that he had also before enlistment been +sick with the dropsy. + +The case was very thoroughly examined by officers of the Pension +Bureau, and a great mass of testimony was taken from numerous witnesses. +Three brothers of the claimant testified to the existence of all the +disabilities before his enlistment, and two of them stated facts +which go far toward accounting for such disabilities in a way very +discreditable to the claimant. Many other witnesses, with good +opportunities of knowledge on the subject, testified to the same effect. + +While testimony of a different character was also given, tending to +establish the theory that the disabilities alleged were at least to some +extent attributable to military service, the overwhelming weight of +proof seems to establish that whatever disabilities exist are the result +of disease contracted by vicious habits, and that such disabilities had +their origin prior to enlistment. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8078, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Theresa Herbst, widow of John Herbst, late private Company +G, One hundred and fortieth Regiment of New York Volunteers." + +John Herbst, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, enlisted +August 26, 1862. He was wounded in the head at the battle of Gettysburg, +July 2, 1863. He recovered from this wound, and on the 19th day of +August, 1864, was captured by the enemy. + +After his capture he joined the Confederate forces, and in 1865 was +captured by General Stoneman while in arms against the United States +Government. He was imprisoned and voluntarily made known the fact that +he formerly belonged to the Union Army. Upon taking the oath of +allegiance and explaining that he deserted to the enemy to escape the +hardship and starvation of prison life, he was released and mustered out +of the service on the 11th day of October, 1865. + +He was regularly borne on the Confederate muster rolls for probably nine +or ten months. No record is furnished of the number of battles in which +he fought against the soldiers of the Union, and we shall never know the +death and the wounds which he inflicted upon his former comrades in +arms. + +He never applied for a pension, though it is claimed now that at the +time of his discharge he was suffering from rheumatism and dropsy, +and that he died in 1868 of heart disease. If such disabilities were +incurred in military service, they were quite likely the result of +exposure in the Confederate army; but it is not improbable that this +soldier never asked a pension because he considered that the generosity +of his Government had been sufficiently taxed when the full forfeit of +his desertion was not exacted. + +The greatest possible sympathy and consideration are due to those who +bravely fought, and being captured as bravely languished in rebel +prisons. + +But I will take no part in putting a name upon our pension roll which +represents a Union soldier found fighting against the cause he swore he +would uphold, nor should it be for a moment admitted that such desertion +and treachery are excused when it avoids the rigors of honorable capture +and confinement. + +It would have been a sad condition of affairs if every captured Union +soldier had deemed himself justified in fighting against his Government +rather than to undergo the privations of capture. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 26, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1447, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Bridget Foley." + +Joseph F. Foley, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted on the 22d day of August, 1862, and was discharged February 13, +1863, for disability which was certified to arise from chronic +rheumatism contracted prior to enlistment. + +He appears to have been sick with rheumatism a large part of the time +he was in the service, and because of that fact never reached a point +nearer the front than the city of Washington. + +He died May 13, 1873, of consumption. + +His widow filed in 1884 a declaration executed by the deceased shortly +before his death, in which he alleged that he was first attacked with +rheumatism at Capitol Hill, in the District of Columbia, in October, +1862. The soldier never applied for a pension. + +It is strenuously disputed that he had this complaint before enlistment. +However this may be, it is certain that he died of consumption, and I +can find no proof that this disease was contracted in the service or had +any relation thereto. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 26, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2644, entitled "An act +granting the right of way to the Fort Smith, Paris and Dardanelle +Railway Company to construct and operate a railroad, telegraph, and +telephone line from Fort Smith, Ark., through the Indian Territory, to +or near Baxter Springs, in the State of Kansas." + +This bill grants a right of way 100 feet in width, with the use of +adjoining lands for stations and other purposes, through the eastern +part of that portion of the Indian Territory occupied by the Cherokee +Indians under a treaty with the United States. + +By the terms of the treaty concluded between the Government and the +Cherokee Nation in 1866 these Indians expressly granted a right of way +through their lands "to any company or corporation which shall be duly +authorized by Congress to construct a railroad from any point north to +any point south, and from any point east to any point west of, and which +may pass through, the Cherokee Nation." + +There are excellent reasons why this clause in the treaty should be +construed as limiting the railroads which should run through these +lands, at least without further permission of the Indians, to only one +from north to south and one other from east to west. + +It is evident, however, that the Congress has either not so interpreted +this provision of the treaty or has determined that it should be +disregarded, for there have been six or seven railroads constructed or +authorized through these lands by the permission of the Government. + +It has become very much the custom to grant these rights of way through +Indian lands and reservations merely for the asking. They have been +duplicated to such an extent that rival roads are found struggling for +the advantage of a prior Congressional grant or for the possession of a +contested route through these reservations. + +I believe these indiscriminate grants to railroads permitting them to +cross the lands occupied by the Indians, if not in absolute violation of +their treaty rights, are dangerous to the success of our Indian +management. + +While maintaining their tribal condition they should not be easily +subjected to the disturbance and the irritation of such encroachments. +When they have advanced sufficiently for the allotment of their lands in +severalty, they should be permitted, as a general rule, to enjoy and +cultivate all the land set apart to them, and not discouraged by the +forced surrender of a part of it for railroad purposes. In the solution +of the problem of their civilization by allotments of land they need the +land itself, and not compensation for its appropriation by others. They +can not be expected to understand this process in any other way than an +indication that their tenure is uncertain and the assurance that they +shall hold their allotted land for cultivation a delusion. + +It is not necessary in the treatment of this subject to insist that in +no case should a railroad be permitted to cross Indian reservations. +There may be valid public reasons why in some cases this should be +allowed. Important lines of through travel should not be always +obstructed or defeated by a refusal of such permission. But I think +there should be shown in every case a justification in the public +interest or in furtherance of general growth and progress, or at least +in a plain local necessity or convenience, before such grants are made. + +It seems to me also that the consent of the Indians for the passage of +railroads through their land should, as a general rule, be required; +that the means of determining the compensation to be made for land taken +should be just and definite and easy of application; that the route of +the proposed road should be as particularly described as is possible; +that a reasonable time should be fixed for the construction of the road, +and in default of such construction that the grant should be declared +null and void without legislation or judicial action, and that in all +cases the rights and interests of the Indians should be carefully +considered. + +The bill under consideration grants to the railroad company therein +named the right to construct its road over substantially the same route +described in a law already passed permitting the Kansas City, Fort Scott +and Gulf Railway Company to build its road through this reservation. No +necessity or good reason is apparent why these two roads should be built +upon the same line. + +The bill makes no provision for gaining the consent of the Indians +occupying these lands. The Cherokee Nation of Indians have their local +laws and legislation, and are quite competent to pass upon this +question. They have heretofore shown their interest in such subjects, I +am informed, by protesting against some of the grants which have been +made for the construction of railroads through their lands. + +The bill provides for the taking of lands held by individual occupants +and the manner of fixing the compensation therefor; but it is declared +that when any portion of the land taken by the company shall cease to be +used for the purposes for which it is taken the same shall revert to the +nation or tribe from which the same shall have been taken. There is no +provision that in any case land taken from individual occupants shall +revert to them. + +In the fifth section of the bill it is provided that the railroad +company shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of +the particular nation or tribe through whose lands its line may be +located, in addition to other compensation, the sum of $50. + +It was, of course, intended to declare that this sum should be paid +for every mile of road built through Indian lands, but it is not so +expressed. I am by no means certain that the context will aid this +omission, which is quite palpable, when that part of the bill is +compared with others of the same character. In any event, this is a +provision which should be free from all doubt. + +There is no time limited in the bill within which the proposed road +through the reservation shall be completed, and consequently no +forfeiture fixed for noncompletion. The nearest approach to it is found +in a clause providing that the company shall build at least 50 miles of +its road in the Indian Territory within three years from the passage of +the act, or the rights granted shall be forfeited as to that portion +not built. The length of the proposed route through the Cherokee lands +appears to be considerably over 100 miles, and it is plain that there is +no sufficient guaranty in the bill that the entire road will be built +within any particular time. There is no forfeiture and no limitation for +the completion of the road if 50 miles is built within three years, and +there may be some doubt how far the forfeiture would extend in case of +a failure to finish the 50 miles within the time specified. + +I believe these grants to railroads should be sparingly made; that +when made they should present better reasons for their necessity and +usefulness than are apparent in this case, and that they should be +guarded and limited by provisions which are not found in the bill +herewith returned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 3, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3008, entitled "An act for the +relief of P.A. Leatherbury." + +This bill provides that the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the +person above named the sum of $601.27, being the amount paid by him to +Lucy Roberts on two pension checks which were afterwards recalled and +canceled. + +The committee of the House to whom this bill was referred report that-- + + The Department discovered, after the issuing of the checks, that the + claim for pension was fraudulent, but not until after the purchase, + in the ordinary course of business, by Mr. Leatherbury paying $601.27 + therefor and giving his due bill for the balance, which balance he + refused to pay after ascertaining that the check was repudiated by + the Government. + + +Lucy Roberts, a colored woman, filed a claim for pension in 1868, +alleging that she was the widow of Nelson Roberts, who died in the +military service in 1865. + +Her claim was allowed in 1876, and two checks, numbered 6863 and 6864, +aggregating $1,301.27, were issued on account of said pension. Before +payment of the checks information was received which caused an +investigation by the Pension Bureau as to the honesty of the claim +for pension. This investigation established its utterly fraudulent +character, and thereupon the checks were canceled and the woman's name +was dropped from the pension rolls. + +Certain important facts are reported to me from the Pension Bureau as +having been developed upon the investigation. + +It appears that one Thomas had undertaken to act for the claimant in +procuring her pension under an agreement that he should have $300 if +successful. Mr. Leatherbury was a notary, postmaster, and claim agent, +and acted as notary and general assistant to Thomas and the claimant, +who was employed at Leatherbury's house. In the month of July, 1876, the +same month the claim for pension was allowed, the woman Roberts was +indicted for larceny, the complaining witness being Mr. Leatherbury. +Shortly after the issue of the checks the woman disappeared, and it is +reported that certain indications suggested that both Leatherbury and +Thomas were not entirely ignorant of her whereabouts nor completely +disconnected with her disappearance. The checks were obtained from +Thomas by Leatherbury, he paying, as he alleges, to Thomas the fee of +$300 which had been agreed upon. The checks remained in Leatherbury's +possession until they were delivered by him to the special agent of the +Pension Bureau upon the investigation. He claimed in his deposition that +he considered that what money he had let the woman have and the goods +she had obtained at his store while she worked for him, and the $300 +which he had advanced to Thomas, her agent, justified him in holding her +indebted to him in the sum of $600, and that he held the checks as +security for the same, admitting that there was still $700 in her favor, +written acknowledgment of which he had placed in the hands of his wife. +He further stated that rather than gain notoriety in the matter he would +return the checks to the special agent, but he trusted that the +Government would pay him the $600 which he had sunk in the transaction. + +The woman testified that she did take some goods from Leatherbury at his +store at his suggestion, after the arrival of the checks and before she +left, about August 16, 1876, which purchases amounted to no more than +$100, and that he also advanced her $100; that he made no further +payment and wrote to her that he had to give up the checks, and that she +never indorsed the checks nor authorized anyone to do so. + +Both Leatherbury and Thomas disclaimed any knowledge of the fraudulent +character of the claim; but the fraudulent claimant lived in the house +of one of them and he was assisting in procuring her claim to be +allowed, while the other made an unlawful agreement for a liberal +compensation for his services if the claim succeeded. The woman was +indicted at the instance of Leatherbury at about the time of the +issuance of the checks and fled, but if she is to be believed +Leatherbury wrote to her during her absence. After her disappearance +he ventures to pay to Thomas his illegal fee and takes possession of +the checks. He considers that she owes him $600, and the bill under +consideration gives him $601.27, the exact amount of the checks less +$700. + +Someone with more intelligence than this ignorant colored woman +concocted the scheme to gain this fraudulent pension; and the +circumstances point so suspiciously toward Thomas and Leatherbury, the +claim of the latter upon the Government is infected with so much +illegality, and the amount of his advances is arrived at so loosely that +in my opinion he should not at this late day be relieved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 7, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1870, entitled "An act +granting the use of certain lands in Pierce County, Washington +Territory, to the city of Tacoma, for the purpose of a public park." + +It is proposed by this bill to permit the appropriation for a public +park of a certain military reservation containing 635 acres, which was +set apart for military and defensive purposes the 22d day of September, +1866. + +The establishment of this reservation was strongly recommended by high +military authority, and its preservation and maintenance have since that +time been also urged by the same authority. + +At this time, when the subject of national defense is much discussed, I +can not account for the apparent willingness to grant, or permit to be +used for other purposes, Government lands reserved for military uses. + +I judge from an expression in the letter of the Chief of Engineers, made +a part of the report of the committee of the House to which this bill +was referred, that its original purpose was to absolutely transfer this +reservation to the city of Tacoma. The Chief of Engineers suggested an +amendment to the bill providing that the mere permission to use this +land for a park should be granted, "and that this permission be given +with the full understanding that the United States intends to occupy the +lands or any part of them for military or other purposes whenever its +proper officials see fit to order the same, and without any claim for +compensation or damage on the part of said city of Tacoma." + +Instead of adopting the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers the +provision of the bill limiting the extent of the use of this land +declares-- + + That the United States reserves to itself the fee and the right forever + to resume possession and occupy any portion of said lands for naval or + military purposes whenever in the judgment of the President the exigency + arises that should require the use and appropriation of the same for the + public defense or for such other disposition as Congress may determine, + without any claim for compensation to said city for improvements thereon + or damages on account thereof. + + +The expediency of granting any right to the occupancy of this land is, +in my opinion, very doubtful. If it is done, it should be in the form of +a mere license, revocable at any time, for the purposes used by the +officers to which its use and disposition are now subject. + +It seems to me that if any use of this land is given to the city +of Tacoma it should be with the proviso suggested by the Chief of +Engineers, instead of the indefinite and restricted one incorporated +in the bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8761, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Anna Butterfield." + +It is proposed by this bill to pension the beneficiary therein named as +the "dependent mother of James A.B. Butterfield, late a sergeant in the +Second Illinois Cavalry," + +The records show that the son of this beneficiary enlisted in the +regiment mentioned in August, 1861, and was mustered out August 13, +1864. No claim is made in any quarter that he incurred the least +disability during this service, and there is no dispute in regard to the +date of enlistment or discharge, nor does there seem to be any definite +claim that he again entered the military service. + +The report of the committee states that his mother is advised that after +his discharge her son still remained in the service of the Government +and was killed by an explosion on board of the steamer _Sultana_, +in April, 1865. + +Her claim for pension is now pending in the Pension Bureau awaiting +testimony, which seems to be entirely wanting, to support the allegation +that at the time of his death the deceased was in the service of the +Government in any capacity. + +This evidence ought not to be difficult to obtain. Though the mother +seems to have saved something, from which she draws a small income, +her advanced age and the honorable service of her son would make the +allowance of a pension in her case, upon any fair and plausible +justification, very gratifying. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_.: + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2140, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Eliza Smith." + +The husband of this beneficiary was a second lieutenant in an Indiana +regiment, and was discharged from the service in April, 1864. It is +proposed in the bill herewith returned to pension the beneficiary as the +widow of a first lieutenant. + +The deceased was pensioned for a gunshot wound in his left arm under the +general law, and his pension was increased by a special act in 1883. + +He died away from home at a hotel in Union City, Ind., on the 18th day +of December, 1884, and it was determined at the time, and is still +claimed, that his death was the result of an overdose of morphine +self-administered. + +It is represented that at times the wound of the deceased soldier was +very painful and that he was in the habit of taking large doses of +morphine to alleviate his suffering. + +Two days before his death he was at the house of one Moore, in Union +City; he complained of pain, and asked for a dose of morphine, but it +does not appear that he obtained it. + +On the same day he went to a hotel in the same town and remained there +until his death. On the second evening after his arrival there he +complained of asthma and pain in his arm, and retired about 9 o'clock +p.m. In the afternoon of the next day the door of his room was forced +open, and he was found prostrate and helpless, though able to talk. +Medicine was administered, but he soon died. + +His family physician testified that the deceased did not suffer from +asthma; that when his wound was suppurating he had difficulty in +breathing, and that at such times he was in the habit of taking morphine +in large doses, and that at times he was intemperate, especially when +suffering from his wound. + +It seems to me it would establish a very bad precedent to allow a +pension upon the facts developed in this case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7510, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Stephen A. Seavey." + +This beneficiary served in a Maine regiment from November 11, 1861, to +August 17, 1862, when he was discharged upon a surgeon's certificate of +epilepsia and melancholia. The surgeon further stated in his certificate +that the soldier had been unfit for duty for sixty days in consequence +of epileptic fits, occurring daily, and requiring the constant +attendance of two persons during the past thirty days. + +In 1879 he applied for a pension, alleging that he incurred a sunstroke +on July 20, 1862. This was within the sixty days during which he was +unfit for duty and also within the thirty days during which he required +the constant attendance of two persons. + +He succeeded in securing a pension, and drew the same until December, +1885, when information was received at the Pension Bureau which caused +an examination of the merits of the case. + +This examination developed such facts as led the Pension Bureau to the +conclusion that the condition of the soldier was then identical with +that before enlistment and that his disability existed before he entered +the service. His name was accordingly dropped from the rolls. + +The object of the bill herewith returned is to restore the pensioner to +the rolls. + +An examination of the facts satisfies me that the act of the Pension +Bureau in dropping this name from the pension rolls was entirely correct +and should not be reversed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6307, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Sarah A. Corson." + +Joshua Corson, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill, +enlisted in August, 1862, for nine months, was wounded by a ball which +passed through the lower part of each buttock, and was discharged June +29, 1863. He was pensioned for his wound, and died December 12, 1885. + +The cause of death is stated to have been femoral hernia by a physician +who attended him shortly before his death. The official record of his +death attributes it to a malignant tumor. + +The widow filed a claim for pension in 1886, but furnished no evidence +showing when or how the hernia originated. No disability of this +description is shown by any service record, nor was it ever claimed by +the soldier. It is stated in the report of the committee of the House of +Representatives to whom this bill was referred that the hernia first +made its appearance about four years prior to the soldier's death. + +The claim of this beneficiary for pension was rejected by the Pension +Bureau upon the ground that there was no possible connection between the +soldier's wounds and the hernia from which he died. + +I am forced to the conclusion that the case was properly disposed of, +and base my disapproval of the bill herewith returned upon the same +ground. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 3521, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Manuel Garcia." + +From the records it appears that the beneficiary named in this bill +enlisted as a substitute August 6, 1864, and was transferred to the +Eighth New Jersey Volunteers; that he is reported absent sick, and never +joined his regiment, and was discharged from a hospital July 2, 1865. + +He filed a claim for pension March 4, 1880, alleging that in October, +1864, at Alexandria, Va., he became lame in both legs, and that +subsequently his eyes became inflamed. His hospital record shows that he +was treated for pneumonia. + +The board of examining surgeons in 1883 found no such evidence of +varicose veins, which seems to be the disability claimed, as would +justify a rating, and there appears to be no proof of the existence of +any disability between the date of discharge and the year 1867. + +The application of this beneficiary is still pending in the Pension +Bureau awaiting any further proof which may be submitted in its support. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 149, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Rachael Barnes." + +The husband of this beneficiary served in the Regular Army of the United +States from February 24, 1838, to February 24, 1841. + +In 1880 he applied for a pension, alleging that he contracted disease of +the eyes during the year 1840 while serving in Florida. + +Pending the examination of his application, and on the 24th day of +March, 1882, he committed suicide by hanging. His widow filed a claim +for pension, alleging that he died of insanity, the result of disease +of the head and eyes. Her claim was rejected on the ground that his +insanity, forty-one years after discharge from the service, had no +connection with his military service. + +In July, 1886, a special act was passed granting a pension to the widow, +which met with Executive disapproval. + +At the time the soldier committed suicide he was 68 years old. Upon the +facts I hardly think insanity is claimed. At least there does not appear +to be the least evidence of it, unless it be the suicide itself. It is +claimed, however, and with good reason, that he had become despondent on +account of the delay in determining his application for a pension and +because he supposed that important evidence to establish his claim which +he expected would not be forthcoming. It is very likely that this +despondency existed and that it so affected the mind of this old soldier +that it led to his suicide. But the fact remains that he took his own +life in a deliberate manner, and that the affection of his eyes, which +was the disability claimed, was not in a proper sense even the remote +cause of his death. + +I confess that I have endeavored to relieve myself from again +interposing objections to the granting of a pension to this poor and +aged widow. But I can not forget that age and poverty do not themselves +justify gifts of public money, and it seems to me that the according of +pensions is a serious business which ought to be regulated by principle +and reason, though these may well be tempered with much liberality. + +I can find no principle or plausible pretext in this case which would +not lead to granting a pension in any case of alleged disability arising +from military service followed by suicide. It would be an unfair +discrimination against many who, though in sad plight, have been refused +relief in similar circumstances, and would establish an exceedingly +troublesome and dangerous precedent. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8574, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Sallie T. Ward, widow of the late W.T. Ward." + +The husband of this beneficiary served about nine months in the Mexican +War. He entered the service as a brigadier-general in 1861, and served +through the War of the Rebellion with credit, and was wounded in the +left arm on the 15th day of May, 1864. + +For this wound he was pensioned according to his rank, and received such +pension until his death, at the age of 70 years, which occurred October +12, 1878. + +The cause of his death was brain disease, and it seems not to be +seriously claimed that it had any relation to his wound. + +His widow is now in receipt of the pension provided for those of her +class by the Mexican pension law. + +If this bill becomes a law, I am unable to see why, in fairness and +justice, the widow of any officer of the grade of General Ward should +not be allowed $50 a month, the amount proposed by this bill to be paid +his widow, regardless of any other consideration except widowhood and +the rank of the deceased husband. + +The bill herewith returned, while fixing the monthly amount to be +absolutely paid to the beneficiary, does not make the granting of the +pension nor payment of the money subject to any of the provisions of the +pension laws nor make any reference to the Mexican service pension she +is now receiving. While it is the rule under general laws that two +pensions shall not be paid to the same person, inasmuch as the widow +is entitled to the pension she is now receiving upon grounds different +from those upon which the special bill was passed, and no intention +is apparent in the special bill that the other pension should be +superseded, it may result that under the peculiar wording of this bill +she would be entitled to both pensions. + +The beneficiary filed a claim for pension in the Pension Bureau in 1884, +which is still pending, awaiting evidence connecting the death of the +soldier with his wound. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 490, entitled "An act +granting a pension to George W. Pitner." + +It appears from the records that the beneficiary named in this bill +entered the military service in June, 1863, and was discharged in March, +1866. He was treated while in the Army in the months of December, 1864, +and January, 1865, for conjunctivitis. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1886, alleging that he had a sunstroke +in 1865, and that while at work in a basement in the year 1881 he fell +into a well which was open near him and received serious injuries, +resulting in the amputation of his right foot and also disability of his +left foot. He attributes his fall to vertigo, consequent upon or related +to the sunstroke he suffered in the Army. + +The claim was rejected on the ground that the evidence taken failed to +connect the disabilities for which a pension was claimed with army +service. + +Whatever may be said of the incurrence of sunstroke in the Army, though +he fixes it as after the date of his only medical treatment during +his service, and whatever may be said of the continuance of vertigo +consequent upon the sunstroke for sixteen years, I find no proof that +at the time he fell he was afflicted with vertigo, unless it be his own +statement; and whatever disability naturally arose from sunstroke does +not appear by him to have been deemed sufficient to induce him to apply +for a pension previous to his fall. + +In any event there seems to be no satisfactory evidence that anything +which occurred in his army service was the cause of his fall and +consequent injury. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9034, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Lydia A. Heiny." + +The husband of this beneficiary served in an Indiana regiment from +August, 1861, to March, 1864, when he reenlisted as a veteran volunteer +and served as a private and teamster to July 20, 1865, when he was +discharged. + +There is no record of any disability, and he never applied for a +pension. + +On the 12th day of December, 1880, in leaving a barber shop at the place +where he resided, he fell downstairs and died the next day from the +injuries thus received. + +His widow filed an application for a pension in the year 1885, alleging +that her husband contracted indigestion, bronchitis, nervous debility, +and throat disease in the Army, which were the cause of his death. + +The claim was rejected upon the ground that the death of the soldier was +not due to an injury connected with his military service. + +While there has been considerable evidence presented tending to show +that the deceased had a throat difficulty which might have resulted from +army exposure, the allegation or the presumption that it caused his +fatal fall, it seems to me, is entirely unwarranted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9344, entitled "An act granting +a pension to James C. White." + +The records of the War Department show that this beneficiary enlisted in +a Kentucky regiment September 29, 1861. On the muster roll of April 30, +1862, he is reported as absent. On the roll of August 31, 1863, he is +mentioned as having deserted July 19, 1862. His name is not borne on +subsequent muster rolls until it appears upon those of January and +February, 1864, with the remark that he returned February, 1864, and +that all pay and allowances were to be stopped from July 19, 1862, to +February 5, 1864. It appears that he deserted again on the 18th of +December, 1864, and that his name was not borne upon any subsequent +rolls. + +Naturally enough, there does not appear to be any record of this +soldier's honorable discharge. + +It seems that this man during the time that he professed to be in the +service earned two records of desertion, the first extending over a +period of nearly a year and a half and the other terminating his +military service. + +He filed a claim for pension on the 4th day of August, 1883, alleging +that he contracted piles in December, 1861, and a hernia in April, 1862. + +A medical examination in 1883 revealed the nonexistence of piles and the +presence of hernia. + +The fact of the incurrence of any disability at all in the service is +not satisfactorily established, and the entire case in all its phases +appears to be devoid of merit. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9183, entitled "An act granting +a pension to William P. Riddle." + +The records of the War Department show that the beneficiary named in +this bill was enrolled October 4, 1861, in the Fifth Kentucky Regiment +of Cavalry, and was mustered into the service on the 31st day of March, +1862. + +From that time to April 30, 1862, he is reported absent sick. On the +rolls for four months thereafter, ending August 31, 1862, he is reported +as absent and deserted. His name is not borne on any subsequent rolls. + +He did not file an application for pension until April, 1879, when the +act granting arrears was in force. He then claimed that he contracted +pneumonia February 15, 1862; that about a month after he was sent home, +and was under medical treatment for two years; that he returned about +May 1, 1864, and was discharged about May 15, 1864, but that his +discharge papers were lost. + +Though he has furnished some evidence in support of the claim that he +was sick at about the time alleged and that he returned to the Army +after an absence of two years, no record proof of any kind is furnished +of an honorable discharge at any time. + +He has been informed that the record of his desertion in the War +Department will be investigated with a view to its correction if he +will furnish direct proof that it is erroneous. No such proof has been +supplied, and the case has not been finally acted upon in the Pension +Bureau. + +It does not seem to me that this case in its present condition should +receive favorable consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9126, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Caroline G. Seyfforth." + +The husband of this beneficiary served as contract surgeon in the United +States Army from September 12, 1862, to August 17, 1865, and was +stationed at Portsmouth Grove Hospital, in Rhode Island. + +He never filed a claim for pension, and died July 21, 1874, of +congestion of the liver. His widow filed an application for pension in +1882, alleging that her husband's death was caused by blood poisoning +contracted while dressing the wound of a patient in January, 1863. There +is proof that he suffered from blood poisoning. + +The record of death states its cause as congestion of the liver, but the +certificate was not signed. A young doctor named Adams, a friend and +pupil of the deceased, seems to have been more than any other the +attendant physician, but he appeared to think that one of three other +doctors had actual charge of the case. These physicians, named, +respectively, Sullivan, Dana, and Sargent, agreed that Adams had charge +of the case and that they were consulting surgeons in the last illness. + +Dr. Adams testified before a special examiner that from intimate +association he knew that the deceased was subject to kidney disease and +other symptoms of bad health from discharge to his death; that as he had +lost a part of one hand from blood poisoning in the Army, he always +supposed his subsequent troubles were referable to that cause; that he +believed the cause of death was albuminuria, and that his liver was also +affected. He further expresses the opinion that the death was the +culmination of the disorders which affected him from the time of his +discharge from the service. + +Dr. Sullivan deposed that he knew the deceased well from about 1869, and +never had any reason to think him the subject of blood poisoning or its +results. He further says that he was called in consultation at the last +illness of the deceased and diagnosed his trouble as liver disease, due +to the patient's habits of intemperance. + +Dr. Dana testified that he knew the deceased well from the time of his +discharge; that he was called to consult in his case with young Dr. +Adams a few days before the death occurred; that he took a general view +of the case and considered that the trouble was due to habits of +intemperance. + +Dr. Sargent deposed that he knew the deceased well and knew that he had +lost a part of his hand, as alleged, from septic poisoning in the Army, +though he was not aware that the poisoning had left any other effect; +that the deceased had several spells of alcoholism after the war; that +he had heard him complain of his kidneys, but attributed his troubles to +his excesses. + +Other evidence suggested the same cause for sickness and death spoken of +by these physicians, but there seems to be an almost entire absence of +evidence connecting the death with service in the Army. + +I am of the opinion that a case is not presented in any of its aspects +justifying a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6193, entitled "An act for the +relief of Edson Saxberry." + +The beneficiary named in this bill filed a declaration for a pension in +1879, alleging that in 1863 he bruised his leg, which became very sore, +and when it began to heal his eyes became sore. + +The evidence taken upon a careful examination of this application seems +to establish, by the admission of the applicant and by other evidence, +the correctness of the position taken by the Pension Bureau in rejecting +the claim, that whatever disability was incurred existed before +enlistment and was in no manner attributable to military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2233, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Bernard Carlin." + +By this bill it is proposed to pension the beneficiary therein named as +of Company A, Fourteenth Regiment of Missouri Volunteer Infantry. + +It seems that he served in the company and regiment named, but that he +also served in Company A, Sixty-sixth Illinois Regiment, and it is +claimed that while in the latter service exclusively he received the +injuries for which a pension is claimed. + +His application is still pending in the Pension Bureau, and the papers +pertaining to the same are now in the hands of an examiner for special +examination. + +I think this should be completed before a special act is passed, and +I understand this to be in accordance with a general rule adopted by +Congress and its pension committees. This is certainly the correct +course to be pursued in this case, in view of the failure to state in +the special bill the regiment and company to which the soldier belonged +at the time of the incurrence of disability. This can be corrected by +the Pension Bureau if the claim is found meritorious. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 10, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith a joint resolution which originated in the Senate, and +is numbered 17, providing for the printing of additional copies of the +United States map of the edition of 1886, prepared by the Commissioner +of Public Lands. + +This resolution directs that 7,500 of these maps shall be printed at a +rate not exceeding $1.35 each; that 2,000 of said maps shall be for the +use of the Senate, 4,000 for the use of the House of Representatives, +500 for the Commissioner of the Land Office, and that 1,000 be mounted +and sold at the price of $1.50 each. The sum of $10,125 is appropriated +to pay the expense of the publication of said maps. + +The propriety and expediency of this appropriation, to be applied so +largely by the two branches of Congress, should be left to legislative +discretion. + +I believe, however, that through inadvertence the duplication of the +edition of these maps issued in 1886 has been directed by this joint +resolution instead of the edition of 1887. + +The map of 1886 was published at a cost of $1.25 per copy. + +The map of 1887 will very soon be issued at a cost of $1 per copy, and +the publishers have offered to print an enlarged edition at the rate +of 95 cents for each map. This map will be later, more correct, more +valuable in every way, and cheaper than that issued the previous year. + +Upon these facts I return the joint resolution without approval, in the +belief that the Congress will prefer to correct the same by directing +the publication of the latest, best, and cheapest map, and reducing the +amount appropriated therefor. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2653, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary Curtin." + +The husband of this beneficiary was mustered into the military service +October 8, 1862, was wounded in the right arm, and was discharged +September 3, 1863. + +He was pensioned for his wound to the time of his death, September 17, +1880. + +The physician attending him in his last illness testified that the +deceased was in the last stages of consumption when pneumonia intervened +and caused his death. + +I do not understand that this physician gives the least support to the +theory that the wound for which this soldier was pensioned was in the +slightest degree connected with his death, and there seems to be nothing +in the case to justify the conclusion that such was the fact. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1076, entitled "An act +granting a pension to the widow of John Leary, deceased." + +This bill does not give the name of the intended beneficiary, but merely +directs that the name of the widow of John Leary, late first sergeant in +Battery F, Third Artillery, United States Army, be placed upon the +pension roll, and that she be paid the sum of $20 per month. + +John Leary first enlisted in the Regular Army July 26, 1854, and +reenlisted in August, 1859. He was slightly wounded July 1, 1862, and +appears to have been discharged March 25, 1863, on account of syphilitic +iritis. In April, 1863, he entered the general service and acted as a +clerk in the Adjutant-General's Office until April 1, 1864, when he was +discharged. + +Neither he nor his widow ever filed a claim in the Pension Bureau, but +an application on behalf of his minor children was filed in 1882. + +The soldier died on the 8th day of December, 1872, of pneumonia, and his +widow remarried in 1876. + +The application on behalf of the children was denied on the ground that +the death of the soldier was not due to any cause arising from his +military service. The youngest child will reach the age of 16 in +September, 1888. + +It is stated in the report of the Senate committee to whom this bill +was referred that the second husband, to whom this widow was married +in 1876, is now dead, and it is proposed to pension her as the widow +of John Leary, her first husband, at the rate of $20 per month. + +In the unusual cases when a widow has been pensioned on account of +the death of her first husband, notwithstanding her remarriage, which +forfeited her claim under the general law, it has been well established +that she was again a widow by the death of her second husband, that +beyond all controversy the death of the first husband was due to his +military service, and such advanced age or disability has been shown +on the part of the widow as prevented self-support. + +In this case the name of the widow is not in the bill; there is hardly +room for the pretense that her first husband's death was due to his +military service, her age is given as over 40 years, and $20 a month is +allowed her; being considerably more than is generally allowed in cases +where a widow's right is clear, with no complications of second +marriage, and her necessities great. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 14, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_:. + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1762, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Benjamin A. Burtram." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was mustered into the military +service November 26, 1861; he was reported present until February 28, +1862, and was discharged for disability July 26, 1862. + +The medical certificate of the disability of this soldier was made by +the senior surgeon of a hospital in Louisville, Ky., and stated that the +soldier had been disabled for sixty days; that his lungs were affected +with tubercular deposits in both, and that there was some irregularity +in the action of the heart; that he was of consumptive family, his +mother, brother, and two sisters having died of that disease according +to his and his father's account. + +It is of course supposed that this certificate was based upon an +examination of the patient, though both he and his father seem to have +supplemented such an examination with statements establishing a +condition and history which operated to bring about a discharge. + +I do not find, however, either as the result of examinations or +statements, any other trouble or disability alleged than those mentioned +above. + +But in 1879, seventeen years after the soldier's discharge, and +during the period when arrearages of pensions were allowed on such +applications, he filed a claim for pension, in which he alleged that +about December 1, 1861, while unloading gun boxes, he incurred a +rupture, and that in January, 1862, he was taken with violent pains in +left arm and side, causing permanent disability. + +It will be observed that the time of the incurrence of these +disabilities is fixed as quite early in the very short military service +of this soldier; and it certainly seems that, though short, his term of +service was sufficiently long to develop such disabilities as he claims +to have incurred to such an extent that they neither would have escaped +in the succeeding July the examination of the surgeon nor the mention of +the soldier. + +A medical examination which followed the application for pension in 1879 +disclosed a large scrotal hernia, but no discoverable trouble of left +arm and side. + +A special examination of the case was made and a large amount of +testimony taken. Without giving it in any detail as it is reported +to me, I fail to find in it reasonably satisfactory proof that the +disabilities upon which he now bases his claim for a pension were +incurred in the military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_. + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3038, entitled "An act for the +relief of P.E. Parker." + +Mr. Parker was a surety with six other persons upon an official bond +given by one Franklin Travis, a collector of internal revenue, which +bond was dated on the 9th day of May, 1867. A few years after that +the collector became a defaulter to the Government for something over +$27,000. Suit was commenced against the sureties upon the bond, and the +defense was presented in their behalf that by reason of the imposition +of new duties and responsibilities upon the collector after the +execution of the bond his sureties were released. Judgment, however, +passed against them, and the property of the beneficiary named in this +bill was sold upon said judgment for the sum of $2,366.95. But only +$1,793.16 of such amount was paid into the United States Treasury, the +remainder having been applied to the payment of fees and expenses. + +After the application of this sum to the payment of the judgment a bill +was passed by the Congress relieving all these sureties from liability +upon the bond. It appears that the amount above stated was all the money +collected thereupon. The grant of the relief of these sureties by the +Congress apparently was the same interposed by them to the suit in which +the judgment was recovered. + +The present bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the +surety Parker the sum of $2,336.95, the entire amount for which his +property was sold, though the Senate committee to which the bill was +referred reported in favor of reducing this sum to $1,793.16, the amount +actually received by the United States upon its indebtedness. + +It seems to me that the action of Congress in relieving these sureties +was generous in the extreme, and if money was to be refunded which was +apparently legally recovered and collected it should not exceed the +amount the Government actually received. The Government is in no default +and should be put to no expense in refunding the small sum recovered on +account of the defalcation of its officer whose good conduct this +beneficiary guaranteed. I think it would better subserve public +interests if no further relief should be granted than that already +afforded. + +There is another fact reported to me which deprives this surety of any +equitable claim for further relief. It appears from an examination of +this matter that the man who is now attempting to be reimbursed this +money from the Government Treasury commenced a suit against his +cosureties for this identical money on the ground of their liability +with him, and that he actually collected from two of them in such suit +the sum of $1,747.16. + +If this is true, it is speaking mildly of the claim he now makes against +the Government to say that it should not have been presented. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2616, entitled "An act +granting a pension to James E. Kabler." + +This beneficiary enlisted August 10, 1862. He is reported as absent sick +for November and December, 1862; present for January and February, 1863; +on the rolls for March and April he is reported as deserted, and for May +and June as under arrest. On the 17th of September, 1863, after having +been in the service a little over a year, he was mustered out with his +company with the remark "absent without leave and returned to duty with +loss of fifty-two days' pay by order of General Boyle." The charge of +desertion does not appear to have been removed. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1870 on account of quinsy alleged to +have been contracted about December 7, 1862, with some evidence to +support the claim. Three medical examinations fail to establish the +existence of this disease in a pensionable degree, and it is reported to +me from the Pension Bureau that in March, 1882, the family physician of +the beneficiary stated that though he had practiced in his family for +eight or nine years he had no recollection of treating him for quinsy or +any other disease. + +It seems to me that neither the service nor the alleged disability of +this beneficiary are of a meritorious character. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2370, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Sarah C. Anderson and children under 16 years +of age." + +William H. Anderson, the husband and the father of the beneficiaries +named in this bill, enlisted on the 27th day of August, 1862, and is +reported as sick or absent a large part of his short term of service. He +was discharged April 23, 1863, to date November 5, 1862, on a surgeon's +certificate of disability for "tertiary syphilis, with ulcerated throat +and extensive nodes on the tibia of both legs." + +He never filed an application for pension. He was admitted to an insane +asylum in September, 1883, suffering with epilepsy, chronic diarrhea, +and dementia, and died of pneumonia on the 26th day of February, 1884. + +His symptoms and troubles after his discharge, so far as they are +stated, are entirely consistent with the surgeon's certificate of +disability given at the time of his discharge, and there seems to be an +entire lack of testimony connecting in any reasonable way his death with +any incident of his military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2206, entitled "An act +granting a pension to David H. Lutman." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was pensioned in 1885 on account of +spinal irritation, the result of measles. + +In 1886 he filed a claim for increase of pension, alleging rheumatism, +and the board of examining surgeons at Cumberland, Md., upon an +examination, found no evidence of spinal irritation or rheumatism, and +he was dropped from the pension rolls on the ground that the disability +for which he was pensioned had ceased to exist. + +He afterwards filed medical and lay testimony tending to show that he +suffered from disease of the back, legs, and arms, and he was thereupon, +and on the 8th day of October, 1886, again examined by the board of +examining surgeons at Hagerstown, Md., who reported as follows: + + We have stripped him, and find a splendid specimen, square built from + the ground up, muscles well developed, his appearance indicative of + perfect health. No curvature of spine, disease or irritation of spinal + cord; no atrophy of any muscles or evidence of weakness. No impairment + of motion anywhere. + + +If there is any value to be placed upon the reports of these examining +boards, the refusal of the Pension Bureau to restore this beneficiary +to the rolls was fully justified; and this is not a proper case, in my +opinion, for interference with that determination. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 645, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Margaret B. Todd." + +This bill does not describe the beneficiary as related to any soldier of +the war, but from other data it is found that she is the widow of Frank +G. Todd, who served as a private in the One hundred and eighteenth +Volunteer Infantry from July, 1863, to May, 1864, when he was +transferred to the Navy. It appears that he served in the Navy from +May 13, 1864, until April 10, 1866. He died in January, 1878, from +exhaustion, as stated by the physicians who attended him. + +There is scarcely a particle of satisfactory evidence showing his +condition from the time of his discharge to 1871, and there is almost +an entire lack of proof showing a connection between his death and any +incident of his service. The widow in her application to the Pension +Bureau for a pension states that she has children who were born in 1870, +1871, and 1878. + +There seems to be no record of any disability during the husband's +service in the Army, and the only mention of disability while in the +Navy is an entry on the 30th day of May, 1864, showing that he was +admitted to treatment for "syphilis secondary." + +The widow's claim is still pending in the Pension Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 1542, entitled "An act +granting a pension to John W. Reynolds." + +The bill describes this beneficiary as being "late of the One hundred +and fifty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry." + +He filed a claim in 1872 that he was a deputy United States +provost-marshal for the Twelfth Ohio district from October, 1864, to +March, 1865, and that in December, 1864, while ascending a stairway to +arrest two deserters who had been drafted, a barrel of cider was rolled +down upon him, by which he was severely injured. + +The claim having been rejected on the ground that the claimant was +not entitled to a pension as a civil employee of the Government, he +afterwards, and in January, 1888, informed the Bureau that he was +drafted in November, 1864, while serving as assistant deputy +provost-marshal, and was sworn in and reserved for home duty, and was +discharged from the One hundred and fifty-first Ohio Volunteers. The +records of the War Department show that John W. Reynolds served in the +One hundred and fifty-first Ohio Regiment from May 2, 1864, to August +27, 1864. + +It is perfectly apparent that this beneficiary was injured while acting +as a deputy assistant provost-marshal, arresting deserters for the pay +and rewards allowed him, and that his injuries were not at all connected +with actual military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2088, entitled "An act for the +relief of W.S. Carpenter." + +This bill appropriates the sum of $126.26 to be paid to the beneficiary +named therein for his salary as an employee in the Railway Mail Service +from the 3d day of October until the 20th day of November, 1882. + +Mr. Carpenter was employed as a railway postal clerk at a salary of $800 +per annum. He abandoned his route about the 2d day of October, 1882, +without any leave of absence or explanation at the time, leaving his +work in charge of one Jones, another railway postal clerk. He appears to +have been paid for all the work he did, unless it be for two or three +days in October, for which he apparently makes no claim. + +There is nothing in the Post-Office Department showing that the absence +of Carpenter was claimed to be on account of sickness, though there are +a number of communications relating to the case. + +The regulations of the Department permit the performance of the duties +of a postal clerk by an associate in case of sickness, but never without +the written permission of the division superintendent after an +arrangement between the parties in writing, signed by them and filed +with the superintendent. + +Among a number of communications from Railway Mail Service officials +relating to the conduct of Carpenter, all tending in the same direction, +there is a letter from the chief clerk of the Railway Mail Service at +Peoria, Ill., under whose immediate supervision Mr. Carpenter performed +service, written to the superintendent of the sixth division of said +service at Chicago, and dated November 16, 1882, containing the +following statement: + + I desire to call your attention to the case of W.S. Carpenter, Gilman + and Springfield R.P.O., as follows: October 10 he was requested to + appear at the post-office at Springfield, Ill., for examination on + Illinois scheme. I went to Springfield for the purpose of examining him, + but he failed to put in an appearance. Upon my return home I found a + letter from him stating that he did not expect to remain in the service, + hence his failure to report for examination; and, furthermore, that he + would send in his resignation to your office by the first of the + following week. This he had not done the 12th instant. He has not been + on duty but two days since October 1. He left the run in charge of Mr. + Jones, of the same line, telling him he did not know when he would + return, and for Jones to keep up the run. He has no leave of absence, + either verbally or otherwise. What his motives are for conducting + himself in this manner I can not imagine. I have written him on the + subject, but can not hear from him. When in Springfield the 3d instant, + I requested the postmaster there to not pay Carpenter for October until + he received notice to do so. I then notified you of the facts in the + matter. I would respectfully recommend that Carpenter be relieved from + further duty and a successor be appointed. He is of no account at the + best; he has no interest in the work, and should be removed. I would + also recommend that he be paid for but the two days' run in the month + of October. + + +Four days after the date of this letter Mr. Carpenter was notified that +an order had been issued discontinuing his pay and services. + +These facts stated present the case of an employee of the Government +abandoning his duties without leave or notice, in direct violation of +rules, and claiming compensation for work done in his absence by another +employee whose entire services were due the Government. + +To allow a claim so lacking in merit would endanger discipline and +invite irregularity and loose methods in a very important branch of the +public service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 27, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2524, entitled "An act for the +relief of Clement A. Lounsberry." + +This bill appropriates the sum of $1,214.51 to reimburse him for clerk +hire and fuel and lights in excess of allowances made to him by the +Post-Office Department while he was postmaster at Bismarck, in the +Territory of Dakota. + +Seven hundred and fifty dollars of this sum is appropriated on account +of clerk hire paid out from April 1, 1881, to June 30, 1882, and $464.51 +for lights and fuel from July 1, 1883, to September 30, 1885. + +As a general rule the allowances made by the Post-Office Department +in these cases ought not to be interfered with. But sometimes a sudden +rush of settlement in a locality, or some other cause, will so increase +unexpectedly the need of clerks to distribute and handle the mails that +the employment of more than have been provided for is absolutely +necessary. + +I am inclined to think the item for clerk hire in this bill should be so +regarded. This was the only appropriation included in the bill presented +in the Forty-eighth Congress in behalf of this postmaster upon which a +favorable committee report was made and which was not unfavorably spoken +of by the Department. + +But it does not follow that the other item for fuel and lights should be +allowed. I think it should not, on the grounds that the amount was fixed +by the Department upon full examination, that there is no special reason +shown why the postmaster should have exceeded the expenditures allowed, +and that to give the least encouragement to postmasters that these +allowances would be upon their application revised and increased by +Congress would lead to demoralization in the service. + +It appears that the allowance made to this officer for fuel and lights +was increased October 1, 1883, and although the claim now made on this +account embraces the period from July 1, 1883, to September, 1885, +nothing was asked for fuel or lights in the bill presented to Congress +for this beneficiary's relief in 1884. + +It should not have been tacked upon the bill now presented. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 27, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 288, entitled "An act for the +erection of a public building at Sioux City, Iowa." + +On the 19th day of June, 1886, I was constrained to disapprove a bill +embracing the same subject covered by the bill herewith returned. +Further investigation on the second presentation of the matter fails to +convince me that $150,000 should be expended at present for the erection +of a public building at Sioux City. + +From all the representations that are made in an effort to show the +necessity for this building I gather that the only two purposes for +which the Government should furnish quarters at this place are a term +of the United States court not specially crowded with business and the +post-office, which, though perhaps crowded, I am sure can get on very +well for a time without a larger public building. + +As far as the court is concerned, it was agreed when a term was located +there in 1882 that it might be held in the county building, which from +the description furnished me seems to be entirely adequate for the +purpose and very well arranged. The term held in October, 1887, was in +session for nine days. + +I am decidedly of the opinion that if a public building is to be located +at Sioux City it had better be delayed until a better judgment can be +formed of its future necessity and proper size. + +I see some of the parties interested have such confidence in the growth +and coming needs of the place that in their opinion the work ought not +to be entered upon with a less appropriation than $500,000. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 1, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9363, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Edwin J. Godfrey." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted on the 27th day of May, +1861, in a New Hampshire regiment, and less than three months thereafter +was discharged on a surgeon's certificate of his disability occasioned +by "disease of heart existing prior to enlistment." + +In 1881, twenty years after discharge, the beneficiary applied to the +Pension Bureau for a pension, and alleged that his disease of the heart +was the result of fatigue and overheating at Bull Run, Virginia, July +21, 1861. + +If the heart disease of which the discharged soldier complained in 1861, +and which the claimant of a pension in 1881 alleged still continued, +could have been caused by fatigue and overheating in the only battle of +his brief service, it seems to me that its manifestations and symptoms a +month afterwards could not have been mistaken for such as belonged to a +much longer continuance of the disease. + +I am fully satisfied that the surgeon was not mistaken who made the +certificate upon which the beneficiary was discharged, and that his +military service is not properly chargeable with any disability he may +have incurred. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 1, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5155, entitled "An act granting +a pension to John S. Bryant." + +The man for whom this pension is proposed never, so far as I can learn, +did a single day's actual military service at the front, nor ever left +in such service the State in which he was enlisted. + +He enlisted December 7, 1863, in a Maine regiment; on the 16th day of +the same month he is marked as a deserter, having failed to report after +leave of absence; December 31, 1863, he is reported sick in hospital at +Augusta, Me.; January 26, 1864, he is marked as having deserted from +Camp Keyes, at Augusta, Me. + +He was discharged January 14, 1865, for disability occasioned, as the +surgeon's certificate declares, "by a fall from a wagon while at home on +a furlough, December 22, 1863." The certificate continues as follows: + + Never has done a day's duty. Is utterly worthless and unfit for the + Veteran Reserve Corps. + + +After his discharge the second charge of desertion was removed, and the +first charge does not seem to be serious. But he was injured while home +on a furlough, his regiment still being in camp within the State of his +residence; and although there are cases in which it seems not improper +that pensions should be granted for injuries sustained during furlough +and before actual return to duty, this does not appear to me to be one +of them. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 6, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 2507, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Russel L. Doane, of Peck, Sanilac County, Mich." + +It is proposed by this bill to pension the beneficiary therein named as +the dependent father of the late Demster Doane, late Company D, +Thirty-fifth New York Volunteers. + +The only information I have concerning this case is furnished by the +report of the committee of the House to whom the bill was referred. +There is nothing alleged in the report except that Demster Doane, who +was a second lieutenant in the company and regiment named, died at Peck, +Mich., on the 22d day of September, 1881, and that the deceased up to +the time of his death supported his father, the claimant, who is now +over 81 years of age, incapable of manual labor, and destitute of the +means of support. + +There is no intimation that the death of the son sixteen years after +the close of the war was caused or in any way related to his military +service. I do not understand that it has ever been claimed that a parent +should be pensioned for the death of a son who had been in the Army +unless his death could be traced in some way to his army service. + +While this case is probably one where the exercise of generosity would +be pleasant and most timely to the recipient, I can not think that such +a precedent should be established. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9372, entitled "An act granting +a pension to John Dean." + +The beneficiary named in this bill was mustered into the service of the +United States February 25, 1863. He never went to the front, but while +in camp at Staten Island, on the 21st day of April, 1863, was granted a +pass for forty-eight hours, and on account of sickness did not again +rejoin his company or regiment. The charge of desertion made against him +has been removed. The Surgeon-General's report shows that he was treated +at quarters on Staten Island in April, 1863, for syphilis, rheumatism, +and debility. + +He was admitted to Charity Hospital, Blackwells Island, New York Harbor, +August 5, 1863, and discharged November 18, 1863. He was admitted to the +Ladies' General Hospital in New York December 1, 1863, and was +discharged from the service for disability April 7, 1864. + +The discharge was granted, as stated by the surgeon of volunteers in +charge of the hospital, "because of sloughing of both corneas from +inflammation contracted while absent without leave, having received a +forty-eight-hour pass from his regiment April 15, 1863, then stationed +on Staten Island. He lost his sight in August, 1863, while absent +without leave. Unfit for Invalid Corps. Admitted to this hospital +December 1, 1863. Not a case for pension." + +A claim for pension was filed by the beneficiary at the Pension Bureau +in March, 1877, alleging that on or about April 1, 1863, he suffered +from chronic rheumatism and sore eyes, occasioned by exposure and +illness contracted in camp. + +It will be observed that no affection of the eyes is mentioned in the +record of his treatment in quarters. + +The claimant was examined by the New York City board of surgeons in +June, 1878, and no rheumatism was found to exist. He is now blind, and +while his case is certainly a pitiable one I am forced to the belief +that the conclusions reached in 1879 upon his application, that his +disease was contracted while absent without leave and that his +disability was due to syphilis, were correct. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 217, entitled "An act granting +a pension to C.T. Maphet." + +This beneficiary enlisted August 1, 1863, and was discharged January 27, +1865, for disability. + +The commander of the post certifies: + + This soldier says that he was first affected with the present disease, + conjunctivitis, in the spring of 1862, since which time his eyes have + never been well, and for a great portion of the time since enlistment + he has been unfit for duty. + + +The certificate of the surgeon is as follows: + + Incapacitated by reason of long-standing conjunctivitis of both eyes, + attended with partial opacity of the cornea. Disability existed prior + to enlistment, consequently soldier is ineligible to the Veteran + Reserve Corps. + + +The beneficiary filed no application for pension until April, 1883. + +Notwithstanding some evidence of soundness prior to enlistment, it seems +to be quite well established that the trouble with his eyes was not the +result of his military service, but existed before enlistment. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5503, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Charles Walster." + +This case has been very exhaustively examined by the Pension Bureau upon +the application for a pension filed there by the beneficiary named in +this bill. Upon a review of the evidence taken it appears to be well +established that any disability of the beneficiary heretofore existing +was no attributable to his military service. + +In addition to this a board of pension surgeons, as late as July, 1886, +determined, after a thorough medical investigation, that no pensionable +disability existed. + +It thus appears that even if this bill were approved there could be no +rating, and the legislation would be of no advantage to the beneficiary +named. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 333, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Catharine Bussey." + +It does not appear that the husband of this beneficiary ever applied for +a pension. He was discharged from the Volunteer Army on the 9th day of +December, 1864, after a service of more than three years. + +He was found dead on a railroad track on the 11th day of June, 1870, +apparently having been struck by a passing train. + +It is claimed that the deceased suffered a sunstroke while in the Army, +which so affected his mind that he wandered upon the railroad track and +was killed in a fit of temporary insanity. + +Though it would be gratifying to aid his widow, I do not think these +facts are proven or can be assumed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5525, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Jane Potts." + +The husband of this beneficiary enlisted in 1861 and was mustered out of +the service in April, 1865. + +He was taken prisoner by the enemy and endured for a long time the +hardship of prison life. + +He never applied for a pension, though undoubtedly his health suffered +to some extent as the result of his imprisonment. + +The beneficiary married the soldier in 1871. + +He conducted his business affairs, managed his farm, and accumulated +property up to the year 1880, when by a decree of court he was adjudged +insane, caused by sickness as far as was known, and that his disease was +hereditary. + +It also appears that his mother and sister had periods of insanity. + +He committed suicide in 1882 by drowning. + +The beneficiary, his widow, filed a claim for pension in 1885, claiming +that the insanity which caused him to commit suicide resulted from the +hardships of prison life. + +Upon this application the facts of the case have been thoroughly +examined. Two witnesses indicate that domestic trouble was the cause +of the soldier's suicide. Another says that his wife (the beneficiary) +was a pretty rough woman--a hard talker--and that the soldier often +consulted him about the matter, and said it was hard to live with her. +This witness adds that he does not believe that the soldier would have +committed suicide if she had not abused him till he could not longer +endure it. + +The special examiner, in summing up the proof, says in his report: + + The general opinion in the community is to the effect that his wife + drove him to commit suicide rather than to live with or to obtain a + divorce from her. Her reputation is that of a virago. + + +This kind of evidence, while not perhaps determining the case, +reconciles me to the conclusion, which seems inevitable from other +facts developed, that the military service and prison experience of the +deceased were in no manner connected with his death. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7717, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Catharine Reed." + +The husband of this beneficiary served in the Army from July 25, 1862, +to October 16, 1862, when he was discharged for disease of the lungs. +He was pensioned for hernia and disease of the lungs. + +On the 23d day of November, 1880, while working in a sawmill, a piece of +board was thrown from a buzz saw and struck him in the groin, causing a +wound from which he died two days afterwards. + +It is impossible to connect this injury and the resulting death with the +disability for which he was pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 7, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4855, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Jacob Newhard." + +The records show that this beneficiary was mustered into the service +August 20, 1862, as a lieutenant; that on the return for November, 1862, +he is reported as "absent without leave--left hospital at Louisville." +He was treated for hemorrhoids in the hospital at Nashville from +December 12 to December 23, 1862, when, having served a few days more +than four months, he tendered his resignation upon the ground of +disability and procured the following surgeon's certificate, upon which +his resignation was based: + + Lieutenant Jacob Newhard having applied for a certificate upon which to + ground a resignation, I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined + this officer and find him suffering from hemorrhoids, * * * and in + consequence thereof is, in my opinion, unfit for duty. I further declare + my belief that he will not be fit for the duties of a soldier in any + future time, having already been afflicted twelve years, as he asserts. + + +On the 14th day of February, 1880, nearly eighteen years after his +resignation, the beneficiary filed his claim for pension based upon +hemorrhoids, the result of diarrhea and fever. + +He denied upon this application that he was unsound prior to enlistment, +and filed evidence to support his denial. One of the witnesses, a +surgeon, who testified to incurrence of disability in the service, +on a special examination stated that he so testified, having satisfied +himself of the fact by personal interviews with the beneficiary. + +I do not think in the circumstances surrounding this case that the +beneficiary should at this late day be permitted to impeach and set +aside the medical certificate procured by himself and containing his +own statements, upon which he secured exemption from further military +service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 13, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6371, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Jesse M. Stilwell." + +On the 6th day of May, 1885, twenty years after this beneficiary was +discharged from the Army, he filed an application in the Pension Bureau +for a pension, alleging that in December, 1863, one year and eight +months before his discharge, a comrade assaulted him with a stick while +he was sitting in front of his tent preparing for bed and injured his +back. He alleged that the assault was unprovoked and unexpected. + +The claim was rejected upon the facts stated, upon the ground that any +injury incurred was not the result of military duty. + +Unless the Government is to be held as an insurer against injuries +suffered by anyone in the military service, no matter how incurred, and +also as guarantor of the good and peaceable behavior toward each other +of the soldiers at all times and under all circumstances, this is not a +proper case for the allowance of a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 24, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8310, entitled "An act provide +for the disposal of the Fort Wallace Military Reservation, in Kansas." + +This bill provides that a portion of this reservation, which is situated +in the State of Kansas, shall be set apart for town-site purposes, and +may be entered by the corporate authorities of the adjoining city of +Wallace. + +The second section of the bill permits the Union Pacific Railroad +Company to purchase within a limited time a certain part of the military +reservation, which is particularly described, at the rate of $30 per +acre. + +I am informed that this privilege might, by reason of a faulty +description of the lands, enable the railroad company to purchase at the +price named property in which private parties have interests acquired +under our laws. + +It is evident that the description of the land which the railroad +company is allowed the option of purchasing should be exact and certain +for the interest of all concerned. + +Section 4 of the bill grants a certain portion of the military +reservation heretofore set apart by the military authorities as a +cemetery to the city of Wallace for cemetery purposes. + +There should, in my opinion, be a provision that no bodies heretofore +interred in this ground should be disturbed, and that when the same is +no longer used as a cemetery it should revert to the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 24, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I am unable to give my assent to a joint House resolution No. 14 and +entitled "Joint resolution to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to +certify lands to the State of Kansas for the benefit of agriculture and +the mechanic arts," and I therefore return the same with a statement of +my objections thereto. + +By an act of Congress passed July 2, 1862, certain public lands were +granted to such of the several States as should provide colleges for the +benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. + +Under the terms of this act the State of Kansas was entitled to 90,000 +acres of land, subject, however, to the provisions of said statute, +which declared that when lands which had been raised to double the +minimum price, in consequence of railroad grants, should be selected by +a State such lands should be computed at the maximum price and the +number of acres proportionately diminished. + +Of the lands selected by the State of Kansas, and which have been +certified, 7,682.92 acres were within certain limits of a railroad +grant, and had therefore been raised to the double minimum in price, so +that the number of acres mentioned and thus situated really stood for +double that number of acres in filling the grant to which the State of +Kansas was entitled. + +It is now claimed that after the selection of these lands the route +of said railroad was abandoned and another one selected, and that in +consequence thereof such lands included within its first location were +reduced to the minimum price and restored to public market at that rate. +It is supposed upon these allegations that justice and equity require +that an additional grant should now be made to the State of Kansas from +the public lands equal to the number of acres selected within the limits +of the first railroad location. + +But an examination discloses that the joint resolution is predicated +upon an entire misunderstanding of the facts. + +The lands heretofore mentioned as amounting to more than 7,000 acres, +selected by the State of Kansas, and charged at double that amount +because their price had been raised to the double minimum in consequence +of their being within a railroad location, have all except 320 acres +remained either in the new or old railroad location up to the present +time, and if now vacant would be held by the Government at the double +minimum price. + +It seems clear to me that the State of Kansas has been granted all the +public land to which it can lay any legal or equitable claim under the +law of 1862. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 10, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_. + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 2201, entitled "An +act for the relief of Laura E. Maddox, widow and executrix, and Robert +Morrison, executor, of Joseph H. Maddox, deceased." + +An act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, provided among other things +that the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approval of the President, +might authorize agents "to purchase for the United States any products +of States declared in insurrection, at such price as should be agreed on +with the seller, not exceeding the market price thereof at the place of +delivery." + +Under the authority of said act the Secretary of the Treasury, with the +approval of the President, prescribed rules and regulations to govern +the transactions thus permitted, and appointed one H.A. Risley an agent +to act for the United States in making such purchases. + +On or about the 13th day of November, 1864, said Risley entered into a +written contract with Joseph H. Maddox and two other parties, whereby +the latter agreed to sell and deliver to Risley as such agent, at +Norfolk or New York, 6,000 boxes of tobacco, 350 barrels of turpentine, +and 700 barrels of rosin. It was also agreed that all products +transported under the contract should be consigned to said Risley as +agent and shipped on a Government transport, or, if not so shipped, +should be in the immediate charge of an agent of Risley's, whose +compensation and expenses should be paid by the sellers. Said products +were to be sold in New York or Baltimore under Risley's direction, and +one-fourth of the proceeds, after deducting certain expenses, costs, and +charges, were to be retained for the United States and three-fourths +paid to Maddox and his associates. It was expressly provided in said +contract as follows: + + Nothing in this contract contained shall be construed as incurring + any liability on behalf of the United States. + + +It appears that Maddox, very soon after the contract was made, acquired +all the interest of his associates therein. + +The President of the United States signed an order or permit for the +transportation of the goods, in fulfillment of the contract, and for the +passage of the parties selling such goods through the Federal military +lines, the permit declaring, however, that such transportation and +passage should be "with strict compliance with the regulations of the +Secretary of the Treasury, and for the fulfillment of said contract with +the agent of the Government." + +Maddox and his associates were not at the time the contract was entered +into the owners of any of the property they agreed to sell and deliver; +but it is alleged that Maddox, as one of the parties to the contract and +as assignee of his co-contractors, purchased 4,042 boxes of tobacco, +worth at that time more than $735,000, for the purpose of fulfilling +this contract. + +The tobacco was purchased by him within the rebel lines in the State of +Virginia. A part of it, he charges, was forcibly taken by the military +forces of the Government and converted to its use or destroyed while +being transported to its destination, and the remainder of it, having +been detained in storage at Richmond, Va., was afterwards appropriated +to the use of the United States or was destroyed in the fires at +Richmond upon the capture of the city by the United States forces in +1865. + +An action predicated upon the contract with Risley was brought by Maddox +in the Court of Claims to recover the value of this property, but it was +held by the court that the contract was void. + +On appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States the decision of the +Court of Claims was affirmed, upon the ground, as had been previously +decided by said court, that under the law, the Treasury regulations, +and the Executive orders concerning the purchase of products of +insurrectionary States a purchasing agent of the Government had no +authority to negotiate with anyone in relation to the purchase of such +products unless at the time of the negotiation the party either owned +or controlled them; that neither the law nor the regulations for its +execution protected a speculation wherein the products to be sold were +to be procured by the contractor within the rebel lines after the +contract was made; that private citizens were prohibited from trading at +all in the insurrectionary districts, and that the object of the law and +the regulations to carry it into effect was to encourage the insurgents +themselves to bring their products to agents of the Government. + +With this adverse decision all chance of recovery upon legal grounds +of before the courts was dissipated. But recourse to Congress still +remained. As appears from a memorandum furnished in support of this +bill, the alleged equities of the case were presented to the +Forty-second, the Forty-third, the Forty-fourth, the Forty-fifth, the +Forty-sixth, the Forty-eighth, and the Forty-ninth Congresses. Two +adverse and more than two favorable committee reports have been made +upon the claim. No bill for the relief of the claimant has, however, +passed Congress until the present session, when a favorable condition +seems to have presented itself. + +The bill herewith returned empowers and directs the accounting officers +of the Treasury to settle and pay to the representatives of Maddox the +amount found due him on account of the loss and damage he sustained by +the seizure by our military forces of the tobacco purchased by him under +the agreement referred to, excluding, however, the tobacco destroyed +by fire in the city of Richmond, and provides that said claim shall be +determined upon the evidence taken and now on file in the office of the +clerk of the United States Court of Claims and the War Department and +any other competent evidence. + +I fail to appreciate the equities which entitle this claimant to further +hearing. + +Every intelligent man should be charged with the knowledge that +as a general rule commercial intercourse with the enemy is entirely +inconsistent with a state of war, and that the law of 1864 had for its +object the encouragement of the insurgents themselves to bring their +products to us, and not the authorization of persons to roam through the +insurrectionary districts and purchase their products on speculation. + +Even if the claimant did not understand these conditions, he certainly +knew that his contract was based upon a statute; that the agent with +whom he was contracting was a creature of statute, and that such statute +and certain regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury made thereunder +regulated the right and limited the action of all the parties to said +contract. These things sufficiently appear from the very terms of the +contract and the permit signed by the President. The privileges and +liberties contained in this permit are expressly granted "with strict +compliance with regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury." + +If before or after entering into this contract the claimant had +examined these regulations, he would have found that they provided that +"commercial intercourse with localities beyond the lines of actual +military occupation by the United States forces is absolutely +prohibited." + +He would have also found that such regulations expressly provided that +the power of the agent of the Government to make contracts should be +founded upon the statement that the contractor then owned or controlled +the products for which he contracted. And yet the permit of the +President, which so completely put the claimant upon inquiry as to what +he might or might not do, seems now to be relied upon as the source of +equities in his favor, and is pressed into his service under the guise +of a sanction of his unlawful proceedings. + +Besides the general knowledge the claimant should have possessed of +the commercial disabilities consequent upon a state of war, and the +information afforded him by his contract and permit, a proclamation of +the President publicly issued September 24, 1864,[17] furnished abundant +notice of the kind of trading which would be permitted. + +The property for which compensation is asked constitutes a part only of +that agreed to be furnished. None of it ever reached the possession of +the agent of the Government, but, as I understand the case, was at the +time of its seizure or destruction still in the territory of the enemy +and in rebellious possession. If in the circumstances detailed it was +treated by our military forces in like manner as other property in the +same situation, there would seem to be no hardship in holding that the +contractor assumed this risk as one arising from his unauthorized and, +if successful, his profitable venture. + +Not being satisfied that there are any especial equities which entitle +this claim to more consideration than many others where equities might +be claimed in behalf of those who long ago violated our nonintercourse +laws, I am unwilling to sanction a precedent which if followed might +substantially work a repeal of these laws, regarded necessary and +expedient by those charged with legislation during the War of the +Rebellion, and who had in full view all the necessities of that period. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 17: See Executive order of September 24, 1864, Vol. VI, pp. +240-241.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3276, entitled "An act +granting restoration of pension to Sarah A. Woodbridge." + +The first husband of this beneficiary, Anson L. Brewer, was an +additional paymaster in the Army, and died February 2, 1866, from +injuries received in an explosion of a steamer. + +His widow, the beneficiary, was pensioned at the rate of $25 a month +from the date of heir husband's death until October 21, 1870, when she +remarried, becoming the wife of Timothy Woodbridge. + +Two children, who were minors at the time she was pensioned, became 16 +years of age in April, 1870, and July, 1874, respectively. + +Upon the remarriage of the beneficiary her pension stopped under the law. + +It is now proposed to restore her to the pension roll, notwithstanding +the fact that her second husband is still alive. + +Many cases have occurred in which pensions have been awarded by special +acts to the widows of soldiers who, having remarried, were a second time +made widows and rendered destitute by the death of their second +husbands. I have not objected to such charitable legislation. + +But I think this is the first time that it has been proposed to grant a +pension after such remarriage when the second husband still survives. + +It seems to me that such a precedent ought not to be established. +If in pension legislation we attempt to determine the cases of this +description in which the second husband can not or does not properly +maintain the soldier's widow whom he has married, we shall open the door +to much confusion and uncertainty, as well as unjust discrimination. + +I am glad to learn from a statement contained in the committee's report +that this beneficiary, though in a condition making the aid of a pension +very desirable, has a small income derived from property inherited from +her mother. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 12, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 1044, entitled "An +act authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to state and settle the +account of James M. Willbur with the United States and to pay said +Willbur such sum of money as may be found due him thereon." + +The claim mentioned in this bill grows out of alleged extra work done by +the claimant in the construction of the post-office and court-house +building in the city of New York. + +The United States, in September, 1874, entered into a contract with +Messrs. Bartlett, Robbins & Co. by which they agreed to furnish +and put in place certain wrought and cast iron work and glass for the +illuminated tiling required for the said building according to certain +specifications and schedules which formed a part of said contract. The +work was to be of a specified thickness and the contractors were to be +paid for the same at certain rates per superficial foot. The approximate +estimate for the entire work was specified at $35,577.56. Samples of the +tiling to be put in were submitted to the Supervising Architect and +accepted by him. + +In August, 1874, the claimant entered into an agreement in writing with +Bartlett, Robbins & Co. to do this work as subcontractor for them at +certain prices for each superficial foot of said tiling put in place. + +In neither contract was the weight of the tiling mentioned. + +The work was, under the contract with Messrs. Bartlett, Robbins & Co., +completed, and after such completion and the measurement of the work the +said firm of Bartlett, Robbins & Co. were paid by the Government the sum +of $35,217.57, in full satisfaction of their contract with the United +States. + +It appears that after the completion of the work the claimant gave +notice to the Government that he had a claim against Bartlett, Robbins & +Co., growing out of said work, for the sum of $8,744.44, and requested +that payment be withheld from said firm until his claim against them was +adjusted. + +The fact that said claim had been made having been communicated by the +Supervising Architect to Bartlett, Robbins & Co., on the 22d day of +August, 1876, they responded to the Supervising Architect as follows: + + SIR: We inclose copy of our account against Willbur and the Illuminated + Tiling Company and a copy of Willbur's assignment to the Tile Company, + which includes a copy of his agreement with us; and when the Department + settles the measurement of the work the items in the contract will show + just what the amount is, and, as we have repeatedly assured him, he will + have all the measurements the Government gives us. + + If anyone has cause of complaint in this case it is us. Four times the + work came to a stand, or nearly so, and our Mr. B. was compelled to go + to New York and stay until it was moving again, charging his expenses, + by Willbur 's request, and finally it had to be finished by others, etc. + We know this does not interest you particularly, as you do not know him + in the matter, but there has been so much willful misrepresentation we + thought silence might be misconstrued. + + It is charitable to think Willbur must be crazy. + + Very respectfully, yours, + + BARTLETT, ROBBINS & CO. + + +In an opinion of the Solicitor of the Treasury concerning this claim, +dated November 30, 1883, I find a statement that on the 20th day of +October, 1876, a paper was filed by the attorneys of the claimant in +which his claim for extra work and material in performing his contract +was alleged to be $21,857.94. It is further stated that this claim was +hastily drawn by one of Willbur 's attorneys and without consultation +with him. + +On or about the 20th day of March, 1877, Mr. Willbur himself filed a +statement of such extra work and material, in which he claimed for the +same the sum of $42,685.20. + +Another statement made by Willbur, in February, 1878, presents a claim +on account of the same matters amounting to $47,159.62. + +This claim, so variously stated, is based upon the allegation that +tiling and frames of greater thickness than were required by the +contract were put in the building. Although it is insisted by the +claimant that these thicker tiles and frames were directed to be put in, +or at least accepted by the person having charge of the construction of +the building for the Government, I hardly think it will be seriously +contended that the claimant has any legal claim against the United +States. + +But, with a view of discovering whether, upon equitable grounds, the +claimant should be paid anything by the Government for glass and iron +of greater thickness than its contract with Bartlett, Robbins & Co. +required, and which had been put in its building by their subcontractor, +the Secretary of the Treasury in 1884 appointed a committee of three +persons to examine and report upon this claim of Willbur's, "with a view +of determining what portion, if any, it is proper for the Government +to pay." + +On the 24th day of January, 1885, this committee made a report by which +they determined that there should be paid to the claimant on account of +the matters alleged the sum of $1,214.90. + +This report was based upon the measurements, examinations, and estimates +of two experts, one selected by the claimant and the other by the +committee. The report was transmitted to the House of Representatives by +the Secretary of the Treasury and an appropriation asked to pay the +amount awarded. + +But Mr. Willbur was not satisfied, and on the 6th day of January, 1885, +addressed a communication to the Secretary of the Treasury in which this +passage occurs: + + I shall insist on a remeasurement of the entire work, as this is vital + to my claim. The excess which I furnished can only be ascertained by + weight instead of by measuring the thickness of the plates and frames. + + +At the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress, and early in 1886, +this claim was before the Senate Committee on Claims, and at the +instance of the committee this work was again examined by experts, who +came to the conclusion that the claimant was entitled to the sum of +$45,615.67 for the extra work which he had performed and materials +furnished. + +It is only alleged that the glass tiling and frames actually put in the +building were slightly thicker than those required by the contract, and +this alleged increased thickness seems to be fairly represented in a +general way by the claim that some of the glass and frames which were +required to be 1 inch thick were actually put in 1 inch and a quarter +thick. + +Upon this statement it must be admitted that the sum above stated as the +value of this extra thickness is somewhat startling. In the language of +the report upon this bill by the Supervising Architect, "a claim of +$47,159.02 for such slight excess on work the price of which was +$35,217.57 is hardly entitled to consideration." + +The claim, as well as the award of the experts last named, reach their +astonishing proportions by the application of weights to the question +in the following manner: A certain area is measured. A square foot of +the tiling actually put in is weighed, and a square foot of the tiling +required by the contract is also weighed. Both these weights are +multiplied by the area. The lesser aggregate weight is deducted from the +greater, and the difference is divided by the weight of a square foot of +the lightest tiling, thus reducing it to square feet of such lightest +tile. These square feet are multiplied by the price agreed to be paid +by the contract for each superficial foot, and an item of extra work is +determined. Thus additional weight in constructed and finished tiling is +converted, as far as price and measurement are concerned, into finished +tile, which more than doubles the quantity actually laid down. + +This can not be right. And yet the bill herewith returned directs the +Secretary of the Treasury to settle this claim for extra work upon +the basis of the report of the experts who have adopted this mode of +adjustment; or, if not satisfied with their report, he shall within +thirty days from the passage of the act cause a reweighing of said +material to be made by two sworn experts, one to be appointed by him and +one by the claimant, and a third to be appointed by these two in case +they can not agree. The bill further provides that he shall then pay +to said Willbur the difference of excess in weight and superficial +measurement as found by said experts between the illuminated tiling and +frames furnished and that contracted for at the contract prices for such +work and material. + +There are features of this claim which suggest suspicion as to its +merit. In any view of the matter, I regard the claimant as seeking +equitable relief. He is not entitled to dictate the rule by which his +claim is to be adjusted, and he should be quite satisfied if the +officers of the Government charged with the settlement of such matters +are permitted by the Congress to afford equitable relief according to +such rules and methods as are best calculated to reach fair results. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 15, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3306, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary K. Richards." + +The beneficiary named in this bill applied for a pension on the 14th day +of November, 1878, and the same was rejected in April, 1879. Her claim +has lately been reexamined, and since the passage of the bill herewith +returned she has been allowed a pension by the Pension Bureau, it having +been there determined that the former rejection was a manifest error. + +With this action of the Pension Bureau I entirely concur. + +I therefore venture, notwithstanding the persistent misrepresentations +of my action in similar cases, to disapprove this bill, upon the ground +that this deserving beneficiary will receive under the action of the +Pension Bureau a much larger sum than she would if such action was +superseded by the enactment of the proposed special statute in her +behalf. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 15, 1888_. + +_To the Senate_ + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 3208, entitled "An +act granting a pension to William S. Bradshaw." + +The beneficiary mentioned in this bill was mustered into the military +service as first lieutenant on the 28th day of October, 1861. + +About eight months afterwards, and in June, 1862, he resigned from the +service, his resignation being based upon a surgeon's certificate which +he procured, and which is as follows: + + William S. Bradshaw having applied for a certificate to accompany his + resignation, I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined this + officer and find that his disease is of a chronic pleuritic character, + contracted (previous to his entering the service) four years since from + an injury received in shoeing a fractious horse, in consequence of which + he was laid up for a number of weeks with a severe attack of pleuritis; + that he has never been able to endure severe labor since; that since + entering the service active drilling or marching has invariably + developed severe pleuritic pains about his chest and underneath his + sternum, rendering him totally unfit for duty. + + +It is entirely evident that the statements contained in this certificate +are of such a nature that they must have almost entirely been +communicated to the surgeon by the officer himself. It will be observed +that there is an absolute lack of any intimation that his disabilities +were attributable in their origin to army service, and he surely can not +ask us to believe that a man with the intelligence fitting him to be a +commissioned officer in the Army, and having this certificate in his +possession, did not know what it contained. + +It furnished the reason for his honorable discharge in the dark days of +his country's need and operated as an exemption from further military +service. + +And yet in September, 1883, more than twenty-one years after his dis; +charge, he applied to the Pension Bureau for a pension, alleging +lameness of breast and back, contracted in the service. + +After an examination of all the facts I can not believe that this is a +case in which a pension should be granted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7657, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary Woodworth, widow of Ebenezer F. Woodworth." + +The husband of this beneficiary enlisted October 1, 1861. On the rolls +of his company for May and June, 1862, he is reported as a deserter, and +the report is the same on the muster-out roll of his regiment, dated +October 24, 1864. + +An effort was made on the application by the beneficiary for pension +to the Pension Bureau to attribute the charge of desertion to the +unfriendliness and injustice of the soldier's captain, and an +unsuccessful effort was made to have the charge removed from the record +by the Adjutant-General. + +The soldier, therefore, is still recorded as a deserter from camp near +Farmington, Miss., since March 12, 1862. + +The application of the widow to the Pension Bureau in 1867 states that +her husband was missing at Hamburg, Tenn., May 7, 1862, and not having +since been heard from is supposed to be dead. + +The captain of the company testifies that the soldier was employed with +the ambulance corps, and that for misconduct he (the captain) ordered +him to his company and censured him; that very soon after that the +soldier was absent at roll call and was marked as absent without leave; +that in a day or two after that a member of a detail returned to camp +from Hamburg Landing and reported that he had seen the soldier there +and had been told by him that "he was off and would never go back." +Thereupon he was dropped from the roll as a deserter. + +Various theories are presented to account for the soldier's absence in +other ways than by desertion, some of his comrades going so far as to +express the opinion that he was murdered at the instigation of his +captain. None of these theories, however, seem to be more than +conjectures with various degrees of plausibility. + +If the question of desertion could be solved favorably to the +beneficiary, another difficulty immediately arises from the fact that +there is absolutely no proof of death except the soldier's long absence +without knowledge of his whereabouts; and if his death could be presumed +the cause of it and whether connected at all with military service are +matters regarding which we have no information whatever. + +I am unable to see how a case in such a situation can be considered a +proper subject for favorable pension legislation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 10661, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Sophia Vogelsang." + +The husband of this beneficiary was severely wounded in the military +service of the United States, and in consequence of said wound his +left leg was amputated. This was in 1862. In January, 1863, another +amputation was performed higher up above the knee. He appears at that +time to have been living, or at least was treated, at Detroit, Mich. +He was pensioned at the rate of $30 per month at the time of his death, +which occurred at Louisville, Ky., where he appears to have then +resided, on the 21st day of July, 1885. + +The beneficiary filed a claim for pension in November, 1885, alleging +that her husband died of gangrene. + +There does not, however, seem to be a particle of evidence establishing +that cause of death. On the contrary, the report received at the Pension +Bureau of his death attributes it to sunstroke, and this does not seem +to be directly questioned. + +The report of the House committee to whom this bill was referred +proceeds upon the theory that death was caused from the use of opium to +allay the pain of the wound. This theory is presented upon the alleged +opinion of the surgeon living in Detroit, who made the second amputation +in 1863. He says that the pain of the wound obliged the soldier to +take morphine. But it does not appear that he observed the case for a +long time preceding death. Instead of his giving an opinion that the +disability and morphine produced death, he says, as it is reported to +me, after describing the condition of the limb previous to its +amputation in 1863 and immediately thereafter: + + According to my opinion, said disability and the constant use of + morphia in consequence of it may have been the cause of his death. + + +This and the statement of a druggist in Louisville that he sold him +morphine to alleviate pain, and of two different persons with whom he +boarded at that city in 1885 to the same effect, is all the evidence +that I can discover tending in the least to hint that the death of the +pensioner resulted from any cause but sunstroke, which really stands as +the undisputed cause of death. + +The allegation in the committee's report that the beneficiary's claim +was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground that her husband's +death proceeded from the use of morphine is erroneous. The cause of +rejection is stated to be "that the death cause (sunstroke) was not the +result of the soldier's military service." + +We are not, therefore, left to the consideration of the question whether +death from the use of morphine to allay pain can be charged to the +disability incurred, for if death resulted from sunstroke it will hardly +be claimed that it was in any way related to such disability. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_ + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 6201, entitled "An act granting +a pension to John Robeson." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted August 8, 1862, and was +discharged for disability on the 21st day of November, 1862, after a +service of a little more than three months. + +In the certificate of disability upon which his discharge was granted +the captain of the beneficiary's company states that "he has been unfit +for duty for sixty days; that the soldier represents that he has not +done efficient service since enlistment by reason of phthisic, from +which he has suffered since childhood, but has grown worse since +entering the service." + +The surgeon of the regiment states in said certificate that "the soldier +has asthma, with which he has been afflicted from his infancy." + +Upon this certificate, based necessarily so far as his previous +condition is concerned, this man procured his discharge after doing but +very slight service. + +He filed an application for pension in the Pension Bureau in October, +1879, basing his claim upon the allegation that he contracted asthma in +September, 1862, about a month after he entered the service. + +Two special examinations were had in his case, and his statement was +taken in each. + +On the first examination he said he could not account for the statements +of his captain and surgeon, unless they arose from a remark he made that +he had phthisic when he was small. + +On the second he accounted for the statements of the captain and surgeon +by saying that he felt very sick and feared that he could not live if he +remained in the service; that he was suffering with jaundice as well as +asthma; and having been told that he could not be discharged on account +of jaundice, but could on account of asthma, he asked the captain to +tell the surgeon that he had known him to have asthma before enlistment. +He also says that he procured others to tell the same story. + +On these examinations there was the usual negative testimony produced of +certain parties who knew the claimant before enlistment and did not know +that he was afflicted. This is balanced by the evidence of others, who +testify that the claimant had asthma before enlistment. + +Upon consideration of the character of the ailment, the testimony upon +the two examinations, and the conduct of the beneficiary and his own +admissions, I can not escape the conviction that whatever disability he +had at the date of discharge he had when he enlisted, and that his claim +was properly rejected by the Pension Bureau. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9106, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Peter Liner." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted as a sergeant in the Regular +Army in 1871, and he alleges that he served a previous term of +enlistment, commencing in 1866. + +While on a march from one post to another on the frontier, in September, +1874, the beneficiary was severely wounded by the bursting of a gun, +necessitating the amputation of three of his fingers. + +The reports of this occurrence develop the fact that the gun which burst +in his hands was a shotgun, and that the accident happened while the +beneficiary was hunting "for his own pleasure or benefit." + +His wound was a severe one, and the injured man was probably a good +and faithful soldier, but it seems quite clear to me that it would be +extending the pension theory to an unwarrantable limit to hold the +Government responsible for such an accident. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 10563, entitled "An +act granting a pension to William S. Latham." + +The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted in August, 1862. The rolls +for March and April, 1863, report him a deserter, but it having been +ascertained that sickness was the cause of his failure to return to his +regiment at the end of a furlough granted to him, upon which failure the +charge of desertion was based, he was restored to his company and the +charge of desertion removed. + +All this is stated in the report of the committee to which this bill was +referred. + +But it is not mentioned in said report that he was again furloughed on +the 17th day of August, 1863, and, failing to return at the end of his +furlough, one month thereafter, again became a deserter, but was not so +reported until October 8, 1863. + +He was arrested January 1, 1864, but there appears to be no record of +his trial or his restoration. + +He filed a claim for pension in the Pension Bureau in January, 1870, and +he was informed twice during the year 1888 that no favorable action +could be taken until the charge of desertion had been removed. + +On application to the Adjutant-General that officer, on the 21st day of +February, 1888, declined to remove said charge of desertion. + +The claim is still pending before the Pension Bureau. + +I do not suppose that the Congress is prepared to go so far in special +pension legislation as to grant pensions to those against whom charges +of desertion appear of record. + +In the belief that the fact of the second desertion above mentioned was +overlooked by the Congress, and because the application for pension in +this case is still pending in the Pension Bureau, where complete justice +can still be done, I am constrained to withhold my approval of this +bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 16, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2472, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Lydia A. Eaton." + +The husband of this beneficiary was pensioned for chronic rheumatism, at +the rate of $4 a month, up to the date of his death, August 4, 1884. + +The beneficiary filed a claim for pension on the 2d day of September, +1884. + +The cause of her husband's death was cystitis, which, being interpreted, +is inflammation of the bladder. + +The claim of the beneficiary was rejected on the ground that the fatal +disease was not due to army service, and I fail to discover how any +other conclusion can be reached. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 10342, entitled "An act +granting a pension to John Dauper." + +This beneficiary enlisted April 24, 1861, and was discharged August 28, +1861, four months after enlistment. + +He filed a claim for pension in September, 1879, alleging as cause of +disability diarrhea and disease of the stomach, liver, kidneys, and +bladder. + +None of these ailments were established satisfactorily as originating +in the soldier's brief service, and as constituting disabilities after +discharge. + +The claim was therefore rejected by the Pension Bureau, and this action +appears to be entirely justified upon the facts presented. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11005, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Ester Gaven." + +This act provides that the beneficiary shall be placed upon the pension +roll as the widow of Bernard Gaven, and the report of the committee to +whom this bill was referred throughout speaks of her as bearing that +relation to the soldier. + +She filed a claim in the Pension Bureau for a pension on the 31st day of +January, 1881, as the mother of Bernard Gaven. + +This claim is still pending, and though evidence that the death of the +soldier had any relation to his military service is entirely lacking and +some other difficulties are apparent, the case may still be made out +in the Pension Bureau. If it is, the beneficiary can be put upon the +pension roll in her true character as mother of the soldier, instead of +widow, as erroneously stated in the bill herewith returned. + +Upon the merits as the case now stands, and because of the mistake in +describing the relationship of the beneficiary, this bill, I think, +should not become a law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 10504, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mary Hooper." + +The husband of this beneficiary was first lieutenant in the volunteer +service from December 7, 1861, to February 28, 1862, a little over two +months, when he resigned. His resignation was based upon a medical +certificate in which it is stated that "this officer is unfit for duty +on account of chronic pleuritis and pulmonary consumption, from which he +has suffered for the past four months." + +This certificate is dated February 14, 1862. + +The soldier filed a claim in 1871 alleging typhoid fever resulting in +paralysis, and that the fever was contracted in the latter part of +February, 1862. + +The soldier died January 17, 1884, of paralysis. + +The beneficiary filed a claim for pension November 17, 1887, claiming +that her husband died of disease contracted in the service. + +The claims have been specially and thoroughly examined. The testimony +does not establish any disease or disability in the service other than +those stated in the certificate procured by him when he resigned, but it +does tend to establish that about April 17, 1862, after his resignation, +the soldier was sick with typhoid fever, and that afterwards he suffered +from partial paralysis, which increased and finally caused his death. + +I make no reference to the fact stated in the committee's report +suggesting the idea that the courage of the deceased soldier had been +questioned further than to correct the allegation of the report that +either his or his widow's claim for pension has been rejected for +cowardice. It appears from the record furnished to me that they were +rejected on the ground that the evidence is insufficient to connect the +death cause or disability with the soldier's military service. + +I am unable to see what other conclusion could be reached in the face of +the soldier's own statements, as contained in the medical certificate +furnished him and elsewhere made, and upon consideration of the other +facts in the case. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4820, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Ellen Kelley." + +The husband of this beneficiary was granted a furlough to go home and +vote on the 31st day of October, 1864. On his way there he was severely +injured by a railroad collision, and there does not seem to be a +particle of doubt that the injuries thus sustained caused his death. + +Upon these facts this does not seem to be a proper case for the granting +of a pension. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11222, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Elizabeth Heckler." + +The husband of this beneficiary was pensioned for asthma, and there is +no doubt of the propriety of such pension, nor is there doubt upon the +evidence that this affection continued up to the time of his death. + +But he died of acute inflammation of the bladder and chronic enlargement +of prostate gland. There is no proof that these causes of death were in +the least complicated with the difficulty for which the deceased was +pensioned, or any other trouble which was the result of military +service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4102, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary A. Carr." + +The husband of this beneficiary served in the Army from November 5, +1863, to June 15, 1865. He made a claim for pension for injury to his +left ankle, caused by being thrown from a horse while in the service, +and some time after his death a pension was allowed upon his claim, at +the rate of $4 per month, commencing at the date of his discharge and +ending at the date of his death. + +He died on the 16th day of March, 1877, of apoplexy, and his widow filed +a claim for pension on her own behalf in March, 1885, based upon the +allegation that the injury for which her husband was pensioned was the +cause of his death. + +I can not upon the facts of this case arrive at a conclusion different +from the Pension Bureau, where it was determined that the death of the +soldier could not be accepted as having been caused by the injury to his +ankle. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 17, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11332, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Eliza S. Glass." + +The husband of this beneficiary was in the military service from +December 28, 1863, to April 27, 1864, a period of four months. He was +discharged at the last-mentioned date for disability, the surgeon +stating in the certificate his trouble to be "chronic hemorrhoids and +rheumatism, both together producing lameness of back; unfit for Invalid +Corps." The captain of the soldier's company in the same certificate +states: + + During the last two months said soldier has been unfit for duty + fifty-four days in consequence of chronic rheumatism, owing to spinal + affections and sprains received before entering the service, and made + worse by drilling in double quick. + + +He filed a claim for pension December 24, 1879, more than fifteen years +after discharge, in which he claimed that on the 15th day of January, +1864, he received an injury to his back by slipping and falling upon the +ground. + +After a thorough examination this claim was rejected on the ground that +his disability existed prior to enlistment. + +The beneficiary filed a claim for pension December 3, 1885, alleging the +death of the soldier April 26, 1885. This claim was also rejected, on +the ground that the death causes, "nervous prostration and spinal +trouble," were not due to the service. + +Both of these cases were appealed to the Secretary of the Interior, and +in the decision of said appeals it is stated that upon an application +for a discharge from the service the soldier first set up an injury to +his back from a fall while on drill; that the regimental surgeon refused +to entertain this proposition; that the next day the soldier returned, +and upon the representations of himself and his captain that his trouble +dated back of the alleged accident upon drill and was chronic the +certificate for discharge was made out, and pursuant thereto his +discharge was granted. + +I am of the opinion that, considering the cause of death and all the +facts and circumstances surrounding this case, the certificate of +discharge which the soldier himself procured to be made out should stand +as stating the true origin of his disability; and if the certificate was +set aside and all the facts tending to support it were disregarded, the +cause of death would still, in my opinion, appear to be disconnected +with military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas the title to all that territory lying between the north and +south forks of the Red River and the hundredth degree of longitude and +jurisdiction over the same are vested in the United States, it being a +part of the Indian Territory, as shown by surveys and investigation made +on behalf of the United States, which territory the State of Texas also +claims title to and jurisdiction over; and + +Whereas said conflicting claim grows out of a controversy existing +between the United States and the State of Texas as to the point where +the hundredth degree of longitude crosses the Red River, as described in +the treaty of February 22, 1819, between the United States and Spain, +fixing the boundary line between the two countries; and + +Whereas the commissioners appointed on the part of the United States +under the act of January 31, 1885, authorizing the appointment of a +commission by the President to run and mark the boundary lines between +a portion of the Indian Territory and the State of Texas, in connection +with a similar commission to be appointed by the State of Texas, have +by their report determined that the South Fork is the true Red River +designated in the treaty, the commissioners appointed on the part of +said State refusing to concur in said report: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, +do hereby admonish and warn all persons, whether claiming to act as +officers of the county of Greer, in the State of Texas, or otherwise, +against selling or disposing of, or attempting to sell or dispose of, +any of said lands or from exercising or attempting to exercise any +authority over said lands. + +And I also warn and admonish all persons against purchasing any part of +said territory from any person or persons whomsoever. + +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 December, A.D. 1887, +and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and +twelfth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me by the Government of the +Empire of Germany that no tonnage of light-house dues, or any equivalent +tax or taxes whatever, are imposed upon American vessels entering the +ports of the Empire of Germany, either by the Imperial Government +or by the governments of the German maritime States, and that vessels +belonging to the United States of America and their cargoes are not +required in German ports to pay any fee or due of any kind or nature, +or any import due higher or other than is payable by German vessels or +their cargoes: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the +act of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official +services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping +commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes," +approved June 19, 1886, do hereby declare and proclaim that from and +after the date of this my proclamation shall be suspended the collection +of the whole of the duty of 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30 cents per +ton per annum (which is imposed by said section of said act), upon +vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports +of the Empire of Germany. + +_Provided_, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of the +suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreign +country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed on +vessels of the United States, or the import or export duties on their +cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the +vessels of such foreign country or their cargoes, or of the fees, dues, +or duties imposed on the vessels of Germany or the cargoes of such +vessels. + +And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so long +as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the +United States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports of +the Empire of Germany, and no longer. + +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 26th day of January, A.D. 1888, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twelfth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me that no light-house and +light dues, tonnage dues, beacon and buoy dues, or other equivalent +taxes of any kind are imposed upon vessels of the United States in the +ports of the island of Guadeloupe, one of the French West India Islands: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of +America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the +act of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official +services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping +commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes," +approved June 19, 1886, do hereby declare and proclaim that from and +after the date of this my proclamation shall be suspended the collection +of the whole of the tonnage duty which is imposed by said section of +said act upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any +of the ports of the island of Guadeloupe. + +_Provided_, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of the +suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreign +country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed on +vessels of the United States, or the import or export duties on their +cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the +vessels of such foreign country or their cargoes, or of the fees, dues, +or duties imposed on the vessels of the country in which are the ports +mentioned in this proclamation or the cargoes of such vessels. + +And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so long +as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the +United States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports of +the island of Guadeloupe, and no longer. + +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 16th day of April, A.D. 1888, and +of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twelfth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +A PROCLAMATION + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +Constant thanksgiving and gratitude are due from the American people to +Almighty God for His goodness and mercy, which have followed them since +the day He made them a nation and vouchsafed to them a free government. +With loving kindness He has constantly led us in the way of prosperity +and greatness. He has not visited with swift punishment our +shortcomings, but with gracious care He has warned us of our dependence +upon His forbearance and has taught us that obedience to His holy law is +the price of a continuance of His precious gifts. + +In acknowledgment of all that God has done for us as a nation, and to +the end that on an appointed day the united prayers and praise of a +grateful country may reach the throne of grace, I, Grover Cleveland, +President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart +Thursday, the 29th day of November instant, as a day of thanksgiving and +prayer, to be kept and observed throughout the land. + +On that day let all our people suspend their ordinary work and +occupations, and in their accustomed places of worship, with prayer +and songs of praise, render thanks to God for all His mercies, for the +abundant harvests which have rewarded the toil of the husbandman during +the year that has passed, and for the rich rewards that have followed +the labors of our people in their shops and their marts of trade +and traffic. Let us give thanks for peace and for social order and +contentment within our borders, and for our advancement in all that +adds to national greatness. + +And mindful of the afflictive dispensation with which a portion of our +land has been visited, let us, while we humble ourselves before the +power of God, acknowledge His mercy in setting bounds to the deadly +march of pestilence, and let our hearts be chastened by sympathy with +our fellow-countrymen who have suffered and who mourn. + +And as we return thanks for all the blessings which we have received +from the hands of our Heavenly Father, let us not forget that He has +enjoined upon us charity; and on this day of thanksgiving let us +generously remember the poor and needy, so that our tribute of praise +and gratitude may be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. + +Done at the city of Washington on the 1st day of November, 1888, and in +the year of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and +thirteenth. + +[SEAL.] + +In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of +the United States to be affixed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +REVISED CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 2, 1888_. + +In the exercise of power vested in him by the Constitution and of +authority given to him by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section +of the Revised Statutes and by an act to regulate and improve the civil +service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, the President +hereby makes and promulgates the following rules and revokes the rules +known as "Amended Civil-Service Rules" and "Special Rule No. 1," +heretofore promulgated under the power and authority referred to herein: +_Provided_, That this revocation shall not be construed as an +exclusion from the classified civil service of any now classified +customs district or classified post-office. + + + GENERAL RULES. + + GENERAL RULE 1. + + Any officer in the executive civil service who shall use his official + authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election + or controlling the result thereof; or who shall dismiss, or cause to + be dismissed, or use influence of any kind to procure the dismissal + of any person from any place in the said service because such person + has refused to be coerced in his political action, or has refused to + contribute money for political purposes, or has refused to render + political service; and any officer, clerk, or other employee in the + executive civil service who shall willfully violate any of these rules, + or any of the provisions of sections 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the act + entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United + States," approved January 16, 1883, shall be dismissed from office. + + + GENERAL RULE II. + + There shall be three branches of the classified civil service, as + follows: + + 1. The classified departmental service. + + 2. The classified customs service. + + 3. The classified postal service. + + + GENERAL RULE III. + + 1. No person shall be appointed or employed to enter the civil service, + classified in accordance with section 163 of the Revised Statutes and + under the "Act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United + States," approved January 16, 1883, until he shall have passed an + examination or shall have been shown to be specially exempted therefrom + by said act or by an exception to this rule set forth in connection with + the rules regulating admission to the branch of the service he seeks to + enter. + + 2. No noncompetitive examination shall be held except under the + following conditions: + + (_a_) The failure of competent persons to be, after due notice, + competitively examined, thus making it impracticable to supply to the + appointing officer in due time the names of persons who have passed a + competitive examination. + + (_b_) That a person has been during one year or longer in a place + excepted from examination, and the appointing or nominating officer + desires the appointment of such person to a place not excepted. + + (_c_) That a person has served two years continuously since July + 16, 1883, in a place in the departmental service below or outside + the classified service, and the appointing officer desires, with the + approval of the President, upon the recommendation of the Commission, + to promote such person into the classified service because of his + faithfulness and efficiency in the position occupied by him, and because + of his qualifications for the place to which the appointing officer + desires his promotion. + + (_d_) That an appointing or nominating officer desires the + examination of a person to test his fitness for a classified place which + might be filled under exceptions to examination declared in connection + with the rules regulating admission to the classified service. + + (_e_) That the Commission, with the approval of the President, has + decided that such an examination should be held to test fitness for any + particular place requiring technical, professional, or scientific + knowledge, special skill, or peculiar ability, to test fitness for which + place a competitive examination can not, in the opinion of the + Commission, be properly provided. + + (_f_) That a person who has been appointed from the copyist + register wishes to take the clerk examination for promotion to a place + the salary of which is not less than $1,000 per annum. + + (_g_) To test the fitness of a person for a place to which his + transfer has been requested. + + (_h_) When the exigencies of the service require such examination + for promotion as provided by clause 6 of this rule. + + 3. All applications for examination must be made in form and manner + prescribed by the Commission. + + 4. No person serving in the Army or Navy shall be examined for admission + to the classified service until the written consent of the head of the + Department under which he is enlisted shall have been communicated to + the Commission. + + No person who is an applicant for examination or who is an eligible + in one branch of the classified service shall at the same time be an + applicant for examination in any other branch of said service. + + 5. The Commission may refuse to examine an applicant who would be + physically unable to perform the duties of the place to which he desires + appointment. The reason for any such action must be entered on the + minutes of the Commission. + + 6. For the purpose of establishing in the classified civil service the + principle of compulsory competitive examination for promotion, there + shall be, so far as practicable and useful, compulsory competitive + examinations of a suitable character to test fitness for promotion; but + persons in the classified service who were honorably discharged from the + military or naval service of the United States, and the widows and + orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors, shall be exempt from such + examinations. + + The Commission may make regulations, applying them to any part of the + classified service, under which regulations all examinations for + promotion therein shall be conducted and all promotions be made; but + until regulations in accordance herewith have been applied to any part + of the classified service promotions therein shall be made in the manner + provided by the rules applicable thereto. And in any part of the + classified service in which promotions are made under examination as + herein provided the Commission may in special cases, if the exigencies + of the service require such action, provide noncompetitive examinations + for promotion. + + Persons who were in the classified civil service on July 16, 1883, and + persons who have been since that date or may be hereafter put into that + service by the inclusion of subordinate places, clerks, and officers, + under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the + civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, shall be + entitled to all rights of promotion possessed by persons of the same + class or grade appointed after examination under the act referred to + above. + + 7. No question in any examination shall be so framed as to elicit + information concerning the political or religious opinions or + affiliations of competitors, and no discrimination in examination, + certification, or appointment shall be made by the Commission, the + examiners, or the appointing or nominating officer in favor of or + against any applicant, competitor, or eligible because of his political + or religious opinions or affiliations. The Commission, the examiners, + and the appointing or nominating officer shall discountenance all + disclosures of such opinions or affiliations by or concerning any + applicant, competitor, or eligible; and any appointing or nominating + officer who shall make inquiries concerning or in any other way attempt + to ascertain the political or religious opinions or affiliations of any + eligible, or who shall discriminate in favor of or against any eligible + because of the eligible's political or religious opinions or + affiliations, shall be dismissed from office. + + 8. Every applicant must state under oath-- + + (_a_) His full name. + + (_b_) That he is a citizen of the United States. + + (_c_) Year and place of his birth. + + (_d_) The State, Territory, or District of which he is a _bona + fide_ resident, and the length of time he has been a resident thereof. + + (_e_) His post-office address. + + (_f_) His business or employment during the three years immediately + preceding the date of his application, and where he has resided each of + those years. + + (_g_) Condition of his health, and his physical capacity for the + public service. + + (_h_) His previous employment in the public service. + + (_i_) Any right of preference in civil appointments he may claim + under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes. + + (_j_) The kind of school in which he received his education. + + (_k_) That he does not habitually use intoxicating beverages to excess. + + (_l_) That he has not within the one year next preceding the date + of his application been dismissed from the public service for + delinquency or misconduct. + + (_m_) Such other facts as the Commission may require. + + 9. Every applicant for examination for the classified departmental + service must support the statements of his application paper by + certificates of persons acquainted with him, residents of the State, + Territory, or District in which he claims _bona fide_ residence; + and the Commission shall prescribe the form and number of such + certificates. + + 10. A false statement made by an applicant, or connivance by him with + any person to make on his behalf a false statement in any certificate + required by the Commission, and deception or fraud practiced by an + applicant, or by any person on his behalf with his consent, to influence + an examination, shall be good cause for refusal to examine such + applicant or for refusing to mark his papers after examination. + + 11. All examinations shall be prepared and conducted under the + supervision of the Commission; and examination papers shall be marked + under rules made by the Commission, which shall take care that the + marking examiners do not know the name of any competitor in an + examination for admission whose papers are intrusted to them. + + 12. For the purpose of marking examination papers boards of examiners + shall be appointed by the Commission, one to be known as the central + board, which shall be composed of persons in the classified service, who + shall be detailed for constant duty at the office of the Commission. + Under supervision of the Commission the central board shall mark the + papers of the copyist and of the clerk examinations, and such of the + papers of the supplementary, special, and promotion examinations for the + departmental service and of examinations for admission to or promotion + in the other branches of the classified services as shall be submitted + to it by the Commission. + + 13. No person shall be appointed to membership on any board of examiners + until after the Commission shall have consulted with the head of the + Department or of the office under whom such person is serving. + + 14. An examiner shall be allowed time during office hours to perform his + duties as examiner, which duties shall be considered part of his + official duties. + + 15. The Commission may change the membership of boards of examiners + and-- + + (_a_) Prescribe the manner of organizing such boards. + + (_b_) More particularly define their powers. + + (_c_) Specifically determine their duties and the duties of the + members thereof. + + 16. Each board shall keep such records and make such reports as the + Commission may require, and such records shall be open to the inspection + of any member of this Commission or other person acting under authority + of the Commission, which may, for the purposes of investigation, take + possession of such records. + + + GENERAL RULE IV. + + 1. The names of all competitors who shall successfully pass an + examination shall be entered upon a register, and the competitors whose + names have been thus registered shall be eligible to any office or place + to test fitness for which the examination was held. + + 2. The Commission may refuse to certify-- + + (_a_) An eligible who is so defective in sight, speech, or hearing, + or who is otherwise so defective physically as to be apparently unfit to + perform the duties of the position to which he is seeking appointment. + + (_b_) An eligible who has made a false statement in his + application, or been guilty of fraud or deceit in any matter connected + with his application or examination, or who has been guilty of a crime + or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct. + + 3. If an appointing or nominating officer to whom certification has been + made shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certificate, + stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause + particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly + performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon + investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is + good and well founded, direct the certification of another eligible in + place of the one to whom objection has been made. + + + GENERAL RULE V. + + Executive officers shall in all proper ways facilitate civil-service + examinations; and customs officers, postmasters, and custodians of + public buildings at places where such examinations are to be held shall + for the purposes of such examinations permit and arrange for the use of + suitable rooms under their charge, and for heating, lighting, and + furnishing the same. + + + GENERAL RULE VI. + + No person dismissed for misconduct, and no probationer who has failed + to receive absolute appointment or employment, shall be admitted to any + examination within one year after having been thus discharged from the + service. + + + GENERAL RULE VII. + + 1. Persons who have a _prima facie_ claim of preference for + appointments to civil offices under section 1754, Revised Statutes, + shall be preferred in certifications made under the authority of the + Commission to any appointing or nominating officer. + + 2. In making any reduction of force in any branch of the classified + civil service those persons shall be retained who, being equally + qualified, have been honorably discharged from the military or naval + service of the United States, and also the widows and orphans of + deceased soldiers and sailors. + + + GENERAL RULE VIII. + + The Commission shall have authority to prescribe regulations under and + in accordance with these general rules and the rules relating specially + to each of the several branches of the classified service. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULES. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE I. + + 1. The classified departmental service shall include the several + officers, clerks, and other persons in any Department, commission, + or bureau at Washington classified under section 163 of the Revised + Statutes, or by direction of the President for the purposes of the + examinations prescribed by the civil-service act of 1883, or for + facilitating the inquiries as to fitness of candidates for admission + to the departmental service in respect to age, health, character, + knowledge, and ability, as provided for in section 1753 of the Revised + Statutes. + + 2. The word "department," when used in the general or departmental + rules, shall be construed to mean any such Department, commission, or + bureau classified as above prescribed. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. + + 1. To test the fitness of applicants for admission to the classified + departmental service there shall be examinations as follows: + + _Copyist examination_.--For places of $900 per annum and under. + This examination shall not include more than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage. + + _Clerk examination_.--For places of $1,000 per annum and upward. + This examination shall not include more than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, + interest, and discount. + + (_e_) Elements of bookkeeping and of accounts. + + (_f_) Elements of the English language. + + (_g_) Letter writing. + + (_h_) Elements of the geography, history, and government of the + United States. + + _Supplementary examinations_.--For places which, in the opinion of + the Commission, require, in addition to the knowledge required to pass + the copyist or the clerk examination, certain technical, professional, + or scientific knowledge, or knowledge of a language other than the + English language, or peculiar or special skill. + + _Special examinations_.--For places which, in the opinion of the + Commission, require certain technical, professional, or scientific + knowledge or skill. Each special examination shall embrace, in addition + to the special subject upon which the applicant is to be tested, as many + of the subjects of the clerk examination as the Commission may decide to + be necessary to test fitness for the place to be filled. + + _Noncompetitive examinations_.--For any place in the departmental + service for which the Commission may from time to time (subject to the + conditions prescribed by General Rule III, clause 2) determine that such + examinations ought to be held. + + 2. An applicant may take the copyist or the clerk examination and any or + all of the supplementary and special examinations provided for the + departmental service, subject to such limitations as the Commission may + by regulation prescribe; but no person whose name is on a departmental + register of eligibles shall during the period of his eligibility be + allowed reexamination unless he shall satisfy the Commission that at the + time of his examination he was unable, because of illness or other good + cause, to do himself justice in said examination; and the rating upon + such reexamination shall cancel and be a substitute for the rating of + such person upon the previous examination. + + 3. Exceptions from examination in the classified departmental service + are hereby made as follows: + + (_a_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of the head + of each classified Department and of each assistant secretary thereof, + and also of each head of bureau appointed by the President by and with + the advice and consent of the Senate. + + (_b_) Direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer + is under official bond; but this exception shall not include any officer + below the grade of assistant cashier or assistant teller. + + (_c_) Disbursing officers who give bonds. + + (_d_) Persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the + Government. + + (_e_) Chief clerks. + + (_f_) Chiefs of divisions. + + 4. No person appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination + hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred from + such place to a place not also excepted from examination, but after + service of not less than one year in an examination-excepted place he + may be transferred in the bureau in which he is serving to a place not + excepted from examination: _Provided_, That before any such + transfer may be made the Commission must certify that the person whom it + is proposed to so transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for + the place proposed to be filled by such transfer. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE III. + + In compliance with the provisions of section 3 of the civil-service + act the Commission shall provide examinations for the classified + departmental service at least twice in each year in every State or + Territory in which there are a sufficient number of applicants for such + examinations; and the places and times of examinations shall, when + practicable, be so fixed that each applicant may know at the time of + making his application when and where he may be examined; but applicants + may be notified to appear at any place at which the Commission may order + an examination. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE IV. + + 1. Any person not under 20 years of age may make application for + admission to the classified departmental service, blank forms for which + purpose shall be furnished by the Commission. + + 2. Every application for admission to the classified departmental + service should be addressed as follows: "United States Civil Service + Commission, Washington, D.C." + + 3. The date of reception and also of approval by the Commission of each + application shall be noted on the application paper. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE V. + + 1. The papers of all examinations for admission to or promotion in the + classified departmental service shall be marked as directed by the + Commission. + + 2. The Commission shall have authority to appoint the following-named + boards of examiners, which shall conduct examinations and mark + examination papers as follows: + + _Central board_.--As provided for by General Rule III, clause 12. + + _Special boards_.--These boards shall mark such papers of special + examinations for the classified departmental service as the Commission + may direct, and shall be composed of persons in the public service. + + _Supplementary boards_.--These boards shall mark the papers of such + supplementary examinations for the classified departmental service as + the Commission may direct, and shall be composed of persons in the + public service. + + _Promotion boards_.--One for each Department, of three members, and + one auxiliary member for each bureau of the Department for which the + board is to act. Unless the Commission shall otherwise direct, these + boards shall mark the papers of promotion examinations. + + _Local boards_.--These boards shall be organized at one or more + places in each State and Territory where examinations for the classified + departmental service are to be held, and shall conduct such + examinations; and each shall be composed of persons in the public + service residing in the State or Territory in which the board is to act. + + _Customs and postal boards_.--These boards shall conduct such + examinations for the classified departmental service as the Commission + shall direct. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE VI. + + 1. The papers of the copyist and of the clerk examinations shall be + marked by the central board; the papers of special and supplementary + examinations shall be marked as directed by the Commission. Each + competitor in any of the examinations mentioned or referred to above + shall be graded on a scale of 100, according to the general average + determined by the marks made by the examiners on his papers. + + 2. The papers of an examination having been marked, the Commission shall + ascertain-- + + (_a_) The name of every competitor who has, under section 1754 of + the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, and who + has attained a general average of not less than 65 per cent; and all + such competitors are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to + test fitness for which the examination was held. + + (_b_) The name of every other competitor who has attained a general + average of not less than 70 per cent; and all such competitors are + hereby declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which + the examination was held. + + 3. The names of all preference-claiming competitors whose general + average is not less than 65 per cent, together with the names of all + other competitors whose general average is not less than 70 per cent, + shall be entered upon the register of persons eligible to the class or + place to test fitness for which the examination was held. + + 4. To facilitate the maintenance of the apportionment of appointments + among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia, + required by section 2 of the act to regulate and improve the civil + service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, there shall be + lists of eligibles for each State and Territory and for the District of + Columbia, upon which shall be entered the names of the competitors from + that State or Territory or the District of Columbia who have passed the + copyist and the clerk examinations, the names of those who have passed + the copyist examination and of those who have passed the clerk + examination being listed separately; the names of male and of female + eligibles in such examinations being also listed separately. + + 5. But the names of all competitors who have passed a supplementary or a + special examination shall be entered, without regard to State residence, + upon the register of persons eligible to the class or place to test + fitness for which supplementary or special examination was held. + + 6. The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number + nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each + eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection + with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, + preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which + their application papers were filed. + + 7. Immediately after the general averages in an examination shall have + been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or + has failed to pass. + + 8. If a competitor fail to pass, he may, with the consent of the + Commission, be allowed reexamination at any time within six months from + the date of failure without filing a new application; but a competitor + failing to pass, desiring to take again the same examination, must, if + not allowed reexamination within six months from the date of failure, + make in due form a new application therefor. + + 9. No person who has passed an examination shall, while eligible on the + register supplied by such examination, be reexamined, unless he shall + furnish evidence satisfactory to the Commission that at the time of his + examination he was, because of illness or other good cause, incapable of + doing himself justice in said examination. + + 10. The term of eligibility to appointment under the copyist and the + clerk examinations shall be one year from the day on which the name of + the eligible is entered on the register. The term of eligibility under a + supplementary or a special examination shall be determined by the + Commission, but shall not be less than one year. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE VII. + + 1. Vacancies in the classified departmental service, unless among the + places excepted from examination, if not filled by either promotion or + transfer, shall be filled in the following manner: + + (_a_) The appointing officer shall, in form and manner to be + prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of the + names of either males or females eligible to a certain place then + vacant. + + (_b_) If fitness for the place to be filled is tested by + competitive examination, the Commission shall certify the names of three + males or three females, these names to be those of the eligibles who, + standing higher in grade than any other three eligibles of the same sex + on the list of eligibles from which certification is to be made, have + not been certified three times to the officer making the requisition: + _Provided_, That if upon any register from which certification is + to be made there are the names of eligibles who have, under section 1754 + of the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, the + names of such eligibles shall be certified before the names of other + eligibles higher in grade. The Commission shall make regulations that + will secure to each of such preference-claiming eligibles, in the order + of his grade among other preference claimants, an opportunity to have + his claim of preference considered and determined by the appointing + officer. + + 2. Certifications hereunder shall be made in such manner as to maintain + as nearly as possible the apportionment of appointments among the + several States and the Territories and the District of Columbia, as + required by law. + + 3. If the three names certified are those of persons eligible on the + copyist or the clerk register, the appointing officer shall select one, + and one only, and shall notify the person whose name has been selected + that he has been designated for appointment: _Provided_ That, for + the purpose of maintaining the apportionment of appointments referred to + in clause 2 of this rule, the Commission may authorize the appointing + officer to select more than one of the three names certified. + + When certification is made from a supplementary or a special register, + and there are more vacancies than one to be filled, the appointing + officer may select from the three names certified more than one. + + 4. The Commission may certify from the clerk register for appointment to + a place the salary of which is less than $1,000 per annum any eligible + on said register who has given written notice that he will accept such a + place. + + 5. When a person designated for appointment shall have reported in + person to the appointing officer, he shall be appointed for a + probational period of six months, at the end of which period, if his + conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the appointing officer, he shall + receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not + satisfactory to said officer he shall be notified that he will not + receive absolute appointment, and this notification shall discharge him + from the service. The appointing officer shall require the heads of + bureaus or divisions under whom probationers are serving to keep a + record and to make report of the punctuality, industry, habits, ability, + and aptitude of each probationer. + + 6. All persons appointed to or promoted in the classified departmental + service shall be assigned to the duties of the class or place to which + they have been appointed or promoted, unless the interests of the + service require their assignment to other duties; and when such + assignment is made the fact shall be reported to the head of the + Department. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE VIII. + + 1. Transfers will be made as follows: + + (_a_) From one Department to another, upon requisition by the head + of the Department to which the transfer is to be made. + + (_b_) From a bureau of the Treasury Department in which business + relating to the customs is transacted to a classified customs district, + and from such a district to such a bureau of the Treasury Department, + upon requisition by the Secretary of the Treasury. + + (_c_) From the Post-Office Department to a classified post-office, + and from such an office to the Post-Office Department, upon requisition + by the Postmaster-General. + + 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the + Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer + requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed + an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be + transferred, and that such person has during at least six months + preceding the date of the certificate been in the classified service of + the Department, customs district, or post-office from which the transfer + is to be made: _Provided_, That no person who has been appointed + from the copyist register shall be transferred to a place the salary of + which is more than $900 per annum until one year after appointment. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE IX. + + 1. A person appointed from the copyist register may, upon any test of + fitness determined upon by the promoting officer, be promoted as + follows: + + (_a_) At any time after probational appointment, to any place the + salary of which is not more than $900 per annum. + + (_b_) At any time after one year from the date of probational + appointment, upon certification by the Commission that he has passed the + clerk examination or its equivalent, to any place the salary of which is + $1,000 per annum or more. + + (_c_) At any time after two years from the date of probational + appointment, to any place the salary of which is $1,000 per annum or + more. + + 2. A person appointed from the clerk register or from any supplementary + or special register to a place the salary of which is $1,000 per annum + or more may, upon any test of fitness determined upon by the promoting + officer, be promoted at any time after absolute appointment. + + 3. A person appointed from the clerk register or from any supplementary + or special register to a place the salary of which is $900 or less may, + upon any test of fitness determined upon by the promoting officer, be + promoted at any time after probational appointment to any place the + salary of which is $1,000 per annum. + + 4. Other promotions may be made upon any tests of fitness determined + upon by the promoting officer. + + 5. The provisions of clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this rule shall become + null and void in any part of the classified departmental service as soon + as promotion regulations shall have been applied thereto under General + Rule III, clause 6. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE X. + + Upon requisition of the head of a Department the Commission shall + certify for reinstatement in said Department, in a grade requiring no + higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any + person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition + has, through no delinquency or misconduct, been separated from the + classified service of that Department. + + + DEPARTMENTAL RULE XI. + + Bach appointing officer in the classified departmental service shall + report to the Commission-- + + (_a_) Every probational and every absolute appointment made by him, + and every appointment made by him under any exception to examination + authorized by Departmental Rule II, clause 3. + + (_b_) Every refusal by him to make an absolute appointment and + every refusal or neglect to accept an appointment in the classified + service under him. + + (_c_) Every transfer within and into the classified service under + him. + + (_d_) Every assignment of a person to the performance of the duties + of a class or place to which such person was not appointed. + + (_e_) Every separation from the classified service under him, and + whether the separation was caused by dismissal, resignation, or death. + Places excepted from examination are within the classified service. + + (_f_) Every restoration to the classified service under him of any + person who may have been separated therefrom by dismissal or + resignation. + + + CUSTOMS RULES. + + + CUSTOMS RULE I. + + 1. The classified customs service shall include the officers, clerks, + and other persons in the several customs districts classified under the + provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil + service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883. + + 2. Whenever the officers, clerks, and other persons in any customs + district number as many as fifty, any existing classification of the + customs service made by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 6 of + the act of January 16, 1883, shall apply thereto, and thereafter the + Commission shall provide examinations to test the fitness of persons to + fill vacancies in said customs district and these rules shall be in + force therein. Every revision of the classification of any customs + office under section 6 of the act above mentioned, and every inclusion + within the classified customs service of a customs district, shall be + reported to the President. + + + CUSTOMS RULE II. + + 1. To test fitness for admission to the classified customs service, + examinations shall be provided as follows: + + _Clerk examination_[18]--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, + interest, and discount. + + (_e_) Elements of bookkeeping and of accounts. + + (_f_) Elements of the English language. + + (_g_) Letter writing. + + (_h_) Elements of the geography, history, and government of the + United States. + + _Law-clerk examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, + interest, and discount. + + (_e_) Elements of the English language. + + (_f_) Letter writing. + + (_g_) Law questions. + + _Day-inspector examination_.--This examination shall not include + more than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage. + + (_e_) Elements of the English language. + + (_f_) Geography of America and Europe. + + _Inspectress examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules. + + (_e_) Geography of America and Europe. + + _Night-inspector, messenger, assistant weigher, and opener and packer + examination_.--This examination shall not include more than the + following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules. + + _Gauger examination_.--This examination shall not include more than + the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--practical questions. + + (_e_) Theoretical questions. + + (_f_) Practical tests. + + _Examiner examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, and + discount. + + (_e_) Elements of the English language. + + (_f_) Practical questions. + + (_g_) Practical tests. + + _Sampler examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules. + + (_e_) Practical questions. + + (_f_) Practical tests. + + _Other competitive examinations_.--Such other competitive + examinations as the Commission may from time to time determine to be + necessary in testing fitness for other places in the classified customs + service. + + _Noncompetitive examinations_.--Such examinations may, with the + approval of the Commission, be held under conditions stated in General + Rule III, clause 2. + + 2. Any person not under 21 years of age may be examined for anyplace in + the customs service to test fitness for which an examination is + prescribed, and any person not under 20 years of age may be examined for + clerk or messenger. + + 3. A person desiring examination for admission to the classified customs + service must make request, in his own handwriting, for a blank form of + application, which request and also his application shall be addressed + as directed by the Commission. + + 4. The date of reception and also of approval by the board of each of + such applications shall be noted on the application paper. + + 5. Exceptions from examination in the classified customs service are + hereby made as follows: + + (_a_) Deputy collectors, who do not also act as inspectors, + examiners, or clerks. + + (_b_) Cashier of the collector. + + (_c_) Assistant cashier of the collector. + + (_d_) Auditor of the collector. + + (_e_) Chief acting disbursing officer. + + (_g_) Deputy naval officers. + + (_g_) Deputy surveyors. + + (_h_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of each + nominating officer. + + 6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination + hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred from + such place to another place not also excepted from examination, but a + person who has served not less than one year in an examination-excepted + place may be transferred in the customs office in which he is serving to + a place not excepted from examination: _Provided_, That before any + such transfer may be made the Commission must certify that the person + whom it is proposed to so transfer has passed an examination to test + fitness for the place proposed to be filled by such transfer. + + + CUSTOMS RULE III. + + 1. The papers of every examination shall be marked under direction of + the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of 100, + according to the general average determined by the marks made by the + examiners on his papers. + + 2. The Commission shall appoint in each classified customs district a + board of examiners, which shall-- + + (_a_) Conduct all examinations held to test fitness for admission + to or promotion in the classified service of the customs district in + which the board is located. + + (_b_) Mark the papers of such examinations, unless otherwise + directed, as provided for by General Rule III, clause 12. + + (_c_) Conduct such examinations for the classified departmental + service as the Commission may direct. + + 3. The papers of an examination having been marked, the board of + examiners shall ascertain + + (_a_) The name of every competitor who has, under section 1754 of + the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, and who + has attained a general average of not less than 65 per cent; and all + such competitors are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to + test fitness for which the examination was held. + + (_b_) The name of every other competitor who has attained a general + average of not less than 70 per cent; and all such applicants are hereby + declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the + examination was held. + + 4. The names of all preference-claiming competitors whose general + average is not less than 65 per cent, together with the names of all + other competitors whose general average is not less than 70 per cent, + shall be entered upon the register of persons eligible to the class or + place to test fitness for which the examination was held. The names of + male and of female eligibles shall be listed separately. + + 5. The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number + nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each + eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection + with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, + preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which + their application papers were filed. + + 6. Immediately after the general averages in an examination shall have + been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or + has failed to pass. + + 7. If a competitor fail to pass, he may, with the consent of the board, + approved by the Commission, be allowed reexamination at any time within + six months from the date of failure without filing a new application; + but a competitor failing to pass, desiring to take again the same + examination, must, if not allowed reexamination within six months from + the date of failure, make in due form a new application therefor. + + 8. No person who has passed an examination shall while eligible on the + register Supplied by such examination be reexamined, unless he shall + furnish evidence satisfactory to the Commission that at the time of his + examination he was, because of illness or for other good cause, + incapable of doing himself justice in said examination. + + 9. The term of eligibility to appointment in the classified customs + service shall be one year from the day on which the name of the eligible + is entered on the register. + + + CUSTOMS RULE IV. + + 1. Vacancies in the lowest class or grade of the classified service of a + customs district shall be filled in the following manner: + + (_a_) The nominating officer in any office in which a vacancy may + exist shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, + request the board of examiners to certify to him the names of either + males or females eligible to the vacant place. + + (_b_) If fitness for the place to be filled is tested by + competitive examination, the board of examiners shall certify the names + of three males or three females, these names to be those of the + eligibles who, standing higher in grade than any other three eligibles + of the same sex on the register from which certification is to be made, + have not been certified three times from said register: _Provided_, + That if upon said register there are the names of eligibles who, under + section 1754 of the Revised Statutes, have claim of preference in civil + appointments, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before the + names of other eligibles higher in grade. The Commission shall make + regulations that will secure to each of such preference-claiming + eligibles, in the order of his grade among other preference claimants, + an opportunity to have his claim of preference considered and determined + by the appointing officer. + + (_c_) Each name on a register of eligibles may be certified only + three times: _Provided_, That when a name has been three times + certified, if there are not three names on the register of higher grade, + it may, upon the written request of a nominating officer to whom it has + not been certified, be included in any certification made to said + officer. + + 2. Of the three names certified the nominating officer must select one; + and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies + than one, he may select more than one name. Each person thus designated + for appointment shall be notified, and upon reporting in person to the + proper officer shall be appointed for a probational period of six + months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be + satisfactory to the nominating officer, he shall receive absolute + appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory to said + officer, he shall be notified that he will not receive absolute + appointment, and this notification shall discharge him from the service. + + 3. Every nominating officer in the classified customs service shall + require the officer under whom a probationer may be serving to carefully + observe and report in writing the services rendered by and the character + and qualifications of such probationer. These reports shall be preserved + on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which + they shall be made. + + 4. All other vacancies, unless among the places excepted from + examination, shall be filled by transfer or promotion. + + + CUSTOMS RULE V. + + 1. Until promotion regulations have been applied to a classified customs + district, the following promotions may be made therein at any time after + absolute appointment: + + (_a_) A clerk, upon any test of fitness determined upon by the + nominating officer, to any vacant place in the class next above the one + in which he may be serving. + + (_b_) A day inspector, upon any test of fitness determined upon by + the nominating officer, to class 2 in the grade of clerk. + + (_c_) A clerk, day inspector, opener and packer, or sampler, after + passing the examiner examination, to the grade of examiner. + + (_d_) A messenger, after passing the clerk examination, to the + lowest class in the grade of clerk. + + (_e_) A night inspector, after passing the day-inspector + examination, to the grade of day inspector. + + 2. Other promotions may be made, in the discretion of the promoting + officer, upon any test of fitness determined upon by him. + + + CUSTOMS RULE VI. + + 1. Transfers may be made as follows: + + (_a_) From one office of a classified district to another office in + the same district, subject to the provisions of Customs Rule V. + + (_b_) From one classified district to another, upon requisition by + the Secretary of the Treasury. + + (_c_) From any bureau of the Treasury Department in which business + relating to customs is transacted to any classified customs district, + and from any such district to any such bureau, upon requisition by the + Secretary of the Treasury. + + 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the board of + examiners, acting under (_a_) of clause I, or until the Commission, + acting under (_b_) or (_c_) of clause i of this rule, shall + have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the + person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test + fitness for the place to which he is to be transferred, and that such + person has been at least six months preceding the date of the + certificate in the classified service of the Department or customs + district from which the transfer is to be made. + + CUSTOMS RULE VII. + + Upon requisition of a nominating officer in any customs district the + board of examiners thereof shall certify for reinstatement in any office + under his jurisdiction, in a grade requiring no higher examination than + the one in which he was formerly employed, any person who within one + year next preceding the date of the requisition has, through no + delinquency or misconduct, been separated from the classified service of + said office. + + CUSTOMS RULE VIII. + + Each nominating officer of a classified customs district shall report to + the board of examiners-- + + (_a_) Every probational and absolute appointment, and every + appointment under any exception to examination authorized by Customs + Rule II, clause 5, made within his jurisdiction. + + (_b_) Every refusal by him to nominate a probationer for absolute + appointment and every refusal or neglect to accept an appointment in the + classified service under him. + + (_c_) Every transfer into the classified service under him. + + (_d_) Every separation from the classified service under him, and + whether the separation was caused by dismissal, resignation, or death. + Places excepted from examination are within the classified service. + + (_e_) Every restoration to the classified service under him of any + person who may have been separated therefrom by dismissal or + resignation. + + + POSTAL RULES. + + + POSTAL RULE I. + + 1. The classified postal service shall include the officers, clerks, + and other persons in the several post-offices classified under the + provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil + service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883. + + 2. Whenever the officers, clerks, and other persons in any post-office + number as many as fifty, any existing classification of the postal + service made by the Postmaster-General under section 6 of the act of + January 16, 1883, shall apply thereto, and thereafter the Commission + shall provide examinations to test the fitness of persons to fill + vacancies in said post-office and these rules shall be in force therein. + Every revision of the classification of any post-office under section 6 + of the act above mentioned, and every inclusion of a post-office within + the classified postal service, shall be reported to the President. + + + POSTAL RULE II. + + 1. To test fitness for admission to the classified postal service + examinations shall be provided as follows: + + _Clerk examination_.--This examination shall not include more than + the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage. + + (_e_) Elements of the English language. + + (_f_) Letter writing. + + (_g_) Elements of the geography, history, and government of the + United States. + + _Carrier examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules. + + (_e_) Elements of the geography of the United States. + + (_f_) Knowledge of the locality of the post-office delivery. + + (_g_) Physical tests. + + _Messenger examination_.--This examination shall not include more + than the following subjects: + + (_a_) Orthography. + + (_b_) Copying. + + (_c_) Penmanship. + + (_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules. + + (_e_) Physical tests. + + This examination shall also be used to test fitness for the position of + piler, stamper, junior clerk, or other places the duties of which are + chiefly manual. + + _Special examinations_.--These examinations shall test fitness for + positions requiring knowledge of a language other than the English + language, or special or technical knowledge or skill. Each special + examination shall include, in addition to the special subject upon which + the applicant is to be tested, so many of the subjects of the clerk + examination as the Commission may determine. + + _Noncompetitive examinations_.--Such examinations may, with the + approval of the Commission, be held under conditions stated in General + Rule III, clause 2. + + 2. No person shall be examined for the position of clerk if under 18 + years of age; and no person shall be examined for the position of + messenger, stamper, or junior clerk if under 16 or over 45 years of age; + and no person shall be examined for the position of carrier if under 21 + or over 40 years of age. No person shall be examined for any other + position in the classified postal service if under 18 or over 45 years + of age. + + 3. Any person desiring examination for admission to the classified + postal service must make request, in his own handwriting, for a blank + form of application, which request, and also his application, shall be + addressed as directed by the Commission. + + 4. The date of reception and also of approval by the board of each of + such applications shall be noted on the application paper. + + 5. Exceptions from examinations in the classified postal service are + hereby made as follows: + + (_a_) Assistant postmaster. + + (_b_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of the + postmaster. + + (_c_) Cashier. + + (_d_) Assistant cashier. + + (_e_) Superintendents designated by the Post-Office Department and + reported as such to the Commission. + + (_f_) Custodians of money, stamps, stamped envelopes, or postal + cards, designated as such by the Post-Office Department and so reported + to the Commission, for whose fidelity the postmaster is under official + bond. + + 6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination + hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred to + another place not also excepted from examination; but a person who has + served not less than one year in an examination-excepted place may be + transferred in the post-office in which he is serving to a place not + excepted from examination: _Provided_, That before any such + transfer may be made the Commission must certify that the person whom + it is proposed to so transfer has passed an examination to test fitness + for the place proposed to be filled by such transfer. + + + POSTAL RULE III. + + 1. The papers of every examination shall be marked under the direction + of the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of + 100, according to the general average determined by the marks made by + the examiners on his papers. + + 2. The Commission shall appoint in each classified post-office a board + of examiners, which shall (_a_) Conduct all examinations held to + test fitness for entrance to or promotion in the classified service of + the post-office in which the board is located. + + (_d_) Mark the papers of such examinations, unless otherwise + directed, as provided for by General Rule III, clause 12. + + (_c_) Conduct such examinations for the classified departmental + service as the Commission may direct. + + 3. The papers of an examination having been marked, the board of + examiners shall ascertain-- + + (_a_) The name of every competitor who has, under section 1754 of + the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, and who + has attained a general average of not less than 65 per cent; and all + such competitors are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to + test fitness for which the examination was held. + + (_b_) The name of every other competitor who has attained a general + average of not less than 70 per cent; and all such applicants are hereby + declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the + examination was held. + + 4. The names of all preference-claiming competitors whose general + average is not less than 65 per cent, together with the names of all + other competitors whose general average is not less than 70 per cent, + shall be entered upon the register of persons eligible to the class or + place to test fitness for which the examination was held. The names of + male and of female eligibles shall be listed separately. + + 5. The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number + nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each + eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection + with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, + preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which + their application papers were filed. + + 6. Immediately after the general averages shall have been ascertained + each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to + pass. + + 7. If a competitor fail to pass, he may, with the consent of the board, + approved by the Commission, be allowed reexamination at any time within + six months from the date of failure without filing a new application; + but a competitor failing to pass, desiring to take again the same + examination, must, if not allowed reexamination within six months from + the date of failure, make in due form a new application therefor. + + 8. No person who has passed an examination shall while eligible on the + register supplied by such examination be reexamined, unless he shall + furnish evidence satisfactory to the Commission that at the time of his + examination he was, because of illness or for other good cause, + incapable of doing himself justice in said examination. + + 9. The term of eligibility to appointment in the classified postal + service shall be one year from the day on which the name of the eligible + is entered on the register. + + + POSTAL RULE IV. + + 1. Vacancies in the classified service of a post-office, unless among + the places excepted from examination, if not filled by either transfer + or promotion, shall be rilled in the following manner: + + (_a_) The postmaster at a post-office in which a vacancy may exist + shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request + the board of examiners to certify to him the names of either males or + females eligible to the vacant place. + + (_b_) If fitness for the place to be filled is tested by + competitive examination, the board of examiners shall certify the names + of three males or three females, these names to be those of the + eligibles who, standing higher in grade than any other three eligibles + of the same sex on the register from which certification is to be made, + have not been certified three times from said register: _Provided_, + That if upon said register there are the names of eligibles who, under + section 1754 of the Revised Statutes, have claim of preference in civil + appointments, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before the + names of other eligibles higher in grade. The Commission shall make + regulations that will secure to each of such preference-claiming + eligibles, in the order of his grade among other preference claimants, + opportunity to have his claim of preference considered and determined by + the appointing officer. + + (_c_) Each name on any register of eligibles may be certified only + three times. + + 2. Of the three names certified to him the postmaster must select one; + and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies + than one, he may select more than one name. Each person thus designated + for appointment shall be notified, and upon reporting in person to the + postmaster shall be appointed for a probational period of six months, at + the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to + the postmaster, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his + conduct and capacity be not satisfactory to said officer, he shall be + notified that he will not receive absolute appointment, and this + notification shall discharge him from the service. + + 3. The postmaster of each classified post-office shall require the + superintendent of each division of his office to carefully observe and + report in writing the services rendered by and the character and + qualifications of each probationer serving under him. These reports + shall be preserved on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form + and manner in which they shall be made. + + + POSTAL RULE V. + + Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to a classified + post-office promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness + determined upon by the postmaster, if not disapproved by the Commission: + _Provided_, That no employee shall be promoted to any grade he + could not enter by appointment under the minimum age limitation applied + thereto by Postal Rule II, clause 2. + + + POSTAL RULE VI. + + 1. Transfers may be made as follows: + + (_a_) From one classified post-office to another, upon requisition + of the Postmaster-General. + + (_b_) From any classified post-office to the Post-Office + Department, and from the Post-Office Department to any classified + post-office, upon requisition of the Postmaster-General. + + 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the + Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer + requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed + an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be + transferred, and that such person has been at least six months next + preceding the date of the certificate in the classified service of the + Department or post-office from which the transfer is to be made. + + + POSTAL RULE VII. + + Upon the requisition of a postmaster the board of examiners for his + office shall certify for reinstatement, in a grade requiring no higher + examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any person + who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has + through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified + service in said office. + + + POSTAL RULE VIII. + + Each postmaster in the classified postal service shall report to the + board of examiners-- + + (_a_) Every probational and every absolute appointment, and every + appointment under any exception to examination authorized by Postal Rule + II, clause 5, made in his office. + + (_b_) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment in his office + and every refusal or neglect to accept an appointment in the classified + service under him. + + (_c_) Every transfer into the classified service under him. + + (_d_) Every separation from the classified service under him, and + whether the separation was caused by dismissal, resignation, or death. + Places excepted from examination are within the classified service. + + (_e_) Every restoration to the classified service under him of any + person who may have been separated therefrom by dismissal or + resignation. + + +These rules shall take effect March 1, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 18: Storekeepers shall be classed as clerks, and vacancies in +that class shall be filled by assignment.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., March 1, 1888_. + +In the exercise of authority vested in the President by the seventeen +hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes to prescribe +such regulations for the admission of persons into the civil service +of the United States as may best promote the efficiency thereof and +ascertain the fitness of each applicant in respect to age, health, +character, knowledge, and ability for the branch of the service into +which he seeks to enter, I hereby direct that the officers, clerks, and +other employees of the United States Civil Service Commission, now +authorized or that may hereafter be authorized by law, shall be arranged +in the following classes, viz: + +Class A, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +less than $1,000 per annum. + +Class B, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$1,000 or more, but less than $1,200 per annum. + +Class 1, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$1,200 or more, but less than $1,400 per annum. + +Class 2, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$1,400 or more, but less than $1,600 per annum. + +Class 3, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$1,600 or more, but less than $1,800 per annum. + +Class 4, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$1,800 or more, but less than $2,000 per annum. + +Class 5, including all persons receiving compensation at the rate of +$2,000 or more per annum. + +No person who is appointed to an office by the President by and with the +advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone, and no +person who is to be employed merely as a laborer or workman or as a +watchman, shall be considered as within this classification. + +_And it is ordered_, That the United States Civil Service Commission +thus classified, as provided by clause 2 of Departmental Rule I of the +civil-service rules approved February 2, 1888, and in force on and +after the date hereof, shall be considered a part of the classified +departmental service, and the rules applicable thereto shall be in force +therein. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 21, 1888_. + +_To the United States Civil Service Commission_. + +Gentlemen: I desire to make a suggestion regarding subdivision +(_c_), General Rule III, of the amended civil-service rules +promulgated February 2, 1888. It provides for the promotion of an +employee in a Department who is below or outside of the classified +service to a place within said classified service in the same Department +upon the request of the appointing officer, upon the recommendation of +the Commission and the approval of the President, after a noncompetitive +examination, in case such person has served continuously for two years +in the place from which it is proposed to promote him, and "because of +his faithfulness and efficiency in the position occupied by him," and +"because of his qualifications for the place to which the appointing +officer desires his promotion." + +It has occurred to me that this provision must be executed with caution +to avoid the application of it to cases not intended and the undue +relaxation of the general purposes and restrictions of the civil-service +law. + +Noncompetitive examinations are the exceptions to the plan of the act, +and the rules permitting the same should be strictly construed. The +cases arising under the exception above recited should be very few, and +when presented they should precisely meet all the requirements +specified, and should be supported by facts which will develop the basis +and reason of the application of the appointing officer and which will +commend them to the judgment of the Commission and the President. The +sole purpose of the provision is to benefit the public service, and it +should never be permitted to operate as an evasion of the main feature +of the law, which is competitive examinations. + +As these cases will first be presented to the Commission for +recommendation, I have to request that you will formulate a plan by +which their merits can be tested. This will naturally involve a +statement of all the facts deemed necessary for the determination of +such applications, including the kind of work which has been done by the +person proposed for promotion and the considerations upon which the +allegations of the faithfulness, efficiency, and qualifications +mentioned in the rule are predicated. + +What has already been written naturally suggests another very important +subject, to which I will invite your attention. + +The desirability of the rule which I have commented upon would be +nearly, if not entirely, removed, and other difficulties which now +embarrass the execution of the civil-service law would be obviated, if +there was a better and uniform classification of the employees in the +different Departments. The importance of this is entirely obvious. The +present imperfect classifications, hastily made, apparently with but +little care for uniformity, and promulgated after the last Presidential +election and prior to the installation of the present Administration, +should not have been permitted to continue to this time. + +It appears that in the War Department the employees were divided on the +19th day of November, 1884, into eight classes and subclasses, embracing +those earning annual salaries from $900 to $2,000. + +The Navy Department was classified November 22, 1884, and its employees +were divided into seven classes and subclasses, embracing those who +received annual salaries from $720 to $1,800. + +In the Interior Department the classification was made on the 6th day of +December, 1884. It consists of eight classes and subclasses, and +embraces employees receiving annual salaries from $720 to $2,000. + +On the 2d day of January, 1885, a classification of the employees in the +Treasury Department was made, consisting of six classes and subclasses, +including those earning annual salaries from $900 to $1,800. + +In the Post-Office Department the employees were classified on February +6, 1885, into nine classes and subclasses, embracing persons earning +annual salaries from $720 to $2,000. + +On the 12th of December, 1884, the Bureau of Agriculture was classified +in a manner different from all the other Departments, and presenting +features peculiar to itself. + +It seems that the only classification in the Department of State and the +Department of Justice is that provided for by section 163 of the Revised +Statutes, which directs that the employees in the several Departments +shall be divided into four classes. It appears that no more definite +classification has been made in these Departments. + +I wish the Commission would revise these classifications and submit to +me a plan which will as far as possible make them uniform, and which +will especially remedy the present condition which permits persons to +enter a grade in the service in the one Department without any +examination which in another Department can only be entered after +passing such examination. This, I think, should be done by extending the +limits of the classified service rather than by contracting them. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 23, 1888_. + +_To the People of the United States_: + +The painful duty devolves upon the President to announce the death, at +an early hour this morning, at his residence in this city, of Morrison +R. Waite, Chief Justice of the United States, which exalted office he +had filled since March 4, 1874, with honor to himself and high +usefulness to his country. + +In testimony of respect to the memory of the honored dead it is ordered +that the executive offices in Washington be closed on the day of the +funeral and be draped in mourning for thirty days, and that the national +flag be displayed at half-mast on the public buildings and on all +national vessels on the day of the funeral. + +By the President: + +T.F. BAYARD, _Secretary_. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 26, 1888_. + +Under the provisions of section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1883, it +is hereby ordered that the several Executive Departments, the Department +of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office 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. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., June 2, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + + SIR: In the force employed in the office of the collector of customs at + the port of New York there are eight tellers who receive and count the + money paid in at that office, amounting to $500,000 a day or upward, and + who should be persons qualified to handle money with skill and to detect + counterfeit coin and bills. One of these places is now vacant, and it is + important that it should be filled at the earliest practicable date. The + position is not one excepted from examination by Customs Rule II, clause + 5; but the collector thinks that it would be imprudent and impracticable + for him to be restricted in filling the vacancy to the three names that + might be certified to him from the eligible register, and in this + opinion the Commission concurs. But whether this class of positions and + certain others in the customs service should be filled by noncompetitive + examination or by special exception is a matter which the Commission has + under consideration, but can not determine until after a visit to New + York and perhaps other ports. In view, however, of the necessity for + immediately filling the present vacancy--but without establishing a + precedent--the Commission has the honor to recommend that a + noncompetitive examination for the purpose be authorized under + subdivision (_e_), clause 2 of General Rule III, Civil-Service + Rules. Your obedient servants, + + JNO. H. OBERLY, + CHAS. LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioners_. + + +Approved, June 5, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +CLASSIFIED POSTAL SERVICE, SPECIAL RULE NO. 1. + +JUNE 16, 1888. + +In addition to the exceptions from examination in the classified postal +service made by Postal Rule II, clause 5, the following exception to +examination in that service is hereby made: + + Printers, employed as such. + + _Provided_, That before any person may be employed under this + exception to examination the Post-Office Department shall inform the + Commission of the authority given to employ printers at any post-office + and of the number authorized to be employed at such office. + + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +_Ordered_, That noncompetitive examinations to test fitness for the +following designated places in the classified departmental service be, +and are hereby, authorized: + + 1. In all the Departments: Engineers, assistant engineers, pressmen, and + compositors. + + 2. In the Department of the Treasury: + + In the office of the Secretary: Storekeeper, inspector of electric + lights, foreman of laborers, captain of watch, lieutenants of watch, and + locksmith and electrician. + + In the office of the Treasurer: Seventeen clerks employed as expert + money tellers. + + In the office of the Supervising Surgeon-General of Marine-Hospital + Service: Hospital steward, employed as chemist. + + 3. In the Department of the Interior: + + In the office of the Secretary: Stenographer (to be confidential clerk + to Secretary), members of the boards of pension appeals, returns-office + clerk, and six clerks to act as assistant disbursing clerks. + + In the Bureau of Pensions: Superintendent of buildings and two qualified + surgeons. + + In the Patent Office: Librarian, principal examiners, machinists, and + model attendants. + + In the office of the Commissioner of Railroads: One bookkeeper. + + In the Bureau of Education: Clerk of class 4, as librarian. + + In the Geological Survey: In permanent force--Librarian. In temporary + force--Assistant paleontologists, assistant geologists, topographers, + and assistant photographers. + + 4. In the Department of Agriculture: + + In the disbursing office: Four clerks. + + 5. In the Post-Office Department: + + In the office of the Assistant Attorney-General: Stenographer (to be + confidential clerk to the Assistant Attorney-General). + + Approved, July 2, 1888. + + GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. I. + + In addition to the exceptions from examination made by Departmental + Rule III, clause 2, the following exceptions to examinations for the + classified departmental service are hereby made, viz: + + 1. In the Department of State: Lithographer. + + 2. In the Department of the Treasury: + + In the office of the Secretary: Government actuary. + + In the office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Bond clerk. + + In the office of the Supervising Architect: Supervising Architect, + assistant supervising architect, confidential clerk to Supervising + Architect, and photographer. + + In the Bureau of the Mint: Assayer, examiner, computer of bullion, and + adjuster of accounts. + + In the Bureau of Navigation: Clerk of class 4, acting as deputy + commissioner. + + In the office of Construction of Standard Weights and Measures: Adjuster + and mechanician. + + In the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Chief of the Bureau, assistant + chief of Bureau, engravers, and plate printers. + + In the Coast and Geodetic Survey: Superintendent, confidential clerk to + Superintendent, the normal or field force, general office assistant, + confidential clerk to general office assistant, engravers and contract + engravers, electrotypist and photographer, electrotypist's helper, + apprentice to electrotypist and photographer, copperplate printers, + plate-printers' helpers, and mechanicians. + + In the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue: Superintendent of + stamp vault. + + 3. In the Department of the Interior: + + In the office of the Secretary: Superintendent of documents, clerk of + class 3 as custodian, clerk to sign land patents, and telephone + operator. + + In the office of the Assistant Attorney-General: Law clerks--One at + $2,750 per annum, one at $2,500 per annum, one at $2,250 per annum, and + thirteen at $2,000 per annum. + + In the Patent Office: Financial clerk, examiner of interferences, and + law clerk. + + In the General Land Office: Two law clerks, two law examiners, clerk of + class 4 acting as receiving clerk, and ten principal examiners of land + claims and contests. + + In the Bureau of Pensions: Assistant chief clerk, medical referee, + assistant medical referee, and law clerk. + + In the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Principal bookkeeper. + + In the office of Commissioner of Railroads: Railroad engineer. + + In the Bureau of Education: Collector and compiler of statistics and + statistician. + + In the Geological Survey: In permanent force--General assistant, + executive officer, photographer, twelve geologists, two paleontologists, + two chemists, chief geographer, three topographers, and three + geographers. In temporary force--Six paleontologists, eight geologists, + geographer, mechanician, and editor. + + 4. In the Department of War: Clerk for the General of the Army and clerk + for the retired General of the Army. + + In the office of the Chief Signal Officer: Lithographer. + + 5. In the Department of the Navy: + + In the Hydrographic Office: Engravers, copperplate printers, printers' + apprentices. + + 6. In the Department of Justice: Pardon clerk and two law clerks. + + 7. In the Department of Agriculture: + + In the office of the Commissioner: Private secretary to the chief clerk, + superintendent of grounds, and assistant chief of each of the following + divisions: Of botany, of chemistry, of entomology, of forestry, and of + statistics. + + In the Bureau of Animal Industry: Chief of the Bureau, assistant chief, + private secretary to chief, and chief clerk. + + 8. In the Post-Office Department: Assistant Attorney-General, law clerk, + and agents and employees at postal-note, postage-stamp, postal-card, and + envelope agencies. + + 9. In the Department of Labor: Statistical experts and temporary + experts. + + +Approved, July 2, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. 2. + +No substitute shall hereafter be employed in any Department; and the +head of any Department in which substitutes are now employed may appoint +any of such substitutes to take the place of his principal, or to any +place of lower grade: _Provided_, That no substitute shall be +appointed as herein authorized until he shall have passed an appropriate +examination by the Civil Service Commission and his eligibility shall +have been certified by said Commission to the head of the Department in +which he is employed. + +Approved, August 3, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_. + +_The Heads of Departments_: + +As a mark of respect to the memory of General Sheridan, the President +directs that the several Executive Departments in the city of Washington +be closed and all public business at the national capital suspended on +Saturday, August 11 instant, the day of the funeral. + +By direction of the President: + +DANIEL S. LAMONT, + _Private Secretary._ + + + +SPECIAL CUSTOMS RULE NO. 1. + +In addition to exceptions from examination in the classified customs +service made under Customs Rule II, clause 5, the following special +exceptions are made: + + In the Boston customs district, office of the naval officer: Assistant + deputy naval officer. + + +Approved, August 10, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + _Washington City, August 14, 1888_. + +By direction of the President, Major-General John M. Schofield is +assigned to the command of the Army of the United States. + +WM.C. ENDICOTT, + _Secretary of War._ + + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., August 25, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + + SIR: The Commission respectfully submits for your consideration the + following extract from the minutes of its proceedings of August 23, + 1888: + + "Navy Department, August 23. Harmony, Acting Secretary of the Navy, + refers, with a request that the examination asked for therein be held at + the earliest possible moment, a communication of the same date of G.S. + Dyer, lieutenant, United States Navy, in charge of the Hydrographic + Office, Navy Department, requesting that Francis A. Lewis, at New York + City, and Joseph T. McMillan, of San Francisco, may be noncompetitively + examined for the positions of assistants at the branch hydrographic + offices at those places, respectively, under General Rule III, paragraph + 2 (_e_), stating that the positions of assistants at those offices + require men specially fitted by a technical nautical education, and + therefore such as is only obtained in the Navy, and that the young men + referred to are recent graduates of the Naval Academy and have been + honorably discharged from the service. + + "The positions named in this communication, and similar positions at + other branch hydrographic offices, being regarded as in the classified + departmental service in the Department of the Navy, and subject to + examination, and in view of the qualifications required in such + positions and of the fact that the service is to be rendered at points + remote from the city of Washington, it is deemed impracticable to fill + these places by competitive examination. It is therefore ordered that + they be included among the places to be filled by noncompetitive + examination under the provision of General Rule III, clause 2 + (_e_), and that the President be asked to approve this order." + + The Commission respectfully requests that you indorse this communication + with your approval of the action above quoted and return it as the + authority of the Commission for including the places mentioned among the + noncompetitive examination places under General Rule III, clause 2 + (_e_). + + Very respectfully, + + A.P. EDGERTON, + JOHN H. OBERLY, + CHAS. LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioners._ + + +Approved: + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., October 17, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + + SIR: This Commission has been informed by the Treasury Department + that an additional teller has been authorized to be appointed at the + custom-house in the city of New York, and that his immediate employment + is desired. + + This position is not one excepted from examination by Customs Rule II, + clause 5, but the collector thinks, in view of its fiduciary character, + that it ought to be filled by noncompetitive instead of by competitive + examination, and in this view the Commission concurs. It is therefore + respectfully recommended that a noncompetitive examination for the + purpose be authorized under subdivision (_e_) of clause 2 of + General Rule III, Revised Civil-Service Rules. + + I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, + + CHAS. LYMAN, + _Commissioner, in Charge._ + + +Approved, October 17, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., October 31, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + + SIR: Approval of the following order for noncompetitive examinations + under the provisions of General Rule III, section 2, clause (_e_), + of Revised Civil-Service Rules, is respectfully recommended: + + _Ordered_, That noncompetitive examinations to test fitness for the + following-designated places in the classified customs service are hereby + authorized: + + 1. In the customs district of New York, collector's office: The tellers + employed in the cashier's office; three stenographers employed under the + immediate supervision of the collector. + + 2. In the customs district of San Francisco: Chinese interpreter. + + I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, + + CHAS. LYMAN, + _Commissioner, in Charge._ + + +Approved, November 1, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., October, 3 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: Approval of the following order for noncompetitive examinations +under the provisions of General Rule III, section 2, clause (_e_), +of Revised Civil-Service Rules, is respectfully recommended: + +_Ordered_, That noncompetitive examinations to test fitness for the +following-designated places in the classified departmental service are +hereby authorized: + +1. In the Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, permanent +force: Assistant photographers. + +2. In the Department of Labor: Special agents. + +I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, + +CHAS. LYMAN, + _Commissioner, in Charge._ + +Approved, November 1, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +Clause (_e_) of section 2 of General Rule III is amended by adding +thereto the following, and as thus amended is hereby promulgated: + + But no person appointed to such a place upon noncompetitive examination + shall within one year after appointment be transferred or appointed to + any place not excepted from examination; but after having served in such + noncompetitive place not less than one year he may be transferred or + appointed in the bureau or office in which he is serving to a place not + excepted from examination upon the certificate of the Commission or the + proper board of examiners that he has passed an examination to test + fitness for the place to which his transfer or appointment is proposed. + + +Approved, November 1, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. I. + +So much of Special Departmental Rule No. 1, approved July 2, 1888, as +applies to-the Department of Agriculture is hereby amended and +promulgated as follows: + + 7. In the Department of Agriculture: + + In the office of the Commissioner: Private secretary to the chief clerk, + superintendent of grounds, and assistant chief of each of the following + divisions: Of botany, of chemistry, of entomology, of forestry, and of + statistics, and the director of experiment stations and the assistant + director. + + In the Bureau of Animal Industry: Chief of the Bureau, assistant chief, + private secretary to the chief, and chief clerk. + + +Approved, November 1, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +SPECIAL CUSTOMS RULE NO. I. + +Special Customs Rule No. 1, specially excepting from examination certain +places in the customs service, is hereby amended by including among +those places the following: + + At the port of New York, office of the collector: Bookbinder. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 1, 1888_. + +The foregoing amendment is hereby approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +Departmental Rule VII is hereby amended by inserting at the end of the +first sentence of section 1 the following: + + _Provided_, That no certification shall be made from the clerk or any + supplementary register to any Department to which promotion regulations + have been applied under General Rule III, section 6, to fill a vacancy + above the grade of class 1. + + +So that as amended the first paragraph of section 1 will read: + + 1. Vacancies in the classified departmental service, unless among the + places excepted from examination, if not filled by either promotion or + transfer, shall be filled in the following manner: _Provided_, That + no certification shall be made from the clerk or any supplementary + register to any Department to which promotion regulations have been + applied under General Rule III, section 6, to fill a vacancy above the + grade of class 1. + + +Approved and promulgated. + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 1, 1888_. + +The foregoing amendment is hereby approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +The following amendments to departmental rules are hereby made and +promulgated: + +To Departmental Rule IV: After the word "service," in section 1 of said +rule, insert the following: + + _Provided_, That any person may apply for the position of printer's + assistant in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing who is not under 18 + nor over 35 years of age. + + +And after the word "for," in the same section, strike out the words +"which purpose" and insert in lieu thereof the words "such application," +so that as amended section 1 will read: + + 1. Any person not under 20 years of age may make application for + admission to the classified departmental service: _Provided_, That + any person may apply for the position of printer's assistant in the + Bureau of Engraving and Printing who is not under 18 nor over 35 years + of age; and blank forms for such application shall be furnished by the + Commission. + + +To Departmental Rule VI: After the word "examination," where it first +occurs in section 5 of said rule, insert the words "or an examination +for printer's assistant in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing." After +the word "which" strike out the words "supplementary or special," where +they last occur in said section, and insert in lieu thereof "the," so +that as amended section 5 will read: + + 5. But the names of all competitors who have passed a supplementary or a + special examination, or an examination for printer's assistant in the + Bureau of Engraving and Printing, shall be entered, without regard to + State residence, upon the register of persons eligible to the class or + place to test fitness for which the examination was held. + + +To Departmental Rule VII: After the word "or," in the second paragraph +of section 3 of said rule, strike out the article "a," and after the +word "register" in said paragraph insert the words "or the +printer's-assistant register," so that as amended said second paragraph +of section 3 will read: + + When certification is made from a supplementary or special register, or + the printer's-assistant register, and there are more vacancies than one + to be filled, the appointing officer may select from the three names + certified more than one. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, November 5, 1888_. + +The foregoing amendments are hereby approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., October 31, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: The order heretofore approved by you authorizing noncompetitive +examinations under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_e_), to +test fitness for certain designated places in the classified +departmental service, included among such places the following: + +In the office of the Treasurer of the United States, seventeen clerks +employed as expert money tellers. + +The attempts thus far made to make appointments to these places under +this order have fully satisfied the Commission and the Treasury +Department of the impracticability of this method of procedure, not +because of any difficulty of applying suitable tests to determine the +expertness required, but because there are really no experts to be +tested. The duties of these positions can not be learned elsewhere than +in the positions themselves, and therefore the only experts are those +now occupying them and the very few who have left them for one cause or +another, but who are not seeking to return. Therefore, since experts are +not available, and persons will have to be appointed who must learn the +duties of the positions in the actual performance of those duties, there +would seem to be no good reason why such persons should not be selected +from the eligible registers of this Commission, which are at all times +abundantly supplied with the names of persons who are both competent and +worthy. And besides, so long as these tempting places are in the +noncompetitive list, the Department will be subjected to solicitation +and pressure concerning them which it would rather avoid. + +In view of these considerations it is respectfully recommended that you +approve the revocation of so much of the order above referred to as +provides for the appointment upon noncompetitive examination of +seventeen clerks in the office of the Treasurer of the United States +employed as expert money tellers. + +I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, + +CHAS. LYMAN, + _Commissioner in Charge_. + +Approved, November 13, 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1888_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +As you assemble for the discharge of the duties you have assumed as the +representatives of a free and generous people, your meeting is marked +by an interesting and impressive incident. With the expiration of the +present session of the Congress the first century of our constitutional +existence as a nation will be completed. + +Our survival for one hundred years is not sufficient to assure us that +we no longer have dangers to fear in the maintenance, with all its +promised blessings, of a government founded upon the freedom of the +people. The time rather admonishes us to soberly inquire whether in the +past we have always closely kept in the course of safety, and whether we +have before us a way plain and clear which leads to happiness and +perpetuity. + +When the experiment of our Government was undertaken, the chart adopted +for our guidance was the Constitution. Departure from the lines there +laid down is failure. It is only by a strict adherence to the direction +they indicate and by restraint within the limitations they fix that we +can furnish proof to the world of the fitness of the American people for +self-government. + +The equal and exact justice of which we boast as the underlying +principle of our institutions should not be confined to the relations of +our citizens to each other. The Government itself is under bond to the +American people that in the exercise of its functions and powers it will +deal with the body of our citizens in a manner scrupulously honest and +fair and absolutely just. It has agreed that American citizenship shall +be the only credential necessary to justify the claim of equality before +the law, and that no condition in life shall give rise to discrimination +in the treatment of the people by their Government. + +The citizen of our Republic in its early days rigidly insisted upon full +compliance with the letter of this bond, and saw stretching out before +him a clear field for individual endeavor. His tribute to the support of +his Government was measured by the cost of its economical maintenance, +and he was secure in the enjoyment of the remaining recompense of his +steady and contented toil. In those days the frugality of the people was +stamped upon their Government, and was enforced by the free, thoughtful, +and intelligent suffrage of the citizen. Combinations, monopolies, and +aggregations of capital were either avoided or sternly regulated and +restrained. The pomp and glitter of governments less free offered no +temptation and presented no delusion to the plain people who, side by +side, in friendly competition, wrought for the ennoblement and dignity +of man, for the solution of the problem of free government, and for the +achievement of the grand destiny awaiting the land which God had given +them. + +A century has passed. Our cities are the abiding places of wealth and +luxury; our manufactories yield fortunes never dreamed of by the fathers +of the Republic; our business men are madly striving in the race for +riches, and immense aggregations of capital outrun the imagination in +the magnitude of their undertakings. + +We view with pride and satisfaction this bright picture of our country's +growth and prosperity, while only a closer scrutiny develops a somber +shading. Upon more careful inspection we find the wealth and luxury of +our cities mingled with poverty and wretchedness and unremunerative +toil. A crowded and constantly increasing urban population suggests the +impoverishment of rural sections and discontent with agricultural +pursuits. The farmer's son, not satisfied with his father's simple and +laborious life, joins the eager chase for easily acquired wealth. + +We discover that the fortunes realized by our manufacturers are no +longer solely the reward of sturdy industry and enlightened foresight, +but that they result from the discriminating favor of the Government and +are largely built upon undue exactions from the masses of our people. +The gulf between employers and the employed is constantly widening, and +classes are rapidly forming, one comprising the very rich and powerful, +while in another are found the toiling poor. + +As we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the +existence of trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is +struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron heel. +Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the +law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's +masters. + +Still congratulating ourselves upon the wealth and prosperity of our +country and complacently contemplating every incident of change +inseparable from these conditions, it is our duty as patriotic citizens +to inquire at the present stage of our progress how the bond of the +Government made with the people has been kept and performed. + +Instead of limiting the tribute drawn from our citizens to the +necessities of its economical administration, the Government persists in +exacting from the substance of the people millions which, unapplied and +useless, lie dormant in its Treasury. This flagrant injustice and this +breach of faith and obligation add to extortion the danger attending the +diversion of the currency of the country from the legitimate channels of +business. + +Under the same laws by which these results are produced the Government +permits many millions more to be added to the cost of the living of our +people and to be taken from our consumers, which unreasonably swell the +profits of a small but powerful minority. + +The people must still be taxed for the support of the Government under +the operation of tariff laws. But to the extent that the mass of out +citizens are inordinately burdened beyond any useful public purpose and +for the benefit of a favored few, the Government, under pretext of an +exercise of its taxing power, enters gratuitously into partnership with +these favorites, to their advantage and to the injury of a vast majority +of our people. + +This is not equality before the law. + +The existing situation is injurious to the health of our entire body +politic. It stifles in those for whose benefit it is permitted all +patriotic love of country, and substitutes in its place selfish greed +and grasping avarice. Devotion to American citizenship for its own sake +and for what it should accomplish as a motive to our nation's +advancement and the happiness of all our people is displaced by the +assumption that the Government, instead of being the embodiment of +equality, is but an instrumentality through which especial and +individual advantages are to be gained. + +The arrogance of this assumption is unconcealed. It appears in the +sordid disregard of all but personal interests, in the refusal to abate +for the benefit of others one iota of selfish advantage, and in +combinations to perpetuate such advantages through efforts to control +legislation and improperly influence the suffrages of the people. + +The grievances of those not included within the circle of these +beneficiaries, when fully realized, will surely arouse irritation and +discontent. Our farmers, long suffering and patient, struggling in the +race of life with the hardest and most unremitting toil, will not fail +to see, in spite of misrepresentations and misleading fallacies, that +they are obliged to accept such prices for their products as are fixed +in foreign markets where they compete with the farmers of the world; +that their lands are declining in value while their debts increase, and +that without compensating favor they are forced by the action of the +Government to pay for the benefit of others such enhanced prices for the +things they need that the scanty returns of their labor fail to furnish +their support or leave no margin for accumulation. + +Our workingmen, enfranchised from all delusions and no longer frightened +by the cry that their wages are endangered by a just revision of our +tariff laws, will reasonably demand through such revision steadier +employment, cheaper means of living in their homes, freedom for +themselves and their children from the doom of perpetual servitude, and +an open door to their advancement beyond the limits of a laboring class. +Others of our citizens, whose comforts and expenditures are measured by +moderate salaries and fixed incomes, will insist upon the fairness and +justice of cheapening the cost of necessaries for themselves and their +families. + +When to the selfishness of the beneficiaries of unjust discrimination +under our laws there shall be added the discontent of those who suffer +from such discrimination, we will realize the fact that the beneficent +purposes of our Government, dependent upon the patriotism and +contentment of our people, are endangered. + +Communism is a hateful thing and a menace to peace and organized +government; but the communism of combined wealth and capital, the +outgrowth of overweening cupidity and selfishness, which insidiously +undermines the justice and integrity of free institutions, is not less +dangerous than the communism of oppressed poverty and toil, which, +exasperated by injustice and discontent, attacks with wild disorder the +citadel of rule. + +He mocks the people who proposes that the Government shall protect the +rich and that they in turn will care for the laboring poor. Any +intermediary between the people and their Government or the least +delegation of the care and protection the Government owes to the +humblest citizen in the land makes the boast of free institutions a +glittering delusion and the pretended boon of American citizenship a +shameless imposition. + +A just and sensible revision of our tariff laws should be made for the +relief of those of our countrymen who suffer under present conditions. +Such a revision should receive the support of all who love that justice +and equality due to American citizenship; of all who realize that in +this justice and equality our Government finds its strength and its +power to protect the citizen and his property; of all who believe that +the contented competence and comfort of many accord better with the +spirit of our institutions than colossal fortunes unfairly gathered in +the hands of a few; of all who appreciate that the forbearance and +fraternity among our people, which recognize the value of every American +interest, are the surest guaranty of our national progress, and of all +who desire to see the products of American skill and ingenuity in every +market of the world, with a resulting restoration of American commerce. + +The necessity of the reduction of our revenues is so apparent as +to be generally conceded, but the means by which this end shall be +accomplished and the sum of direct benefit which shall result to our +citizens present a controversy of the utmost importance. There should be +no scheme accepted as satisfactory by which the burdens of the people +are only apparently removed. Extravagant appropriations of public money, +with all their demoralizing consequences, should not be tolerated, +either as a means of relieving the Treasury of its present surplus or as +furnishing pretext for resisting a proper reduction in tariff rates. +Existing evils and injustice should be honestly recognized, boldly met, +and effectively remedied. There should be no cessation of the struggle +until a plan is perfected, fair and conservative toward existing +industries, but which will reduce the cost to consumers of the +necessaries of life, while it provides for our manufacturers the +advantage of freer raw materials and permits no injury to the interests +of American labor. + +The cause for which the battle is waged is comprised within lines +clearly and distinctly defined. It should never be compromised. It is +the people's cause. + +It can not be denied-that the selfish and private interests which +are so persistently heard when efforts are made to deal in a just and +comprehensive manner with our tariff laws are related to, if they are +not responsible for, the sentiment largely prevailing among the people +that the General Government is the fountain of individual and private +aid; that it may be expected to relieve with paternal care the distress +of citizens and communities, and that from the fullness of its Treasury +it should, upon the slightest possible pretext of promoting the general +good, apply public funds to the benefit of localities and individuals. +Nor can it be denied that there is a growing assumption that, as against +the Government and in favor of private claims and interests, the usual +rules and limitations of business principles and just dealing should be +waived. + +These ideas have been unhappily much encouraged by legislative +acquiescence. Relief from contracts made with the Government is too +easily accorded in favor of the citizen; the failure to support claims +against the Government by proof is often supplied by no better +consideration than the wealth of the Government and the poverty of the +claimant; gratuities in the form of pensions are granted upon no other +real ground than the needy condition of the applicant, or for reasons +less valid; and large sums are expended for public buildings and other +improvements upon representations scarcely claimed to be related to +public needs and necessities. + +The extent to which the consideration of such matters subordinate and +postpone action upon subjects of great public importance, but involving +no special private or partisan interest, should arrest attention and +lead to reformation. + +A few of the numerous illustrations of this condition may be stated. + +The crowded condition of the calendar of the Supreme Court, and the +delay to suitors and denial of justice resulting therefrom, has been +strongly urged upon the attention of the Congress, with a plan for the +relief of the situation approved by those well able to judge of its +merits. While this subject remains without effective consideration, many +laws have been passed providing for the holding of terms of inferior +courts at places to suit the convenience of localities, or to lay the +foundation of an application for the erection of a new public building. + +Repeated recommendations have been submitted for the amendment and +change of the laws relating to our public lands so that their spoliation +and diversion to other uses than as homes for honest settlers might be +prevented. While a measure to meet this conceded necessity of reform +remains awaiting the action of the Congress, many claims to the public +lands and applications for their donation, in favor of States and +individuals, have been allowed. + +A plan in aid of Indian management, recommended by those well informed +as containing valuable features in furtherance of the solution of the +Indian problem, has thus far failed of legislative sanction, while +grants of doubtful expediency to railroad corporations, permitting them +to pass through Indian reservations, have greatly multiplied. + +The propriety and necessity of the erection of one or more prisons for +the confinement of United States convicts, and a post-office building in +the national capital, are not disputed. But these needs yet remain +unanswered, while scores of public buildings have been erected where +their necessity for public purposes is not apparent. + +A revision of our pension laws could easily be made which would rest +upon just principles and provide for every worthy applicant. But while +our general pension laws remain confused and imperfect, hundreds of +private pension laws are annually passed, which are the sources of +unjust discrimination and popular demoralization. + +Appropriation bills for the support of the Government are defaced by +items and provisions to meet private ends, and it is freely asserted by +responsible and experienced parties that a bill appropriating money for +public internal improvement would fail to meet with favor unless it +contained items more for local and private advantage than for public +benefit. + +These statements can be much emphasized by an ascertainment of the +proportion of Federal legislation which either bears upon its face its +private character or which upon examination develops such a motive +power. + +And yet the people wait and expect from their chosen representatives +such patriotic action as will advance the welfare of the entire country; +and this expectation can only be answered by the performance of public +duty with unselfish purpose. Our mission among the nations of the earth +and our success in accomplishing the work God has given the American +people to do require of those intrusted with the making and execution of +our laws perfect devotion, above all other things, to the public good. + +This devotion will lead us to strongly resist all impatience of +constitutional limitations of Federal power and to persistently check +the increasing tendency to extend the scope of Federal legislation into +the domain of State and local jurisdiction upon the plea of subserving +the public welfare. The preservation of the partitions between proper +subjects of Federal and local care and regulation is of such importance +under the Constitution, which is the law of our very existence, that no +consideration of expediency or sentiment should tempt us to enter upon +doubtful ground. We have undertaken to discover and proclaim the richest +blessings of a free government, with the Constitution as our guide. Let +us follow the way it points out; it will not mislead us. And surely no +one who has taken upon himself the solemn obligation to support and +preserve the Constitution can find justification or solace for +disloyalty in the excuse that he wandered and disobeyed in search of a +better way to reach the public welfare than the Constitution offers. + +What has been said is deemed not inappropriate at a time when, from a +century's height, we view the way already trod by the American people +and attempt to discover their future path. + +The seventh President of the United States--the soldier and statesman +and at all times the firm and brave friend of the people--in vindication +of his course as the protector of popular rights and the champion of +true American citizenship, declared: + + The ambition which leads me on is an anxious desire and a fixed + determination to restore to the people unimpaired the sacred trust they + have confided to my charge; to heal the wounds of the Constitution and + to preserve it from further violation; to persuade my countrymen, so far + as I may, that it is not in a splendid government supported by powerful + monopolies and aristocratical establishments that they will find + happiness or their liberties protection, but in a plain system, void of + pomp, protecting all and granting favors to none, dispensing its + blessings like the dews of heaven, unseen and unfelt save in the + freshness and beauty they contribute to produce. It is such a government + that the genius of our people requires--such an one only under which our + States may remain for ages to come united, prosperous, and free. + + +In pursuance of a constitutional provision requiring the President from +time to time to give to the Congress information of the state of the +Union, I have the satisfaction to announce that the close of the year +finds the United States in the enjoyment of domestic tranquillity and at +peace with all the nations. + +Since my last annual message our foreign relations have been +strengthened and improved by performance of international good offices +and by new and renewed treaties of amity, commerce, and reciprocal +extradition of criminals. + +Those international questions which still await settlement are all +reasonably within the domain of amicable negotiation, and there is no +existing subject of dispute between the United States and any foreign +power that is not susceptible of satisfactory adjustment by frank +diplomatic treatment. + +The questions between Great Britain and the United States relating to +the rights of American fishermen, under treaty and international comity, +in the territorial waters of Canada and Newfoundland, I regret to say, +are not yet satisfactorily adjusted. + +These matters were fully treated in my message to the Senate of February +20, 1888,[19] together with which a convention, concluded under my +authority with Her Majesty's Government on the 15th of February last, +for the removal of all causes of misunderstanding, was submitted by me +for the approval of the Senate. + +This treaty having been rejected by the Senate, I transmitted a message +to the Congress on the 23d of August last[20] reviewing the transactions +and submitting for consideration certain recommendations for legislation +concerning the important questions involved. + +Afterwards, on the 12th of September,[21] in response to a resolution +of the Senate, I again communicated fully all the information in my +possession as to the action of the government of Canada affecting the +commercial relations between the Dominion and the United States, +including the treatment of American fishing vessels in the ports and +waters of British North America. + +These communications have all been published, and therefore opened to +the knowledge of both Houses of Congress, although two were addressed to +the Senate alone. + +Comment upon or repetition of their contents would be superfluous, and I +am not aware that anything has since occurred which should be added to +the facts therein stated. Therefore I merely repeat, as applicable to +the present time, the statement which will be found in my message to the +Senate of September 12 last, that-- + + Since March 3, 1887, no case has been reported to the Department of + State wherein complaint was made of unfriendly or unlawful treatment of + American fishing vessels on the part of the Canadian authorities in + which reparation was not promptly and satisfactorily obtained by the + United States consul-general at Halifax. + + +Having essayed in the discharge of my duty to procure by negotiation the +settlement of a long-standing cause of dispute and to remove a constant +menace to the good relations of the two countries, and continuing to be +of opinion that the treaty of February last, which failed to receive the +approval of the Senate, did supply "a satisfactory, practical, and final +adjustment, upon a basis honorable and just to both parties, of the +difficult and vexed question to which it related," and having +subsequently and unavailingly recommended other legislation to Congress +which I hoped would suffice to meet the exigency created by the +rejection of the treaty, I now again invoke the earnest and immediate +attention of the Congress to the condition of this important question as +it now stands before them and the country, and for the settlement of +which I am deeply solicitous. + +Near the close of the month of October last occurrences of a deeply +regrettable nature were brought to my knowledge, which made it my +painful but imperative duty to obtain with as little delay as possible a +new personal channel of diplomatic intercourse in this country with the +Government of Great Britain. + +The correspondence in relation to this incident will in due course be +laid before you, and will disclose the unpardonable conduct of the +official referred to in his interference by advice and counsel with the +suffrages of American citizens in the very crisis of the Presidential +election then near at hand, and also in his subsequent public +declarations to justify his action, superadding impugnment of the +Executive and Senate of the United States in connection with important +questions now pending in controversy between the two Governments. + +The offense thus committed was most grave, involving disastrous +possibilities to the good relations of the United States and Great +Britain, constituting a gross breach of diplomatic privilege and an +invasion of the purely domestic affairs and essential sovereignty of the +Government to which the envoy was accredited. + +Having first fulfilled the just demands of international comity by +affording full opportunity for Her Majesty's Government to act in relief +of the situation, I considered prolongation of discussion to be +unwarranted, and thereupon declined to further recognize the diplomatic +character of the person whose continuance in such function would destroy +that mutual confidence which is essential to the good understanding of +the two Governments and was inconsistent with the welfare and +self-respect of the Government of the United States. + +The usual interchange of communication has since continued through Her +Majesty's legation in this city. + +My endeavors to establish by international cooperation measures for the +prevention of the extermination of fur seals in Bering Sea have not +been relaxed, and I have hopes of being enabled shortly to submit an +effective and satisfactory conventional project with the maritime powers +for the approval of the Senate. + +The coastal boundary between our Alaskan possessions and British +Columbia, I regret to say, has not received the attention demanded by +its importance, and which on several occasions heretofore I have had the +honor to recommend to the Congress. + +The admitted impracticability, if not impossibility, of making an +accurate and precise survey and demarcation of the boundary line as it +is recited in the treaty with Russia under which Alaska was ceded to the +United States renders it absolutely requisite for the prevention of +international jurisdictional complications that adequate appropriation +for a reconnoissance and survey to obtain proper knowledge of the +locality and the geographical features of the boundary should be +authorized by Congress with as little delay as possible. + +Knowledge to be only thus obtained is an essential prerequisite for +negotiation for ascertaining a common boundary, or as preliminary to any +other mode of settlement. + +It is much to be desired that some agreement should be reached with Her +Majesty's Government by which the damages to life and property on the +Great Lakes may be alleviated by removing or humanely regulating the +obstacles to reciprocal assistance to wrecked or stranded vessels. + +The act of June 19, 1878, which offers to Canadian vessels free access +to our inland waters in aid of wrecked or disabled vessels, has not yet +become effective through concurrent action by Canada. + +The due protection of our citizens of French origin or descent from +claim of military service in the event of their returning to or visiting +France has called forth correspondence which was laid before you at the +last session. + +In the absence of conventional agreement as to naturalization, which is +greatly to be desired, this Government sees no occasion to recede from +the sound position it has maintained not only with regard to France, but +as to all countries with which the United States have not concluded +special treaties. + +Twice within the last year has the imperial household of Germany been +visited by death; and I have hastened to express the sorrow of this +people, and their appreciation of the lofty character of the late aged +Emperor William, and their sympathy with the heroism under suffering of +his son the late Emperor Frederick. + +I renew my recommendation of two years ago for the passage of a bill for +the refunding to certain German steamship lines of the interest upon +tonnage dues illegally exacted. + +On the 12th [2d] of April last[22] I laid before the House of +Representatives full information respecting our interests in Samoa; and +in the subsequent correspondence on the same subject, which will be laid +before you in due course, the history of events in those islands will be +found. + +In a message accompanying my approval, on the 1st day of October last, +of a bill for the exclusion of Chinese laborers, I laid before Congress +full information and all correspondence touching the negotiation of the +treaty with China concluded at this capital on the 12th day of March, +1888, and which, having been confirmed by the Senate with certain +amendments, was rejected by the Chinese Government. This message +contained a recommendation that a sum of money be appropriated as +compensation to Chinese subjects who had suffered injuries at the hands +of lawless men within our jurisdiction. Such appropriation having been +duly made, the fund awaits reception by the Chinese Government. + +It is sincerely hoped that by the cessation of the influx of this class +of Chinese subjects, in accordance with the expressed wish of both +Governments, a cause of unkind feeling has been permanently removed. + +On the 9th of August, 1887, notification was given by the Japanese +minister at this capital of the adjournment of the conference for the +revision of the treaties of Japan with foreign powers, owing to the +objection of his Government to the provision in the draft jurisdictional +convention which required the submission of the criminal code of the +Empire to the powers in advance of its becoming operative. This +notification was, however, accompanied with an assurance of Japan's +intention to continue the work of revision. + +Notwithstanding this temporary interruption of negotiations, it is hoped +that improvements may soon be secured in the jurisdictional system as +respects foreigners in Japan, and relief afforded to that country from +the present undue and oppressive foreign control in matters of commerce. + +I earnestly recommend that relief be provided for the injuries +accidentally caused to Japanese subjects in the island Ikisima by the +target practice of one of our vessels. + +A diplomatic mission from Korea has been received, and the formal +intercourse between the two countries contemplated by the treaty of 1882 +is now established. + +Legislative provision is hereby recommended to organize and equip +consular courts in Korea. + +Persia has established diplomatic representation at this capital, and +has evinced very great interest in the enterprise and achievements of +our citizens. I am therefore hopeful that beneficial commercial +relations between the two countries may be brought about. + +I announce with sincere regret that Hayti has again become the theater +of insurrection, disorder, and bloodshed. The titular government of +President Saloman has been forcibly overthrown and he driven out of the +country to France, where he has since died. + +The tenure of power has been so unstable amid the war of factions that +has ensued since the expulsion of President Saloman that no government +constituted by the will of the Haytian people has been recognized as +administering responsibly the affairs of that country. Our +representative has been instructed to abstain from interference between +the warring factions, and a vessel of our Navy has been sent to Haytian +waters to sustain our minister and for the protection of the persons and +property of American citizens. + +Due precautions have been taken to enforce our neutrality laws and +prevent our territory from becoming the base of military supplies for +either of the warring factions. + +Under color of a blockade, of which no reasonable notice had been given, +and which does not appear to have been efficiently maintained, a seizure +of vessels under the American flag has been reported, and in consequence +measures to prevent and redress any molestation of our innocent +merchantmen have been adopted. + +Proclamation was duly made on the 9th day of November, 1887, of the +conventional extensions of the treaty of June 3, 1875, with Hawaii, +under which relations of such special and beneficent intercourse have +been created. + +In the vast field of Oriental commerce now unfolded from our Pacific +borders no feature presents stronger recommendations for Congressional +action than the establishment of communication by submarine telegraph +with Honolulu. + +The geographical position of the Hawaiian group in relation to our +Pacific States creates a natural interdependency and mutuality of +interest which our present treaties were intended to foster, and which +make close communication a logical and commercial necessity. + +The wisdom of concluding a treaty of commercial reciprocity with Mexico +has been heretofore stated in my messages to Congress, and the lapse of +time and growth of commerce with that close neighbor and sister Republic +confirm the judgment so expressed. + +The precise relocation of our boundary line is needful, and adequate +appropriation is now recommended. + +It is with sincere satisfaction that I am enabled to advert to the +spirit of good neighborhood and friendly cooperation and conciliation +that has marked the correspondence and action of the Mexican authorities +in their share of the task of maintaining law and order about the line +of our common boundary. + +The long-pending boundary dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was +referred to my arbitration, and by an award made on the 22d of March +last the question has been finally settled to the expressed satisfaction +of both of the parties in interest. + +The Empire of Brazil, in abolishing the last vestige of slavery among +Christian nations, called forth the earnest congratulations of this +Government in expression of the cordial sympathies of our people. + +The claims of nearly all other countries against Chile growing out of +her late war with Bolivia and Peru have been disposed of, either by +arbitration or by a lump settlement. Similar claims of our citizens will +continue to be urged upon the Chilean Government, and it is hoped will +not be subject to further delays. + +A comprehensive treaty of amity and commerce with Peru was proclaimed on +November 7 last, and it is expected that under its operation mutual +prosperity and good understanding will be promoted. + +In pursuance of the policy of arbitration, a treaty to settle the claim +of Santos, an American citizen, against Ecuador has been concluded under +my authority, and will be duly submitted for the approval of the Senate. + +Like disposition of the claim of Carlos Butterfield against Denmark and +of Van Bokkelen against Hayti will probably be made, and I trust the +principle of such settlements may be extended in practice under the +approval of the Senate. + +Through unforeseen causes, foreign to the will of both Governments, the +ratification of the convention of December 5, 1885, with Venezuela, for +the rehearing of claims of citizens of the United States under the +treaty of 1866, failed of exchange within the term provided, and a +supplementary convention, further extending the time for exchange of +ratifications and explanatory of an ambiguous provision of the prior +convention, now awaits the advice and consent of the Senate. + +Although this matter, in the stage referred to, concerns only the +concurrent treaty-making power of one branch of Congress, I advert to it +in view of the interest repeatedly and conspicuously shown by you in +your legislative capacity in favor of a speedy and equitable adjustment +of the questions growing out of the discredited judgments of the +previous mixed commission of Caracas. With every desire to do justice to +the representations of Venezuela in this regard, the time seems to have +come to end this matter, and I trust the prompt confirmation by both +parties of the supplementary action referred to will avert the need of +legislative or other action to prevent the longer withholding of such +rights of actual claimants as may be shown to exist. + +As authorized by the Congress, preliminary steps have been taken for the +assemblage at this capital during the coming year of the representatives +of South and Central American States, together with those of Mexico, +Hayti, and San Domingo, to discuss sundry important monetary and +commercial topics. + +Excepting in those cases where, from reasons of contiguity of territory +and the existence of a common border line incapable of being guarded, +reciprocal commercial treaties may be found expedient, it is believed +that commercial policies inducing freer mutual exchange of products can +be most advantageously arranged by independent but cooperative +legislation. + +In the mode last mentioned the control of our taxation for revenue will +be always retained in our own hands unrestricted by conventional +agreements with other governments. + +In conformity also with Congressional authority, the maritime powers +have been invited to confer in Washington in April next upon the +practicability of devising uniform rules and measures for the greater +security of life and property at sea. A disposition to accept on the +part of a number of the powers has already been manifested, and if the +cooperation of the nations chiefly interested shall be secured important +results may be confidently anticipated. + +The act of June 26, 1884, and the acts amendatory thereof, in relation +to tonnage duties, have given rise to extended correspondence with +foreign nations with whom we have existing treaties of navigation and +commerce, and have caused wide and regrettable divergence of opinion in +relation to the imposition of the duties referred to. These questions +are important, and I shall make them the subject of a special and more +detailed communication at the present session. + +With the rapid increase of immigration to our shores and the facilities +of modern travel, abuses of the generous privileges afforded by our +naturalization laws call for their careful revision. + +The easy and unguarded manner in which certificates of American +citizenship can now be obtained has induced a class, unfortunately +large, to avail themselves of the opportunity to become absolved from +allegiance to their native land, and yet by a foreign residence to +escape any just duty and contribution of service to the country of their +proposed adoption. Thus, while evading the duties of citizenship to the +United States, they may make prompt claim for its national protection +and demand its intervention in their behalf. International complications +of a serious nature arise, and the correspondence of the State +Department discloses the great number and complexity of the questions +which have been raised. + +Our laws regulating the issue of passports should be carefully revised, +and the institution of a central bureau of registration at the capital +is again strongly recommended. By this means full particulars of each +case of naturalization in the United States would be secured and +properly indexed and recorded, and thus many cases of spurious +citizenship would be detected and unjust responsibilities would be +avoided. + +The reorganization of the consular service is a matter of serious +importance to our national interests. The number of existing principal +consular offices is believed to be greater than is at all necessary +for the conduct of the public business. It need not be our policy +to maintain more than a moderate number of principal offices, each +supported by a salary sufficient to enable the incumbent to live in +comfort, and so distributed as to secure the convenient supervision, +through subordinate agencies, of affairs over a considerable district. + +I repeat the recommendations heretofore made by me that the +appropriations for the maintenance of our diplomatic and consular +service should be recast; that the so-called notarial or unofficial +fees, which our representatives abroad are now permitted to treat as +personal perquisites, should be forbidden; that a system of consular +inspection should be instituted, and that a limited number of +secretaries of legation at large should be authorized. + +Preparations for the centennial celebration, on April 30, 1889, of the +inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States, at +the city of New York, have been made by a voluntary organization of the +citizens of that locality, and believing that an opportunity should be +afforded for the expression of the interest felt throughout the country +in this event, I respectfully recommend fitting and cooperative action +by Congress on behalf of the people of the United States. + +The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibits in detail the +condition of our national finances and the operations of the several +branches of the Government related to his Department. + +The total ordinary revenues of the Government for the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1888, amounted to $379,266,074.76, of which $219,091,173.63 was +received from customs duties and $124,296,871.98 from internal-revenue +taxes. + +The total receipts from all sources exceeded those for the fiscal year +ended June 30, 1887, by $7,862,797.10. + +The ordinary expenditures of the Government for the fiscal year ending +June 30, 1888, were $259,653,958.67, leaving a surplus of +$119,612,116.09. + +The decrease in these expenditures as compared with the fiscal year +ended June 30, 1887, was $8,278,221.30, notwithstanding the payment of +more than $5,000,000 for pensions in excess of what was paid for that +purpose in the latter-mentioned year. + +The revenues of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1889, +ascertained for the quarter ended September 30, 1888, and estimated for +the remainder of the time, amount to $377,000,000, and the actual and +estimated ordinary expenditures for the same year are $273,000,000, +leaving an estimated surplus of $104,000,000. + +The estimated receipts for the year ending June 30, 1890, are +$377,000,000, and the estimated ordinary expenditures for the same time +are $275,767,488.34, showing a surplus of $101,232,511.66. + +The foregoing statements of surplus do not take into account the sum +necessary to be expended to meet the requirements of the sinking-fund +act, amounting to more than $47,000,000 annually. + +The cost of collecting the customs revenues for the last fiscal year was +2.44 per cent; for the year 1885 it was 3.77 per cent. + +The excess of internal-revenue taxes collected during the last fiscal +year over those collected for the year ended June 30, 1887, was +$5,489,174.26, and the cost of collecting this revenue decreased from +3.4 per cent in 1887 to less than 3.2 per cent for the last year. The +tax collected on oleomargarine was $723,948.04 for the year ending June +30, 1887, and $864,139.88 for the following year. + +The requirements of the sinking-fund act have been met for the year +ended June 30, 1888, and for the current year also, by the purchase of +bonds. After complying with this law as positively required, and bonds +sufficient for that purpose had been bought at a premium, it was not +deemed prudent to further expend the surplus in such purchases until +the authority to do so should be more explicit. A resolution, however, +having been passed by both Houses of Congress removing all doubt as to +Executive authority, daily purchases of bonds were commenced on the 23d +day of April, 1888, and have continued until the present time. By this +plan bonds of the Government not yet due have been purchased up to and +including the 30th day of November, 1888, amounting to $94,700,400, the +premium paid thereon amounting to $17,508,613.08. + +The premium added to the principal of these bonds represents an +investment yielding about 2 per cent interest for the time they still +had to run, and the saving to the Government represented by the +difference between the amount of interest at 2 per cent upon the sum +paid for principal and premium and what it would have paid for interest +at the rate specified in the bonds if they had run to their maturity is +about $27,165,000. + +At first sight this would seem to be a profitable and sensible +transaction on the part of the Government, but, as suggested by the +Secretary of the Treasury, the surplus thus expended for the purchase of +bonds was money drawn from the people in excess of any actual need of +the Government and was so expended rather than allow it to remain idle +in the Treasury. If this surplus, under the operation of just and +equitable laws, had been left in the hands of the people, it would have +been worth in their business at least 6 per cent per annum. Deducting +from the amount of interest upon the principal and premium of these +bonds for the time they had to run at the rate of 6 per cent the saving +of 2 per cent made for the people by the purchase of such bonds, the +loss will appear to be $55,760,000. + +This calculation would seem to demonstrate that if excessive and +unnecessary taxation is continued and the Government is forced to pursue +this policy of purchasing its own bonds at the premiums which it will be +necessary to pay, the loss to the people will be hundreds of millions of +dollars. + +Since the purchase of bonds was undertaken as mentioned nearly all that +have been offered were at last accepted. It has been made quite apparent +that the Government was in danger of being subjected to combinations to +raise their price, as appears by the instance cited by the Secretary of +the offering of bonds of the par value of only $326,000 so often that +the aggregate of the sums demanded for their purchase amounted to more +than $19,700,000. + +Notwithstanding the large sums paid out in the purchase of bonds, +the surplus in the Treasury on the 30th day of November, 1888, was +$52,234,610.01, after deducting about $20,000,000 just drawn out for +the payment of pensions. + +At the close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, there had been +coined under the compulsory silver-coinage act $266,988,280 in silver +dollars, $55,504,310 of which were in the hands of the people. + +On the 30th day of June, 1888, there had been coined $299,708,790; and +of this $55,829,303 was in circulation in coin, and $200,387,376 in +silver certificates, for the redemption of which silver dollars to that +amount were held by the Government. + +On the 30th day of November, 1888, $312,570,990 had been coined, +$60,970,990 of the silver dollars were actually in circulation, and +$237,418,346 in certificates. + +The Secretary recommends the suspension of the further coinage of +silver, and in such recommendation I earnestly concur. + +For further valuable information and timely recommendations I ask the +careful attention of the Congress to the Secretary's report. + +The Secretary of War reports that the Army at the date of the last +consolidated returns consisted of 2,189 officers and 24,549 enlisted +men. + +The actual expenditures of the War Department for the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1888, amounted to $41,165,107.07, of which sum $9,158,516.63 +was expended for public works, including river and harbor improvements. + +"The Board of Ordnance and Fortifications" provided for under the act +approved September 22 last was convened October 30, 1888, and plans and +specifications for procuring forgings for 8, 10, and 12 inch guns, under +provisions of section 4, and also for procuring 12-inch breech-loading +mortars, cast iron, hooped with steel, under the provisions of section 5 +of the said act, were submitted to the Secretary of War for reference to +the board, by the Ordnance Department, on the same date. + +These plans and specifications having been promptly approved by the +board and the Secretary of War, the necessary authority to publish +advertisements inviting proposals in the newspapers throughout the +country was granted by the Secretary on November 12, and on November 13 +the advertisements were sent out to the different newspapers designated, +The bids for the steel forgings are to be opened on December 20, 1888, +and for the mortars on December 15, 1888. + +A board of ordnance officers was convened at the Watervliet Arsenal on +October 4, 1888, to prepare the necessary plans and specifications for +the establishment of an army gun factory at that point. The preliminary +report of this board, with estimates for shop buildings and officers' +quarters, was approved by the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications +November 6 and 8. The specifications and form of advertisement and +instructions to bidders have been prepared, and advertisements inviting +proposals for the excavations for the shop building and for erecting +the two sets of officers' quarters have been published. The detailed +drawings and specifications for the gun-factory building are well in +hand, and will be finished within three or four months, when bids will +be invited for the erection of the building. The list of machines, etc., +is made out, and it is expected that the plans for the large lathes, +etc., will be completed within about four months, and after approval by +the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications bids for furnishing the same +will be invited. The machines and other fixtures will be completed as +soon as the shop is in readiness to receive them, probably about July, +1890. + +Under the provisions of the Army bill for the procurement of pneumatic +dynamite guns, the necessary specifications are now being prepared, and +advertisements for proposals will issue early in December. The guns will +probably be of 15 inches caliber and fire a projectile that will carry a +charge each of about 500 pounds of explosive gelatine with full-caliber +projectiles. The guns will probably be delivered in from six to ten +months from the date of the contract, so that all the guns of this class +that can be procured under the provisions of the law will be purchased +during the year 1889. + +I earnestly request that the recommendations contained in the +Secretary's report, all of which are, in my opinion, calculated to +increase the usefulness and discipline of the Army, may receive the +consideration of the Congress. Among these the proposal that there +should be provided a plan for the examination of officers to test their +fitness for promotion is of the utmost importance. This reform has been +before recommended in the reports of the Secretary, and its expediency +is so fully demonstrated by the argument he presents in its favor that +its adoption should no longer be neglected. + +The death of General Sheridan in August last was a national affliction. +The Army then lost the grandest of its chiefs. The country lost a brave +and experienced soldier, a wise and discreet counselor, and a modest and +sensible man. Those who in any manner came within the range of his +personal association will never fail to pay deserved and willing homage +to his greatness and the glory of his career, but they will cherish with +more tender sensibility the loving memory of his simple, generous, and +considerate nature. + +The Apache Indians, whose removal from their reservation in Arizona +followed the capture of those of their number who engaged in a bloody +and murderous raid during a part of the years 1885 and 1886, are now +held as prisoners of war at Mount Vernon Barracks, in the State of +Alabama. They numbered on the 31st day of October, the date of the last +report, 83 men, 170 women, 70 boys, and 59 girls; in all, 382 persons. +The commanding officer states that they are in good health and +contented, and that they are kept employed as fully as is possible in +the circumstances. The children, as they arrive at a suitable age, are +sent to the Indian schools at Carlisle and Hampton. + +Last summer some charitable and kind people asked permission to send two +teachers to these Indians for the purpose of instructing the adults as +well as such children as should be found there. Such permission was +readily granted, accommodations were provided for the teachers, and some +portions of the buildings at the barracks were made available for school +purposes. The good work contemplated has been commenced, and the +teachers engaged are paid by the ladies with whom the plan originated. + +I am not at all in sympathy with those benevolent but injudicious people +who are constantly insisting that these Indians should be returned to +their reservation. Their removal was an absolute necessity if the lives +and property of citizens upon the frontier are to be at all regarded by +the Government. Their continued restraint at a distance from the scene +of their repeated and cruel murders and outrages is still necessary. +It is a mistaken philanthropy, every way injurious, which prompts the +desire to see these savages returned to their old haunts. They are in +their present location as the result of the best judgment of those +having official responsibility in the matter, and who are by no means +lacking in kind consideration for the Indians. A number of these +prisoners have forfeited their lives to outraged law and humanity. +Experience has proved that they are dangerous and can not be trusted. +This is true not only of those who on the warpath have heretofore +actually been guilty of atrocious murder, but of their kindred and +friends, who, while they remained upon their reservation, furnished aid +and comfort to those absent with bloody intent. + +These prisoners should be treated kindly and kept in restraint far from +the locality of their former reservation; they should be subjected to +efforts calculated to lead to their improvement and the softening of +their savage and cruel instincts, but their return to their old home +should be persistently resisted. + +The Secretary in his report gives a graphic history of these Indians, +and recites with painful vividness their bloody deeds and the unhappy +failure of the Government to manage them by peaceful means. It will be +amazing if a perusal of this history will allow the survival of a desire +for the return of these prisoners to their reservation upon sentimental +or any other grounds. + +The report of the Secretary of the Navy demonstrates very intelligent +management in that important Department, and discloses the most +satisfactory progress in the work of reconstructing the Navy made during +the past year. Of the ships in course of construction five, viz. the +_Charleston_, _Baltimore_, _Yorktown_, _Vesuvius_, and the _Petrel_, +have in that time been launched and are rapidly approaching completion; +and in addition to the above, the _Philadelphia_, the _San Francisco_, the +_Newark_, the _Bennington_, the _Concord_, and the Herreshoff torpedo +boat are all under contract for delivery to the Department during the +next year. The progress already made and being made gives good ground +for the expectation that these eleven vessels will be incorporated as +part of the American Navy within the next twelve months. + +The report shows that notwithstanding the large expenditures for new +construction and the additional labor they involve the total ordinary or +current expenditures of the Department for the three years ending June +30, 1888, are less by more than 20 per cent than such expenditures for +the three years ending June 30, 1884. + +The various steps which have been taken to improve the business methods +of the Department are reviewed by the Secretary. The purchasing of +supplies has been consolidated and placed under a responsible bureau +head. This has resulted in the curtailment of open purchases, which in +the years 1884 and 1885 amounted to over 50 per cent of all the +purchases of the Department, to less than 11 per cent; so that at the +present time about 90 per cent of the total departmental purchases are +made by contract and after competition. As the expenditures on this +account exceed an average of $2,000,000 annually, it is evident that an +important improvement in the system has been inaugurated and substantial +economies introduced. + +The report of the Postmaster-General shows a marked increase of business +in every branch of the postal service. + +The number of post-offices on July 1, 1888, was 57,376, an increase of +6,124 in three years and of 2,219 for the last fiscal year. The +latter-mentioned increase is classified as follows: + + + New England States + Middle States 181 + Southern States and Indian Territory (41) 1,406 + The States and Territories of the Pacific Coast 190 + The ten States and Territories of the West and Northwest 435 + District of Columbia 2 + ----- + Total 2,219 + + +Free-delivery offices have increased from 189 in the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1887, to 358 in the year ended June 30, 1888. + +In the Railway Mail Service there has been an increase in one year of +168 routes, and in the number of miles traveled per annum an increase of +15,795,917.48. The estimated increase of railroad service for the year +was 6,000 miles, but the amount of new railroad service actually put on +was 12,764.50 miles. + +The volume of business in the Money-Order Division, including +transactions in postal notes, reached the sum of upward of $143,000,000 +for the year. + +During the past year parcel-post conventions have been concluded with +Barbados, the Bahamas, British Honduras, and Mexico, and are now under +negotiation with all the Central and South American States. The increase +of correspondence with foreign countries during the past three years is +gratifying, and is especially notable and exceptional with the Central +and South American States and with Mexico. As the greater part of mail +matter exchanged with these countries is commercial in its character, +this increase is evidence of the improved business relations with them. +The practical operation of the parcel-post conventions, so far as +negotiated, has served to fulfill the most favorable predictions as to +their benefits. In January last a general postal convention was +negotiated with the Dominion of Canada, which went into operation on +March 1, and which practically makes one postal territory of the United +States and Canada. Under it merchandise parcels may now be transmitted +through the mails at fourth-class rates of postage. + +It is not possible here to touch even the leading heads of the great +postal establishment to illustrate the enormous and rapid growth of its +business and the needs for legislative readjustment of much of its +machinery that it has outgrown. For these and valuable recommendations +of the Postmaster-General attention is earnestly invited to his report. + +A Department whose revenues have increased from $19,772,000 in 1870 to +$52,700,000 in 1888, despite reductions of postage which have enormously +reduced rates of revenue while greatly increasing its business, demands +the careful consideration of the Congress as to all matters suggested by +those familiar with its operations, and which are calculated to increase +its efficiency and usefulness. + +A bill proposed by the Postmaster-General was introduced at the last +session of the Congress by which a uniform standard in the amount of +gross receipts would fix the right of a community to a public building +to be erected by the Government for post-office purposes. It was +demonstrated that, aside from the public convenience and the promotion +of harmony among citizens, invariably disturbed by change of leasings +and of site, it was a measure of the highest economy and of sound +business judgment. It was found that the Government was paying in rents +at the rate of from 7 to 10 per cent per annum on what the cost of such +public buildings would be. A very great advantage resulting from such a +law would be the prevention of a large number of bills constantly +introduced for the erection of public buildings at places, and involving +expenditures not justified by public necessity. I trust that this +measure will become a law at the present session of Congress. + +Of the total number of postmasters 54,874 are of the fourth class. +These, of course, receive no allowances whatever for expenses in the +service, and their compensation is fixed by percentages on receipts at +their respective offices. This rate of compensation may have been, and +probably was, at some time just, but the standard has remained unchanged +through the several reductions in the rates of postage. Such reductions +have necessarily cut down the compensation of these officials, while it +undoubtedly increased the business performed by them. Simple justice +requires attention to this subject, to the end that fourth-class +postmasters may receive at least an equivalent to that which the law +itself, fixing the rate, intended for them. + +Another class of postal employees whose condition seems to demand +legislation is that of clerks in post-offices, and I call especial +attention to the repeated recommendations of the Postmaster-General for +their classification. Proper legislation of this character for the +relief of carriers in the free-delivery service has been frequent. +Provision is made for their promotion; for substitutes for them on +vacation; for substitutes for holidays, and limiting their hours of +labor. Seven million dollars has been appropriated for the current year +to provide for them, though the total number of offices where they are +employed is but 358 for the past fiscal year, with an estimated increase +for the current year of but 40, while the total appropriation for all +clerks in offices throughout the United States is $5,950,000. + +The legislation affecting the relations of the Government with railroads +is in need of revision. While for the most part the railroad companies +throughout the country have cordially cooperated with the Post-Office +Department in rendering excellent service, yet under the law as it +stands, while the compensation to them for carrying the mail is limited +and regulated, and although railroads are made post-roads by law, there +is no authority reposed anywhere to compel the owner of a railroad to +take and carry the United States mails. The only alternative provided by +act of Congress in case of refusal is for the Postmaster-General to send +mail forward by pony express. This is but an illustration of ill-fitting +legislation, reasonable and proper at the time of its enactment, but +long since outgrown and requiring readjustment. + +It is gratifying to note from the carefully prepared statistics +accompanying the Postmaster-General's report that notwithstanding the +great expansion of the service the rate of expenditure has been lessened +and efficiency has been improved in every branch; that fraud and crime +have decreased; that losses from the mails have been reduced, and that +the number of complaints of the service made to postmasters and to the +Department are far less than ever before. + +The transactions of the Department of Justice for the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1888, are contained in the report of the Attorney-General, as +well as a number of valuable recommendations, the most part of which are +repetitions of those previously made, and ought to receive +consideration. + +It is stated in this report that though judgments in civil suits +amounting to $552,021.08 were recovered in favor of the Government +during the year, only the sum of $132,934 was collected thereon; and +that though fines, penalties, and forfeitures were imposed amounting to +$541,808.43, only $109,648.42 of that sum was paid on account thereof. +These facts may furnish an illustration of the sentiment which +extensively prevails that a debt due the Government should cause no +inconvenience to the citizen. + +It also appears from this report that though prior to March, 1885, there +had been but 6 convictions in the Territories of Utah and Idaho under +the laws of 1862 and 1882, punishing polygamy and unlawful cohabitation +as crimes, there have been since that date nearly 600 convictions under +these laws and the statutes of 1887; and the opinion is expressed that +under such a firm and vigilant execution of these laws and the advance +of ideas opposed to the forbidden practices polygamy within the United +States is virtually at an end. + +Suits instituted by the Government under the provisions of the act of +March 3, 1887, for the termination of the corporations known as the +Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company and the Church of Jesus Christ of +Latter-day Saints have resulted in a decree favorable to the Government, +declaring the charters of these corporations forfeited and escheating +their property. Such property, amounting in value to more than $800,000, +is in the hands of a receiver pending further proceedings, an appeal +having been taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. + +In the report of the Secretary of the Interior, which will be laid +before you, the condition of the various branches of our domestic +affairs connected with that Department and its operations during the +past year are fully exhibited. But a brief reference to some of the +subjects discussed in this able and interesting report can here be made; +but I commend the entire report to the attention of the Congress, and +trust that the sensible and valuable recommendations it contains will +secure careful consideration. + +I can not too strenuously insist upon the importance of proper measures +to insure a right disposition of our public lands, not only as a matter +of present justice, but in forecast of the consequences to future +generations. The broad, rich acres of our agricultural plains have been +long-preserved by nature to become her untrammeled gift to a people +civilized and free, upon which should rest in well-distributed ownership +the numerous homes of enlightened, equal, and fraternal citizens. They +came to national possession with the warning example in our eyes of the +entail of iniquities in landed proprietorship which other countries have +permitted and still suffer. We have no excuse for the violation of +principles cogently taught by reason and example, nor for the allowance +of pretexts which have sometimes exposed our lands to colossal greed. +Laws which open a door to fraudulent acquisition, or administration +which permits favor to rapacious seizure by a favored few of expanded +areas that many should enjoy, are accessory to offenses against our +national welfare and humanity not to be too severely condemned or +punished. + +It is gratifying to know that something has been done at last to +redress the injuries to our people and check the perilous tendency of +the reckless waste of the national domain. That over 80,000,000 acres +have been arrested from illegal usurpation, improvident grants, and +fraudulent entries and claims, to be taken for the homesteads of honest +industry--although less than the greater areas thus unjustly lost--must +afford a profound gratification to right-feeling citizens, as it is +a recompense for the labors and struggles of the recovery. Our dear +experience ought sufficiently to urge the speedy enactment of measures +of legislation which will confine the future disposition of our +remaining agricultural lands to the uses of actual husbandry and genuine +homes. + +Nor should our vast tracts of so-called desert lands be yielded up to +the monopoly of corporations or grasping individuals, as appears to be +much the tendency under the existing statute. These lands require but +the supply of water to become fertile and productive. It is a problem of +great moment how most wisely for the public good that factor shall be +furnished. I can not but think it perilous to suffer either these lands +or the sources of their irrigation to fall into the hands of monopolies, +which by such means may exercise lordship over the areas dependent on +their treatment for productiveness. Already steps have been taken to +secure accurate and scientific information of the conditions, which is +the prime basis of intelligent action. Until this shall be gained the +course of wisdom appears clearly to lie in a suspension of further +disposal, which only promises to create rights antagonistic to the +common interest. No harm can follow this cautionary conduct. The land +will remain, and the public good presents no demand for hasty +dispossession of national ownership and control. + +I commend also the recommendations that appropriate measures be taken to +complete the adjustment of the various grants made to the States for +internal improvements and of swamp and overflowed lands, as well as to +adjudicate and finally determine the validity and extent of the numerous +private land claims. All these are elements of great injustice and peril +to the settlers upon the localities affected; and now that their +existence can not be avoided, no duty is more pressing than to fix as +soon as possible their bounds and terminate the threats of trouble which +arise from uncertainty. + +The condition of our Indian population continues to improve and the +proofs multiply that the transforming change, so much to be desired, +which shall substitute for barbarism enlightenment and civilizing +education, is in favorable progress. Our relations with these people +during the year have been disturbed by no serious disorders, but rather +marked by a better realization of their true interests and increasing +confidence and good will. These conditions testify to the value of the +higher tone of consideration and humanity which has governed the later +methods of dealing with them, and commend its continued observance. + +Allotments in severalty have been made on some reservations until all +those entitled to land thereon have had their shares assigned, and the +work is still continued. In directing the execution of this duty I have +not aimed so much at rapid dispatch as to secure just and fair +arrangements which shall best conduce to the objects of the law by +producing satisfaction with the results of the allotments made. No +measure of general effect has ever been entered on from which more may +be fairly hoped if it shall be discreetly administered. It proffers +opportunity and inducement to that independence of spirit and life which +the Indian peculiarly needs, while at the same time the inalienability +of title affords security against the risks his inexperience of affairs +or weakness of character may expose him to in dealing with others. +Whenever begun upon any reservation it should be made complete, so that +all are brought to the same condition, and as soon as possible community +in lands should cease by opening such as remain unallotted to +settlement. Contact with the ways of industrious and successful farmers +will perhaps add a healthy emulation which will both instruct and +stimulate. + +But no agency for the amelioration of this people appears to me so +promising as the extension, urged by the Secretary, of such complete +facilities of education as shall at the earliest possible day embrace +all teachable Indian youth, of both sexes, and retain them with a kindly +and beneficent hold until their characters are formed and their +faculties and dispositions trained to the sure pursuit of some form of +useful industry. Capacity of the Indian no longer needs demonstration. +It is established. It remains to make the most of it, and when that +shall be done the curse will be lifted, the Indian race saved, and the +sin of their oppression redeemed. The time of its accomplishment depends +upon the spirit and justice with which it shall be prosecuted. It can +not be too soon for the Indian nor for the interests and good name of +the nation. + +The average attendance of Indian pupils on the schools increased by over +900 during the year, and the total enrollment reached 15,212. The cost +of maintenance was not materially raised. The number of teachable Indian +youth is now estimated at 40,000, or nearly three times the enrollment +of the schools. It is believed the obstacles in the way of instructing +are all surmountable, and that the necessary expenditure would be a +measure of economy. + +The Sioux tribes on the great reservation of Dakota refused to assent to +the act passed by the Congress at its last session for opening a portion +of their lands to settlement, notwithstanding modification of the terms +was suggested which met most of their objections. Their demand is for +immediate payment of the full price of $1.25 per acre for the entire +body of land the occupancy of which they are asked to relinquish. + +The manner of submission insured their fair understanding of the law, +and their action was undoubtedly as thoroughly intelligent as their +capacity admitted. It is at least gratifying that no reproach of +over-reaching can in any manner lie against the Government, however +advisable the favorable completion of the negotiation may have been +esteemed. + +I concur in the suggestions of the Secretary regarding the Turtle +Mountain Indians, the two reservations in California, and the Crees. +They should, in my opinion, receive immediate attention. + +The number of pensioners added to the rolls during the fiscal year ended +June 30, 1888, is 60,252, and increase of pensions was granted in 45,716 +cases. The names of 15,730 pensioners were dropped from the rolls during +the year from various causes, and at the close of the year the number of +persons of all classes receiving pensions was 452,557. Of these there +were 806 survivors of the War of 1812, 10,787 widows of those who served +in that war, 16,060 soldiers of the Mexican War, and 5,104 widows of +said soldiers. + +One hundred and two different rates of pensions are paid to these +beneficiaries, ranging from $2 to $416.66 per month. + +The amount paid for pensions during the fiscal year was $78,775,861.92, +being an increase over the preceding year of $5,308,280.22. The expenses +attending the maintenance and operation of the Pension Bureau during +that period was $3,262,524.67, making the entire expenditures of the +Bureau $82,038,386.57, being 21-1/2 per cent of the gross income and +nearly 31 per cent of the total expenditures of the Government during +the year. + +I am thoroughly convinced that our general pension laws should be +revised and adjusted to meet as far as possible, in the light of our +experience, all meritorious cases. The fact that 102 different rates of +pensions are paid can not, in my opinion, be made consistent with +justice to the pensioners or to the Government; and the numerous private +pension bills that are passed, predicated upon the imperfection of +general laws, while they increase in many cases existing inequality and +injustice, lend additional force to the recommendation for a revision of +the general laws on this subject. + +The laxity of ideas prevailing among a large number of our people +regarding pensions is becoming every day more marked. The principles +upon which they should be granted are in danger of being altogether +ignored, and already pensions are often claimed because the applicants +are as much entitled as other successful applicants, rather than upon +any disability reasonably attributable to military service. If the +establishment of vicious precedents be continued, if the granting of +pensions be not divorced from partisan and other unworthy and irrelevant +considerations, and if the honorable name of veteran unfairly becomes by +these means but another term for one who constantly clamors for the aid +of the Government, there is danger that injury will be done to the fame +and patriotism of many whom our citizens all delight to honor, and that +a prejudice will be aroused unjust to meritorious applicants for +pensions. + +The Department of Agriculture has continued, with a good measure of +success, its efforts to develop the processes, enlarge the results, +and augment the profits of American husbandry. It has collected and +distributed practical information, introduced and tested new plants, +checked the spread of contagious diseases of farm animals, resisted the +advance of noxious insects and destructive fungous growths, and sought +to secure to agricultural labor the highest reward of effort and the +fullest immunity from loss. Its records of the year show that the season +of 1888 has been one of medium production. A generous supply of the +demands of consumption has been assured, and a surplus for exportation, +moderate in certain products and bountiful in others, will prove a +benefaction alike to buyer and grower. + +Four years ago it was found that the great cattle industry of the +country was endangered, and those engaged in it were alarmed at the +rapid extension of the European lung plague of pleuro-pneumonia. Serious +outbreaks existed in Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky, and in Tennessee +animals affected were held in quarantine. Five counties in New York and +from one to four counties in each of the States of New Jersey, +Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were almost equally affected. + +With this great danger upon us and with the contagion already in the +channels of commerce, with the enormous direct and indirect losses +already being caused by it, and when only prompt and energetic action +could be successful, there were in none of these States any laws +authorizing this Department to eradicate the malady or giving the State +officials power to cooperate with it for this purpose. The Department +even lacked both the requisite appropriation and authority. + +By securing State cooperation in connection with authority from Congress +the work of eradication has been pressed successfully, and this dreaded +disease has been extirpated from the Western States and also from the +Eastern States, with the exception of a few restricted areas, which are +still under supervision. The danger has thus been removed, and trade and +commerce have been freed from the vexatious State restrictions which +were deemed necessary for a time. + +During the past four years the process of diffusion, as applied to the +manufacture of sugar from sorghum and sugar cane, has been introduced +into this country and fully perfected by the experiments carried on +by the Department of Agriculture. This process is now universally +considered to be the most economical one, and it is through it that the +sorghum-sugar industry has been established upon a firm basis and the +road to its future success opened. The adoption of this diffusion +process is also extending in Louisiana and other sugar-producing parts +of the country, and will doubtless soon be the only method employed for +the extraction of sugar from the cane. + +An exhaustive study has also within the same period been undertaken of +the subject of food adulteration and the best analytical methods for +detecting it. A part of the results of this work has already been +published by the Department, which, with the matter in course of +preparation, will make the most complete treatise on that subject that +has ever been published in any country. + +The Department seeks a progressive development. It would combine the +discoveries of science with the economics and amelioration of rural +practice. A supervision of the endowed experimental-station system +recently provided for is a proper function of the Department, and is now +in operation. This supervision is very important, and should be wisely +and vigilantly directed, to the end that the pecuniary aid of the +Government in favor of intelligent agriculture should be so applied as +to result in the general good and to the benefit of all our people, thus +justifying the appropriations made from the public Treasury. + +The adjustment of the relations between the Government and the railroad +companies which have received land grants and the guaranty of the public +credit in aid of the construction of their roads should receive early +attention. The report of a majority of the commissioners appointed to +examine the affairs and indebtedness of these roads, in which they favor +an extension of the time for the payment of such indebtedness in at +least one case where the corporation appears to be able to comply with +well-guarded and exact terms of such extension, and the reenforcement +of their opinion by gentlemen of undoubted business judgment and +experience, appointed to protect the interests of the Government as +directors of said corporation, may well lead to the belief that such an +extension would be to the advantage of the Government. + +The subject should be treated as a business proposition with a view to a +final realization of its indebtedness by the Government, rather than as +a question to be decided upon prejudice or by way of punishment for +previous wrongdoing. + +The report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, with its +accompanying documents, gives in detail the operations of the several +departments of the District government, and furnishes evidence that the +financial affairs of the District are at present in such satisfactory +condition as to justify the Commissioners in submitting to the Congress +estimates for desirable and needed improvements. + +The Commissioners recommend certain legislation which in their opinion +is necessary to advance the interests of the District. + +I invite your special attention to their request for such legislation +as will enable the Commissioners without delay to collect, digest, and +properly arrange the laws by which the District is governed, and which +are now embraced in several collections, making them available only with +great difficulty and labor. The suggestions they make touching desirable +amendments to the laws relating to licenses granted for carrying on the +retail traffic in spirituous liquors, to the observance of Sunday, to +the proper assessment and collection of taxes, to the speedy punishment +of minor offenders, and to the management and control of the reformatory +and charitable institutions supported by Congressional appropriations +are commended to careful consideration. + +I again call attention to the present inconvenience and the danger to +life and property attending the operation of steam railroads through and +across the public streets and roads of the District. The propriety of +such legislation as will properly guard the use of these railroads and +better secure the convenience and safety of citizens is manifest. + +The consciousness that I have presented but an imperfect statement +of the condition of our country and its wants occasions no fear that +anything omitted is not known and appreciated by the Congress, upon whom +rests the responsibility of intelligent legislation in behalf of a great +nation and a confiding people. + +As public servants we shall do our duty well if we constantly guard the +rectitude of our intentions, maintain unsullied our love of country, and +with unselfish purpose strive for the public good. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 19: See pp. 603-607.] + +[Footnote 20: See pp. 620-627.] + +[Footnote 21: See pp. 628-530.] + +[Footnote 22: See p. 612.] + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 21, 1888_. + +_To the Congress_: + +On the 2d of April last I transmitted to the House of Representatives, +in response to its resolution of the 8th of the preceding March, a +report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying correspondence, +relative to affairs in Samoa.[23] On the same day I answered a resolution +of the Senate of the 21st of the preceding December to the same effect, +but adopted in executive session, and, in order to avoid duplication of +the numerous documents involved, referred to the correspondence which +accompanied my public response to the resolution of the House of +Representatives, and which was duly printed and published by order of +that body (House Executive Document No. 238, Fiftieth Congress, first +session). + +In my annual message of the 3d instant I announced my intention in due +course to lay before Congress further correspondence on Samoan affairs. +Accordingly, I now transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying correspondence, on that subject. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 23: See p. 612.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +On or about the 25th day of September, 1888, I received a copy of a +resolution adopted on that day by the Senate in executive session, +requesting the transmission to that body by the President of all +communications and correspondence (not heretofore sent to the Senate) +under his control on the subject of the proposed convention with China, +transmitted by him to the Senate by message dated 16th March, 1888,[24] +and on the subject of the reported failure of the Government of China to +finally agree to the same. + +A few days after the copy of said resolution was received by me, and on +the 1st day of October, 1888, I sent a communication to the +Congress,[25] accompanying my approval of a bill prohibiting the return +of Chinese laborers to the United States, in which I supposed all the +information sought under the terms of the Senate resolution above +recited was fully supplied. + +I beg to refer in this connection to Senate Executive Document No. 273, +first session of the Fiftieth Congress, and especially to page 3 +thereof. + +Believing the information contained in said document answered the +purposes of said Senate resolution, no separate and explicit answer was +made thereto. + +But in my message of October 1, 1888, the tenor and purport of a cipher +dispatch from our minister in China to the Secretary of State, dated +September 21, 1888, was given instead of attempting to transmit a copy +of the same. + +For greater precision, however, and with the object of answering in more +exact terms the resolution of the Senate, I transmit with this, in +paraphrase of the cipher, a copy of the said dispatch. I also transmit +copies of two notes which accompanied my message of October 1, 1888, one +from Mr. Shu Cheon Pon, charge d'affaires of the Chinese legation in +this city, dated September 25, 1888, to the Secretary of State, and the +other being the reply thereto by the Secretary of State, dated September +26, 1888, both of which will be found in Senate Executive Document No. +273. + +The dispatch and notes above referred to comprise, in the language of +the Senate resolution, "all communications and correspondence" the +transmission of which is therein requested. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 24: See p. 610.] + +[Footnote 25: See pp. 630-635.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 3, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith for the consideration of the Congress a report of +the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, recommending an +appropriation for the relief of Japanese subjects injured and of the +families of Japanese subjects killed on the island of Ikisima in +consequence of target practice directed against the shore by the United +States man-of-war _Omaha_ in March, 1887. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 3, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I desire to supplement the message yesterday sent to your honorable body +in response to a Senate executive resolution dated September 25, 1888, +asking the transmission of certain communications and correspondence on +the subject of the recent proposed convention with China and the +reported failure of the Government of China to finally agree to the +same, by adding to said response two telegrams I omitted therefrom, +which were sent in cipher by the Secretary of State to our minister at +Peking, and which may be considered by the Senate relevant to the +subject of its inquiry. + +One of said dispatches is as follows: + + + WASHINGTON, _September 4, 1888_. + + DENBY, + _Minister, Peking_: + + Rejection of treaty is reported here. What information have you? + + BAYARD. + + +Two replies to this dispatch were made by our minister to China, dated, +respectively, September 5 and September 6, 1888. They were heretofore, +and on September 7, 1888,[26] sent to the Senate, and are printed in Senate +Executive Document No. 271. + +The other of said dispatches is as follows: + + + WASHINGTON, _September 18, 1888_. + + DENBY, + _Minister, Peking_: + + The bill has passed both Houses of Congress for total exclusion of + Chinese and awaits President's approval. Public feeling on the Pacific + Coast excited in favor of it, and situation is critical. Impress upon + Government of China necessity for instant decision in the interest of + treaty relations and amity. + + BAYARD. + + +The answer of our minister at Peking to this dispatch, dated September +21, 1888, was yesterday sent to the Senate with the message to which +this is a supplement. + +The matters herein contained are now transmitted, to the end that they +may, if deemed pertinent, be added to the response already made to the +Senate resolution of inquiry, and with the intent that in any view of +the subject the answer to said resolution may be full and complete. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 26: See p. 627.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 7, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, an agreement signed by the +plenipotentiaries of the United States and Denmark on the 6th ultimo, +submitting to arbitration the claim of Carlos Butterfield & Co. against +the Government of Denmark for indemnity for the seizure and detention of +the steamer _Ben Franklin_ and the bark _Catherine Augusta_ by +the authorities of the island of St. Thomas, of the Danish West India +Islands, in the years 1854 and 1855; for the refusal of the ordinary +right to land cargo for the purpose of making repairs; for the injuries +resulting from a shot fired into one of the vessels, and for other +wrongs. I also transmit a report from the Secretary of State inclosing +the recent correspondence between the two Governments in regard to the +claim. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +Whereas, by virtue of the provisions of the act of Congress approved +June 22, 1860 (12 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 73), entitled "An act to +carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, +China, Japan, Siam, Persia, and other countries giving certain judicial +powers to ministers and consuls or other functionaries of the United +States in those countries, and for other purposes," Charles Denby, +minister of the United States at Peking, has formally promulgated, under +date of August 18, 1888, additional regulations governing the rendition +of judgments by confession in the consular courts of the United States +in China, the same having been previously assented to by all the +consular officers of this Government in that Empire: + +Now, therefore, in accordance with section 4119 of the Revised +Statutes of the United States, being the sixth section of the act +above mentioned, and which directs that all such regulations shall be +transmitted to the Secretary of State, "to be laid before Congress for +revision," I do herewith transmit to Congress a copy of Mr. Denby's +dispatch No. 754, of November 5, 1888, containing the regulations so +decreed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress and such +legislation in respect of the matters therein presented as may seem +necessary and proper, a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying explanatory correspondence, in reference to the +international questions arising from the imposition of differential +rates of tonnage dues upon vessels entering ports of the United States +from foreign countries under the provisions of the fourteenth Section of +the act of June 26, 1884, and the later amendatory provisions of the act +of June 19, 1886, as set forth in said report. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 15, 1889_. + +_To the Congress_: + +On the 2d day of April, 1888, I transmitted to the House of +Representatives, in response to a resolution passed by that body, a +report from the Secretary of State, relating to the condition of affairs +in the Samoan Islands, together with numerous letters, dispatches, and +documents connected with the subject, which gave a history of all +disorders in that locality up to that date.[27] + +On the 21st day of December, 1888, this information was supplemented by +the transmission to the Congress of such further correspondence and +documents as extended this history to that time.[28] + +I now submit a report from the Secretary of State, with later +correspondence and dispatches, exhibiting the progress of the +disturbances in Samoa up to the present date. + +The information thus laid before the Congress is of much importance, +since it has relation to the preservation of American interests and the +protection of American citizens and their property in a distant locality +and under an unstable and unsatisfactory government. + +In the midst of the disturbances which have arisen at Samoa such powers +have been exercised as seemed to be within Executive control under our +Constitution and laws, and which appear to accord with our national +policy and traditions, to restore tranquillity and secure the safety of +our citizens. + +Through negotiation and agreement with Great Britain and Germany, which, +with our own Government, constitute the treaty powers interested in +Samoan peace and quiet, the attempt has been made to define more clearly +the part which these powers should assume in the Government of that +country, while at the same time its autonomy has been insisted upon. + +These negotiations were at one time interrupted by such action on the +part of the German Government as appeared to be inconsistent with their +further continuance. + +Germany, however, still asserts, as from the first she has done, that +she has no desire or intention to overturn the native Samoan Government +or to ignore our treaty rights, and she still invites our Government to +join her in restoring peace and quiet. But thus far her propositions on +this subject seem to lead to such a preponderance of German power in +Samoa as was never contemplated by us and is inconsistent with every +prior agreement or understanding, while her recent conduct as between +native warring factions gives rise to the suspicion that she is not +content with a neutral position. + +Acting within the restraints which our Constitution and laws have placed +upon Executive power, I have insisted that the autonomy and independence +of Samoa should be scrupulously preserved according to the treaties made +with Samoa by the powers named and their agreements and understanding +with each other. I have protested against every act apparently tending +in an opposite direction, and during the existence of internal +disturbance one or more vessels of war have been kept in Samoan waters +to protect American citizens and property. + +These things will abundantly appear from the correspondence and papers +which have been submitted to the Congress. + +A recent collision between the forces from a German man-of-war stationed +in Samoan waters and a body of natives rendered the situation so +delicate and critical that the war ship _Trenton_, under the +immediate command of Admiral Kimberly, was ordered to join the +_Nipsic_, already at Samoa, for the better protection of the +persons and property of our citizens and in furtherance of efforts to +restore order and safety. + +The attention of the Congress is especially called to the instructions +given to Admiral Kimberly dated on the 11th instant and the letter of +the Secretary of State to the German minister dated the 12th instant, +which will be found among the papers herewith submitted. + +By means of the papers and documents heretofore submitted and those +which accompany this communication the precise situation of affairs in +Samoa is laid before the Congress, and such Executive action as has been +taken is fully exhibited. + +The views of the Executive in respect of the just policy to be pursued +with regard to this group of islands, which lie in the direct highway of +a growing and important commerce between Australia and the United +States, have found expression in the correspondence and documents which +have thus been fully communicated to the Congress, and the subject in +its present stage is submitted to the wider discretion conferred by the +Constitution upon the legislative branch of the Government. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 27: See p. 612.] + +[Footnote 28: See p. 800.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 15, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the +4th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying +copies of correspondence, touching recent occurrences in the island of +Hayti, both as relates to the state of the Government there and to the +seizure and delivery up of the American vessel _Haytien Republic_. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I have the honor to lay before you a report from the Secretary of State, +with accompanying correspondence, in relation to the possible +disturbances on the Isthmus of Panama in the event of the stoppage of +work on the proposed interoceanic canal. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 21, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the +5th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, touching correspondence +with Venezuela in regard to the exchange of ratifications of the claims +convention of December 5, 1885, between the United States and Venezuela +and to the suspension by Venezuela of the monthly quotas of indebtedness +under the convention between the two countries of April 25, 1866, +together with copies of sundry correspondence between the Department of +State and owners of Venezuelan certificates of award or their attorneys +on the same subject, as requested in said resolution. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 30, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and the House of Representatives_: + +For the information of Congress I herewith transmit a report of the +Secretary of State, with accompanying correspondence, relating to the +execution of an agreement made between the representatives of certain +foreign powers and the Korean Government in 1884 in respect to a foreign +settlement at Chemulpo. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 30, 1880_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I had the honor on the 15th instant to communicate to your honorable +body certain correspondence and documents in relation to affairs in +the Samoan Islands[29]; and having since that date received further +dispatches from the vice-consul at Apia and the commander of the United +States naval vessel _Nipsic_ in those waters, I lose no time in +laying them before you. + +I also transmit herewith the full text of an instruction from Prince von +Bismarck to the German minister at this capital, which was communicated +to the Secretary of State on the afternoon of the 28th instant. + +This appears to be an amplification of a prior telegraphic instruction +on the same subject communicated through the same channel, and, being +set forth in the note of the Secretary of State to Count von +Arco-Valley, the German minister, of the 12th instant, was duly laid +before Congress with my last message in relation to Samoan affairs. + +It is also proper to inform you that on Monday, the 28th instant, the +occasion of the communication of the note of the Prince Chancellor, the +Secretary of State was given to understand by the German minister that +a proposition from his Government to that of the United States for a +conference on the Samoan subject was on its way by mail, having left +Berlin on the 20th instant, so that its arrival here in due course of +mail could be looked for in a very short time. + +In reply to an inquiry from the Secretary of State whether the +proposition referred to was for a renewal of the joint conference +between the United States, Germany, and Great Britain which was +suspended in July, 1887, or for a consideration of Samoan affairs _ab +novo_, the German minister stated his inability to answer until the +proposition which left Berlin on the 20th instant should have been +received. + +I shall hereafter communicate to the Congress all information received +by me in relation to the Samoan status. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 29: See pp. 804-805.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 1, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +As supplementary to my previous messages on the subject, I have now the +honor to transmit a report from the Secretary of State relating to +affairs in Samoa. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 5, 1889_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I transmit herewith, for approval and ratification, a provisional +agreement lately entered into between the Government of the United +States and the Creek Nation of Indians, through their duly authorized +representatives, and which has been approved by the National Council of +said nation, by which agreement the title and interest of the said Creek +Nation of Indians in and to all lands in the Indian Territory or +elsewhere, except such as are held and occupied as the homes of said +nation, are ceded to the United States. + +The eighth section of the Indian appropriation bill approved March 3, +1885, authorized the President "to open negotiations with the Creeks, +Seminoles, and Cherokees for the purpose of opening to settlement under +the homestead laws the unassigned lands in the Indian Territory ceded by +them respectively to the United States by the several treaties of August +11, 1866, March 21, 1866, and July 19, 1866." This section also contains +an appropriation in furtherance of its purpose, and requires that the +action of the President thereunder should be reported to Congress. + +The "unassigned" lands thus referred to should be construed to be those +which have not been transferred by the United States in pursuance of the +treaties mentioned in the section quoted. + +The treaty with the Creeks is dated June 14, 1866. It was confirmed by a +Senate resolution passed July 19, 1866, and was proclaimed August 11, +1866 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 785). + +The third article of the treaty makes a cession of lands in the +following words: + + In compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other + Indians and freedmen thereon, the Creeks hereby cede and convey to the + United States, to be sold to and used as homes for such other civilized + Indians as the United States may choose to settle thereon, the west half + of their entire domain, to be divided by a line running north and south; + the eastern half of said Creek lands, being retained by them, shall, + except as herein otherwise stipulated, be forever set apart as a home + for said Creek Nation; and in consideration of said cession of the west + half of their lands, estimated to contain 3,250,560 acres, the United + States agree to pay the sum of 30 cents per acre, amounting to $975,168. + + +The provision that the lands conveyed were "_to be sold to_ and +used as homes for such other civilized Indians," etc., has been steadily +regarded as a limitation upon the grant made to the United States. Such +a construction is admitted to be the true one in many ways, especially +by the continual reservation of the ceded lands from settlement by the +whites, by the sale of a portion of the same to Indians, by the use of +other portions as the home of Indians, and also by various provisions +in proposed legislation in Congress. Thus the bill now pending for the +organization of Oklahoma provides for the payment to the Creeks and +Seminoles of the ordinary Government price of $1.25 per acre, less the +amount heretofore paid. + +The section of the law of 1885 first above quoted appears also to have +been passed in contemplation not only of the existence of a claim on the +part of the Creeks, but of the substantial foundation of that claim in +equity, if not in law, and in acknowledgment of the duty of the +Government to satisfactorily discharge the claim of the Indian people +before putting the land to the free uses of settlement and territorial +occupation by whites. + +But it seems to have been considered that so far as the lands had been +assigned they may fairly be taken to be such as under the treaty were +"to be sold." As to these, they having been assigned or "sold" in +accordance with said treaty, the claim of the Creeks thereto has been +entirely discharged, and the title from the United States passed +unburdened with any condition or limitation to the grantees. This seems +to be an entirely clear proposition. + +The unassigned lands must be those which are unsold, because not +only is that the fair significance of the term, as used technically in +conveyancing, but because the limiting condition in the Creek treaty was +that the lands should be sold to, as well as used as homes for, other +Indians. + + + The total quantity of lands in the western half of the Acres. + Creek Nation, and which were ceded in 1866, is 3,402,428.88 + + The assigned lands as above + defined are in three bodies: Acres. + + 1. The Seminole country, + by the treaty of 1866 200,000.00 + + 2. The Sac and Fox Reservation, sold and + conveyed by article 6 of the treaty of + February 18, 1867 (15 U.S. Statutes at + large, p. 495), amounting to 479,668.05 + + 3. The Pawnee Reservation, granted by + section 4 of the act of Congress of + April 10, 1876 (19 U.S. Statutes at + large, p. 29), for which the Government + received the price allowed the Creeks, + 30 cents per acre 53,005.94 + + Making a total of assigned or sold lands of 732,673.99 + + And leaving as the total unassigned lands 2,669,754.89 + + +Of this total quantity of unassigned land which is subject to the +negotiations provided for under the law of 1885 there should be a +further division made in considering the sum which ought fairly to be +paid in discharge of the Creek claim thereto. + +I. In that part of these lands called the Oklahoma country no Indians +have been allowed to reside by any action of the Government, nor has any +execution been attempted of the limiting condition of the cession of +1866. + +The quantity of these lands carefully computed from the surveys is +1,392,704.70 acres. + +II. The remainder of these unassigned lands has been appropriated in +some degree to Indian uses, although still within the control of the +Government. + +Thus by three Executive orders the following Indian reservations have +been created: + + Acres. + 1. By President Grant, August 10, 1869, the + reservation of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, + which embraces of this land 619,450.59 + 2. By President Arthur, August 15, 1883, + the reservation for the Iowas, containing 228,417.67 + 3. By President Arthur, August 15, 1883, + the Kickapoo Reservation, embracing. 206,465.61 + 4. A tract set apart for the Pottawatomies by the + treaty of February 27, 1867 (15 U.S. Statutes + at large, p. 531), followed by the act of + May 23, 1872 (17 U.S. Statutes at large, p. 159), + by which individual allotments were authorized + upon the tract, though but very few Indians have + selected and paid for such allotments according + to the provisions of that law. The entire quantity + of the Pottawatomie Reservation is 222,716.32 + + This shows the quantity of lands unassigned, but + to some extent appropriated to Indian uses by the + Government, amounting to 1,277,050.19 + + +For the lands which are not only unassigned, but are unoccupied, and +which have been in no way appropriated, it appears clearly just and +right that a price of at least $1.25 should be allowed to the Creeks. +They held more than the ordinary Indian title, for they had a patent in +fee from the Government. The Osages of Kansas were allowed $1.25 per +acre upon giving up their reservation, and this land of the Creeks +is reported by those familiar with it to be equal to any land in the +country. Without regard to the present enhanced value of this land, and +if reference be only had to the conditions when the cession was made, no +less price ought to be paid for it than the ordinary Government price. +Therefore in this, provisional agreement which has been made with the +Creeks the price of $1.25 has been settled upon for such land, with the +deduction of the 30 cents per acre which has already been paid by the +Government therefor. + +As to the remainder of the unassigned lands, in view of the fact that +some use has been made of them of the general character indicated by the +treaty of 1866, and because some portion of them should be allotted to +Indians under the general allotment act, and to cover the expenses of +surveys and adjustments, a diminishment of 20 cents per acre has been +acceded to. There is no difference in the character of the lands. + +Thus, computing the unassigned and entirely unappropriated land, being +the Oklahoma country, containing 1,392,704.70 acres, at 95 cents per +acre, and the remainder which has been appropriated to the extent above +stated, being 1,277,050.19 acres, at 75 cents per acre, the total price +stipulated in the agreement has been reached--$2,280,857.10. + +But as it was desirable that the Indian title should be beyond all +question extinguished to all parts of the land ceded by the Creeks in +1866, with their full consent and understanding, the agreement of +cession has been made to embrace a complete surrender of all claim to +the western half of their domain, including the assigned as well as the +unassigned lands, for the price named. So the agreement takes the form +in the first article of such a cession, and in the second article is +stipulated the price in gross of all the lands and interests ceded, with +no detailed reference to the manner of its ascertainment. + +The overtures which led to this agreement were made by representatives +of the Creek Nation, who came here for that purpose. They were +intelligent and evidently loyal to the interests of their people. The +terms of the agreement were fully discussed and concessions were made by +both parties. It was promptly confirmed by the National Council of the +Creek Indians, and its complete consummation only waits the approval of +the Congress of the United States. + +I am convinced that such ratification will be of decided benefit to the +Government, and that the agreement is entirely free from any suspicion +of unfairness or injustice toward the Indians. + +I desire to call especial attention to the fact that to become effective +the agreement must be ratified by the Congress prior to the its day of +July, 1889. + +The draft of an act of ratification is herewith submitted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a further report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying correspondence, relating to Samoa, and the joint protocols +of the conferences held in this city in the summer of 1887, to the +publication of which the Governments of Germany and Great Britain have +consented. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 23d ultimo, directing +the Secretary of State to transmit to that body copies of all +correspondence on the files of his Department relative to the case of +the ship _Bridgewater_, I transmit herewith, being of the opinion +that it is not incompatible with the public interest to do so, a report +from the Secretary of State, accompanying which is the correspondence +referred to. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1889_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I herewith transmit, in reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d +ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying +documents, in relation to the seal fisheries in Bering Sea. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1889_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I herewith submit, for your consideration, a communication from the +Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a proposition made on behalf of +the Seminole Nation of Indians for the relinquishment to the Government +of the United States of their right to certain lands in the Indian +Territory. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant, I +return herewith the bill (S. 3640) entitled "An act to amend the laws +relating to the selection and service of jurors in the supreme court of +the District of Columbia." + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State of this day's +date, with accompanying correspondence, touching the case of Lord +Sackville.[30] + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 30: The British minister at Washington, who was given his +passports for writing an indiscreet letter on American politics.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 22, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a convention +signed on the 2d day of June, 1887, between the United States and the +Netherlands, for the extradition of criminals; also a report from the +Secretary of State, and accompanying papers, relating to the said +convention. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 27, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to +its ratification, a convention signed at Washington the 18th instant, +between the United States and Mexico, to revive the provisions of the +convention of July 29, 1882, to survey and relocate the existing +boundary line between the two countries west of the Rio Grande, and to +extend the time fixed in Article VIII of the said convention for the +completion of the work in question. + +Although the present convention fully explains the reasons for its +negotiation, it may not be improper here to add that Article VII of the +convention of July 29, 1882, stipulated that the said convention should +continue in force until the completion of the work, "provided that such +time does not exceed four years and four months from the date of the +exchange of ratifications hereof." + +The exchange of ratifications took place March 3, 1883, and the period +within which the convention was in force ended July 3, 1887. + +In order, therefore, to continue the provisions of the said convention +of July 29, 1882, an additional article concluded at Washington December +5, 1885, further extended the time for the completion of the work for +"eighteen months from the expiration of the term fixed in Article VIII +of the said treaty of July 29, 1882," or until January 3, 1889. + +As there was no further provision extending the said treaty of July 29, +1882, beyond that date, it expired by limitation. Hence the necessity +for the convention of the 18th instant in its present form. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 27, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, in confidence, for the information of the Senate, a +report from the Secretary of State, showing the progress of the +correspondence in relation to the conference to be held at Berlin +between the Governments of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain +to settle the affairs of the Samoan Islands. + +The nature of this information and the stage of the negotiations thus +agreed upon and about to commence at Berlin make it proper that such +report should be communicated to the Senate in the confidence of +executive session. + +As the conference has been proposed and accepted and the definitive +bases of its proceedings agreed upon by all three Governments and on the +lines with which the Senate has heretofore been made fully acquainted, +nothing remains to be done but to select and appoint the commissioners +to represent the United States, and the performance of this duty, in +view of the few days that now remain of my term of office, can be most +properly left to my successor. + +In response to the inquiry of the German minister at this capital +whether the names of the proposed representatives of the United States +at the conference in Berlin could at once be given to him, he has been +informed that the appointments in question would be made by my successor +and not by me, and that in coming to this decision the expedition +desired by Germany in the work of the conference would in my judgment be +promoted. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 27, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit, with a view to its ratification, a convention for the +extradition of criminals, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the United +States and Russia on the 28th day of March, 1887; also a report from the +Secretary of State and accompanying papers relating to the negotiations +which terminated in the conclusion of the treaty in question. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 27, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying +documents, relative to a naturalization treaty between the United States +and Turkey signed the 11th day of August, 1874, as to the proclamation +of which the advice of the Senate is desired. The advice and consent of +the Senate were given to the ratification of the convention on the 22d +of January, 1875, but with certain amendments which were not fully +accepted by the Ottoman Porte. Because of such nonacceptance the treaty +has never been proclaimed. Finally the Turkish Government, after the +passage of fourteen years, has accepted the amendments as tendered. But +in view of the long period that has elapsed since the Senate formerly +considered the treaty I have deemed it wiser that before proclaiming it +the Senate should have an opportunity to act upon the matter again, my +own views being wholly favorable to the proclamation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 27, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 21st of December last, a report of the Secretary +of State and accompanying documents, touching affairs in Madagascar. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of +State, concerning the expenses of the representation of the United +States at the Brussels Exhibition of 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of +State, respecting the representation of the United States at the +Barcelona Exposition of 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Congress_: + +I herewith transmit the fifth report of the Civil Service Commission, +covering the year which ended June 30, 1888. + +The cause of civil-service reform, which in a great degree is intrusted +to the Commission, I regard as so firmly established and its value so +fully demonstrated that I should deem it more gratifying than useful if +at this late day in the session of Congress I was permitted to enlarge +upon its importance and present condition. + +A perusal of the report herewith submitted will furnish information of +the progress which has been made during the year to which it relates in +the extension of the operations of this reform and in the improvement of +its methods and rules. + +It is cause for congratulation that watchfulness and care and fidelity +to its purposes are all that are necessary to insure to the Government +and our people all the benefits which its inauguration promised. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a +view of giving its advice and consent to the ratification thereof, a +convention signed in Washington on March 1, 1889, by duly authorized +representatives of the United States and Mexico, providing for the +institution of an international commission to determine questions +between the United States and Mexico arising under the convention of +November 12, 1884, by reason of changes in the river bed of the Rio +Grande and the Colorado River when forming the boundary between the +two countries. + +A report of the Secretary of State, with the accompanying correspondence +therein described, is also communicated for the information of the +Senate. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying +documents, relative to the undetermined boundary line between Alaska and +British Columbia. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in further +response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d +[21st] of December last, touching affairs in Madagascar. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit, for the information of Congress, a report from the +Secretary of State, with its accompanying correspondence, in regard to +the construction of certain dams or wing facings in the Rio Grande at +Paso del Norte (Ciudad Juarez), opposite the city of El Paso, Tex. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary +of State, covering the report of the commissioner of the United States +to the Brussels Exhibition of 1888. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1888_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5080, entitled "An act for the +relief of C.B. Wilson." + +This bill directs the Postmaster-General to credit to the beneficiary +therein named, who is the postmaster at Buena Vista, in the State of +Colorado, the sum of $225, being post-office funds forwarded by him to +the deposit office at Denver, but which were lost in transmission. + +A general law was passed on the 9th day of May, 1888, authorizing the +Postmaster-General to make allowances and credits to postmasters in +precisely such cases. + +On the 8th day of September, 1888, under the sanction of that law, the +credit directed by this bill was made. + +It is plain, therefore, that the bill herewith returned ought not to +become a law unless it is proposed to duplicate the credit therein +mentioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 8469, entitled "An act for the +relief of Michael Pigott." + +This bill appropriates the sum of $48 to the beneficiary therein named, +formerly the postmaster at Quincy, Ill., which was paid by him for the +use of a telephone for the year ending June 30, 1873. + +There is evidently a mistake made in the statement of the period covered +by the use of this telephone, for the official term of the beneficiary +extended from May 16, 1881, to June 18, 1885. + +Assuming, however, that it was intended to describe the period ending +June 30, 1883, it appears that the use of a telephone during that time +was wholly unauthorized by the Post Office Department, and that the only +authority given for any expenditure for that purpose covered the period +of one year from the 1st day of January, 1884. + +The following letter, dated July 16, 1884, was sent to the beneficiary +from the salary and allowance division of the Post Office Department: + + In reply to your letter relative to amounts disallowed for use of + telephone for your office, you are informed that the said expenditures + were made without the authority of this office, and it is therefore + deemed advisable not to approve the same. + + Your authority for a telephone was for one year beginning January 1, + 1884. At the expiration of the time named, if you desire to continue the + telephone service, you should make application to the First Assistant + Postmaster-General for a renewal of the same. + + +The multitude of claims of the same kind which the legislation proposed +would breed and encourage, and the absolute necessity, in the interest +of good administration, of limiting all public officers to authorized +expenditures, constrain me to withhold my approval from this bill. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7, entitled "An act granting a +pension to Thomas B. Walsh." + +This beneficiary enlisted January 1, 1864, and was discharged August 1, +1865. + +He is reported absent without leave in April, 1864, and further recorded +as having deserted November 24, 1864. He was restored to duty in May, +1865, by the President's proclamation. + +He filed an application for pension in December, 1881, alleging that he +contracted rheumatism in May, 1865. + +This statement of the claimant and nearly, if not all, the evidence in +the case which tends to show the incurrence of the disability complained +of appear to fix its appearance at a date very near the return of the +beneficiary after his desertion. + +In these circumstances the proof of disability, such as it is, is as +consistent with its incurrence during desertion as it is with the theory +that the beneficiary suffered therefrom as the result of honorable +military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 2236, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Eli. J. Yamgheim." + +The beneficiary named in this bill filed an application for pension in +the Pension Bureau April 15, 1875, basing his claim upon an alleged +wound of his left leg from a spent ball about October 15, 1861. + +There is no record of his incurring any wound or injury during his +service, and it does not appear that the company to which he belonged +was in action nearer to the date he specifies than September 17, 1861, +and his captain testifies that the beneficiary was not injured in the +engagement of that day, which lasted only about fifteen minutes. + +The proof taken in the case establishes that before enlistment the +beneficiary had a sore on his leg which was quite troublesome, which +suppurated, and after healing would break out again. + +In the medical examinations made during the pendency of the claim the +diseased leg was always found, but no mention is made of any other +injury and no other injury seems to have been discoverable. + +I can not avoid the conviction upon the facts presented that whatever +disability has existed since the discharge of the beneficiary arose from +causes which were present before enlistment, and that the same is not +chargeable to his military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 4887, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Charles E. Scott." + +This beneficiary entered the volunteer service, nearly at the close of +the War of the Rebellion and served from the 8th day of March, 1865, to +July 24, in the same year, a period of four months and sixteen days. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1884, alleging that he incurred camp +itch in July, 1865, which resulted in partial blindness. + +Upon the proof presented, and after examination, the claim was rejected +upon the ground that it did not appear that the impairment of his vision +was the result of any incident of his army service. + +I am entirely satisfied that this was a correct disposition of the case, +and that upon the same ground the bill herewith returned should not be +approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1889_. + +_To The Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3646, entitled "An act for the +relief of William R. Wheaton and Charles H. Chamberlain, of California." + +These parties were, respectively, for a number of years prior to 1879, +the register and receiver of the land office at San Francisco, in the +State of California. + +Prior to July, 1877, they had collected and retained, apparently without +question, certain fees allowed by law for reducing to writing the +testimony heard by them in establishing the rights of claimants to +public lands. + +On the 9th day of July, 1877, these officials were notified by the +Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office that monthly thereafter, +and dating from July 1, 1877, such fees should be reported with other +fees to the General Land Office. + +This notification furnished clear information that, whatever may have +been the justification for their retention of these fees in the past, +the parties notified must thereafter account to the Government for the +same. + +On the 8th day of February, 1879, the beneficiaries were peremptorily +required by the Commissioner of the General Land Office to deposit in +the Treasury of the United States the sums which they had received for +the services mentioned since July 1, 1877, and which, though reported, +had not been paid over. Soon thereafter, and pursuant to this demand, +the sum of $5,330.76, being the aggregate of such fees for the nineteen +months between July 1, 1877, and February 1, 1879, was paid over to the +Government. + +On the 19th day of February, 1879, these officers were authorized to +employ two clerks, each upon a salary of $100 per month. + +The purpose of the bill now under consideration is to restore to the +beneficiaries from the money paid over to the Government, as above +stated, the sum of $3,800. This is proposed upon the theory that clerks +were employed by the register and receiver to do the work for which the +fees were received, and that these officials having paid them for their +services they should be reimbursed from the fund. + +It will be observed that whatever services were performed by clerks in +the way of writing down testimony, and paid for by the beneficiaries, +were performed and paid for after July, 1877, and after they had in +effect received notice that such employment and payment would not be +approved by the Government. + +Upon this statement the claim covered by the Dill can hardly be urged on +legal grounds, whatever the Government may have allowed prior to such +notice. + +I am decidedly of the opinion that the relations, the duties, and the +obligations of subordinates in public employment should be clearly +defined and strictly limited. They should not be permitted to judge of +the propriety or necessity of incurring expenses on behalf of the +Government without authority, much less in disregard of orders. And yet +there are cases when in an emergency money is paid for the benefit of +the public service by an official which, though not strictly authorized, +ought in equity to be reimbursed. + +If there is any equity existing in favor of the beneficiaries named in +the bill herewith returned, it is found in the fact that during the +nineteen months from the 1st day of July, 1877, to the 1st day of +February, 1879, they paid out certain moneys for which the Government, +in the receipt of the fees which they paid over, received the benefit. +Manifestly such equity in this case, if it can be claimed at all in view +of the facts recited, is measured by the sum actually paid by these +officials to the persons, if such there were, who did the work from +which the fees arose which were paid over to the Government. + +In other words, if certain clerks were paid by the beneficiaries from +their private funds for doing this work, there should be a distinct +statement of the sum so paid, and their claim should rest upon indemnity +and reimbursement alone. But no such statement appears, so far as I can +see from an examination of papers presented to me by the Interior +Department and from the report of the Senate committee who reported this +bill, except as it may be gathered from the rather indirect allegations +contained in a paper prepared by counsel. + +No vouchers have ever been received at the General Land Office for +money paid for clerical services rendered during the period for which +reimbursement is sought. The verified statement of the claimants annexed +to the committee's report contains only the allegation that they paid +for the necessary clerical services, and the affidavits of the clerks +themselves furnish no clew to the amount they received. Such an +omission, in my opinion, discredits the claim made, and the allowance of +the sum of $100 per month for two clerks during the period of nineteen +months covered by this claim, because that was the sum authorized to be +paid thereafter for clerks' services, is, it seems to me, adopting a +standard entirely inapplicable to the subject. + +In any event these beneficiaries should be required to establish the sum +necessary for such indemnification, and the amount appropriated for +their relief should be limited to that sum. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9173, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mary J. Drake." + +It is proposed by this bill to pension the beneficiary therein named as +the widow of Newton E. Drake, who served as a soldier from August 1, +1863, to January 18, 1865. + +The records do not show that he suffered from any disability during his +term of service. + +He filed an application for pension September 23, 1879, claiming that he +contracted rheumatism about October, 1864. + +He died June 7, 1881, and there does not appear to have been any +evidence produced as to the cause of his death or establishing, except +by the allegations of his own application, that he contracted any +disease or disability in the service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9791, entitled "An act for the +relief of Charles W. Geddes." + +This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to include the name of +the beneficiary mentioned, late assistant engineer in the United States +Navy, among those who served in the Mexican War, and issue to him a land +warrant for his services as assistant engineer on the United States +steamer _General Taylor_ during said war. + +On an application made by this beneficiary for bounty land under general +laws the Secretary of the Navy reported that the vessel to which he was +attached was not considered as having been engaged in the war with +Mexico, and thereupon his application was rejected. Upon appeal to the +Secretary of the Interior he states the settled doctrine of such cases +to be that "service must have been _in_, not simply _during_, +a war to give title to bounty land." + +The only claim made by the beneficiary is that the vessel upon which he +was employed was engaged for a time in transporting seamen from New +Orleans, where they were enlisted, to Pensacola, and that he was +informed and believed that they were enlisted to serve on board vessels +composing the Gulf Squadron, then cooperating with the land forces in +the Mexican War. + +It seems to me that it is establishing a bad precedent, tending to the +breaking down of all distinctions between civil and military employment +and service, to hold that a man engaged on a vessel transporting +recruits to a rendezvous from which they may be sent to the scene of +hostilities should be allowed the same advantages which are bestowed +upon those actually engaged in or more directly related to the dangers +and chances of military operations. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9252, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Mrs. Catherine Barberick, of Watertown." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the mother of William Barberick, +who enlisted February 19, 1862, and died of smallpox August 2, 1864, at +his home while on veteran furlough. + +It is not claimed that the soldier contracted the fatal disease while in +the Army. On the contrary, the testimony taken upon his mother's +application for pension to the Pension Bureau shows that he was taken +sick after his arrival at his home on furlough, and that several of his +family had died of the contagious disease to which he fell a victim +before he was taken sick with it. + +In these circumstances, unless there is to be a complete departure from +the principle that pensions are to be granted for death or disability in +some way related to the military service, this bill should not become a +law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 7877, entitled "An act to place +Mary Karstetter on the pension roll." + +The beneficiary named in this bill is the widow of Jacob Karstetter, who +enlisted in June, 1864, and was discharged in June, 1865, on account of +a wound in his left hand received in action. He died in August, 1874, of +gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach, and congestion of the liver. +He was granted a pension for his gunshot wound and was in receipt of +such pension at the time of his death. + +I was constrained to return without approval a bill identical with the +one herewith returned, and which was passed by the last Congress, and +stated my objections to the same in a communication addressed to the +House of Representatives, dated July 6, 1886.[31] + +It seemed to me at that time that the soldier's death could not be held +to be the result of his wound or any other cause chargeable to his military +service. + +Upon reexamination I am still of the same opinion, which leads me to +again return the bill under consideration without approval. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 31: See pp. 469-470.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9296, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Bridget Carroll." + +This bill proposes to pension the beneficiary therein named as the +dependent mother of Patrick Carroll, who was enrolled as a sergeant in +the Regular Army in 1881, this being, as it is stated, his second term +of enlistment. + +In September, 1886, being absent from his command at Fort Warren, Mass., +he was drowned while sailing in a small boat with two companions. + +The beneficiary is aged and in need of assistance, but there is no +pretense that the soldier's death was in the least degree related to his +military service. + +I am sure no one could fail to be gratified by an opportunity to join in +according aid to this dependent old mother of a faithful soldier, but I +can not believe that such a departure as is proposed should be made from +the just principles upon which pension legislation ought to be +predicated. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1899_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9175, entitled "An act granting +a pension to George Wallen." + +The beneficiary named in this bill filed an application for pension in +June, 1873, alleging as his disability a fracture of his right arm. + +In a subsequent affidavit filed in 1883 he alleged deafness, which +appears to be the disability upon which the special act proposed for his +relief is based. + +The records establish that he enlisted July 27, 1861, that he deserted +April 25, 1862, and returned February 20, 1863, after an absence of +about ten months, and that he deserted again April 30, 1864, and +returned prior to August 31, 1864. I am informed that his record shows +two enlistments and desertion during each. He was discharged December +31, 1864. + +An application to remove the charge of desertion against him was denied. + +Without especially discussing the question of disability chargeable to +military service, it seems to me that a soldier with such a record +should not be pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3264, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Mrs. Ellen Hand." + +The husband of the beneficiary named in this bill enlisted August 22, +1862, and was mustered out with his company July 10, 1865. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1881, sixteen years after his discharge, +alleging that he contracted rheumatism about December, 1862. + +He died in February, 1883, the cause of death being, as then certified, +typhoid fever. + +His claim for pension on account of rheumatism seems to have been +favorably determined after his death, for it was made payable to his +widow and was allowed from the time of filing his petition to February +25, 1883, the day of his death. + +The facts of the case as now presented appear to me to lead in the most +satisfactory manner to the conclusion that the soldier's death was in no +way related to any incident of his military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 9163, entitled "An act granting +a pension to Eli Garrett." + +This beneficiary enlisted in the Confederate Army December 1, 1862. He +was captured by the United States forces on the 26th of November, 1863, +and enlisted in the Union Navy January 22, 1864. + +He was discharged from the Navy for disability September 8, 1864, upon +the certificate of a naval surgeon, which states that he had valvular +cardiac disease (disease of the heart), and that there was no evidence +that it originated in the line of duty. + +His claim for pension was rejected in 1882 upon the ground that the act +which permits pensions to Confederate soldiers who joined the Union Army +did not extend to such soldiers who enlisted in the Navy. + +I can see no reason why such a distinction should exist, and the +recommendation of the Commissioner of Pensions, made in 1887, that this +discrimination be removed should be adopted by the enactment of a law +for that purpose. + +In this case, however, I am unable to discover any evidence that the +trouble with which this beneficiary appears to be afflicted is related +to his naval service which should overcome the plain statement of the +surgeon upon whose certificate he was discharged to the effect that +there was no evidence that his disability originated in the line of +naval duty. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11052, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Clara M. Owen." + +The husband of this beneficiary was pensioned for a gunshot wound in the +left chest and lung, received in action on the 30th day of September, +1864. + +He was drowned August 31, 1884. + +It appears that he was found in a stream where he frequently bathed, in +a depth of water variously given from 5 to 8 feet. He had undressed and +apparently gone into the water as usual. + +Medical opinions are produced tending to show that drowning was not the +cause of death. + +No _post mortem_ examination was had, and it seems to me it must be +conceded that a conclusion that death was in any degree the result of +wounds received in military service rests upon the most unsatisfactory +conjecture. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5752, entitled "An act for the +relief of Julia Triggs." + +This beneficiary filed an application for pension in 1882, claiming that +her son, William Triggs, died in 1875 from the effects of poison taken +during his military service in water which had been poisoned by the +rebels and in food eaten in rebel houses, which had also been poisoned. + +He was discharged from the Army with his company July 24, 1865, after a +service of more than four years. + +The cause of his death is reported to have been an abscess of the lung. + +The case was specially examined, and the evidence elicited to support +the claim of poisoning appears to have been anything but satisfactory. + +The mother herself testified that her son was absent from Chicago, where +she lived, and in the South from 1868 to 1869, and that he was in +Indiana from 1869 to 1874. + +The claim was rejected on the 12th day of February, 1887, on the ground +that evidence could not be obtained upon special examination showing +that the soldier's death was due to any disability contracted in the +military service. + +While I am unable to see how any other conclusion could have been +reached upon the facts in this case, there is reason to believe that a +favorable determination upon its merits would be of no avail, since, on +the 17th day of April, 1888, a letter was filed in the Pension Office +from a citizen of Chicago in which it is stated that the beneficiary +named in this bill died on the 27th day of February, 1888, and an +application is therein made on behalf of her daughter for reimbursement +of money expended for her mother in her last illness and for her burial. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 13, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2514, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Michael Shong." + +It appears that the beneficiary named in this bill, under the name of +John M. Johns, enlisted in Company I, Fourteenth New York Volunteers, on +the 17th day of May, 1861, and was discharged May 24, 1863. + +In November, 1876, more than thirteen years after his discharge, under +the same name of John M. Johns, he filed an application for pension, +alleging a fever sore on his right leg contracted July 1, 1862, which +resulted in the loss of the leg. + +His claim was rejected in November, 1882, after a thorough special +examination, on the ground that the disease of the leg resulting in +amputation was contracted after the soldier's discharge from the +service. + +The leg was amputated in February, 1865. + +While there is some evidence tending to show lameness in the service and +following discharge, and while one witness swears to lameness and fever +sores in the service, evidence was also produced showing that the +soldier returned home from the Army in good physical condition and that +the disease of his leg first manifested itself in the latter part of +1864. + +It will be observed that he served in the Army nearly a year after it is +alleged he contracted his disability, and that though his leg was +amputated in February, 1865, he did not apply for a pension until 1876. + +Moreover, the surgeon who amputated his leg testified that the soldier +and his parents stated that he came out of the Army without a scratch; +that on New Year's night in 1865 he became very warm at a dance; that he +went outdoors and was taken with a chill and pain in his side, which +subsequently settled in the leg and caused a gangrenous condition, and +that upon amputating the leg the artery below the knee was found plugged +by a blood clot, which caused the diseased condition of the leg and +foot. + +This testimony and the other facts established and the presumptions +arising therefrom clearly indicate, in my opinion, that the claim made +for a pension by this beneficiary is without merit. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 13, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 3451, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Frank D. Worcester." + +The beneficiary named in this bill served in the Volunteer Army from +February 4, 1863, to January 27, 1864, a period of less than one year, +when he was discharged upon the certificate of a surgeon, alleging as +his disability "manifest mental imbecility and incontinence of urine. +Disease originated previous to enlistment." + +In 1880, sixteen years after his discharge, a claim for pension was +filed in his behalf by his father as his guardian, in which it was +alleged that his mind, naturally not strong, became diseased in the Army +by reason of excitement and exposure. + +He was adjudged insane in 1872 and sent to an insane hospital, where +he remained about six years, when he was discharged as a harmless +incurable. His mental condition has remained about the same since that +time. + +Upon the declared inability to furnish testimony to rebut the record of +mental disease prior to enlistment, the claim for pension was rejected +in 1883. + +In 1887 the case was reopened and a thorough examination was made as to +soundness prior to enlistment and the origin and continuance of mental +unsoundness. + +Upon this examination evidence was taken showing that he was deficient +intellectually when he joined the Army; that he was stationed where he +was not much exposed, and that his duties were comparatively light; that +he never was considered a boy of solid intelligence, and that he had +epileptiform seizures prior to enlistment. + +On the other hand, no disinterested and unbiased evidence was secured +tending to rebut these conditions. + +The claim was thereupon again rejected. This was a proper disposition of +the case unless the Government is held liable for every disability which +may afflict those who served in the Union Army. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I return without approval Senate bill No. 2665, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Charles J. Esty." + +A bill in precisely the same words as the bill herewith returned was +approved on the 8th day of July, 1886, and under its provisions the +beneficiary is now upon the pension rolls. + +It is supposed that the bill now under consideration was passed by the +Congress in ignorance of the previous statute. A duplication of the act +would manifestly be entirely useless. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1368, entitled "An act +to quiet title of settlers on the Des Moines River lands, in the State +of Iowa, and for other purposes." + +This bill is to all intents and purposes identical with Senate bill +No. 150, passed in the first session of the Forty-ninth Congress, which +failed to receive Executive approval. My objections to that bill are set +forth in a message transmitted to the Senate on the 11th day of March, +1886.[32] They are all applicable to the bill herewith returned, and +a careful reexamination of the matters embraced in this proposed +legislation has further satisfied me of their validity and strength. + +The trouble proposed to be cured by this bill grew out of the +indefiniteness and consequent contradictory construction by the officers +of the Government of a grant of land made in 1846 by Congress to the +State of Iowa (then a Territory) for the purpose of aiding in the +improvement of the Des Moines River. This grant was accepted on the 9th +day of January, 1847, by the State of Iowa, as required by the act of +Congress, and soon thereafter the question arose whether the lands +granted were limited to those which adjoined the river in its course +northwesterly from the southerly line of the State to a point called the +Raccoon Fork, or whether such grant covered lands so adjoining the river +through its entire course through the Territory, and both below and +above the Raccoon Fork. + +The Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office, on the 17th day of +October, 1846, instructed the officers of the land office in Iowa that +the grant extended only to the Raccoon Fork. + +On the 23d day of February, 1848, the Commissioner of the General +Land Office held that the grant extended along the entire course of the +river. + +Notwithstanding this opinion, the President, in June, 1848, proclaimed +the lands upon the river above the Raccoon Fork to be open for sale and +settlement under the land laws, and about 25,000 acres were sold to and +preempted by settlers under said proclamation. + +In 1849, and before the organization of the Department of the Interior, +the Secretary of the Treasury decided, upon a protest against opening +said lands for sale and settlement, that the grant extended along the +entire course of the river. + +Pursuant to this decision, and on the 1st day of June, 1849, the +Commissioner of the General Land Office directed the reservation or the +withholding from sale of all lands on the odd-numbered sections along +the Des Moines River above the Raccoon Fork. + +This reservation from entry and sale under the general land laws seems +to have continued until a deed of the lands so reserved was made by the +State of Iowa and until the said deed was supplemented and confirmed by +the action of the Congress in 1861 and 1862. + +In April, 1850, the Secretary of the Interior, that Department having +then been created, determined that the grant extended no farther than +the Raccoon Fork; but in view of the fact that Congress was in session +and might take steps in the matter, the Commissioner of the General Land +Office expressly continued the reservation. + +In October, 1851, another Secretary of the Interior, while expressing +the opinion that the grant only extended to the Raccoon Fork, declared +that he would approve the selections made by the State of Iowa of lands +above that point, "leaving the question as to the construction of the +statute entirely open to the action of the judiciary." + +In this condition of affairs selections were made by Iowa of a large +quantity of land lying above the Raccoon Fork, which selections were +approved and the land certified to the State. In the meantime the State +had entered upon the improvement of the river and it appears had +disposed of some of the land in furtherance of said improvement. But in +1854 the State of Iowa made a contract with the Des Moines Navigation +and Railroad Company for the continuance of said work at a cost of +$1,300,000, the State agreeing in payment thereof to convey to the +company all the land which had been or should thereafter be certified to +the State of Iowa under the grant of 1846. + +In November, 1856, further certification of lands above the Raccoon Fork +under the grant to the State of Iowa was refused by the Interior +Department. This led to a dispute and settlement between the State of +Iowa and the Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company, by which the +State conveyed by deed to said company-- + + All lands granted by an act of Congress approved August 8, 1846, to the + then Territory of Iowa to aid in the improvement of the Des Moines River + which have been approved and certified to the State of Iowa by the + General Government, saving and excepting all lands sold and conveyed, + or agreed to be sold and conveyed, by the State, by its officers and + agents, prior to the 23d day of December, 1853, under said grant. + + +This exception was declared in the deed to cover the lands above the +Raccoon Fork disposed of to settlers by the Government in 1848 under the +proclamation of the President opening said lands to sale and settlement, +which has been referred to; and it is conceded that neither these lands +nor the rights of any settlers thereto are affected by the terms of the +bill now under consideration. + +The amount of land embraced in this deed located above the Raccoon Fork +appears to be more than 271,000 acres. + +It is alleged that the company in winding up its affairs distributed +this land among the parties interested, and that said land, or a large +part of it, has been sold to numerous parties now claiming the same +under titles derived from said company. + +In December, 1859, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that +the grant to the Territory of Iowa under the law of 1846 conveyed no +land above the Raccoon Fork, and that all selections and certifications +of lands above that point were unauthorized and void, and passed no +title or interest in said lands to the State of Iowa. In other words, it +was determined that these lands were, in the language of the bill under +consideration, "improperly certified to Iowa by the Department of the +Interior under the act of August 8, 1846." + +This adjudication would seem to conclusively determine that the title to +these lands was, as the law then stood, and notwithstanding all that had +taken place, still in the United States. And for the purpose of granting +all claim or right of the Government to said lands for the benefit of +the grantees of the State of Iowa, Congress, on the 2d day of March, +1861, passed a joint resolution providing that all the title still +retained by the United States in the lands above the Raccoon Fork, in +the State of Iowa, "which have been certified to said State improperly +by the Department of the Interior as part of the grant by act of +Congress approved August 8, 1846, and which is now held by _bona +fide_ purchasers under the State of Iowa, be, and the same is hereby, +relinquished to the State of Iowa." + +Afterwards, and on the 12th day of July, 1862, an act of Congress was +passed extending the grant of 1846 so as to include lands lying above +the Raccoon Fork. + +The joint resolution and act of Congress here mentioned have been +repeatedly held by the Supreme Court of the United States to supply a +title to the lands mentioned in the deed from the State of Iowa to the +Navigation and Railroad Company, which inured to the benefit of said +company or its grantees. + +No less than ten cases have been decided in that court more or less +directly establishing this proposition, as well as the further +proposition that no title to these lands could prior to said +Congressional action be gained by settlers, for the reason that it had +been withdrawn and reserved from entry and sale under the general land +laws. It seems to be perfectly well settled also, if an adjudication was +necessary upon that question, that all interest of the United States in +these lands was entirely and completely granted by the resolution of +1861 and the act of 1862. + +The act of 1862 provides for the setting apart of other lands in lieu of +such as were covered by the act, but had been before its passage sold +and disposed of by the United States, excepting such as had been +released to the State of Iowa under the joint resolution of 1861. + +It is claimed, I believe, that in a settlement of land grants thereafter +had between the United States and the State of Iowa lands were allowed +to the State in lieu or indemnity for some of the lands which it had +conveyed to the Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company. But if the +title of the company is valid to lands along the river and above the +Raccoon Fork, under the deed from Iowa and the joint resolution and act +of Congress, it can not be in the least affected by the fact that the +State afterwards, justly or unjustly, received other lands as indemnity. + +The bill under consideration provides that all the lands "improperly +certified to Iowa" under the grant of 1846, as referred to in the joint +resolution of 1861, and for which indemnity lands were selected and +received by the State, as provided in the act of 1862, "are, and are +hereby, declared to be public lands of the United States." + +The claims of persons and their heirs who, with intent in good faith to +obtain title under the preemption and homestead laws of the United +States, have entered and remained upon any tract of said land prior to +1880 are confirmed and made valid to them and their heirs, not exceeding +160 acres; and upon due proof and payment of the usual price or fees it +is directed that such claims shall be carried to patent. + +It is further provided that the claims of settlers and claimants which +do not come in conflict with the claims of the parties above mentioned +are confirmed and made valid. By the second section of the bill it is +made the duty of the Attorney-General, as soon as practicable, and +within three years after the passage of the act, to institute legal +proceedings to assert and protect the title of the United States to said +lands and to remove all clouds from its title thereto. + +One result of this legislation, if consummated and if effectual, would +be to restore to the United States, as a part of the public domain, +lands which more than twenty-five years ago the Government expressly +granted and surrendered, and which repeated decisions of the Supreme +Court have adjudged to belong by virtue of this action of the Government +to other parties. + +Another result would be not only to validate claims to this land which +our highest judicial tribunal have solemnly declared to be invalid, but +to actually direct the issue of patents in confirmation of said claims. + +Still another result would be to oblige the Government of the United +States to enter the courts ostensibly to assert and protect its title to +said land, while in point of fact it would be used to enforce private +claims to the same and unsettle private ownership. + +It is by no means certain that this proposed legislation, relating to a +subject peculiarly within the judicial function, and which attempts to +disturb rights and interests thoroughly intrenched in the solemn +adjudications of our courts, would be upheld. In any event, it seems to +me that it is an improper exercise of legislative power, an interference +with the determinations of a coordinate branch of the Government, an +arbitrary annulment of a public grant made more than twenty-five years +ago, an attempted destruction of vested rights, and a threatened +impairment of lawful contracts. + +The advocates of this measure insist that a point in favor of the +settlers upon these lands and important in the consideration of this +bill is found in the following language of the constitution of the State +of Iowa, which was adopted in 1857: + + The general assembly shall not locate any of the public lands which have + been or may be granted by Congress to this State, and the location of + which may be given to the general assembly, upon lands actually settled, + without the consent of the occupant. + + +The State under its constitution was perfectly competent to take the +grants of 1861 and 1862. The clause of the constitution above quoted +deals expressly with "lands which have been or may be granted by +Congress to the State," and thus of necessity recognizes its right to +take such grants. This competency in the State as a grantee was all that +was needed to create, under the joint resolution of 1861 and the act of +1862, a complete divestiture of the interests of the United States in +these lands. It must be borne in mind, too, that prior to this time +these lands had been conveyed by the State of Iowa in furtherance of the +purposes of the original Congressional grants, and that the joint +resolution of 1861 and the act of 1862 were really made for the benefit +of those who held under grants from the State. After these grants by the +Government it had no concern with these lands. If in any stage of the +proceedings the general assembly of Iowa was guilty of any neglect of +duty or failed to act in accordance with the constitution of the State +of Iowa, the remedy should be found in the courts of that State; and it +is difficult to see how the situation in this aspect can be changed or +improved by the bill under consideration. + +I am not unmindful of the fact that there may be persons who have +suffered or who are threatened with loss through a reliance upon the +erroneous decisions of Government officials as to the extent of the +original grant from the United States to the Territory of Iowa. I +believe cases of this kind should be treated in accordance with the +broadest sentiments of equity, and that where loss is apparent arising +from a real or fairly supposed invitation of the Government to settle +upon the lands mentioned in the bill under consideration such loss +should be made good. But I do not believe that the condition of these +settlers will be aided by encouraging them in such further litigation as +the terms of this bill invite, nor do I believe that in attempting to +right the wrongs of which they complain legislation should be sanctioned +mischievous in principle, and in its practical operation doing injustice +to others as innocent as they and as much entitled to consideration. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +[Footnote 32: See pp. 411-413.] + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 220, entitled "An act +granting a pension to John J. Lockrey." + +It is stated that this beneficiary enlisted April 11, 1865, but it +appears from the muster roll of his company for May and June, 1865, that +he was a recruit assigned, but who had not joined. There is nothing +appearing on the record which positively shows that he ever reached his +regiment. + +It is conceded that his real and nominal connection with the Army +extended only from April 11, 1865, when he was mustered in, until +August, 1865, when he was discharged for disability, consisting of a +disease of the eye, called in the surgeon's certificate "iritis with +conjunctivitis." + +It seems that this claimant enlisted just at the close of the war, and +was connected in a manner with the Army for four months. It is not +probable that he ever saw any actual service, for none is stated in the +papers before me; and it does appear that he spent a large part of his +short term of enlistment in hospitals and under treatment for a trouble +with his eye. As early as May 23, 1865, he was admitted to hospital with +gonorrheal ophthalmia. His claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau on +the ground that this was the cause of his disability, and the inferences +from the proof presented make this extremely probable. + +One of the witnesses who testified that the beneficiary caught cold in +his eye in April, 1865, on the Mississippi River is shown to have been +at that time with his regiment and company at Danville, Va. + +The circumstances surrounding this case and the facts proved satisfy me +that the determination of the Pension Bureau was correct, and there is +certainly no sentiment in favor of the claimant which justifies the +indulgence of violent presumptions for the purpose of overriding such +determination. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 5807, entitled "An act granting +a pension to John McCool." + +This beneficiary served in an Iowa regiment of volunteers from May 27, +1861, to July 12, 1865. + +He filed a petition for pension, alleging an accidental wound in the +right thumb while extracting a cartridge from a pistol in August, 1861. +There is no record of any such disability, though it appears that he was +on a furlough about the date of his alleged injury. It appears that he +served nearly four years after the time he fixed as the date of his +injury. + +No evidence was filed in support of the claim he filed, and he refused +to appear for examination, though twice notified to do so. + +His claim was rejected in May, 1888, no suggestion having been made of +any other disability than the wound in the thumb, upon which his claim +before the Bureau was based. + +The report of the committee in the House of Representatives recommending +the passage of this bill contains no intimation that there exists any +disability contracted in the military service, but distinctly declares +the pension recommended a service pension, and states that the +beneficiary is blind. + +As long as the policy of granting pensions for disability traceable to +the incidents of army service is adhered to, the allowance of pensions +by special acts based upon service only gives rise to unjust and unfair +discriminations among those equally entitled, and makes precedents which +will eventually result in an entire departure from the principle upon +which pensions are now awarded. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11803, entitled "An act +granting a pension to Henry V. Bass." + +This beneficiary enlisted September 9, 1862, and was mustered out August +15, 1865. The records show no disability during his service. + +It is now alleged that the soldier was sitting on the ground near his +tent while two comrades were wrestling near him, and that in the course +of the scuffle one of the parties engaged in it was thrown or fell upon +the beneficiary, injuring his right knee and ankle. + +Upon these facts the claim was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the +ground that the injury was not received in the line of duty. + +I do not think that the Government should be held as an insurer against +injuries of this kind, which are in no manner related to the performance +of military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 11999, entitled "An +act granting a pension to William Barnes." + +The beneficiary named in this bill served in a Kentucky regiment from +August 9, 1861, to December 6, 1864. + +He made claim for pension in the Pension Bureau in September, 1882, +alleging that in October, 1862, he was accidentally injured by a pistol +shot in the thigh while in the line of duty. + +It is conceded that he was wounded by the discharge of a pistol which he +was carrying while he was absent from his command with permission on a +visit to his home, and that the discharge of the pistol was accidental. + +The circumstances of the injury are neither given in the report of the +committee to whom the claim was referred by the House of Representatives +nor in the report of the case furnished to me from the Pension Bureau, +but on the conceded facts the granting of a pension in this case can be +predicated upon no other theory except the liability of the Government +for any injury by accident to a person in the military service, whether +in the line of duty or not. + +I think the adoption of the principle that the Government is an insurer +against accidents under any circumstances befalling those enlisted in +its military service when visiting at home is an unwarrantable stretch +of pension legislation. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 10448, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Squire Walter." + +The son of the beneficiary named in this bill enlisted in a West +Virginia regiment on the 28th day of June, 1861. + +On the 15th day of September, 1862, while bathing in the Potomac River +near the Chain Bridge, with the knowledge and consent of his commanding +officer, he was drowned. + +It is perfectly clear that he lost his life while in the enjoyment of a +privilege and when at his request military discipline was relaxed and +its restraints removed for his comfort and pleasure. His death resulted +from his voluntary and perfectly proper personal indulgence, and can not +be in the least attributed to military service. + +The father does not appear to be so needy and dependent as is often +exhibited in cases of this class. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 3561, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Edwin W. Warner." + +A claim for pension on behalf of the beneficiary named in this bill +was filed in the Pension Bureau May 6, 1867. It has been examined and +reexamined and always rejected, until, on the 29th day of December, +1888, as the result of a personal and thorough investigation by the +Commissioner, a pension was allowed and a certificate issued under which +the claimant will be paid $18 a month hereafter and arrearages amounting +to something near $2,000. + +As the special act for the benefit of this claimant was passed by the +Congress upon the supposition that nothing had been done for the +beneficiary therein named, I deem it best, in his interest, and probably +consistent with the intent of the Congress, that the bill herewith +returned should not become a law. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 12047, entitled "An act +granting an increase of pension to George Colwell." + +The record shows that this beneficiary was enrolled in the military +service August 10, 1862, and was mustered out June 1, 1865. + +There is no record of any disability during his service. + +He was pensioned at the rate of $2 a month for a dog bite just above the +ankle. + +In September, 1865, three months after his discharge, he strained the +knee of the leg which had been bitten. + +In 1887 he applied for an increase of pension, alleging increased +disability. This increased disability appears plainly to be the result +of the strain or injury to the knee, and in no way connected with the +bite for which he was pensioned. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith return without approval House bill No. 10791, entitled "An +act granting a pension to Marinda Wakefield Reed." + +This beneficiary filed an application for pension in November, 1876, +alleging that her husband, William A. Reed, died in September of that +year of consumption contracted in the line of military duty. + +The records show that the soldier was in hospital in the year 1864 for +chronic diarrhea and intermittent fever. + +On the 5th day of November, 1864, he was injured in a railroad accident +while on his way home to vote at the Presidential election of that year. + +The beneficiary claimed in August, 1885, in support of her application +for pension that those injuries resulted in consumption, from which the +soldier died, and the favorable report of the House committee to which +the bill herewith returned was referred seems to proceed upon the same +theory. + +Nothing appears which satisfactorily connects this injury, which was +received in November, 1864, with death from consumption in 1876. + +Another difficulty in the case is found in the fact that when the +soldier was injured he was clearly not engaged in any military duty nor +was his injury in any degree attributable to military service. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1889_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill 11466, entitled "An act granting a +pension to Mary A. Selbach." + +This bill does not give the name of any soldier to whom the beneficiary +was related or in what capacity the pension provided for is to be paid +to her, but it appears from the report of the committee accompanying the +bill that she is the widow of Gustavus Selbach, a volunteer in the Ninth +Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. + +This soldier drew a pension from January, 1882, to January 16, 1886, +when he died. He claimed disability for disease of the ears and a +resulting deafness of his left ear. There appears to be no evidence in +his record of any disability or medical treatment while in the service, +and the medical examination upon his application for pension shows no +rating for any disability other than that alleged by him and for which +he was pensioned--disease of the ears and resulting deafness. + +It is conceded that the soldier died January 16, 1886, of pneumonia. + +The widow filed a claim for pension in May, 1887. + +The testimony of physicians upon her claim covered seven years prior +to his death, thus dating back to the year 1879, and they speak of +the disease of the ear and of the kidneys, which, in their opinion, +undermined his health, so that "he succumbed to an attack of pneumonia, +which to a person of ordinary good health would not have been considered +serious." + +It can hardly be supposed that the trouble with his ears caused the +soldier to fall a victim to pneumonia; and so far as the kidney disease +tended in that direction, it is to be observed that it apparently did +not make its appearance until fourteen years after the soldier's +discharge. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1880_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return without approval House bill No. 11586, entitled "An act for the +relief of Stephen Williams." + +It appears from the records that the beneficiary for whom a pension is +provided in this bill served as a volunteer in an Illinois regiment from +October, 1862, to October; 1864, at which date he is reported as a +deserter. + +He filed a claim for pension in 1881, in which he alleged that he was +struck with a gunstock upon his head and injured in October, 1864. + +The evidence shows that a drunken comrade struck the claimant with the +stock of his gun because he would not buy whisky for him. + +This, upon all the facts, does not appear to be a proper case for +allowing a pension for an injury suffered in the line of military duty. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1889_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 139, entitled "An act +to credit and pay to the several States and Territories and the District +of Columbia all moneys collected under the direct tax levied by the act +of Congress approved August 5, 1861." + +The object of this bill is quite clearly indicated in its title. Its +provisions have been much discussed in both branches of Congress and +have received emphatic legislative sanction. I fully appreciate the +interest which it has excited and have by no means failed to recognize +the persuasive presentation made in its favor. I know, too, that the +interposition of Executive disapproval in this case is likely to arouse +irritation and cause complaint and earnest criticism. Since, however, my +judgment will not permit me to assent to the legislation proposed, I can +find no way of turning aside from what appears to be the plain course of +official duty. + +On the 5th day of August, 1861, a Federal statute was passed entitled +"An act to provide increased revenue from imports, to pay interest on +the public debt, and for other purposes." + +This law was passed at a time when immense sums of money were needed +by the Government for the prosecution of a war for the Union, and the +purpose of the law was to increase in almost every possible way the +Federal revenues. The first seven sections of the statute were devoted +to advancing very largely the rates of duties on imports, and to +supplement this the eighth section provided that a direct tax of +$20,000,000 should be annually laid and that certain amounts therein +specified should be apportioned to the respective States. The remainder +of the law, consisting of fifty sections, contained the most particular +and detailed provisions for the collection of the tax through Federal +machinery. + +It was declared, among other things, that the tax should be assessed +and laid on all lands and lots of ground, with their improvements and +dwelling houses; that the annual amount of said taxes should be a lien +upon all lands and real estate of the individuals assessed for the same, +and that in default of payment the said taxes might be collected by +distraint and sale of the goods, chattels, and effects of the delinquent +persons. + +This tax was laid in execution of the power conferred upon the General +Government for that purpose by the Constitution. It was an exercise +of the right of the Government to tax its citizens. It dealt with +individuals, and the strong arm of Federal power was stretched out to +exact from those who owed it support and allegiance their just share +of the sum it had decreed should be raised by direct taxation for the +general good. The lien created by this tax was upon the land and real +estate of the "individuals" assessed for the same, and for its +collection the distraint and sale of personal property of the "persons +delinquent" were permitted. + +But while the direct relationship and responsibility between the +individuals taxed and the Federal Government were thus created by the +exercise of the highest attribute of sovereignty, it was provided in the +statute that any State or Territory and the District of Columbia might +lawfully "assume, assess, collect, and pay into the Treasury of the +United States" its quota of said tax in its own way and manner and by +and through its own officers, assessors, and collectors; and it was +further provided that such States or Territories as should give notice +of their intention to thus assume and pay or to assess, collect, and pay +into the Treasury of the United States such direct tax, should be +entitled, in lieu of the compensation, pay, per diem, and percentage in +said act prescribed and allowed to assessors, assistant assessors, and +collectors of the United States, to a deduction of 15 per cent of the +quota of direct tax apportioned to such States or Territories and levied +and collected through their officers. + +It was also provided by this law and another passed the next year that +certain claims of the States and Territories against the United States +might be applied in payment of such quotas. Whatever may be said as to +the effect of these provisions of the law, it can hardly be claimed that +by virtue thereof or any proceedings under them the apportioned quotas +of this tax became debts against the several States and Territories, or +that they were liable to the General Government therefor in every event, +and as principal debtors bound by an enforceable obligation. + +In the forty-sixth section of the law it is provided that in case any +State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, after notice given of its +intention to assume and pay or to levy, collect, and pay said direct tax +apportioned to it, should fail to pay the amount of said direct tax, or +any part thereof, it should be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury +to appoint United States officers as in the act provided, whose duty it +should be to proceed forthwith to collect all or any part of said direct +tax "the same as though said State, Territory, or District had not given +notice nor assumed to levy, collect, and pay said taxes or any part +thereof." + +A majority of the States undertook the collection of their quotas and +accounted for the amount thereof to the General Government by the +payment of money or by setting off claims in their favor against the +tax. Fifteen per cent of the amount of their respective quotas was +retained as the allowance for collection and payment. In the Northern, +or such as were then called the loyal States, nearly the entire quotas +were collected and paid through State agencies. The money necessary for +this purpose was generally collected from the citizens of the States +with their other taxes, and in whatever manner their quotas may have +been canceled, whether by the payment of money or setting off claims +against the Government, it is safe to say, as a general proposition, +that the people of these States have individually been obliged to pay +the assessments made upon them on account of this direct tax and have +intrusted it to their several States to be transmitted to the Federal +Treasury. + +In the Southern States, then in insurrection, whatever was actually +realized in money upon this tax was collected directly by Federal +officers without the interposition of State machinery, and a part of its +quota has been credited to each of these States. + +The entire amount applied upon this tax, including the 15 per cent for +collection, was credited to the several States and Territories upon the +books of the Treasury, whether collected through their instrumentalities +or by Federal officers. + +The sum credited to all the States was $17,359,685.51, which includes +more than $2,000,000 on account of the 15 per cent allowed for +collecting. Of the amount credited only about $2,300.000 is credited to +the insurrectionary States. The amount uncollected of the twenty +millions directed to be raised by this tax was $2,646,314.49, and nearly +this entire sum remained due upon the quotas apportioned to these +States. + +In this condition of affairs the bill under consideration directs the +Secretary of the Treasury "to credit to each State and Territory +of the United States and the District of Columbia a sum equal to +all collections, by set-off or otherwise, made from said States and +Territories and the District of Columbia, or from any of the citizens +or inhabitants thereof, or other persons, under the act of Congress +approved August 5, 1861, and the amendatory acts thereto." An +appropriation is also made of such a sum as may be necessary to +reimburse each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia for all +money found due to it under the provisions of the bill, and it is +provided that all money still due to the United States on said direct +tax shall be remitted and relinquished. + +The conceded effect of this bill is to take from the money now in the +Treasury the sum of more than $17,000,000, or, if the percentage allowed +is not included, more than $15,000,000, and pay back to the respective +States and Territories the sums they or their citizens paid more than +twenty-five years ago upon a direct tax levied by the Government of the +United States for its defense and safety. + +It is my belief that this appropriation of the public funds is not +within the constitutional power of the Congress. Under the limited and +delegated authority conferred by the Constitution upon the General +Government the statement of the purposes for which money may be lawfully +raised by taxation in any form declares also the limit of the objects +for which it may be expended. + +All must agree that the direct tax was lawfully and constitutionally +laid and that it was rightfully and correctly collected. It can not be +claimed, therefore, nor is it pretended, that any debt arose against the +Government and in favor of any State or individual by the exaction of +this tax. Surely, then, the appropriation directed by this bill can not +be justified as a payment of a debt of the United States. + +The disbursement of this money clearly has no relation to the common +defense. On the contrary, it is the repayment of money raised and long +ago expended by the Government to provide for the common defense. + +The expenditure can not properly be advocated on the ground that the +general welfare of the United States is thereby provided for or +promoted. This "general welfare of the United States," as used in the +Constitution, can only justify appropriations for national objects and +for purposes which have to do with the prosperity, the growth, the +honor, or the peace and dignity of the nation. + +A sheer, bald gratuity bestowed either upon States or individuals, +based upon no better reason than supports the gift proposed in this +bill, has never been claimed to be a provision for the general welfare. +More than fifty years ago a surplus of public money in the Treasury was +distributed among the States; but the unconstitutionality of such +distribution, considered as a gift of money, appears to have been +conceded, for it was put into the State treasuries under the guise of +a deposit or loan, subject to the demand of the Government. + +If it was proposed to raise by assessment upon the people the sum +necessary to refund the money collected upon this direct tax, I am +sure many who are now silent would insist upon the limitations of the +Constitution in opposition to such a scheme. A large surplus in the +Treasury is the parent of many ills, and among them is found a tendency +to an extremely liberal, if not loose, construction of the Constitution. +It also attracts the gaze of States and individuals with a kind of +fascination, and gives rise to plans and pretensions that an uncongested +Treasury never could excite. + +But if the constitutional question involved in the consideration of this +bill should be determined in its favor, there are other objections +remaining which prevent my assent to its provisions. + +There should be a certainty and stability about the enforcement of +taxation which should teach the citizen that the Government will only +use the power to tax in cases where its necessity and justice are not +doubtful, and which should also discourage the disturbing idea that the +exercise of this power may be revoked by reimbursement of taxes once +collected. Any other theory cheapens and in a measure discredits a +process which more than any other is a manifestation of sovereign +authority. + +A government is not only kind, but performs its highest duty when it +restores to the citizen taxes unlawfully collected or which have been +erroneously or oppressively extorted by its agents or officers; but +aside from these incidents, the people should not be familiarized with +the spectacle of their Government repenting the collection of taxes and +restoring them. + +The direct tax levied in 1861 is not even suspected of invalidity. There +never was a tax levied which was more needed, and its justice can not be +questioned. Why, then, should it be returned? + +The fact that the entire tax was not paid furnishes no reason that would +not apply to nearly every case where taxes are laid. There are always +delinquents, and while the more thorough and complete collection of +taxes is a troublesome problem of government, the failure to solve the +problem has never been held to call for the return of taxes actually +collected. + +The deficiency in the collection of this tax is found almost entirely in +the insurrectionary States, while the quotas apportioned to the other +States were, as a general rule, fully paid; and three-fourths or +four-fifths of the money which it is proposed in this bill to return +would be paid into the treasuries of the loyal states. But no valid +reason for such payment is found in the fact that the Government at +first could not, and afterwards, for reasons probably perfectly valid, +did not, enforce collection in the other States. + +There were many Federal taxes which were not paid by the people in the +rebellious States; and if the nonpayment by them of this direct tax +entitles the other States to a donation of the share of said taxes paid +by their citizens, why should not the income tax and many other internal +taxes paid entirely by the citizens of loyal States be also paid into +the treasuries of these States? Considerations which recognize sectional +divisions or the loyalty of the different States at the time this tax +was laid should not enter into the discussion of the merits of this +measure. + +The loyal States should not be paid the large sums of money promised +them by this bill because they were loyal and other States were not, +nor should the States which rebelled against the Government be paid +the smaller sum promised them because they were in rebellion and thus +prevented the collection of their entire quotas, nor because this +concession to them is necessary to justify the proposed larger gifts +to the other States. + +The people of the loyal States paid this direct tax as they bore other +burdens in support of the Government, and I believe the taxpayers +themselves are content. In the light of these considerations I am +opposed to the payment of money from the Federal Treasury to enrich the +treasuries of the States. Their funds should be furnished by their own +citizens, and thus should be fostered the taxpayer's watchfulness of +State expenditures and the taxpayer's jealous insistence upon the strict +accountability of State officials. These elements of purity and strength +in a State are not safely exchanged for the threatened demoralization +and carelessness attending the custody and management of large gifts +from the Federal Treasury. + +The baneful effect of a surplus in the Treasury of the General +Government is daily seen and felt. I do not think, however, that this +surplus should be reduced or its contagion spread throughout the States +by methods such as are provided in this bill. + +There is still another objection to the bill, arising from what seems to +me its unfairness and unjust discrimination. + +In the case of proposed legislation of at least doubtful +constitutionality, and based upon no legal right, the equities which +recommend it should always be definite and clear. + +The money appropriated by this bill is to be paid to the governors of +the respective States and Territories in which it was collected, whether +the same was derived through said States and Territories, or directly +"from any of the citizens or inhabitants thereof or other persons;" and +it is further provided that such sums as were collected in payment of +this Federal tax through the instrumentality of the State or Territorial +officials, and accounted for to the General Government by such States +and Territories, are to be paid unconditionally to their governors, +while the same collected in payment of said tax by the United States, +or, in other words, by the Federal machinery created for that purpose, +are to be held in trust by said States or Territories for the benefit of +those paying the same. + +I am unable to understand how this discrimination in favor of those who +have made payment of this tax directly to the officers of the Federal +Government, and against those who made such payments through State +or Territorial agencies, can be defended upon fair and equitable +principles. It was the General Government in every case which exacted +this tax from its citizens and people in the different States and +Territories, and to provide for reimbursement to a part of its citizens +by the creation of a trust for their benefit, while the money exacted in +payment of this tax from a far greater number is paid unconditionally +into the State and Territorial treasuries, is an unjust and unfair +proceeding, in which the Government should not be implicated. + +It will hardly do to say that the States and Territories who are the +recipients of these large gifts may be trusted to do justice to its +citizens who originally paid the money. This can not be relied upon; nor +should the Government lose sight of the equality of which it boasts, +and, having entered upon the plan of reimbursement, abandon to other +agencies the duty of just distribution, and thus incur the risk of +becoming accessory to actual inequality and injustice. + +If in defense of the plan proposed it is claimed that exact equality can +not be reached in the premises, this may be readily conceded. The money +raised by this direct tax was collected and expended twenty-seven years +ago. Nearly a generation has passed away since that time. Even if +distribution should be attempted by the States and Territories, as well +as by the Government, the taxpayers in many cases are neither alive nor +represented, and in many other cases if alive they can not be found. +Fraudulent claims would often outrun honest applications and innumerable +and bitter contests would arise between claimants. + +Another difficulty in the way of doing perfect justice in the operation +of this plan of reimbursement is found in the fact that the money to +be appropriated therefor was contributed to the Federal Treasury for +entirely different purposes by a generation many of whom were not born +when the direct tax was levied and paid, who have no relation to said +tax and can not share in its distribution. While they stand by and +see the money they have been obliged to pay into the public Treasury +professedly to meet present necessities expended to reimburse taxation +long ago fairly, legally, and justly collected from others, they can not +fail to see the unfairness of the transaction. + +The existence of a surplus in the Treasury is no answer to these +objections. It is still the people's money, and better use can be found +for it than the distribution of it upon the plea of the reimbursement +of ancient taxation. A more desirable plan to reduce and prevent the +recurrence of a large surplus can easily be adopted--one that, instead +of creating injustice and inequality, promotes justice and equality by +leaving in the hands of the people and for their use the money not +needed by the Government "to pay the debts and provide for the common +defense and general welfare of the United States." + +The difficulties in the way of making a just reimbursement of this +Direct tax, instead of excusing the imperfections of the bill under +consideration, furnish reasons why the scheme it proposes should not be +entered upon. + +I am constrained, upon the considerations herein presented, to withhold +my assent from the bill herewith returned, because I believe it to be +without constitutional warrant, because I am of the opinion that there +exists no adequate reasons either in right or equity for the return of +the tax in said bill mentioned, and because I believe its execution +would cause actual injustice and unfairness. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + +PROCLAMATION. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas public interests require that the Senate should be convened at +12 o'clock on the 4th day of March next to receive such communications +as may be made by the Executive: + +Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do +hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the +Senate of the United States to convene at the Capitol, in the city of +Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at 12 o'clock noon, of which +all persons 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 26th day of February, A.D. 1889, and of the Independence of the +United States of America the one hundred and thirteenth. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + +By the President: + T.F. BAYARD, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 5, 1888_. + +_To the Civil Service Commission_. + +GENTLEMEN: The efficiency of the public service, in my opinion, renders +it necessary to include in the classified service and subject to +examination the employees in the railway mail service. The difficulties +in the way of this movement can, I believe, be overcome by carefully +prepared rules and regulations. + +I have this day directed the Postmaster-General to so revise the +classification of his Department as to include these employees in one or +more classes; and in furtherance of my purpose I have to request that, +after conference with the Postmaster-General, you will prepare the +necessary modifications of the present rules and regulations to meet the +proposed extension. + +Yours, very truly, + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., December 5, 1888_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: The Commission recommends that Special Departmental Rule No. 1 be +amended by adding to the exceptions from examination therein declared +the following: + + "10. In all the Departments: Bookbinders." + +Very respectfully, + + A.P. EDGERTON, + CHAS. LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioners_. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1888_. + +The above proposed amendment is hereby approved. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +Amendments to General Rules II, III, IV, Departmental Rules V, VIII, +Customs Rule III, and Postal Rules II, VI, are hereby made and +promulgated as follows: + + +GENERAL RULE II. + +In line 1 strike out the word "three" and insert in place thereof the +word "four." At the end of the rule insert the following: "4. The +classified railway mail service." The rule as thus amended will read: + + There shall be four branches of the classified civil service, as + follows: + + 1. The classified departmental service. + + 2. The classified customs service. + + 3. The classified postal service. + + 4. The classified railway mail service. + + +GENERAL RULE III. + +In section 9, line 2, after the word "service," insert the words "and +the classified railway mail service." The section as thus amended will +read: + + 9. Every applicant for examination for the classified departmental + service and the classified railway mail service must support the + statements of his application paper by certificates of persons + acquainted with him, residents of the State, Territory, or district in + which he claims _bona fide_ residence; and the Commission shall + prescribe the form and number of such certificates. + + +In section 10, line 1, after the word "or," insert the words "procured +by his;" strike out all after the word "connivance" in line 1 to and +including the word "and" in line 3, and in place of the words stricken +out insert the words "or any;" strike out all after the word "consent" +in line 1 to and including the word "examination" in line 5; strike out +the words "for refusing" in line 6; change the period to a comma at the +end of line 6 and insert after the comma the words "or to certify him +for appointment, or for his removal after appointment." The section as +thus amended will read: + + 10. A false statement made by an applicant, or procured by his + connivance, or any deception or fraud practiced by an applicant, or + by any person on his behalf with his consent, shall be good cause + for refusal to examine such applicant, or to mark his papers after + examination, or to certify him for appointment, or for his removal + after appointment. + + +GENERAL RULE IV. + +In section 2 strike out the letter "_a_," in brackets, in line 2; +change the period to a semicolon at the end of line 4; in line 5 strike +out the letter "_b_," in brackets, and strike out all after the +word "has" to and including the word "has" in line 7, and write the +section as one paragraph. The section as thus amended will read: + + 2. The Commission may refuse to certify an eligible who is so defective + in sight, speech, or hearing, or who is otherwise so defective + physically as to be apparently unfit to perform the duties of the + position to which he is seeking appointment, or an eligible who has been + guilty of crime or of infamous or of notoriously disgraceful conduct. + + +DEPARTMENTAL RULE V. + +In section 2, paragraph 6, after the word "service" in line 3, insert +the words "or the classified railway mail service;" in paragraph 7, line +1, strike out the word "and," and after the word "postal" in the same +line insert the words "and railway mail." The section as thus amended +will read: + + _Local boards_.--These boards shall be organized at one or more + places in each State and Territory where examinations for the classified + departmental service or the classified railway mail service are to be + held, and shall conduct such examinations; and each shall be composed of + persons in the public service residing in the State or Territory in + which the board is to act. + +_Customs, postal, and railway mail boards_.--These boards shall +conduct such examinations for the classified departmental service as the +Commission may direct. + + +DEPARTMENTAL RULE VIII. + +In section 1, clause (_c_), line 1, after the word "post-office," +insert "or to the classified railway mail service;" in line 2, after +the word "from," strike out the words "such an office" and insert "a +classified post-office or the classified railway mail service." The +clause as thus amended will read: + + (_c_) From the Post-Office Department to a classified post-office + or to the classified railway mail service, and from a classified + post-office or the classified railway mail service to the Post-Office + Department, upon requisition by the Postmaster-General. + + +In section 2, line 6, after the word "been," insert "in the classified +railway mail service or." The section as thus amended will read: + + 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the + Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer + requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed + an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be + transferred, and that such person has during at least six months + preceding the date of the certificate been in the classified railway + mail service or in the classified service of the Department, customs + district, or post-office from which the transfer is to be made: + _Provided_, That no person who has been appointed from the copyist + register shall be transferred to a place the salary of which is more + than $900 per annum until one year after appointment. + +CUSTOMS RULE III. + +In section 2, clause (_c_), at the end of line 1, insert "and the +classified railway mail service." The clause as thus amended will read: + + (_c_) Conduct such examinations for the classified departmental + service and the classified railway mail service as the Commission may + direct. + + +POSTAL RULE II. + +In section 5, at the end of clause (_e_) of that section, strike +out the period and insert a comma, and after the comma the following: + + _Provided_, That superintendents of mails shall be selected from + among the employees of the railway mail service. + +The clause as thus amended will read: + + Superintendents designated by the Post-Office Department, and reported + as such to the Commission, _Provided_, That superintendents of + mails shall be selected from among the employees of the railway mail + service. + + +POSTAL RULE VI. + +In section 1, clause (_a_), after the word "another" in line 1 of +that clause, strike out the comma and insert a semicolon, and after the +semicolon the following: + + From any classified post-office to the classified railway mail service, + and from the classified railway mail service to any classified + post-office. + + +In clause (_b_), after the word "post-office" in line 1, insert "or +from the classified railway mail service," and in line 2, after the word +"post-office," insert "or to the classified railway mail service." + +In section 2, line 6, after the word "certificate" insert "in the +classified railway mail service or." The rule as thus amended will read: + + 1. Transfers may be made as follows: + + (_a_) From one classified post-office to another, from any + classified post-office to the classified railway mail service, and from + the classified railway mail service to any classified post-office, upon + requisition of the Postmaster-General. + + (_b_) From any classified post-office or from the classified + railway mail service to the Post-Office Department, and from the + Post-Office Department to any classified post-office, or to the + classified railway mail service, upon requisition of the + Post-master-General. + + 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized until the + Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer + requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed + an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be + transferred, and that such person has been at least six months next + preceding the date of the certificate in the classified railway mail + service or in the classified service of the Department or post-office + from which the transfer is to be made. + + +Approved, January 4, 1889. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULES. + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE I. + +The classified railway mail service shall include all the officers, +clerks, and other persons in that service classified under the +provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil +service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883. + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE II. + +1. To test fitness for admission to the classified railway mail service +the following examinations shall be provided: + +_Clerk examination_,--This examination shall include not more than +the following subjects: + +(_a_) Orthography. + +(_b_) Copying. + +(_c_) Penmanship. + +(_d_) Arithmetic--fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage. + +(_e_) Letter writing. + +(_f_) The geography of the United States, and especially of the +State or railway mail division in which the applicant resides. + +(_g_) The railway systems of the State or railway mail division in +which the applicant resides. + +(_h_) Reading addresses. + +_Other competitive examinations_.--Such other competitive +examinations as the Commission may from time to time deem necessary. + +_Noncompetitive examinations_.--Such examinations may, with the +approval of the Commission, be held under conditions stated in General +Rule III, clause 2. + +2. No person shall be examined for the railway mail service if under 18 +or over 35 years of age, except that any person honorably discharged +from the military or naval service of the United States by reason of +disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of +duty, and whose claim of preference under section 1754 of the Revised +Statutes has been allowed by the Commission, may be examined without +regard to his age. + +3. Any person desiring examination for admission to the classified +railway mail service must, in his own handwriting, make request for a +blank form of application, which request, and also his application, +shall be addressed as follows: "United States Civil Service Commission, +Washington, D.C." + +4. The date of reception, and also of approval, by the Commission of +each application shall be noted on the application paper. + +5. Exceptions from examination in the classified railway mail service +are hereby made as follows: + +(_a_) General superintendent. + +(_b_) Assistant general superintendent. + +6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination +hereby made shall within one year after appointment be transferred to +another place not also excepted from examination; but after service of +not less than one year in an examination-excepted place he may be +transferred to a place not excepted from examination upon the +certificate of the Commission that he has passed an examination to test +fitness for the place to which his transfer is proposed. + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE III. + +1. The papers of every examination shall be marked under the direction +of the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of +100, according to the general average determined by the marks made by +the examiners on his papers. + +2. The Commission shall appoint in each railway mail division as many +boards of examiners as it may deem necessary for the good of the service +and the convenience of applicants: _Provided_, That there shall be +at least one such board in each Territory and not less than two in each +State, except that the number may be limited to one each in the States +of Rhode Island and Delaware. + +3. These boards shall conduct such examinations for admission to and +promotions in the classified railway mail service and such examinations +for the other branches of the classified service as the Commission may +direct. They shall also mark such examination papers as the Commission +may direct. + +4. Unless otherwise directed by the Commission, the papers of +examination for admission to the classified railway mail service shall +be marked by the central board. + +5. The papers of an examination having been marked, the Commission shall +ascertain-- + +(_a_) The name of every competitor who has, under section 1754 of +the Revised Statutes, claim of preference in civil appointments, and who +has attained a general average of not less than 65 per cent; and all +such competitors are hereby declared eligible to the class or place to +test fitness for which the examination was held. + +(_b_) The name of every other competitor who has attained a general +average of not less than 70 per cent; and all such applicants are hereby +declared eligible to the class or place to test fitness for which the +examination was held. + +6. The names of all preference-claiming competitors whose general +average is not less than 65 per cent, together with the names of all +other competitors whose general average is not less than 70 per cent, +shall be entered upon the register of persons eligible to the class or +place to test fitness for which the examination was held. + +7. The grade of each competitor shall be expressed by the whole number +nearest the general average attained by him, and the grade of each +eligible shall be noted upon the register of eligibles in connection +with his name. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, +preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which +their application papers were filed. + +8. There shall be a register of eligibles for each State and Territory, +and the names of all the eligibles of any State or Territory shall be +entered upon the register for that State or Territory. The eligibles of +the District of Columbia shall be entered, according to their election, +upon the register of the State of Maryland or upon that of the State of +Virginia. + +9. Immediately after the general averages shall have been ascertained +each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to +pass. + +10. If a competitor fail to pass, he may, with the consent of the +Commission, be allowed a reexamination at any time within six months +from the date of failure without filing a new application; but if such +reexamination be not allowed within that time he shall not be again +examined without making in due form a new application. + +11. No eligible shall be allowed reexamination during the term of his +eligibility unless he shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the +Commission that at the time of his examination, because of illness or +other good cause, he was incapable of doing himself justice in said +examination. + +12. The term of eligibility shall be such as the Commission may by +regulation determine, but shall not be less than one year from the day +on which the name of the eligible is entered upon the register: +_Provided_, That for public and sufficient reasons the Commission +shall have authority to extend the term of eligibility of the eligibles +on the register of any State or Territory for such period, not exceeding +one year, as it may deem necessary, without correspondingly extending +the term of the eligibles on the registers of the other States and +Territories as to which the same reasons do not exist. + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE IV. + +1. All vacancies in the classified railway mail service above class 1, +unless among the places excepted from examination, shall be filled by +promotion, upon such tests of fitness as the Postmaster-General, with +the approval of the Commission, may prescribe: _Provided_, That a +vacancy occurring in a State or railway mail division in any grade may +be filled by the transfer of a clerk of the same grade from another +State or division, under such regulations as the Postmaster-General, +with the approval of the Commission, may prescribe, or by reappointment +under the provisions of Railway Mail Rule VI. + +2. All vacancies in class 1, unless filled by transfer or reappointment +under Railway Mail Rule VI, shall be filled in the following manner: + +(_a_) The general superintendent shall, in form and manner to be +prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of +eligibles from a State or Territory in which a vacancy then exists. + +(_b_) The Commission shall certify from the register of the State +or Territory in which the vacancy exists the names of the three +eligibles thereon having the highest averages who have not been three +times certified: _Provided_, That if upon said register there are +the names of eligibles having a claim of preference under section 1754, +Revised Statutes, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before +the names of other eligibles of higher grade: _Provided further_; +That if there are not three eligibles upon the register of the State or +Territory in which the vacancy exists eligibles may be certified from +the register of any adjoining State or Territory. + +(_c_) The name of an eligible shall not be certified more than +three times. + +3. Of the three names certified to the general superintendent one shall +be selected and designated for appointment, and more than one may be if +there be more than one vacancy existing at the time. + +4. Each person designated for appointment shall be notified, and upon +reporting to the proper officer shall be appointed for a probational +period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and +capacity be satisfactory, he shall be absolutely appointed; but if his +conduct and capacity be not satisfactory he shall be so notified, and +such notice shall be his discharge from the service. + +5. The general superintendent, with the approval of the +Postmaster-General, shall prescribe regulations under which each +probationer shall be observed and tested and a record kept of his +conduct and capacity, and such record shall determine his fitness for +the service and whether he shall be dropped during or at the end of +probation or be absolutely appointed. + +6. There may be certified and appointed in each State and Territory, in +the manner provided for in this rule, such number of substitute clerks, +not exceeding the ratio of one substitute to twenty regular clerks, in +such State or Territory as the Post-master-General may authorize, and +any vacancies occurring in class 1 in any State or Territory in which +substitutes have been appointed shall be filled by the appointment +thereto of those substitutes in the order of their appointment as +substitutes without further certification. The time during which any +substitute is actually employed in the service shall be counted as a +part of his probation. + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE V. + +1. Transfers may be made as follows: + +(_a_) From the classified railway mail service to any classified +post-office, and from any classified post-office to the classified +railway mail service, upon requisition of the Postmaster-General. + +(_b_) From the classified railway mail service to the Post-Office +Department, and from the Post-Office Department to the classified +railway mail service, upon requisition of the Postmaster-General. + +2. No person shall be transferred as herein authorized until the +Commission shall have certified to the Postmaster-General that the +person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test +fitness for the place to which he is to be transferred, and that such +person has been at least six months next preceding the date of the +certificate in the classified railway mail service or in the classified +service of the post-office or Department from which the transfer is to +be made: _Provided_, That no employee shall be transferred to any +grade which he could not enter by original appointment by reason of any +age limitation prescribed by the civil-service rules. + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE VI. + +1. Upon requisition of the Postmaster-General the Commission shall +certify for reinstatement in a grade or class no higher than that in +which he was formerly employed any person who within one year next +preceding the date of the requisition has, through no delinquency or +misconduct, been separated from the classified railway mail service. + + +RAILWAY MAIL RULE VII. + +1. The general superintendent of the railway mail service shall report +to the Commission-- + +(_a_) Every probational (whether substitute or regular) and every +absolute appointment in the railway mail service in each State or +Territory; every appointment under any exception to examination +authorized by Railway Mail Rule II, clause 5; every reappointment under +Railway Mail Rule VI, and every appointment of a substitute to a regular +place. + +(_b_) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason +therefor, and every refusal or neglect to accept an appointment in the +classified railway mail service. + +(_c_) Every transfer into the classified railway mail service. + +(_d_) Every separation from the classified railway mail service and +the cause of such separation. + +(_e_) Every promotion or degradation in the classified railway mail +service, if such promotion or degradation be from one class to another +class. + +(_f_) Once in every six months, namely, on the 30th of June and the +31st of December of each year, the whole number of employees in each +railway mail division, arranged by States and classes, showing the +number of substitutes and the number of regular employees in each class +in each State or Territory. + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 4, 1889_. + +The above rules are hereby approved, to take effect March 15, 1889: +_Provided_, That such rules shall become operative and take effect +in any State or Territory as soon as an eligible register for such State +or Territory shall be prepared, if it shall be prior to the date above +fixed. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., February 8, 1889_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: The Commission recommends that Special Departmental Rule No. 1 be +amended by adding to the exceptions from examination therein declared +the following: + + "11. In the Department of Justice: Assistant attorneys. + + "12. In the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Experiment Stations: + Private secretary to the Director." + + +Very respectfully, + +CHAS LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioner._ + +Approved, February 11, 1889. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., February 9, 1889_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: This Commission has the honor to recommend that the order of the +President fixing the places to which appointments may be made upon +noncompetitive examination under General Rule III, section 2, clause +(_f_), may be amended by including among such places the following: + + "In the Post-Office Department: Captain of the watch." + + +This recommendation is based upon the letter of the Postmaster-General +dated December 19, 1888, in which he says: + + "I would request that places in the Post-Office Department subject to + noncompetitive examination be increased by including the position of + captain of the watch, as the duties of the position are of such a nature + that the head of the Department should be permitted to recommend for + examination such person as would possess such other qualifications in + addition to the merely clerical ones as would commend him to the head of + the Department to fill satisfactorily such position." + + +Very respectfully, + +CHAS LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioner._ + +Approved, February 11, 1889. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, + _Washington, D.C., February 9, 1889_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: This Commission has the honor to recommend that the order +heretofore approved by you authorizing noncompetitive examination under +General Rule III, section 2, clause (_e_), to test fitness for +certain designated places in the classified departmental service, may be +amended by the revocation of so much of the order above referred to as +provides for the appointment upon noncompetitive examination of +"inspector of electric lights" in the office of the Secretary in the +Treasury Department. + +Very respectfully, + +CHAS. LYMAN, + _United States Civil Service Commissioner_. + +Approved, February 11, 1889. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 26, 1889_. + +Whereas by an act of Congress entitled "An act to enable the President +to protect the interests of the United States in Panama," approved +February 25, 1889, it was enacted as follows: + +That there be, and is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the +Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $250,000 to enable the +President to protect the interests of the United States and to provide +for the security of persons and property of citizens of the United +States at the Isthmus of Panama in such manner as he may deem expedient. + +And whereas satisfactory information has been received by me that a +number of citizens of the United States have been thrown out of +employment and left destitute in the Republic of Colombia by the +stoppage of work on the Panama Canal: + +_It is therefore ordered_, That so much as is necessary of the fund +appropriated by the said act be expended, under the direction and +control of the Secretary of State, in furnishing transportation to the +United States to any citizen or citizens of the United States who may be +found destitute within the National Department of Panama, in the +Republic of Colombia. + +GROVER CLEVELAND. + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and +Papers of the Presidents, by Grover Cleveland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GROVER CLEVELAND *** + +***** This file should be named 15863-8.txt or 15863-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/8/6/15863/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |