President[ Benjamin Harrison
Date[ December 3, 1889
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
There are few transactions in the administration of the Government that are
even temporarily held in the confidence of those charged with the conduct
of the public business. Every step taken is under the observation of an
intelligent and watchful people. The state of the Union is known from day
to day, and suggestions as to needed legislation find an earlier voice than
that which speaks in these annual communications of the President to
Congress.
Good will and cordiality have characterized our relations and
correspondence with other governments, and the year just closed leaves few
international questions of importance remaining unadjusted. No obstacle is
believed to exist that can long postpone the consideration and adjustment
of the still pending questions upon satisfactory and honorable terms. The
dealings of this Government with other states have been and should always
be marked by frankness and sincerity, our purposes avowed, and our methods
free from intrigue. This course has borne rich fruit in the past, and it is
our duty as a nation to preserve the heritage of good repute which a
century of right dealing with foreign governments has secured to us.
It is a matter of high significance and no less of congratulation that the
first year of the second century of our constitutional existence finds as
honored guests within our borders the representatives of all the
independent States of North and South America met together in earnest
conference touching the best methods of perpetuating and expanding the
relations of mutual interest and friendliness existing among them. That the
opportunity thus afforded for promoting closer international relations and
the increased prosperity of the States represented will be used for the
mutual good of all I can not permit myself to doubt. Our people will await
with interest and confidence the results to flow from so auspicious a
meeting of allied and in large part identical interests.
The recommendations of this international conference of enlightened
statesmen will doubtless have the considerate attention of Congress and its
cooperation in the removal of unnecessary barriers to beneficial
intercourse between the nations of America. But while the commercial
results which it is hoped will follow this conference are worthy of pursuit
and of the great interests they have excited, it is believed that the
crowning benefit will be found in the better securities which may be
devised for the maintenance of peace among all American nations and the
settlement of all contentions by methods that a Christian civilization can
approve. While viewing with interest our national resources and products,
the delegates will, I am sure, find a higher satisfaction in the evidences
of unselfish friendship which everywhere attend their intercourse with our
people.
Another international conference having great possibilities for good has
lately assembled and is now in session in this capital. An invitation was
extended by the Government, under the act of Congress of July 9, 1888, to
all maritime nations to send delegates to confer touching the revision and
amendment of the rules and regulations governing vessels at sea and to
adopt a uniform system of marine signals. The response to this invitation
has been very general and very cordial. Delegates from twenty-six nations
are present in the conference, and they have entered upon their useful work
with great zeal and with an evident appreciation of its importance. So far
as the agreement to be reached may require legislation to give it effect,
the cooperation of Congress is confidently relied upon.
It is an interesting, if not, indeed, an unprecedented, fact that the two
international conferences have brought together here the accredited
representatives of thirty-three nations.
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras are now represented by resident envoys of
the plenipotentiary grade. All the States of the American system now
maintain diplomatic representation at this capital.
In this connection it may be noted that all the nations of the Western
Hemisphere, with one exception, send to Washington envoys extraordinary and
ministers plenipotentiary, being the highest grade accredited to this
Government. The United States, on the contrary, sends envoys of lower
grades to some of our sister Republics. Our representative in Paraguay and
Uruguay is a minister resident, while to Bolivia we send a minister
resident and consul-general. In view of the importance of our relations
with the States of the American system, our diplomatic agents in those
countries should be of the uniform rank of envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary. Certain missions were so elevated by the last Congress
with happy effect, and I recommend the completion of the reform thus begun,
with the inclusion also of Hawaii and Hayti, in view of their relations to
the American system of states.
I also recommend that timely provision be made for extending to Hawaii an
invitation to be represented in the international conference now sitting at
this capital.
Our relations with China have the attentive consideration which their
magnitude and interest demand. The failure of the treaty negotiated under
the Administration of my predecessor for the further and more complete
restriction of Chinese labor immigration, and with it the legislation of
the last session of Congress dependent thereon, leaves some questions open
which Congress should now approach in that wise and just spirit which
should characterize the relations of two great and friendly powers. While
our supreme interests demand the exclusion of a laboring element which
experience has shown to be incompatible with our social life, all steps to
compass this imperative need should be accompanied with a recognition of
the claim of those strangers now lawfully among us to humane and just
treatment.
The accession of the young Emperor of China marks, we may hope, an era of
progress and prosperity for the great country over which he is called to
rule.
The present state of affairs in respect to the Samoan Islands is
encouraging. The conference which was held in this city in the summer of
1887 between the representatives of the United States, Germany, and Great
Britain having been adjourned because of the persistent divergence of views
which was developed in its deliberations, the subsequent course of events
in the islands gave rise to questions of a serious character. On the 4th of
February last the German minister at this capital, in behalf of his
Government, proposed a resumption of the conference at Berlin. This
proposition was accepted, as Congress in February last was informed.
Pursuant to the understanding thus reached, commissioners were appointed by
me, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who proceeded to
Berlin, where the conference was renewed. The deliberations extended
through several weeks, and resulted in the conclusion of a treaty which
will be submitted to the Senate for its approval. I trust that the efforts
which have been made to effect an adjustment of this question will be
productive of the permanent establishment of law and order in Samoa upon
the basis of the maintenance of the rights and interests of the natives as
well as of the treaty powers.
The questions which have arisen during the past few years between Great
Britain and the United States are in abeyance or in course of amicable
adjustment.
On the part of the government of the Dominion of Canada an effort has been
apparent during the season just ended to administer the laws and
regulations applicable to the fisheries with as little occasion for
friction as was possible, and the temperate representations of this
Government in respect of cases of undue hardship or of harsh
interpretations have been in most cases met with measures of transitory
relief. It is trusted that the attainment of our just rights under existing
treaties and in virtue of the concurrent legislation of the two contiguous
countries will not be long deferred and that all existing causes of
difference may be equitably adjusted.
I recommend that provision be made by an international agreement for
visibly marking the water boundary between the United States and Canada in
the narrow channels that join the Great Lakes. The conventional line
therein traced by the northwestern boundary survey years ago is not in all
cases readily ascertainable for the settlement of jurisdictional
questions.
A just and acceptable enlargement of the list of offenses for which
extradition may be claimed and granted is most desirable between this
country and Great Britain. The territory of neither should become a secure
harbor for the evil doers of the other through any avoidable shortcoming in
this regard. A new treaty on this subject between the two powers has been
recently negotiated and will soon be laid before the Senate.
The importance of the commerce of Cuba and Puerto Rico with the United
States, their nearest and principal market, justifies the expectation that
the existing relations may be beneficially expanded. The impediments
resulting from varying dues on navigation and from the vexatious treatment
of our vessels on merely technical grounds of complaint in West India ports
should be removed.
The progress toward an adjustment of pending claims between the United
States and Spain is not as rapid as could be desired.
Questions affecting American interests in connection with railways
constructed and operated by our citizens in Peru have claimed the attention
of this Government. It is urged that other governments in pressing Peru to
the payment of their claims have disregarded the property rights of
American citizens. The matter will be carefully investigated with a view to
securing a proper and equitable adjustment.
A similar issue is now pending with Portugal. The Delagoa Bay Railway, in
Africa, was constructed under a concession by Portugal to an American
citizen. When nearly completed the road was seized by the agents of the
Portuguese Government. Formal protest has been made through our minister at
Lisbon against this act, and no proper effort will be spared to secure
proper relief.
In pursuance of the charter granted by Congress and under the terms of its
contract with the Government of Nicaragua the Interoceanic Canal Company
has begun the construction of the important waterway between the two oceans
which its organization contemplates. Grave complications for a time seemed
imminent, in view of a supposed conflict of jurisdiction between Nicaragua
and Costa Rica in regard to the accessory privileges to be conceded by the
latter Republic toward the construction of works on the San Juan River, of
which the right bank is Costa Rican territory. I am happy to learn that a
friendly arrangement has been effected between the two nations. This
Government has held itself ready to promote in every proper way the
adjustment of all questions that might present obstacles to the completion
of a work of such transcendent importance to the commerce of this country,
and, indeed, to the commercial interests of the world.
The traditional good feeling between this country and the French Republic
has received additional testimony in the participation of our Government
and people in the international exposition held at Paris during the past
summer. The success of our exhibitors has been gratifying. The report of
the commission will be laid before Congress in due season.
This Government has accepted, under proper reserve as to its policy in
foreign territories, the invitation of the Government of Belgium to take
part in an international congress, which opened at Brussels on the 16th of
November, for the purpose of devising measures to promote the abolition of
the slave trade in Africa and to prevent the shipment of slaves by sea. Our
interest in the extinction of this crime against humanity in the regions
where it yet survives has been increased by the results of emancipation
within our own borders.
With Germany the most cordial relations continue. The questions arising
from the return to the Empire of Germans naturalized in this country are
considered and disposed of in a temperate spirit to the entire satisfaction
of both Governments.
It is a source of great satisfaction that the internal disturbances of the
Republic of Hayti are at last happily ended, and that an apparently stable
government has been constituted. It has been duly recognized by the United
States.
A mixed commission is now in session in this capital for the settlement of
long-standing claims against the Republic of Venezuela, and it is hoped
that a satisfactory conclusion will be speedily reached. This Government
has not hesitated to express its earnest desire that the boundary dispute
now pending between Great Britain and Venezuela may be adjusted amicably
and in strict accordance with the historic title of the parties.
The advancement of the Empire of Japan has been evidenced by the recent
promulgation of a new constitution, containing valuable guaranties of
liberty and providing for a responsible ministry to conduct the
Government.
It is earnestly recommended that our judicial rights and processes in Korea
be established on a firm basis by providing the machinery necessary to
carry out treaty stipulations in that regard.
The friendliness of the Persian Government continues to be shown by its
generous treatment of Americans engaged in missionary labors and by the
cordial disposition of the Shah to encourage the enterprise of our citizens
in the development of Persian resources.
A discussion is in progress touching the jurisdictional treaty rights of
the United States in Turkey. An earnest effort will be made to define those
rights to the satisfaction of both Governments.
Questions continue to arise in our relations with several countries in
respect to the rights of naturalized citizens. Especially is this the case
with France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey, and to a less extent with
Switzerland. From time to time earnest efforts have been made to regulate
this subject by conventions with those countries. An improper use of
naturalization should not be permitted, but it is most important that those
who have been duly naturalized should everywhere be accorded recognition of
the rights pertaining to the citizenship of the country of their adoption.
The appropriateness of special conventions for that purpose is recognized
in treaties which this Government has concluded with a number of European
States, and it is advisable that the difficulties which now arise in our
relations with other countries on the same subject should be similarly
adjusted.
The recent revolution in Brazil in favor of the establishment of a
republican form of government is an event of great interest to the United
States. Our minister at Rio de Janeiro was at once instructed to maintain
friendly diplomatic relations with the Provisional Government, and the
Brazilian representatives at this capital were instructed by the
Provisional Government to continue their functions. Our friendly
intercourse with Brazil has therefore suffered no interruption.
Our minister has been further instructed to extend on the part of this
Government a formal and cordial recognition of the new Republic so soon as
the majority of the people of Brazil shall have signified their assent to
its establishment and maintenance.
Within our own borders a general condition of prosperity prevails. The
harvests of the last summer were exceptionally abundant, and the trade
conditions now prevailing seem to promise a successful season to the
merchant and the manufacturer and general employment to our working
people.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1889, has been prepared and will be presented to Congress. It presents
with clearness the fiscal operations of the Government, and I avail myself
of it to obtain some facts for use here.
The aggregate receipts from all sources for the year were $387,050,058.84,
derived as follows:
From customs - $223, 832, 741.69
From internal revenue - 130,881,513.92
From miscellaneous sources - 32,335,803.23
The ordinary expenditures for the same period were $281,996,615.60, and the
total expenditures, including the sinking fund, were $329,579,929.25. The
excess of receipts over expenditures was, after providing for the sinking
fund, $57,470,129.59.
For the current fiscal year the total revenues, actual and estimated are
$385,000,000, and the ordinary expenditures, actual and estimated, are
$293,000,000, making with the sinking fund a total expenditure of
$341,321,116.99, leaving an estimated surplus of $43,678,883.01.
During the fiscal year there was applied to the purchase of bonds, in
addition to those for the sinking fund, $90,456,172.35, and during the
first quarter of the current year the sum of $37,838,937.77, all of which
were credited to the sinking fund. The revenues for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1891, are estimated by the Treasury Department at $385,000,000,
and the expenditures for the same period, including the sinking fund, at
$341,430,477.70. This shows an estimated surplus for that year of
$43,569,522.30, which is more likely to be increased than reduced when the
actual transactions are written up.
The existence of so large an actual and anticipated surplus should have the
immediate attention of Congress, with a view to reducing the receipts of
the Treasury to the needs of the Government as closely as may be. The
collection of moneys not needed for public uses imposes an unnecessary
burden upon our people, and the presence of so large a surplus in the
public vaults is a disturbing element in the conduct of private business.
It has called into use expedients for putting it into circulation of very
questionable propriety. We should not collect revenue for the purpose of
anticipating our bonds beyond the requirements of the sinking fund, but any
unappropriated surplus in the Treasury should be so used, as there is no
other lawful way of returning the money to circulation, and the profit
realized by the Government offers a substantial advantage.
The loaning of public funds to the banks without interest Upon the security
of Government bonds I regard as an unauthorized and dangerous expedient. It
results in a temporary and unnatural increase of the banking capital of
favored localities and compels a cautious and gradual recall of the
deposits to avoid injury to the commercial interests. It is not to be
expected that the banks having these deposits will sell their bonds to the
Treasury so long as the present highly beneficial arrangement is continued.
They now practically get interest both upon the bonds and their proceeds.
No further use should be made of this method of getting the surplus into
circulation, and the deposits now outstanding should be gradually withdrawn
and applied to the purchase of bonds. It is fortunate that such a use can
be made of the existing surplus, and for some time to come of any casual
surplus that may exist after Congress has taken the necessary steps for a
reduction of the revenue. Such legislation should be promptly but very
considerately enacted.
I recommend a revision of our tariff law both in its administrative
features and in the schedules. The need of the former is generally
conceded, and an agreement upon the evils and inconveniences to be remedied
and the best methods for their correction will probably not be difficult.
Uniformity of valuation at all our ports is essential, and effective
measures should be taken to secure it. It is equally desirable that
questions affecting rates and classifications should be promptly decided.
The preparation of a new schedule of customs duties is a matter of great
delicacy because of its direct effect upon the business of the country, and
of great difficulty by reason of the wide divergence of opinion as to the
objects that may properly be promoted by such legislation. Some disturbance
of business may perhaps result from the consideration of this subject by
Congress, but this temporary ill effect will be reduced to the minimum by
prompt action and by the assurance which the country already enjoys that
any necessary changes will be so made as not to impair the just and
reasonable protection of our home industries. The inequalities of the law
should be adjusted, but the protective principle should be maintained and
fairly applied to the products of our farms as well as of our shops. These
duties necessarily have relation to other things besides the public
revenues. We can not limit their effects by fixing our eyes on the public
Treasury alone. They have a direct relation to home production, to work, to
wages, and to the commercial independence of our country, and the wise and
patriotic legislator should enlarge the field of his vision to include all
of these. The necessary reduction in our public revenues can, I am sure, be
made without making the smaller burden more onerous than the larger by
reason of the disabilities and limitations which the process of reduction
puts upon both capital and labor. The free list can very safely be extended
by placing thereon articles that do not offer injurious competition to such
domestic products as our home labor can supply. The removal of the internal
tax upon tobacco would relieve an important agricultural product from a
burden which was imposed only because our revenue from customs duties was
insufficient for the public needs. If safe provision against fraud can be
devised, the removal of the tax upon spirits used in the arts and in
manufactures would also offer an unobjectionable method of reducing the
surplus.
A table presented by the Secretary of the Treasury showing the amount of
money of all kinds in circulation each year from 1878 to the present time
is of interest. It appears that the amount of national-bank notes in
circulation has decreased during that period $114,109,729, of which
$37,799,229 is chargeable to the last year. The withdrawal of bank
circulation will necessarily continue under existing conditions. It is
probable that the adoption of the suggestions made by the Comptroller of
the Currency, namely, that the minimum deposit of bonds for the
establishment of banks be reduced and that an issue of notes to the par
value of the bonds be allowed, would help to maintain the bank circulation.
But while this withdrawal of bank notes has been going on there has been a
large increase in the amount of gold and silver coin in circulation and in
the issues of gold and silver certificates.
The total amount of money of all kinds in circulation on March 1, 1878, was
$805,793,807, while on October 1, 1889, the total was $1,405,018,000. There
was an increase of $293,417,552 in gold coin, of $57,554,100 in standard
silver dollars, of $72,311,249 in gold certificates, of $276,619,715 in
silver certificates, and of $14,073,787 in United States notes, making a
total of $713,976,403. There was during the same period a decrease of
$114,109,729 in bank circulation and of $642,481 in subsidiary silver. The
net increase was $599,224,193. The circulation per capita has increased
about $5 during the time covered by the table referred to.
The total coinage of silver dollars was on November 1, 1889, $343,638,001,
of which $283,539,521 were in the Treasury vaults and $60,098,480 were in
circulation. Of the amount in the vaults $277,319,944 were represented by
outstanding silver certificates, leaving $6,219,577 not in circulation and
not represented by certificates.
The law requiring the purchase by the Treasury of $2,000,000 worth of
silver bullion each month, to be coined into silver dollars of 412 1/2
grains, has been observed by the Department, but neither the present
Secretary nor any of his predecessors has deemed it safe to exercise the
discretion given by law to increase the monthly purchases to $4,000,000.
When the law was enacted (February 28, 1878) the price of silver in the
market was $1.204 per ounce, making the bullion value of the dollar 93
cents. Since that time the price has fallen as low as 91.2 cents per ounce,
reducing the bullion value of the dollar to 70.6 cents. Within the last few
months the market price has somewhat advanced, and on the 1st day of
November last the bullion value of the silver dollar was 72 cents.
The evil anticipations which have accompanied the coinage and use of the
silver dollar have not been realized. As a coin it has not had general use,
and the public Treasury has been compelled to store it. But this is
manifestly owing to the fact that its paper representative is more
convenient. The general acceptance and the use of the silver certificate
show that silver has not been otherwise discredited. Some favorable
conditions have contributed to maintain this practical equality in their
commercial use between the gold and silver dollars; but some of these are
trade conditions that statutory enactments do not control and of the
continuance of which we can not be certain.
I think it is clear that if we should make the coinage of silver at the
present ratio free we must expect that the difference in the bullion values
of the gold and silver dollars will be taken account of in commercial
transactions; and I fear the same result would follow any considerable
increase of the present rate of coinage. Such a result would be
discreditable to our financial management and disastrous to all business
interests. We should not tread the dangerous edge of such a peril. And,
indeed, nothing more harmful could happen to the silver interests. Any safe
legislation upon this subject must secure the equality of the two coins in
their commercial uses.
I have always been an advocate of the use of silver in our currency. We are
large producers of that metal, and should not discredit it. To the plan
which will be presented by the Secretary of the Treasury for the issuance
of notes or certificates upon the deposit of silver bullion at its market
value I have been able to give only a hasty examination, owing to the press
of other matters and to the fact that it has been so recently formulated.
The details of such a law require careful consideration, but the general
plan suggested by him seems to satisfy the purpose--to continue the use of
silver in connection with our currency and at the same time to obviate the
danger of which I have spoken. At a later day I may communicate further
with Congress upon this subject.
The enforcement of the Chinese exclusion act has been found to be very
difficult on the northwestern frontier. Chinamen landing at Victoria find
it easy to pass our border, owing to the impossibility with the force at
the command of the customs officers of guarding so long an inland line. The
Secretary of the Treasury has authorized the employment of additional
officers, who will be assigned to this duty, and every effort will be made
to enforce the law. The Dominion exacts a head tax of $50 for each Chinaman
landed, and when these persons, in fraud of our law, cross into our
territory and are apprehended our officers do not know what to do with
them, as the Dominion authorities will not suffer them to be sent back
without a second payment of the tax. An effort will be made to reach an
understanding that will remove this difficulty.
The proclamation required by section 3 of the act of March 2, 1889,
relating to the killing of seals and other fur-bearing animals, was issued
by me on the 21st day of March, and a revenue vessel was dispatched to
enforce the laws and protect the interests of the United States. The
establishment of a refuge station at Point Barrow, as directed by Congress,
was successfully accomplished.
Judged by modern standards, we are practically without coast defenses. Many
of the structures we have would enhance rather than diminish the perils of
their garrisons if subjected to the fire of improved guns, and very few are
so located as to give full effect to the greater range of such guns as we
are now making for coast-defense uses. This general subject has had
consideration in Congress for some years, and the appropriation for the
construction of large rifled guns made one year ago was, I am sure, the
expression of a purpose to provide suitable works in which these guns might
be mounted. An appropriation now made for that purpose would not advance
the completion of the works beyond our ability to supply them with fairly
effective guns.
The security of our coast cities against foreign attacks should not rest
altogether in the friendly disposition of other nations. There should be a
second line wholly in our own keeping. I very urgently recommend an
appropriation at this session for the construction of such works in our
most exposed harbors.
I approve the suggestion of the Secretary of War that provision be made for
encamping companies of the National Guard in our coast works for a
specified time each year and for their training in the use of heavy guns.
His suggestion that an increase of the artillery force of the Army is
desirable is also, in this connection, commended to the consideration of
Congress.
The improvement of our important rivers and harbors should be promoted by
the necessary appropriations. Care should be taken that the Government is
not committed to the prosecution of works not of public and general
advantage and that the relative usefulness of works of that class is not
overlooked. So far as this work can ever be said to be completed, I do not
doubt that the end would be sooner and more economically reached if fewer
separate works were undertaken at the same time, and those selected for
their greater general interest were more rapidly pushed to completion. A
work once considerably begun should not be subjected to the risks and
deterioration which interrupted or insufficient appropriations necessarily
occasion.
The assault made by David S. Terry upon the person of Justice Field, of the
Supreme Court of the United States, at Lathtop, Cal., in August last, and
the killing of the assailant by a deputy United States marshal who had been
deputed to accompany Justice Field and to protect him from anticipated
violence at the hands of Terry, in connection with the legal proceedings
which have followed, suggest questions which, in my judgment, are worthy of
the attention of Congress.
I recommend that more definite provision be made by law not only for the
protection of Federal officers, but for a full trial of such cases in the
United States courts. In recommending such legislation I do not at all
impeach either the general adequacy of the provision made by the State laws
for the protection of all citizens or the general good disposition of those
charged with the execution of such laws to give protection to the officers
of the United States. The duty of protecting its officers, as such, and of
punishing those who assault them on account of their official acts should
not be devolved expressly or by acquiescence upon the local authorities.
Events which have been brought to my attention happening in other parts of
the country have also suggested the propriety of extending by legislation
fuller protection to those who may be called as witnesses in the courts of
the United States. The law compels those who are supposed to have knowledge
of public offenses to attend upon our courts and grand juries and to give
evidence. There is a manifest resulting duty that these witnesses shall be
protected from injury on account of their testimony. The investigations of
criminal offenses are often rendered futile and the punishment of crime
impossible by the intimidation of witnesses.
The necessity of providing some more speedy method for disposing of the
cases which now come for final adjudication to the Supreme Court becomes
every year more apparent and urgent. The plan of providing some
intermediate courts having final appellate jurisdiction of certain classes
of questions and cases has, I think, received a more general approval from
the bench and bar of the country than any other. Without attempting to
discuss details, I recommend that provision be made for the establishment
of such courts.
The salaries of the judges of the district courts in many of the districts
are, in my judgment, inadequate. I recommend that all such salaries now
below $5,000 per annum be increased to that amount. It is quite true that
the amount of labor performed by these judges is very unequal, but as they
can not properly engage in other pursuits to supplement their incomes the
salary should be such in all cases as to provide an independent and
comfortable support.
Earnest attention should be given by Congress to a consideration of the
question how far the restraint of those combinations of capital commonly
called "trusts" is matter of Federal jurisdiction. When organized, as they
often are, to crush out all healthy competition and to monopolize the
production or sale of an article of commerce and general necessity, they
are dangerous conspiracies against the public good, and should be made the
subject of prohibitory and even penal legislation.
The subject of an international copyright has been frequently commended to
the attention of Congress by my predecessors. The enactment of such a law
would be eminently wise and just.
Our naturalization laws should be so revised as to make the inquiry into
the moral character and good disposition toward our Government of the
persons applying for citizenship more thorough. This can only be done by
taking fuller control of the examination, by fixing the times for hearing
such applications, and by requiring the presence of some one who shall
represent the Government in the inquiry. Those who are the avowed enemies
of social order or who come to our shores to swell the injurious influence
and to extend the evil practices of any association that defies our laws
should not only be denied citizenship, but a domicile.
The enactment of a national bankrupt law of a character to be a permanent
part of our general legislation is desirable. It should be simple in its
methods and inexpensive in its administration.
The report of the Postmaster-General not only exhibits the operations of
the Department for the last fiscal year, but contains many valuable
suggestions for the improvement and extension of the service, which are
commended to your attention. No other branch of the Government has so close
a contact with the daily life of the people. Almost everyone uses the
service it offers, and every hour gained in the transmission of the great
commercial mails has an actual and possible value that only those engaged
in trade can understand.
The saving of one day in the transmission of the mails between New York and
San Francisco, which has recently been accomplished, is an incident worthy
of mention.
The plan suggested of a supervision of the post-offices in separate
districts that shall involve instruction and suggestion and a rating of the
efficiency of the postmasters would, I have no doubt, greatly improve the
service.
A pressing necessity exists for the erection of a building for the joint
use of the Department and of the city post-office. The Department was
partially relieved by renting .outside quarters for a part of its force,
but it is again overcrowded. The building used by the city office never was
fit for the purpose, and is now inadequate and unwholesome.
The unsatisfactory condition of the law relating to the transmission
through the mails of lottery advertisements and remittances is clearly
stated by the Postmaster-General, and his suggestion as to amendments
should have your favorable consideration.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows a reorganization of the
bureaus of the Department that will, I do not doubt, promote the efficiency
of each.
In general, satisfactory progress has been made in the construction of the
new ships of war authorized by Congress. The first vessel of the new Navy,
the Dolphin, was subjected to very severe trial tests and to very much
adverse criticism; but it is gratifying to be able to state that a cruise
around the world, from which she has recently returned, has demonstrated
that she is a first-class vessel of her rate.
The report of the Secretary shows that while the effective force of the
Navy is rapidly increasing by reason of the improved build and armament of
the new ships, the number of our ships fit for sea duty grows very slowly.
We had on the 4th of March last 37 serviceable ships, and though 4 have
since been added to the list, the total has not been increased, because in
the meantime 4 have been lost or condemned. Twenty-six additional vessels
have been authorized and appropriated for; but it is probable that when
they are completed our list will only be increased to 42--a gain of 5. The
old wooden ships are disappearing almost as fast as the new vessels are
added. These facts carry their own argument. One of the new ships may in
fighting strength be equal to two of the old, but it can not do the
cruising duty of two. It is important, therefore, that we should have a
more rapid increase in the number of serviceable ships. I concur in the
recommendation of the Secretary that the construction of 8 armored ships, 3
gunboats, and 5 torpedo boats be authorized.
An appalling calamity befell three of our naval vessels on duty at the
Samoan Islands, in the harbor of Apia, in March last, involving the loss of
4 officers and 47 seamen, of two vessels, the Trenton and the Vandalia, and
the disabling of a third, the Nipsic. Three vessels of the German navy,
also in the harbor, shared with our ships the force of the hurricane and
suffered even more heavily. While mourning the brave officers and men who
died facing with high resolve perils greater than those of battle, it is
most gratifying to state that the credit of the American Navy for
seamanship, courage, and generosity was magnificently sustained in the
storm-beaten harbor of Apia.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits the transactions of
the Government with the Indian tribes. Substantial progress has been made
in the education of the children of school age and in the allotment of
lands to adult Indians. It is to be regretted that the policy of breaking
up the tribal relation and of dealing with the Indian as an individual did
not appear earlier in our legislation. Large reservations held in common
and the maintenance of the authority of the chiefs and headmen have
deprived the individual of every incentive to the exercise of thrift, and
the annuity has contributed an affirmative impulse toward a state of
confirmed pauperism.
Our treaty stipulations should be observed with fidelity and our
legislation should be highly considerate of the best interests of an
ignorant and helpless people. The reservations are now generally surrounded
by white settlements. We can no longer push the Indian back into the
wilderness, and it remains only by every suitable agency to push him upward
into the estate of a self-supporting and responsible citizen. For the adult
the first step is to locate him upon a farm, and for the child to place him
in a school.
School attendance should be promoted by every moral agency, and those
failing should be compelled. The national schools for Indians have been
very successful and should be multiplied, and as far as possible should be
so organized and conducted as to facilitate the transfer of the schools to
the States or Territories in which they are located when the Indians in a
neighborhood have accepted citizenship and have become otherwise fitted for
such a transfer. This condition of things will be attained slowly, but it
will be hastened by keeping it in mind; and in the meantime that
cooperation between the Government and the mission schools which has
wrought much good should be cordially and impartially maintained.
The last Congress enacted two distinct laws relating to negotiations with
the Sioux Indians of Dakota for a relinquishment of a portion of their
lands to the United States and for dividing the remainder into separate
reservations. Both were approved on the same day--March 2. The one
submitted to the Indians a specific proposition; the other (section 3 of
the Indian appropriation act) authorized the President to appoint three
commissioners to negotiate with these Indians for the accomplishment of the
same general purpose, and required that any agreements made should be
submitted to Congress for ratification.
On the 16th day of April last I appointed Hon. Charles Foster, of Ohio,
Hon. William Warner, of Missouri, and Major-General George Crook, of the
United States Army, commissioners under the last-named law. They were,
however, authorized and directed first to submit to the Indians the
definite proposition made to them by the act first mentioned, and only in
the event of a failure to secure the assent of the requisite number to that
proposition to open negotiations for modified terms under the other act.
The work of the commission was prolonged and arduous, but the assent of the
requisite number was, it is understood, finally obtained to the proposition
made by Congress, though the report of the commission has not yet been
submitted. In view of these facts, I shall not, as at present advised, deem
it necessary to submit the agreement to Congress for ratification, but it
will in due course be submitted for information. This agreement releases to
the United States about 9,000,000 acres of land.
The commission provided for by section 14 of the Indian appropriation bill
to negotiate with the Cherokee Indians and all other Indians owning or
claiming lands lying west of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude for the
cession to the United States of all such lands was constituted by the
appointment of Hon. Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin, Hon. John F. Hartranft,
of Pennsylvania, and Hon. Alfred M. Wilson, of Arkansas, and organized on
June 29 last. Their first conference with the representatives of the
Cherokees was held at Tahlequah July 29, with no definite results. General
John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, was prevented by ill health from taking
part in the conference. His death, which occurred recently, is justly and
generally lamented by a people he had served with conspicuous gallantry in
war and with great fidelity in peace. The vacancy thus created was filled
by the appointment of Hon. Warren G. Sayre, of Indiana.
A second conference between the commission and the Cherokees was begun
November 6, but no results have yet been obtained, nor is it believed that
a conclusion can be immediately expected. The cattle syndicate now
occupying the lands for grazing purposes is clearly one of the agencies
responsible for the obstruction of our negotiations with the Cherokees. The
large body of agricultural lands constituting what is known as the
"Cherokee Outlet" ought not to be, and, indeed, can not long be, held for
grazing and for the advantage of a few against the public interests and the
best advantage of the Indians themselves. The United States has now under
the treaties certain rights in these lands. These will not be used
oppressively, but it can not be allowed that those who by sufferance occupy
these lands shall interpose to defeat the wise and beneficent purposes of
the Government. I can not but believe that the advantageous character of
the offer made by the United States to the Cherokee Nation for a full
release of these lands as compared with other suggestions now made to them
will yet obtain for it a favorable consideration.
Under the agreement made between the United States and the Muscogee (or
Creek) Nation of Indians on the 19th day of January, 1889, an absolute
title was secured by the United States to about 3,500,000 acres of land.
Section 12 of the general Indian appropriation act approved March 2, 1889,
made provision for the purchase by the United States from the Seminole
tribe of a certain portion of their lands. The delegates of the Seminole
Nation, having first duly evidenced to me their power to act in that
behalf, delivered a proper release or conveyance to the United States of
all the lands mentioned in the act, which was accepted by me and certified
to be in compliance with the statute.
By the terms of both the acts referred to all the lands so purchased were
declared to be a part of the public domain and open to settlement under the
homestead law. But of the lands embraced in these purchases, being in the
aggregate about 5,500,000 acres, 3,500,000 acres had already, under the
terms of the treaty of 1866, been acquired by the United States for the
purpose of settling other Indian tribes thereon and had been appropriated
to that purpose. The land remaining and available for settlement consisted
of 1,887,796 acres, surrounded on all sides by lands in the occupancy of
Indian tribes. Congress had provided no civil government for the people who
were to be invited by my proclamation to settle upon these lands, except as
the new court which had been established at Muscogee or the United States
courts in some of the adjoining States had power to enforce the general
laws of the United States.
In this condition of things I was quite reluctant to open the lands to
settlement; but in view of the fact that several thousand persons, many of
them with their families, had gathered upon the borders of the Indian
Territory with a view to securing homesteads on the ceded lands, and that
delay would involve them in much loss and suffering, I did on the 23d day
of March last issue a proclamation declaring that the lands therein
described would be open to settlement under the provisions of the law on
the 22d day of April following at 12 o'clock noon. Two land districts had
been established and the offices were opened for the transaction of
business when the appointed time arrived.
It is much to the credit of the settlers that they very generally observed
the limitation as to the time when they might enter the Territory. Care
will be taken that those who entered in violation of the law do not secure
the advantage they unfairly sought. There was a good deal of apprehension
that the strife for locations would result in much violence and bloodshed,
but happily these anticipations were not realized. It is estimated that
there are now in the Territory about 60,000 people, and several
considerable towns have sprung up, for which temporary municipal
governments have been organized. Guthrie is said to have now a population
of almost 8,000. Eleven schools and nine churches have been established,
and three daily and five weekly newspapers are published in this city,
whose charter and ordinances have only the sanction of the voluntary
acquiescence of the people from day to day.
Oklahoma City has a population of about 5,000, and is proportionately as
well provided as Guthrie with churches, schools, and newspapers. Other
towns and villages having populations of from 100 to 1,000 are scattered
over the Territory.
In order to secure the peace of this new community in the absence of civil
government, I directed General Merritt, commanding the Department of the
Missouri, to act in conjunction with the marshals of the United States to
preserve the peace, and upon their requisition to use the troops to aid
them in executing warrants and in quieting any riots or breaches of the
peace that might occur. He was further directed to use his influence to
promote good order and to avoid any conflicts between or with the settlers.
Believing that the introduction and sale of liquors where no legal
restraints or regulations existed would endanger the public peace, and in
view of the fact that such liquors must first be introduced into the Indian
reservations before reaching the white settlements, I further directed the
general commanding to enforce the laws relating to the introduction of
ardent spirits into the Indian country.
The presence of the troops has given a sense of security to the
well-disposed citizens and has tended to restrain the lawless. In one
instance the officer in immediate command of the troops went further than I
deemed justifiable in supporting the de facto municipal government of
Guthrie, and he was so informed, and directed to limit the interference of
the military to the support of the marshals on the lines indicated in the
original order. I very urgently recommend that Congress at once provide a
Territorial government for these people. Serious questions, which may at
any time lead to violent outbreaks, are awaiting the institution of courts
for their peaceful adjustment. The American genius for self-government has
been well illustrated in Oklahoma; but it is neither safe nor wise to leave
these people longer to the expedients which have temporarily served them.
Provision should be made for the acquisition of title to town lots in the
towns now established in Alaska, for locating town sites, and for the
establishment of municipal governments. Only the mining laws have been
extended to that Territory, and no other form of title to lands can now be
obtained. The general land laws were framed with reference to the
disposition of agricultural lands, and it is doubtful if their operation in
Alaska would be beneficial.
We have fortunately not extended to Alaska the mistaken policy of
establishing reservations for the Indian tribes, and can deal with them
from the beginning as individuals with, I am sure, better results; but any
disposition of the public lands and any regulations relating to timber and
to the fisheries should have a kindly regard to their interests. Having no
power to levy taxes, the people of Alaska are wholly dependent upon the
General Government, to whose revenues the seal fisheries make a large
annual contribution. An appropriation for education should neither be
overlooked nor stinted.
The smallness of the population and the great distances between the
settlements offer serious obstacles to the establishment of the usual
Territorial form of government. Perhaps the organization of several
sub-districts with a small municipal council of limited powers for each
would be safe and useful.
Attention is called in this connection to the suggestions of the Secretary
of the Treasury relating to the establishment of another port of entry in
Alaska and of other needed customs facilities and regulations.
In the administration of the land laws the policy of facilitating in every
proper way the adjustment of the honest claims of individual settlers upon
the public lands has been pursued. The number of pending cases had during
the preceding Administration been greatly increased under the operation of
orders for a time suspending final action in a large part of the cases
originating in the West and Northwest, and by the subsequent use of unusual
methods of examination. Only those who are familiar with the conditions
under which our agricultural lands have been settled can appreciate the
serious and often fatal consequences to the settler of a policy that puts
his title under suspicion or delays the issuance of his patent. While care
is taken to prevent and to expose fraud, it should not be imputed without
reason.
The manifest purpose of the homestead and preemption laws was to promote
the settlement of the public domain by persons having a bona fide intent to
make a home upon the selected lands. Where this intent is well established
and the requirements of the law have been substantially complied with, the
claimant is entitled to a prompt and friendly consideration of his case;
but where there is reason to believe that the claimant is the mere agent of
another who is seeking to evade a law intended to promote small holdings
and to secure by fraudulent methods large tracts of timber and other lands,
both principal and agent should not only be thwarted in their fraudulent
purpose, but should be made to feel the full penalties of our criminal
statutes. The laws should be so administered as not to confound these two
classes and to visit penalties only upon the latter.
The unsettled state of the titles to large bodies of lands in the
Territories of New Mexico and Arizona has greatly retarded the development
of those Territories. Provision should be made by law for the prompt trial
and final adjustment before a judicial tribunal or commission of all claims
based upon Mexican grants. It is not just to an intelligent and
enterprising people that their peace should be disturbed and their
prosperity retarded by these old contentions. I express the hope that
differences of opinion as to methods may yield to the urgency of the case.
The law now provides a pension for every soldier and sailor who was
mustered into the service of the United States during the Civil War and is
now suffering from wounds or disease having an origin in the service and in
the line of duty. Two of the three necessary facts, viz, muster and
disability, are usually susceptible of easy proof; but the third, origin in
the service, is often difficult and in many deserving cases impossible to
establish. That very many of those who endured the hardships of our most
bloody and arduous campaigns are now disabled from diseases that had a real
but not traceable origin in the service I do not doubt. Besides these there
is another class composed of men many of whom served an enlistment of three
full years and of reenlisted veterans who added a fourth year of service,
who escaped the casualties of battle and the assaults of disease, who were
always ready for any detail, who were in every battle line of their
command, and were mustered out in sound health, and have since the close of
the war, while fighting with the same indomitable and independent spirit
the contests of civil life, been overcome by disease or casualty.
I am not unaware that the pension roll already involves a very large annual
expenditure; neither am I deterred by that fact from recommending that
Congress grant a pension to such honorably discharged soldiers and sailors
of the Civil War as, having rendered substantial service during the war,
are now dependent upon their own labor for a maintenance and by disease or
casualty are incapacitated from earning it. Many of the men who would be
included in this form of relief are now dependent upon public aid, and it
does not, in my judgment, consist with the national honor that they shall
continue to subsist upon the local relief given indiscriminately to paupers
instead of upon the special and generous provision of the nation they
served so gallantly and unselfishly. Our people will, I am sure, very
generally approve such legislation. And I am equally sure that the
survivors of the Union Army and Navy will feel a grateful sense of relief
when this worthy and suffering class of their comrades is fairly cared
for.
There are some manifest inequalities in the existing law that should be
remedied. To some of these the Secretary of the Interior has called
attention.
It is gratifying to be able to state that by the adoption of new and better
methods in the War Department the calls of the Pension Office for
information as to the military and hospital records of pension claimants
are now promptly answered and the injurious and vexatious delays that have
heretofore occurred are entirely avoided. This will greatly facilitate the
adjustment of all pending claims.
The advent of four new States--South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and
Washington--into the Union under the Constitution in the same month, and
the admission of their duly chosen representatives to our National Congress
at the same session, is an event as unexampled as it is interesting.
The certification of the votes cast and of the constitutions adopted in
each of the States was filed with me, as required by the eighth section of
the act of February 22, 1889, by the governors of said Territories,
respectively. Having after a careful examination found that the several
constitutions and governments were republican in form and not repugnant to
the Constitution of the United States, that all the provisions of the act
of Congress had been complied with, and that a majority of the votes cast
in each of said proposed States was in favor of the adoption of the
constitution submitted therein, I did so declare by a separate proclamation
as to each--as to North Dakota and South Dakota on Saturday, November 2; as
to Montana on Friday, November 8, and as to Washington on Monday, November
11.
Each of these States has within it resources the development of which will
employ the energies of and yield a comfortable subsistence to a great
population. The smallest of these new States, Washington, stands twelfth,
and the largest, Montana, third, among the forty-two in area. The people of
these States are already well-trained, intelligent, and patriotic American
citizens, having common interests and sympathies with those of the older
States and a common purpose to defend the integrity and uphold the honor of
the nation.
The attention of the Interstate Commerce Commission has been called to the
urgent need of Congressional legislation for the better protection of the
lives and limbs of those engaged in operating the great interstate freight
lines of the country, and especially of the yardmen and brakemen. A
petition signed by nearly 10,000 railway brakemen was presented to the
Commission asking that steps might be taken to bring about the use of
automatic brakes and couplers on freight cars.
At a meeting of State railroad commissioners and their accredited
representatives held at Washington in March last upon the invitation of the
Interstate Commerce Commission a resolution was unanimously adopted urging
the Commission "to consider what can be done to prevent the loss of life
and limb in coupling and uncoupling freight cars and in handling the brakes
of such cars." During the year ending June 30, 1888, over 2,000 railroad
employees were killed in service and more than 20,000 injured. It is
competent, I think, for Congress to require uniformity in the construction
of cars used in interstate commerce and the use of improved safety
appliances upon such trains. Time will be necessary to make the needed
changes, but an earnest and intelligent beginning should be made at once.
It is a reproach to our civilization that any class of American workmen
should in the pursuit of a necessary and useful vocation be subjected to a
peril of life and limb as great as that of a soldier in time of war.
The creation of an Executive Department to be known as the Department of
Agriculture by the act of February 9 last was a wise and timely response to
a request which had long been respectfully urged by the farmers of the
country; but much remains to be done to perfect the organization of the
Department so that it may fairly realize the expectations which its
creation excited. In this connection attention is called to the suggestions
contained in the report of the Secretary, which is herewith submitted. The
need of a law officer for the Department such as is provided for the other
Executive Departments is manifest. The failure of the last Congress to make
the usual provision for the publication of the annual report should be
promptly remedied. The public interest in the report and its value to the
farming community, I am sure, will not be diminished under the new
organization of the Department.
I recommend that the weather service be separated from the War Department
and established as a bureau in the Department of Agriculture. This will
involve an entire reorganization both of the Weather Bureau and of the
Signal Corps, making of the first a purely civil organization and of the
other a purely military staff corps. The report of the Chief Signal Officer
shows that the work of the corps on its military side has been
deteriorating.
The interests of the people of the District of Columbia should not be lost
sight of in the pressure for consideration of measures affecting the whole
country. Having no legislature of its own, either municipal or general, its
people must look to Congress for the regulation of all those concerns that
in the States are the subject of local control. Our whole people have an
interest that the national capital should be made attractive and beautiful,
and, above all, that its repute for social order should be well maintained.
The laws regulating the sale of intoxicating drinks in the District should
be revised with a view to bringing the traffic under stringent limitations
and control.
In execution of the power conferred upon me by the act making
appropriations for the expenses of the District of Columbia for the year
ending June 30, 1890, I did on the 17th day of August last appoint Rudolph
Hering, of New York, Samuel M. Gray, of Rhode Island, and Frederick P.
Stearns, of Massachusetts, three eminent sanitary engineers, to examine and
report upon the system of sewerage existing in the District of Columbia.
Their report, which is not yet completed, will be in due course submitted
to Congress.
The report of the Commissioners of the District is herewith transmitted,
and the attention of Congress is called to the suggestions contained
therein.
The proposition to observe the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery
of America by the opening of a world's fair or exposition in some one of
our great cities will be presented for the consideration of Congress. The
value and interest of such an exposition may well claim the promotion of
the General Government.
On the 4th of March last the Civil Service Commission had but a single
member. The vacancies were filled on the 7th day of May, and since then the
Commissioners have been industriously, though with an inadequate force,
engaged in executing the law. They were assured by me that a cordial
support would be given them in the faithful and impartial enforcement of
the statute and of the rules and regulations adopted in aid of it.
Heretofore the book of eligibles has been closed to everyone, except as
certifications were made upon the requisition of the appointing officers.
This secrecy was the source of much suspicion and of many charges of
favoritism in the administration of the law. What is secret is always
suspected; what is open can be judged. The Commission, with the full
approval of all its members, has now opened the list of eligibles to the
public. The eligible lists for the classified post-offices and
custom-houses are now publicly posted in the respective offices, as are
also the certifications for appointments. The purpose of the civil-service
law was absolutely to exclude any other consideration in connection with
appointments under it than that of merit as tested by the examinations. The
business proceeds upon the theory that both the examining boards and the
appointing officers are absolutely ignorant as to the political views and
associations of all persons on the civil-service lists. It is not too much
to say, however, that some recent Congressional investigations have
somewhat shaken public confidence in the impartiality of the selections for
appointment.
The reform of the civil service will make no safe or satisfactory advance
until the present law and its equal administration are well established in
the confidence of the people. It will be my pleasure, as it is my duty, to
see that the law is executed with firmness and impartiality. If some of its
provisions have been fraudulently evaded by appointing officers, our
resentment should not suggest the repeal of the law, but reform in its
administration. We should have one view of the matter, and hold it with a
sincerity that is not affected by the consideration that the party to which
we belong is for the time in power.
My predecessor, on the 4th day of January, 1889, by an Executive order to
take effect March 15, brought the Railway Mail Service under the operation
of the civil-service law. Provision was made that the order should take
effect sooner in any State where an eligible list was sooner obtained. On
the 11th day of March Mr. Lyman, then the only member of the Commission,
reported to me in writing that it would not be possible to have the list of
eligibles ready before May 1, and requested that the taking effect of the
order be postponed until that time, which was done, subject to the same
provision contained in the original order as to States in which an eligible
list was sooner obtained.
As a result of the revision of the rules, of the new classification, and of
the inclusion of the Railway Mail Service, the work of the Commission has
been greatly increased, and the present clerical force is found to be
inadequate. I recommend that the additional clerks asked by the Commission
be appropriated for.
The duty of appointment is devolved by the Constitution or by the law, and
the appointing officers are properly held to a high responsibility in its
exercise. The growth of the country and the consequent increase of the
civil list have magnified this function of the Executive disproportionally.
It can not be denied, however, that the labor connected with this necessary
work is increased, often to the point of actual distress, by the sudden and
excessive demands that are made upon an incoming Administration for
removals and appointments. But, on the other hand, it is not true that
incumbency is a conclusive argument for continuance in office.
Impartiality, moderation, fidelity to public duty, and a good attainment in
the discharge of it must be added before the argument is complete. When
those holding administrative offices so conduct themselves as to convince
just political opponents that no party consideration or bias affects in any
way the discharge of their public duties, we can more easily stay the
demand for removals.
I am satisfied that both in and out of the classified service great benefit
would accrue from the adoption of some system by which the officer would
receive the distinction and benefit that in all private employments comes
from exceptional faithfulness and efficiency in the performance of duty.
I have suggested to the heads of the Executive Departments that they
consider whether a record might not be kept in each bureau of all those
elements that are covered by the terms "faithfulness" and "efficiency," and
a rating made showing the relative merits of the clerks of each class, this
rating to be regarded as a test of merit in making promotions.
I have also suggested to the Postmaster-General that he adopt some plan by
which he can, upon the basis of the reports to the Department and of
frequent inspections, indicate the relative merit of postmasters of each
class. They will be appropriately indicated in the Official Register and in
the report of the Department. That a great stimulus would thus be given to
the whole service I do not doubt, and such a record would be the best
defense against inconsiderate removals from office.
The interest of the General Government in the education of the people found
an early expression, not only in the thoughtful and sometimes warning
utterances of our ablest statesmen, but in liberal appropriations from the
common resources for the support of education in the new States. No one
will deny that it is of the gravest national concern that those who hold
the ultimate control of all public affairs should have the necessary
intelligence wisely to direct and determine them. National aid to education
has heretofore taken the form of land grants, and in that form the
constitutional power of Congress to promote the education of the people is
not seriously questioned. I do not think it can be successfully questioned
when the form is changed to that of a direct grant of money from the public
Treasury.
Such aid should be, as it always has been, suggested by some exceptional
conditions. The sudden emancipation of the slaves of the South, the
bestowal of the suffrage which soon followed, and the impairment of the
ability of the States where these new citizens were chiefly found to
adequately provide educational facilities presented not only exceptional
but unexampled conditions. That the situation has been much ameliorated
there is no doubt. The ability and interest of the States have happily
increased.
But a great work remains to be done, and I think the General Government
should lend its aid. As the suggestion of a national grant in aid of
education grows chiefly out of the condition and needs of the emancipated
slave and his descendants, the relief should as far as possible, while
necessarily proceeding upon some general lines, be applied to the need that
suggested it. It is essential, if much good is to be accomplished, that the
sympathy and active interest of the people of the States should be
enlisted, and that the methods adopted should be such as to stimulate and
not to supplant local taxation for school purposes.
As one Congress can not bind a succeeding one in such a case and as the
effort must in some degree be experimental, I recommend that any
appropriation made for this purpose be so limited in annual amount and as
to the time over which it is to extend as will on the one hand give the
local school authorities opportunity to make the best use of the first
year's allowance, and on the other deliver them from the temptation to
unduly postpone the assumption of the whole burden themselves.
The colored people did not intrude themselves upon us. They were brought
here in chains and held in the communities where they are now chiefly found
by a cruel slave code. Happily for both races, they are now free. They have
from a standpoint of ignorance and poverty--which was our shame, not
theirs--made remarkable advances in education and in the acquisition of
property. They have as a people shown themselves to be friendly and
faithful toward the white race under temptations of tremendous strength.
They have their representatives in the national cemeteries, where a
grateful Government has gathered the ashes of those who died in its
defense. They have furnished to our Regular Army regiments that have won
high praise from their commanding officers for courage and soldierly
qualities and for fidelity to the enlistment oath. In civil life they are
now the toilers of their communities, making their full contribution to the
widening streams of prosperity which these communities are receiving. Their
sudden withdrawal would stop production and bring disorder into the
household as well as the shop. Generally they do not desire to quit their
homes, and their employers resent the interference of the emigration agents
who seek to stimulate such a desire.
But notwithstanding all this, in many parts of our country where the
colored population is large the people of that race are by various devices
deprived of any effective exercise of their political rights and of many of
their civil rights. The wrong does not expend itself upon those whose votes
are suppressed. Every constituency in the Union is wronged.
It has been the hope of every patriot that a sense of justice and of
respect for the law would work a gradual cure of these flagrant evils.
Surely no one supposes that the present can be accepted as a permanent
condition. If it is said that these communities must work out this problem
for themselves, we have a right to ask whether they are at work upon it. Do
they suggest any solution? When and under what conditions is the black man
to have a free ballot? When is he in fact to have those full civil rights
which have so long been his in law? When is that equality of influence
which our form of government was intended to secure to the electors to be
restored? This generation should courageously face these grave questions,
and not leave them as a heritage of woe to the next. The consultation
should proceed with candor, calmness, and great patience, upon the lines of
justice and humanity, not of prejudice and cruelty. No question in our
country can be at rest except upon the firm base of justice and of the
law.
I earnestly invoke the attention of Congress to the consideration of such
measures within its well-defined constitutional powers as will secure to
all our people a free exercise of the right of suffrage and every other
civil right under the Constitution and laws of the United States. No evil,
however deplorable, can justify the assumption either on the part of the
Executive or of Congress of powers not granted, but both will be highly
blamable if all the powers granted are not wisely but firmly used to
correct these evils. The power to take the whole direction and control of
the election of members of the House of Representatives is clearly given to
the General Government. A partial and qualified supervision of these
elections is now provided for by law, and in my opinion this law may be so
strengthened and extended as to secure on the whole better results than can
be attained by a law taking all the processes of such election into Federal
control. The colored man should be protected in all of his relations to the
Federal Government, whether as litigant, juror, or witness in our courts,
as an elector for members of Congress, or as a peaceful traveler upon our
interstate railways.
There is nothing more justly humiliating to the national pride and nothing
more hurtful to the national prosperity than the inferiority of our
merchant marine compared with that of other nations whose general
resources, wealth, and seacoast lines do not suggest any reason for their
supremacy on the sea. It was not always so, and our people are agreed, I
think, that it shall not continue to be so. It is not possible in this
communication to discuss the causes of the decay of our shipping interests
or the differing methods by which it is proposed to restore them. The
statement of a few well-authenticated facts and some general suggestions as
to legislation is all that is practicable. That the great steamship lines
sailing under the flags of England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, and
engaged in foreign commerce, were .promoted and have since been and now are
liberally aided by grants of public money in one form or another is
generally known. That the American lines of steamships have been abandoned
by us to an unequal contest with the aided lines of other nations until
they have been withdrawn, or in the few cases where they are still
maintained are subject to serious disadvantages, is matter of common
knowledge.
The present situation is such that travelers and merchandise find Liverpool
often a necessary intermediate port between New York and some of the South
American capitals. The fact that some of the delegates from South American
States to the conference of American nations now in session at Washington
reached our shores by reversing that line of travel is very conclusive of
the need of such a conference and very suggestive as to the first and most
necessary step in the direction of fuller and more beneficial intercourse
with nations that are now our neighbors upon the lines of latitude, but not
upon the lines of established commercial intercourse.
I recommend that such appropriations be made for ocean mail service in
American steamships between our ports and those of Central and South
America, China, Japan, and the important islands in both of the great
oceans as will be liberally remunerative for the service rendered and as
will encourage the establishment and in some fair degree equalize the
chances of American steamship lines in the competitions which they must
meet. That the American States lying south of us will cordially cooperate
in establishing and maintaining such lines of steamships to their principal
ports I do not doubt.
We should also make provision for a naval reserve to consist of such
merchant ships of American construction and of a specified tonnage and
speed as the owners will consent to place at the use of the Government in
case of need as armed cruisers. England has adopted this policy, and as a
result can now upon necessity at once place upon her naval list some of the
fastest steamships in the world. A proper supervision of the construction
of such vessels would make their conversion into effective ships of war
very easy.
I am an advocate of economy in our national expenditures, but it is a
misuse of terms to make this word describe a policy that withholds an
expenditure for the purpose of extending our foreign commerce. The
enlargement and improvement of our merchant marine, the development of a
sufficient body of trained American seamen, the promotion of rapid and
regular mail communication between the ports of other countries and our
own, and the adaptation of large and swift American merchant steamships to
naval uses in time of war are public purposes of the highest concern. The
enlarged participation of our people in the carrying trade, the new and
increased markets that will be opened for the products of our farms and
factories, and the fuller and better employment of our mechanics which will
result from a liberal promotion of our foreign commerce insure the widest
possible diffusion of benefit to all the States and to all our people.
Everything is most propitious for the present inauguration of a liberal and
progressive policy upon this subject, and we should enter upon it with
promptness and decision.
The legislation which I have suggested, it is sincerely believed, will
promote the peace and honor of our country and the prosperity and security
of the people. I invoke the diligent and serious attention of Congress to
the consideration of these and such other measures as may be presented
having the same great end in view.
BENJ. HARRISON
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