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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: ASCII

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Grover Cleveland

March 4, 1885, to March 4, 1889

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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. Benet, 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 charge 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 attaches 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 deg. 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 viseed 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 vise 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