GROVER CLEVELAND

March 4, 1893, to March 4, 1897

Grover Cleveland

[For portrait and biographical sketch see Vol. VIII, pp. 296-299. ]

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

MY FELLOW-CITIZENS: In obedience to the mandate of my countrymenI am about to dedicate myself to their service under the sanction ofa solemn oath. Deeply moved by the expression of confidence and personalattachment which has called me to this service, I am sure my gratitudecan make no better return than the pledge I now give before God andthese witnesses of unreserved and complete devotion to the interestsand welfare of those who have honored me. 

I deem it fitting on this occasion, while indicating the opinions I holdconcerning public questions of present importance, to also briefly referto the existence of certain conditions and tendencies among our peoplewhich seem to menace the integrity and usefulness of their Government. 

While every American citizen must contemplate with the utmost pride andenthusiasm the growth and expansion of our country, the sufficiency ofour institutions to stand against the rudest shocks of violence, thewonderful thrift and enterprise of our people, and the demonstratedsuperiority of our free government, it behooves us to constantly watchfor every symptom of insidious infirmity that threatens our nationalvigor. 

The strong man who in the confidence of sturdy health courts thesternest activities of life and rejoices in the hardihood of constantlabor may still have lurking near his vitals the unheeded disease thatdooms him to sudden collapse. 

It can not be doubted that our stupendous achievements as a people andour country's robust strength have given rise to heedlessness of thoselaws governing our national health which we can no more evade than humanlife can escape the laws of God and nature. 

Manifestly nothing is more vital to our supremacy as a nation and to thebeneficent purposes of our Government than a sound and stable currency. Its exposure to degradation should at once arouse to activity the mostenlightened statesmanship, and the danger of depreciation in thepurchasing power of the wages paid to toil should furnish the strongestincentive to prompt and conservative precaution. 

In dealing with our present embarrassing situation as related to thissubject we will be wise if we temper our confidence and faith in ournational strength and resources with the frank concession that eventhese will not permit us to defy with impunity the inexorable lawsof finance and trade. At the same time, in our efforts to adjustdifferences of opinion we should be free from intolerance or passion, and our judgments should be unmoved by alluring phrases and unvexedby selfish interests. 

I am confident that such an approach to the subject will result inprudent and effective remedial legislation. In the meantime, so far asthe executive branch of the Government can intervene, none of the powerswith which it is invested will be withheld when their exercise is deemednecessary to maintain our national credit or avert financial disaster. 

Closely related to the exaggerated confidence in our country's greatnesswhich tends to a disregard of the rules of national safety, anotherdanger confronts us not less serious. I refer to the prevalence of apopular disposition to expect from the operation of the Governmentespecial and direct individual advantages. 

The verdict of our voters which condemned the injustice of maintainingprotection for protection's sake enjoins upon the people's servants theduty of exposing and destroying the brood of kindred evils which arethe unwholesome progeny of paternalism. This is the bane of republicaninstitutions and the constant peril of our government by the people. It degrades to the purposes of wily craft the plan of rule our fathersestablished and bequeathed to us as an object of our love andveneration. It perverts the patriotic sentiments of our countrymen andtempts them to pitiful calculation of the sordid gain to be derivedfrom their Government's maintenance. It undermines the self-reliance ofour people and substitutes in its place dependence upon governmentalfavoritism. It stifles the spirit of true Americanism and stupefiesevery ennobling trait of American citizenship. 

The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and the better lessontaught that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully supporttheir Government its functions do not include the support of the people. 

The acceptance of this principle leads to a refusal of bounties andsubsidies, which burden the labor and thrift of a portion of ourcitizens to aid ill-advised or languishing enterprises in which theyhave no concern. It leads also to a challenge of wild and recklesspension expenditure, which overleaps the bounds of grateful recognitionof patriotic service and prostitutes to vicious uses the people's promptand generous impulse to aid those disabled in their country's defense. 

Every thoughtful American must realize the importance of checking at itsbeginning any tendency in public or private station to regard frugalityand economy as virtues which we may safely outgrow. The toleration ofthis idea results in the waste of the people's money by their chosenservants and encourages prodigality and extravagance in the home lifeof our countrymen. 

Under our scheme of government the waste of public money is a crimeagainst the citizen, and the contempt of our people for economy andfrugality in their personal affairs deplorably saps the strength andsturdiness of our national character. 

It is a plain dictate of honesty and good government that publicexpenditures should be limited by public necessity, and that this shouldbe measured by the rules of strict economy; and it is equally clear thatfrugality among the people is the best guaranty of a contented andstrong support of free institutions. 

One mode of the misappropriation of public funds is avoided whenappointments to office, instead of being the rewards of partisanactivity, are awarded to those whose efficiency promises a fair returnof work for the compensation paid to them. To secure the fitness andcompetency of appointees to office and remove from political action thedemoralizing madness for spoils, civil-service reform has found a placein our public policy and laws. The benefits already gained through thisinstrumentality and the further usefulness it promises entitle it to thehearty support and encouragement of all who desire to see our publicservice well performed or who hope for the elevation of politicalsentiment and the purification of political methods. 

The existence of immense aggregations of kindred enterprises andcombinations of business interests formed for the purpose of limitingproduction and fixing prices is inconsistent with the fair field whichought to be open to every independent activity. Legitimate strife inbusiness should not be superseded by an enforced concession to thedemands of combinations that have the power to destroy, nor should thepeople to be served lose the benefit of cheapness which usually resultsfrom wholesome competition. These aggregations and combinationsfrequently constitute conspiracies against the interests of the people, and in all their phases they are unnatural and opposed to our Americansense of fairness. To the extent that they can be reached and restrainedby Federal power the General Government should relieve our citizens fromtheir interference and exactions. 

Loyalty to the principles upon which our Government rests positivelydemands that the equality before the law which it guarantees to everycitizen should be justly and in good faith conceded in all parts of theland. The enjoyment of this right follows the badge of citizenshipwherever found, and, unimpaired by race or color, it appeals forrecognition to American manliness and fairness. 

Our relations with the Indians located within our border impose upon usresponsibilities we can not escape. Humanity and consistency require usto treat them with forbearance and in our dealings with them to honestlyand considerately regard their rights and interests. Every effort shouldbe made to lead them, through the paths of civilization and education, to self-supporting and independent citizenship. In the meantime, as thenation's wards, they should be promptly defended against the cupidity ofdesigning men and shielded from every influence or temptation thatretards their advancement. 

The people of the United States have decreed that on this day thecontrol of their Government in its legislative and executive branchesshall be given to a political party pledged in the most positive termsto the accomplishment of tariff reform. They have thus determined infavor of a more just and equitable system of Federal taxation. Theagents they have chosen to carry out their purposes are bound by theirpromises not less than by the command of their masters to devotethemselves unremittingly to this service. 

While there should be no surrender of principle, our task must beundertaken wisely and without heedless vindictiveness. Our mission isnot punishment, but the rectification of wrong. If in lifting burdensfrom the daily life of our people we reduce inordinate and unequaladvantages too long enjoyed, this is but a necessary incident ofour return to right and justice. If we exact from unwilling mindsacquiescence in the theory of an honest distribution of the fund of thegovernmental beneficence treasured up for all, we but insist upon aprinciple which underlies our free institutions. When we tear aside thedelusions and misconceptions which have blinded our countrymen to theircondition under vicious tariff laws, we but show them how far they havebeen led away from the paths of contentment and prosperity. When weproclaim that the necessity for revenue to support the Governmentfurnishes the only justification for taxing the people, we announcea truth so plain that its denial would seem to indicate the extent towhich judgment may be influenced by familiarity with perversions of thetaxing power. And when we seek to reinstate the self-confidence andbusiness enterprise of our citizens by discrediting an abject dependenceupon governmental favor, we strive to stimulate those elements ofAmerican character which support the hope of American achievement. 

Anxiety for the redemption of the pledges which my party has made andsolicitude for the complete justification of the trust the people havereposed in us constrain me to remind those with whom I am to cooperatethat we can succeed in doing the work which has been especially setbefore us only by the most sincere, harmonious, and disinterestedeffort. Even if insuperable obstacles and opposition prevent theconsummation of our task, we shall hardly be excused; and if failure canbe traced to our fault or neglect we may be sure the people will hold usto a swift and exacting accountability. 

The oath I now take to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution ofthe United States not only impressively defines the great responsibilityI assume, but suggests obedience to constitutional commands as the ruleby which my official conduct must be guided. I shall to the best of myability and within my sphere of duty preserve the Constitution by loyallyprotecting every grant of Federal power it contains, by defending allits restraints when attacked by impatience and restlessness, and byenforcing its limitations and reservations in favor of the States andthe people. 

Fully impressed with the gravity of the duties that confront me andmindful of my weakness, I should be appalled if it were my lot to bearunaided the responsibilities which await me. I am, however, saved fromdiscouragement when I remember that I shall have the support and thecounsel and cooperation of wise and patriotic men who will stand at myside in Cabinet places or will represent the people in their legislativehalls. 

I find also much comfort in remembering that my countrymen are just andgenerous and in the assurance that they will not condemn those who bysincere devotion to their service deserve their forbearance andapproval. 

Above all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of menand whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seekHis powerful aid. 

MARCH 4, 1893. 

SPECIAL MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 9, 1893_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report submitted by the Secretary of State incompliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, callingfor information relating to the capture and imprisonment of CaptainPharos B. Brubaker by Honduras officials. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 9, 1893_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

For the purpose of reexamination I withdraw the treaty of annexationbetween the United States and the Provisional Government of the HawaiianIslands, now pending in the Senate, which was signed February 14, 1893, and transmitted to the Senate on the 15th of the same month, andI therefore request that said treaty be returned to me. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

The following provisions of the laws of the United States are herebypublished for the information of all concerned:

Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, Title XXIII, enacts that--

 No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall for each offense be fined not less than $200 nor more than $1, 000, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section. 

Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection ofthe salmon fisheries of Alaska, " approved March 2, 1889, provides that--

 SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of the United States in the waters of Bering Sea; and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section; and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein. 

Articles I, II, and III of a convention between the United States ofAmerica and Great Britain for the renewal of the existing _modusvivendi_ in Bering Sea, concluded April 18, 1892, are published forthe same purpose:

 ARTICLE I. Her Majesty's Government will prohibit during the pendency of the arbitration seal killing in that part of Bering Sea lying eastward of the line of demarcation described in Article No. I of the treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, and will promptly use its best efforts to insure the observance of this prohibition by British subjects and vessels. 

 ART. II. The United States Government will prohibit seal killing for the same period in the same part of Bering Sea and on the shores and islands thereof the property of the United States (in excess of 7, 500 to be taken on the islands for the subsistence of the natives), and will promptly use its best efforts to insure the observance of this prohibition by United States citizens and vessels. 

 ART. III. Every vessel or person offending against this prohibition in the said waters of Bering Sea outside of the ordinary territorial limits of the United States may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of either of the high contracting parties, but they shall be handed over as soon as practicable to the authorities of the nation to which they respectively belong, who alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same. The witnesses and proof necessary to establish the offense shall also be sent with them. 

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, hereby warn all persons against entering the waters of Bering Sea withinthe dominion of the United States for the purpose of violating theprovisions of said section 1936 of the Revised Statutes and of the saidarticles of said convention, and I hereby proclaim that all personsfound to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of theUnited States or of the provisions of said convention in said waterswill be arrested, proceeded against, and punished as above provided. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of April, 1893, and of theIndependence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the RevisedStatutes of the United States, relating to copyrights, " that said act"shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nationwhen such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the UnitedStates of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is aparty to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity inthe granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the UnitedStates of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;"and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence ofeither of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the Presidentof the United States by proclamation made from time to time as thepurposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Denmarkthe law permits to citizens of the United States the benefit ofcopyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects of Denmark:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditionsspecified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and isfulfilled in respect to the subjects of Denmark. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of May, 1893, and of theIndependence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , June 30, 1893_. 

Whereas the distrust and apprehension concerning the financial situationwhich pervade all business circles have already caused great loss anddamage to our people and threaten to cripple our merchants, stop thewheels of manufacture, bring distress and privation to our farmers, andwithhold from our workingmen the wage of labor; and

Whereas the present perilous condition is largely the result of afinancial policy which the executive branch of the Government findsembodied in unwise laws, which must be executed until repealed byCongress:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, inperformance of a constitutional duty, do by this proclamation declarethat an extraordinary occasion requires the convening of both Housesof the Congress of the United States at the Capitol, in the city ofWashington, on the 7th day of August next, at 12 o'clock noon, to theend that the people may be relieved through legislation from presentand impending danger and distress. 

All those entitled to act as members of the Fifty-third Congress arerequired to take notice of this proclamation and attend at the time andplace above stated. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at the city ofWashington, on the 30th day of June, A. D. 1893, and of the Independenceof the United States the one hundred and seventeenth. 

[SEAL. ]

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: ALVEY A. ADEE, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas an act of Congress amendatory of an act in relation to aidingvessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the UnitedStates and the Dominion of Canada was approved May 24, 1890, the saidact being in the following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That an act entitled "An act to aid vessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the United States and the Dominion of Canada, " approved June 19, 1878, be, and the same is hereby, amended so that the same will read as follows:

 "That Canadian vessels and wrecking appurtenance may render aid and assistance to Canadian or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of the United States contiguous to the Dominion of Canada: _Provided_, That this act shall not take effect until proclamation by the President of the United States that the privilege of aiding American or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in Canadian waters contiguous to the United States has been extended by the government of the Dominion of Canada to American vessels and wrecking appliances of all descriptions. This act shall be construed to apply to the Welland Canal, the canal and improvement of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and to the waters of the St. Marys River and Canal: _And provided further_, That this act shall cease to be in force from and after the date of the proclamation of the President of the United States to the effect that said reciprocal privilege has been withdrawn, revoked, or rendered inoperative by the said government of the Dominion of Canada. "

And whereas an act of Congress making appropriation for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal yearending June 30, 1894, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1893, further amended the act of May 24, 1890, as follows:

 That an act approved May 24, 1890; entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to aid vessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the United States and the Dominion of Canada, ' approved June 19, 1878, " be, and is hereby, amended by striking out the words "the Welland Canal. "

And whereas by an order in council dated May 17, 1893, the government ofthe Dominion of Canada has proclaimed an act entitled "An act respectingaid by United States wreckers in Canadian waters" to take effect June 1, 1893, said act reading as follows:

 Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the senate and house of commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

 1. United States vessels and wrecking appliances may salve any property wrecked and may render aid and assistance to any vessels wrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of Canada contiguous to the United States. 

 2. Aid and assistance include all necessary towing incident thereto. 

 3. Nothing in the customs or coasting laws of Canada shall restrict the salving operations of such vessels or wrecking appliances. 

 4. This act shall come into force from and after a date to be named in a proclamation by the Governor-General, which proclamation may be issued when the Governor in council is advised that the privilege of salving any property wrecked or of aiding any vessels wrecked, disabled, or in distress in United States waters contiguous to Canada will be extended to Canadian vessels and wrecking appliances to the extent to which such privilege is granted by this act to United States vessels and wrecking appliances. 

 5. This act shall cease to be in force from and after a date to be named in a proclamation to be issued by the Governor-General to the effect that the said reciprocal privilege has been withdrawn, revoked, or rendered inoperative with respect to Canadian vessels or wrecking appliances in United States waters contiguous to Canada. 

And whereas said proclamation of the Governor-General of Canada wascommunicated to this Government by Her Britannic Majesty's ambassador onthe 2d day of June last:

Now, therefore, being thus satisfied that the privilege of aidingAmerican or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distressin Canadian waters contiguous to the United States has been extendedby the government of the Dominion of Canada to American vessels andwrecking appliances of all descriptions, I, Grover Cleveland, Presidentof the United States of America, in virtue of the authority conferredupon me by the aforesaid act of Congress approved May 24, 1890, doproclaim that the condition specified in the legislation of Congressaforesaid now exists and is fulfilled, and that the provisions of saidact of May 24, 1890, whereby Canadian vessels and wrecking appliancesmay render aid and assistance to Canadian and other vessels and propertywrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of the United Statescontiguous to the Dominion of Canada, including the canal and improvementof the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron and the waters of the St. Marys River and Canal, are now in full force and effect. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of July, A. D. 1893, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the RevisedStatutes of the United States, relating to copyrights, " that said act"shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nationwhen such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the UnitedStates of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is aparty to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity inthe granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the UnitedStates of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;"and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence ofeither of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the Presidentof the United States by proclamation made from time to time as thepurposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that inPortugal the law permits to citizens of the United States the benefit ofcopyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects ofPortugal:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditionsspecified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and isfulfilled in respect to the subjects of Portugal. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of July, A. D. 1893, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

EXECUTIVE ORDERS. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Departmental Rule VII is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection:

 8. The First Comptroller of the Treasury having advised the Secretary of the Treasury that under the operation of section 5 of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act making appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, the employment of substitutes in the departmental service must cease from and after July 1, 1893, it is hereby ordered, in view of the fact that the substitutes now employed were appointed by regular certification under section 7 of this rule, that such of said substitutes as shall not be appointed to regular places before the employment of substitutes shall cease shall be eligible for appointment to regular places by reinstatement under the provisions of Departmental Rule X, in the order of their employment as substitutes as provided in said section 7, notwithstanding the prohibition contained in the second proviso of said section; and said substitutes shall have preference for appointment in the manner herein provided over all other eligibles. 

 This section shall become inoperative and cease to be a part of the civil-service rules when all of the substitutes now employed in the several Departments shall have been appointed as herein provided or shall have ceased to be eligible for appointment by reason of the expiration of the time within which a reinstatement can be made under Rule X. 

Approved, April 12, 1893. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 8, 1893_. 

It has become apparent after two months' experience that the rulesheretofore promulgated regulating interviews with the President havewholly failed in their operation. The time which under these rules wasset apart for the reception of Senators and Representatives has beenalmost entirely spent in listening to applications for office, whichhave been bewildering in volume, perplexing and exhausting in theiriteration, and impossible of remembrance. 

A due regard for public duty, which must be neglected if presentconditions continue, and an observance of the limitations placed uponhuman endurance oblige me to decline from and after this date allpersonal interviews with those seeking appointments to office, except asI on my own motion may especially invite them. The same considerationsmake it impossible for me to receive those who merely desire to paytheir respects except on the days and during the hours especiallydesignated for that purpose. 

I earnestly request Senators and Representatives to aid me in securingfor them uninterrupted interviews by declining to introduce theirconstituents and friends when visiting the Executive Mansion during thehours designated for their reception. Applicants for office will onlyprejudice their prospects by repeated importunity and by remaining inWashington to await results. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1893_. 

_It is hereby ordered_, That the several Executive Departments andthe Government Printing Office be closed on Tuesday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the gravesof the soldiers and sailors who fell in the defense of the Union duringthe War of the Rebellion. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended as follows: Includeamong the places excepted from examination therein the following:

 6. In the Department of Agriculture:

 In the office of the Secretary: The assistant chiefs of the following divisions: Of economic ornithology and mammalogy, of pomology, of microscopy, of vegetable pathology, of records and editing, and one property clerk. 

 In the Weather Bureau: The assistant chief of the Bureau, the three professors of meteorology of highest grade, executive officer, superintendent of telegraph lines, and one property clerk. 

 In the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries the following: Scientific or professional experts to be temporarily employed in investigations authorized by Congress, but not to include any persons regularly employed in that Commission nor any person whose duties are not scientific or professional and who are not experts in the particular line of scientific inquiry in which they are to be employed. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 6, 1893_. 

The foregoing amendments are hereby approved. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Postal Rule No. 2 is hereby amended as follows:

Strike out all of section 1 except the last paragraph, relating tonon-competitive examinations, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 1. To test the fitness for admission to the classified postal service one or more examinations shall be provided, as the Commission may determine, which shall not include more than the following subjects: Orthography, copying, penmanship, arithmetic (fundamental rules, fractions, and percentage), elements of the geography of the United States, local delivery, reading addresses, physical tests: _Provided_, That when special examinations are needed to test fitness for any place requiring special or technical knowledge or skill the examination shall include, in addition to the special subjects required, such of the subjects of the regular examination as the Commission may determine. 

Strike out section 2 and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 No person shall be examined for the position of letter carrier if under 21 or over 40 years of age, and no person shall be examined for any other position in the classified postal service if under 18 years of age. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 6, 1893_. 

The foregoing amendments are hereby approved. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 16, 1893_. 

In accordance with section 16 of the act of Congress approved April 25, 1890, and entitled "An act to provide for celebrating the four hundredthanniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus byholding an international exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and the product of the soil, mine, and sea in the city of Chicago, inthe State of Illinois, " the designations of the following-named personsas members of the board of control and management of the Governmentexhibit at the World's Columbian Exhibition are hereby approved:

W. W. Rockhill, chief clerk of the Department of State, to represent thatDepartment, _vice_ William E. Curtis. 

Lieutenant-Commander E. D. Taussig, United States Navy, to represent theNavy Department, _vice_ Captain R. W. Meade, United States Navy. 

Frank W. Clark, chemist, United States Geological Survey, to representthe Department of the Interior, _vice_ Horace A. Taylor. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 8, 1893_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

The existence of an alarming and extraordinary business situation, involving the welfare and prosperity of all our people, has constrainedme to call together in extra session the people's representatives inCongress, to the end that through a wise and patriotic exercise of thelegislative duty, with which they solely are charged, present evils maybe mitigated and dangers threatening the future may be averted. 

Our unfortunate financial plight is not the result of untoward eventsnor of conditions related to our natural resources, nor is it traceableto any of the afflictions which frequently check national growth andprosperity. With plenteous crops, with abundant promise of remunerativeproduction and manufacture, with unusual invitation to safe investment, and with satisfactory assurance to business enterprise, suddenlyfinancial distrust and fear have sprung up on every side. Numerousmoneyed institutions have suspended because abundant assets were notimmediately available to meet the demands of frightened depositors. Surviving corporations and individuals are content to keep in hand themoney they are usually anxious to loan, and those engaged in legitimatebusiness are surprised to find that the securities they offer for loans, though heretofore satisfactory, are no longer accepted. Values supposedto be fixed are fast becoming conjectural, and loss and failure haveinvaded every branch of business. 

I believe these things are principally chargeable to Congressionallegislation touching the purchase and coinage of silver by the GeneralGovernment. 

This legislation is embodied in a statute passed on the 14th day ofJuly, 1890, which was the culmination of much agitation on the subjectinvolved, and which may be considered a truce, after a long struggle, between the advocates of free silver coinage and those intending to bemore conservative. 

Undoubtedly the monthly purchases by the Government of 4, 500, 000ounces of silver, enforced under that statute, were regarded by thoseinterested in silver production as a certain guaranty of its increase inprice. The result, however, has been entirely different, for immediatelyfollowing a spasmodic and slight rise the price of silver began to fallafter the passage of the act, and has since reached the lowest pointever known. This disappointing result has led to renewed and persistenteffort in the direction of free silver coinage. 

Meanwhile not only are the evil effects of the operation of the presentlaw constantly accumulating, but the result to which its execution mustinevitably lead is becoming palpable to all who give the least heed tofinancial subjects. 

This law provides that in payment for the 4, 500, 000 ounces of silverbullion which the Secretary of the Treasury is commanded to purchasemonthly there shall be issued Treasury notes redeemable on demand ingold or silver coin, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and that said notes may be reissued. It is, however, declared in the actto be "the established policy of the United States to maintain the twometals on a parity with each other upon the present legal ratio or suchratio as may be provided by law. " This declaration so controls theaction of the Secretary of the Treasury as to prevent his exercising thediscretion nominally vested in him if by such action the parity betweengold and silver may be disturbed. Manifestly a refusal by the Secretaryto pay these Treasury notes in gold if demanded would necessarily resultin their discredit and depreciation as obligations payable only insilver, and would destroy the parity between the two metals byestablishing a discrimination in favor of gold. 

Up to the 15th day of July, 1893, these notes had been issued in paymentof silver-bullion purchases to the amount of more than $147, 000, 000. While all but a very small quantity of this bullion remains uncoined andwithout usefulness in the Treasury, many of the notes given in itspurchase have been paid in gold. This is illustrated by the statementthat between the 1st day of May, 1892, and the 15th day of July, 1893, the notes of this kind issued in payment for silver bullion amounted toa little more than $54, 000, 000, and that during the same period about$49, 000, 000 were paid by the Treasury in gold for the redemption of suchnotes. 

The policy necessarily adopted of paying these notes in gold has notspared the gold reserve of $100, 000, 000 long ago set aside by theGovernment for the redemption of other notes, for this fund has alreadybeen subjected to the payment of new obligations amounting to about$150, 000, 000 on account of silver purchases, and has as a consequencefor the first time since its creation been encroached upon. 

We have thus made the depletion of our gold easy and have tempted otherand more appreciative nations to add it to their stock. That theopportunity we have offered has not been neglected is shown by the largeamounts of gold which have been recently drawn from our Treasury andexported to increase the financial strength of foreign nations. Theexcess of exports of gold over its imports for the year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to more than $87, 500, 000. 

Between the 1st day of July, 1890, and the 15th day of July, 1893, thegold coin and bullion in our Treasury decreased more than $132, 000, 000, while during the same period the silver coin and bullion in the Treasuryincreased more than $147, 000, 000. Unless Government bonds are to beconstantly issued and sold to replenish our exhausted gold, only to beagain exhausted, it is apparent that the operation of thesilver-purchase law now in force leads in the direction of the entiresubstitution of silver for the gold in the Government Treasury, and thatthis must be followed by the payment of all Government obligations indepreciated silver. 

At this stage gold and silver must part company and the Government mustfail in its established policy to maintain the two metals on a paritywith each other. Given over to the exclusive use of a currency greatlydepreciated according to the standard of the commercial world, we couldno longer claim a place among nations of the first class, nor could ourGovernment claim a performance of its obligation, so far as such anobligation has been imposed upon it, to provide for the use of thepeople the best and safest money. 

If, as many of its friends claim, silver ought to occupy a largerplace in our currency and the currency of the world through generalinternational cooperation and agreement, it is obvious that the UnitedStates will not be in a position to gain a hearing in favor of such anarrangement so long as we are willing to continue our attempt toaccomplish the result single-handed. 

The knowledge in business circles among our own people that ourGovernment can not make its fiat equivalent to intrinsic value nor keepinferior money on a parity with superior money by its own independentefforts has resulted in such a lack of confidence at home in thestability of currency values that capital refuses its aid to newenterprises, while millions are actually withdrawn from the channels oftrade and commerce to become idle and unproductive in the hands of timidowners. Foreign investors, equally alert, not only decline to purchaseAmerican securities, but make haste to sacrifice those which theyalready have. 

It does not meet the situation to say that apprehension in regard to thefuture of our finances is groundless and that there is no reason forlack of confidence in the purposes or power of the Government in thepremises. The very existence of this apprehension and lack ofconfidence, however caused, is a menace which ought not for a moment tobe disregarded. Possibly, if the undertaking we have in hand were themaintenance of a specific known quantity of silver at a parity withgold, our ability to do so might be estimated and gauged, and perhaps, in view of our unparalleled growth and resources, might be favorablypassed upon. But when our avowed endeavor is to maintain such parity inregard to an amount of silver increasing at the rate of $50, 000, 000yearly, with no fixed termination to such increase, it can hardly besaid that a problem is presented whose solution is free from doubt. 

The people of the United States are entitled to a sound and stablecurrency and to money recognized as such on every exchange and in everymarket of the world. Their Government has no right to injure them byfinancial experiments opposed to the policy and practice of othercivilized states, nor is it justified in permitting an exaggerated andunreasonable reliance on our national strength and ability to jeopardizethe soundness of the people's money. 

This matter rises above the plane of party politics. It vitally concernsevery business and calling and enters every household in the land. Thereis one important aspect of the subject which especially should never beoverlooked. At times like the present, when the evils of unsound financethreaten us, the speculator may anticipate a harvest gathered from themisfortune of others, the capitalist may protect himself by hoarding ormay even find profit in the fluctuations of values; but the wageearner--the first to be injured by a depreciated currency and the lastto receive the benefit of its correction--is practically defenseless. Herelies for work upon the ventures of confident and contented capital. This failing him, his condition is without alleviation, for he canneither prey on the misfortunes of others nor hoard his labor. One ofthe greatest statesmen our country has known, speaking more than fiftyyears ago, when a derangement of the currency had caused commercialdistress, said:

 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. 

These words are as pertinent now as on the day they were uttered, andought to impressively remind us that a failure in the discharge of ourduty at this time must especially injure those of our countrymen wholabor, and who because of their number and condition are entitled to themost watchful care of their Government. 

It is of the utmost importance that such relief as Congress can affordin the existing situation be afforded at once. The maxim "He gives twicewho gives quickly" is directly applicable. It may be true that theembarrassments from which the business of the country is sufferingarise as much from evils apprehended as from those actually existing. We may hope, too, that calm counsels will prevail, and that neither thecapitalists nor the wage earners will give way to unreasoning panicand sacrifice their property or their interests under the influence ofexaggerated fears. Nevertheless, every day's delay in removing one ofthe plain and principal causes of the present state of things enlargesthe mischief already done and increases the responsibility of theGovernment for its existence. Whatever else the people have a rightto expect from Congress, they may certainly demand that legislationcondemned by the ordeal of three years' disastrous experience shall beremoved from the statute books as soon as their representatives canlegitimately deal with it. 

It was my purpose to summon Congress in special session-early in thecoming September, that we might enter promptly upon the work of tariffreform, which the true interests of the country clearly demand, which solarge a majority of the people, as shown by their suffrages, desire andexpect, and to the accomplishment of which every effort of the presentAdministration is pledged. But while tariff reform has lost nothing ofits immediate and permanent importance and must in the near futureengage the attention of Congress, it has seemed to me that the financialcondition of the country should at once and before all other subjects beconsidered by your honorable body. 

I earnestly recommend the prompt repeal of the provisions of the actpassed July 14, 1890, authorizing the purchase of silver bullion, andthat other legislative action may put beyond all doubt or mistake theintention and the ability of the Government to fulfill its pecuniaryobligations in money universally recognized by all civilized countries. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

SPECIAL MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, October 18, 1893_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, concerning the attitude of the Government of China with regard to anextension of the time for the registration of Chinese laborers in theUnited States under the act of May 5, 1892, I transmit a report of theSecretary of State on the subject. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, pursuant to section 10 of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1893, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingentexpenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes forfiscal year ending June 30, 1894, " the Cherokee Nation of Indians, by awritten agreement made on the 17th day of May, 1893, has ratified theagreement for the cession of certain lands hereinafter described, asamended by said act of March 3, 1893, and thereby ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and surrendered all its title, claim, andinterest of every kind and character in and to that part of the IndianTerritory bounded on the west by the one hundredth degree (100 degree)of west longitude, on the north by the State of Kansas, on the east bythe ninety-sixth degree (96 degree) of west longitude, and on the southby the Creek Nation, the Territory of Oklahoma, and the Cheyenne andArapahoe Reservation created or defined by Executive order dated August10, 1869: _Provided_, That any citizen of the Cherokee Nation whoprior to the 1st day of November, 1891, was a _bona fide_ residentupon and, further, had, as a farmer and for farming purposes, madepermanent and valuable improvements upon any part of the land so ceded, and who has not disposed of the same, but desires to occupy theparticular lands so improved as a homestead and for farming purposes, shall have the right to select one-eighth of a section of land, toconform, however, to the United States surveys; such selection toembrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, such improvements;the wife and children of any such citizen shall have the same right ofselection that is above given to the citizen, and they shall have thepreference in making selections to take any lands improved by thehusband and father that he can not take until all of his improved landshall be taken; and that any citizen of the Cherokee Nation not aresident within the land so ceded who prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, had for farming purposes made valuable and permanent improvementsupon any of the land so ceded shall have the right to select one-eighthof a section of land, to conform to the United States surveys; suchselection to embrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, suchimprovements; but the allotments so provided for shall not exceedseventy (70) in number and the land allotted shall not exceed fivethousand and six hundred (5, 600) acres; and such allotments shall bemade and confirmed under such rules and regulations as shall beprescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and when so made andconfirmed shall be conveyed to the allottees respectively by the UnitedStates in fee simple; and from the price to be paid to the CherokeeNation for the cession so made there shall be deducted the sum of onedollar and forty cents ($1. 40) for each acre so taken in allotment:_And provided_, That D. W. Bushyhead having made permanent orvaluable improvements prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, on thelands so ceded, he may select a quarter section of the lands ceded, whether reserved or otherwise, prior to the opening of said lands topublic settlement, but he shall be required to pay for such selectionat the same rate per acre as other settlers, into the Treasury of theUnited States, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shalldirect; and

Whereas it is provided in section 10 of the aforesaid act of Congressapproved March 3, 1893, that--

 Said lands, except the portion to be allotted as provided in said agreement, shall, upon the payment of the sum of $295, 736, herein appropriated, to be immediately paid, become and be taken to be and treated as a part of the public domain; but in any opening of the same to settlement sections 16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, shall be, and are hereby, reserved for the use and benefit of the public schools to be established within the limits of such lands, under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by Congress. * * *

 Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and the east half of sections 17, 20, and 29, all in township No. 29 north of range No. 2 east of the Indian meridian, the same being lands reserved by Executive order dated July 12, 1884, for use of and in connection with the Chilocco Indian Industrial School, in the Indian Territory, shall not be subject to public settlement, but shall until the further action of Congress continue to be reserved for the purposes for which they were set apart in the said Executive order; and the President of the United States, in any order or proclamation which he shall make for the opening of the lands for settlement, may make such other reservations of lands for public purposes as he may deem wise and desirable. 

 The President of the United States is hereby authorized, at any time within six months after the approval of this act and the acceptance of the same by the Cherokee Nation as herein provided, by proclamation, to open to settlement any or all of the lands not allotted or reserved in the manner provided in section 13 of the act of Congress approved March 2, 1889, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1890, and for other purposes" (25 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 1005); and also subject to the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 2, 1890, entitled "An act to provide a temporary government for the Territory of Oklahoma, to enlarge the jurisdiction of the United States court in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes;" also subject to the second proviso of section 17, the whole of section 18, of the act of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1892, and for other purposes;" except as to so much of said acts and sections as may conflict with the provisions of this act. Each settler on the lands so to be opened to settlement as aforesaid shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $2. 50 per acre for any land east of 97-1/2° west longitude, the sum of $1. 50 per acre for any land between 97-1/2° west longitude and 98-1/2° west longitude, and the sum of $1 per acre for any land west of 98-1/2° west longitude, and shall also pay interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of entry to the date of final payment therefor at the rate of 4 per cent per annum. 

 No person shall be permitted to occupy or enter upon any of the lands herein referred to except in the manner prescribed by the proclamation of the President opening the same to settlement, and any person otherwise occupying or entering upon any of said lands shall forfeit all right to acquire any of said lands. The Secretary of the Interior shall, under the direction of the President, prescribe rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this act, for the occupation and settlement of said lands, to be incorporated in the proclamation of the President, which shall be issued at least twenty days before the time fixed for the opening of said lands. 

And whereas by a written agreement made on the 21st day of October, 1891, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded, conveyed, and forever relinquished to the United States all their right, title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in and to thelands particularly described in Article I of the agreement:_Provided_, That the allotments of land to said Tonkawa tribe ofIndians theretofore made or to be made under said agreement and theprovisions of the general allotment act approved February 8, 1887, andan act amendatory thereof, approved February 28, 1891, shall beconfirmed: _And provided_, That in all cases where the allottee hasdied since land has been set off and scheduled to such person the law ofdescent and partition in force in Oklahoma Territory shall applythereto, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding; and

Whereas by a certain other agreement with the Pawnee tribe of Indians, in said Territory, made on the 23d day of November, 1892, said tribeceded, conveyed, released, relinquished, and surrendered to the UnitedStates all its title, claim, and interest of every kind and character inand to the lands particularly described in Article I of the agreement:_Provided_, That the allotments made or to be made to said Indiansin the manner and subject to the conditions contained in said agreementshall be confirmed; and

Whereas it is provided in section 13 of the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreements with the Tonkawa Indians andthe Pawnee Indians, specified in sections 11 and 12 of the same act, approved March 3, 1893, entitled "An act making appropriations forcurrent and contingent expenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations withIndian tribes for fiscal year ending June 30, 1894"--

 That the lands acquired by the agreements specified in the two preceding sections are hereby declared to be a part of the public domain. Sections 16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved from settlement for the use and benefit of public schools, as provided in section 10 relating to lands acquired from the Cherokee Nation of Indians; and the lands so acquired by the agreements specified in the two preceding sections not so reserved shall be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President at the same time and in the manner and subject to the same conditions and regulations provided in section 10 relating to the opening of the lands acquired from the Cherokee Nation of Indians; and each settler on the lands so to be opened as aforesaid shall before receiving a patent for his homestead pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $2. 50 per acre, and shall also pay interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land from the date of entry to the date of final payment at the rate of 4 per cent per annum. 

And whereas the thirteenth section of the act approved March 2, 1889, the act approved May 2, 1890, and the second proviso of section 17 andthe whole of section 18 of the act approved March 3, 1891, are referredto in the tenth section of the act approved March 3, 1893, and therebymade applicable in the disposal of the lands in the Cherokee Outlethereinbefore mentioned, the provisions of which acts, so far as theyaffect the opening to settlement and the disposal of said lands, aremore particularly set forth hereinafter in connection with the rulesand regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior for theoccupation and settlement of the lands hereby opened according to saidtenth section; and

Whereas the lands acquired by the three several agreements hereinbeforementioned have been divided into counties by the Secretary of theInterior, as required by said last-mentioned act of Congress before thesame shall be opened to settlement, and lands have been reserved forcounty-seat purposes, to be entered under sections 2387 and 2388 of theRevised Statutes of the United States, as therein required, as follows, to wit:

For County K, the southeast quarter of section 23 and the northeastquarter of section 26, township 28 north, range 2 east of the Indianmeridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, tobe designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of saidreservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by theCommissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to beadditional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other publicpurposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 

For County L, the southwest quarter of section 1 and the southeastquarter of section 2, township 25 north, range 6 west of the Indianmeridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, to be designated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey ofsaid reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued bythe Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservation to beadditional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other publicpurposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 

For County M, the south half of the northeast quarter and the north halfof the southeast quarter of section 23 and the south half of thenorthwest quarter and the north half of the southwest quarter of section24, township 27 north, range 14 west of the Indian meridian, excepting1 acre reserved for Government use for the site of a land office and4 acres to be reserved for the site of a court-house, which tracts areto be contiguous and to be designated by lot and block upon the officialplat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafterto be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; saidreservations to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 of the actof May 2, 1890. 

For County N, the south half of section 25, township 23 north, range 21west of the Indian meridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Governmentuse for the site of a land office and 4 acres to be reserved for thesite of a court-house, which tracts are to be contiguous and to bedesignated by lot and block upon the official plat of survey of saidreservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to be issued by theCommissioner of the General Land Office; said reservations to beadditional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other publicpurposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 

For County O, the southeast quarter of section 7 and the southwestquarter of section 8, township 22 north, range 6 west of the Indianmeridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Government use for the site ofa land office and 4 acres to be reserved for the site of a court-house, which tracts are to be contiguous and to be designated by lot and blockupon the official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seatpurposes hereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General LandOffice; said reservations to be additional to the reservations forparks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 

For County P, the northeast quarter of section 22 and the northwestquarter of section 23, township 21 north, range 1 west of the Indianmeridian, excepting 1 acre reserved for Government use for the site ofa land office and 4 acres reserved for the site of a court-house, whichtracts are to be contiguous and to be designated by lot and block uponthe official plat of survey of said reservation for county-seat purposeshereafter to be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office;said reservations to be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and other public purposes required to be made by section 22 ofthe act of May 2, 1890; and

For County Q, the southeast quarter of section 31, the west half of thesouthwest quarter of section 32, township 22 north, range 5 east, lot4 of section 5, and lot 1 of section 6, township 21 north, range 5 eastof the Indian meridian, excepting 4 acres reserved for the site of acourt-house, to be designated by lot and block upon the official platof survey of said reservation for county-seat purposes hereafter to beissued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; said reservationto be additional to the reservations for parks, schools, and otherpublic purposes required to be made by section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 

Whereas it is provided by act of Congress for temporary government ofOklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide betweeneach section of land in said Territory, the section lines being thecenter of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cashpayments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quartersection of land by reason of such reservation; and

Whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by saidagreements made with said nation and tribes of Indians and by the lawsrelating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement havebeen, as I hereby declare, complied with:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentionedand by other the laws of the United States and by said severalagreements, do hereby declare and make known that all the lands acquiredfrom the Cherokee Nation of Indians, the Tonkawa tribe of Indians, andthe Pawnee tribe of Indians by the three several agreements aforesaidwill at the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time) on Saturday, the 16th day of the month of September, A. D. 1893, and not before, beopened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all theconditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained insaid agreements, the statutes above specified, the laws of the UnitedStates applicable thereto, and the conditions prescribed by thisproclamation, saving and excepting lands described and identified asfollows, to wit: The lands set apart for the Osage and Kansas Indians, being a tract of country bounded on the north by the State of Kansas, onthe east by the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude, on the south andwest by the Creek country and the main channel of the Arkansas River;the lands set apart for the Confederated Otoe and Missouria tribes ofIndians, described as follows, to wit: Township 22 north, range 1 east;township 23 north, range 1 east; township 22 north, range 2 east;township 23 north, range 2 east; township 22 north, range 3 east; andthat portion of township 23 north, range 3 east, lying west of theArkansas River; and the lands set apart for the Ponca tribe of Indians, described as follows, to wit: Township 24 north, range 1 east; township25 north, range 1 east; fractional township 24 north, range 2 east;fractional township 25 north, range 2 east; fractional township 24north, range 3 east; fractional township 25 north, range 3 east;fractional township 24 north, range 4 east; fractional township 25north, range 4 east, the said fractional townships lying on the rightbank of the Arkansas River; excepting also the lands allotted to theIndians as in said agreements provided; excepting also the landsreserved by Executive orders dated April 18, 1882, and January 17, 1883(known as Camp Supply Military Reservation), described as follows, towit: Township 24 north, range 22 west; the south half of township 25north, range 22 west; and the southwest quarter of township 25 north, range 21 west; excepting also 1 acre of land in each of the reservationsfor county-seat purposes in Counties M, N, O, and P, which tracts arehereby reserved for Government use as sites for land offices, and 4acres in each reservation for county-seat purposes hereinbefore named, which tracts are hereby reserved as sites for court-houses; andexcepting also the reservations for the use of and in connection withthe Chilocco Indian Industrial School and for county-seat purposeshereinbefore described; excepting also the saline lands covered by threeleases made by the Cherokee Nation prior to March 3, 1893, known as theEastern, Middle, and Western Saline reserves, under authority of the actof Congress of August 7, 1882 (22 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 349), saidlands being described and identified as follows: The Eastern SalineReserve embracing all of section 6; lots 3 and 4 of section 4; the southhalf of the northeast quarter, the south half of the northwest quarter, the north half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 ofsection 5; and the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and lots 1and 2 of section 7, township 25 north, range 9 west. All of sections 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33; the southwestquarter, the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter, and lots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of section 5; the southwest quarter, the southwestquarter of the northwest quarter, the southwest quarter of the southeastquarter, and lot 1 of section 9; the west half of the southwest quarterof section 15; the west half, the southeast quarter, the west half ofthe northeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of the northeastquarter of section 16; the west half, the west half of the southeastquarter, and the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section22; the west half, the west half of the southeast quarter, the northeastquarter of the southeast quarter, and the southwest quarter of thenortheast quarter of section 26; the northwest quarter, the north halfof the southwest quarter, the west half of the northeast quarter, andthe northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 34; and thenorthwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 35, township 26north, range 9 west. All of section 31; the southwest quarter of thesoutheast quarter, the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter, andlot 4 of section 30; and lots 3 and 4 of section 32, township 27 north, range 9 west. All of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11; the southeastquarter, the south half of the northeast quarter, the east half of thesouthwest quarter, the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, andlots 1, 2, and 3 of section 5; the east half, the southwest quarter, andthe east half of the northwest quarter of section 8; the north half, the north half of the southwest quarter, the southwest quarter of thesouthwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarterof section 12; the northwest quarter, the northwest quarter of thenortheast quarter, the north half of the southwest quarter, and thesouthwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 14; the northhalf, the southeast quarter and the north half of the southwest quarterof section 15; and the northeast quarter and the north half of thenorthwest quarter of section 16, township 25 north, range 10 west. Allof sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, and 36; the south half of the northeast quarter, thesoutheast quarter of the northwest quarter, the southeast quarter, theeast half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, and 3 of section 4;the east half, the southwest quarter, the east half of the northwestquarter, and the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section9; the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 17; theeast half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeastquarter of section 20; the southeast quarter and the east half of thenortheast quarter of section 29; and the east half and the southeastquarter of the southwest quarter of section 32 of township 26 north, range 10 west. All of sections 22, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36; the east halfof the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarterof section 21; the southwest quarter, the west half of the southeastquarter, the south half of the northwest quarter, and lots 1 and 6 ofsection 23; the southwest quarter, the west half of the southeastquarter, the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter, the south halfof the northwest quarter, and lot 1 of section 25; the east half ofsection 28; and the east half and the southeast quarter of the southwestquarter of section 33, township 27 north, range 10 west. The MiddleSaline Reserve embracing the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter, the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, the west half of thesoutheast quarter, the east half of the southwest quarter, and lots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of section 6; and the northwest quarter of thenortheast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter, andlot 1 of section 7, township 26 north, range 18 west. The southwestquarter of the southeast quarter, the southeast quarter of the southwestquarter, and lot 7 of section 6; the west half of the northeast quarter, the east half of the northwest quarter, the west half of the southeastquarter, the east half of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4of section 7; the west half of the northeast quarter, the east half ofthe northwest quarter, the west half of the southeast quarter, the easthalf of the southwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 18;the west half of the northeast quarter, the east half of the northwestquarter, the west half of the southeast quarter, the east half of thesouthwest quarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 19; the northwestquarter of the northeast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwestquarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 of section 30; and the westhalf of the northeast quarter, the east half of the northwest quarter, the west half of the southeast quarter, the east half of the southwestquarter, and lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 of section 31, township 27 north, range 18 west. All of sections 1 to 6, inclusive; the north half of thenorth half of sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; and the north half of thenortheast quarter, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter, andlot 1 of section 7, township 26 north, range 19 west. All of sections 7to 36, inclusive; the south half of the south half of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the south half of the southeast quarter, the southeast ofthe southwest quarter, and lot 7 of section 6, township 27 north, range19 west. All of sections 1 and 2; the south half of the northeastquarter, the southeast quarter, and lots 1 and 2 of section 3; the northhalf of the northeast quarter of section 10; and the north half of thenorth half of sections 11 and 12, township 26 north, range 20 west. Allof sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36; the south halfof the southeast quarter and lot 7 of section 1; the southwest quarterof the southwest quarter and lot 6 of section 2; the south half of thesoutheast quarter of section 3; and the east half of sections 10, 15, 22, 27, and 34, township 27 north, range 20 west. And the Western SalineReserve embracing all of sections 18, 19, 30, and 31, township 29 north, range 20 west; and all of sections 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 35, and 36, township 29 north, range 21 west. Excepting also that section 13 in eachtownship, which has not been otherwise reserved or disposed of, ishereby reserved for university, agricultural-college, and normal-schoolpurposes, subject to the action of Congress; excepting also that section33 in each township, which has not been otherwise reserved or disposedof, is hereby reserved for public buildings; excepting also sections16 and 36 in each township, which are reserved by law for the use andbenefit of the public schools; excepting also all selections andallotments made under the law and the agreements herein referred to, the lands covered by said selections and allotments to be particularlydescribed and identified; said descriptions to be furnished by theCommissioner of the General Land Office and posted in the several boothshereinafter referred to as those where certain preliminary declarationsare to be made prior to the day named in this proclamation as that whenthe strip will be open to settlement. 

Said lands so to be opened as herein proclaimed shall be entered uponand occupied only in the manner and under the provisions following, towit:

A strip of land 100 feet in width around and immediately within theouter boundaries of the entire tract of country to be opened tosettlement under this proclamation is hereby temporarily set apart forthe following purposes and uses, viz:

Said strip, the inner boundary of which shall be 100 feet from theexterior boundary of the country known as the Cherokee Outlet, shall beopen to occupancy in advance of the day and hour named for the openingof said country by persons expecting and intending to make settlementpursuant to this proclamation. Such occupancy shall not be regarded astrespass or in violation of this proclamation or of the law under whichit is made, nor shall any settlement rights be gained thereby. 

The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall, under the directionof the Secretary of the Interior, establish on said 100-foot stripbooths, to be located as follows: One in township 29 north, range 2east; one in township 29 north, range 2 west; one in township 29 north, range 4 west; one in township 29 north, range 8 west; one in township 29north, range 12 west; one in township 20 north, range 3 east; one intownship 20 north, range 2 west; one in township 20 north, range 7 west;and one in township 20 north, range 26 west; and shall place in chargethereof three officers to each booth, who shall be detailed from theGeneral Land Office. Said booths shall be open for the transaction ofbusiness on and after Monday, the 11th day of the month of September, A. D. 1893, from 7 a. M. To 12 m. And 1 p. M. To 6 p. M. Each business dayuntil the same shall be discontinued by the Secretary of the Interior, who is hereby authorized to discontinue the same at his discretion. Eachparty desiring to enter upon and occupy as a homestead any of the landshereby opened to settlement will be required to first appear at one ofthe before-mentioned booths and make a declaration in writing, to besigned by the party in the presence of one of the officers in chargethereof, which shall be certified by such officer, according to the formhereto attached and made a part hereof marked A, showing his or herqualifications to make homestead entry for said lands, whereupon acertificate will be issued by the officers in charge of the booth to theparty making the declaration, which shall be of the form hereto attachedand made a part hereof marked D. 

Where a party desires to file a soldier's declaratory statement inperson, he will be required to make a declaration which shall be of theform hereto attached and made a part hereof marked B, the same to bemade and subscribed before one of the officers in charge of the boothand certified by such officer, independently of the affidavit (Form4-546) to be filed when he presents the certificate of Form D, theregiven him, to the district officers. Where a party desires to file adeclaratory statement through an agent, it will be necessary for himpreviously to make the affidavit ordinarily required (Form 4-545) beforesome officer authorized to administer oaths and place the same in thehands of the agent, who, before being permitted to enter upon the landsto be opened in said outlet for the purpose of making the desiredfiling, will be required to appear before the officers in charge ofsome one of the booths, to present the said affidavit of the partyauthorizing him to act as such agent, and to make a declaration inwriting, to be subscribed by him in the presence of one of suchofficers, which shall be certified by such officer, according to theform hereto attached and made a part hereof marked C, whereupon acertificate of Form D will be given him by said officer. The agentshould be provided with affidavits of Form 4-545 made in duplicate--onefor presentation to the officers in charge of the booth and the otherfor presentation to the district officers when formal filing is to bemade. 

Each party desiring to enter upon said lands for the purpose of settlingupon a town lot will be required to first appear at one of thebefore-mentioned booths and make a declaration in writing, to be signedby the party in the presence of one of the officers in charge thereof, which shall be certified by such officer, according to the form heretoattached and made a part hereof marked E, whereupon a certificate willbe issued by the officers in charge of the booth to the party making thedeclaration, which shall be of the form hereto attached and made a parthereof marked F. 

The said declarations made before the officers in charge shall be givenconsecutive numbers, beginning at No. 1 at each booth, and thecertificate issued to the party making the declaration shall be giventhe same number as is given the declaration. The declaration shall becarefully preserved by the officers in charge of the booths, and whenthe booths are discontinued said declarations shall be transmitted, together with the duplicate affidavits (Form 4-545) hereinbeforerequired to be presented in case of agents proposing to act for soldiersin filing declaratory statements, to the General Land Office for filingas a part of the records pertaining to the disposal of said lands. 

The certificate will be evidence only that the party named thereinis permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by thisproclamation at the time specified herein, and the certificate of Form Dmust be surrendered when application to enter or file is presented tothe district officers, and the party's right to make a filing, homesteadentry, or settlement shall be passed upon by the district land officersat the proper time and in the usual manner. The holder of suchcertificate will be required when he makes his homestead affidavit, or, if a soldier or soldier's agent, when he files a declaratory statementat the district office, to allege under oath before the officers takingsuch homestead affidavit or to whom said declaratory statement ispresented for filing that all the statements contained in thedeclaration made by him, upon which said certificate is based, are truein every particular, such oath to be added to affidavit of Form 4-102, as shown on form hereto attached and made a part hereof marked 102_d_. 

After the hour and day hereinbefore named when said lands will beopened to settlement all parties holding such certificates (Form D or F)will be permitted to occupy or enter upon the lands so opened, andparties holding a certificate of Form D may initiate a homestead claim, either by settlement upon the land or by entry or filing at the properdistrict office; but no person not holding any such certificate shall bepermitted to occupy or enter upon any of said lands until after thebooths shall have been discontinued by direction of the Secretary of theInterior. Until then the officers of the United States are expresslycharged to permit no party without a certificate to occupy or enter uponany of said lands. 

The following rules and regulations have been prescribed by theSecretary of the Interior, under the direction of the President, asprovided by section 10 of said act of March 3, 1893, for the occupationand settlement of the lands hereby opened, to wit:

The thirteenth section of the act approved March 2, 1889, the actapproved May 2, 1890, the second proviso of section 17 and the whole ofsection 18 of the act approved March 3, 1891, are by section 10 of theact of March 3, 1893, made applicable in disposing of the lands undersaid section 10, and said lands are thereby rendered subject to disposalunder the homestead and town-site laws only, with certain modifications, which laws as so modified contain provisions substantially as follows:

1. Any party will be entitled to initiate a homestead claim to a tractof said lands who is over 21 years of age or the head of a family; whois a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention tobecome such; who has not exhausted his homestead right either byperfecting a homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any law, excepting what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead lawcontained in section 2301 of the United States Revised Statutes, or bymaking or commuting a homestead entry since March 2, 1889; who has notentered since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United Statesor filed upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and notmineral which with the tracts sought to be entered in any case wouldmake more than 320 acres; who is not the owner in fee simple of 160acres of land in any State or Territory, and who has not entered upon oroccupied the lands hereby opened in violation of this the President'sproclamation opening the same to settlement and entry. (See section2289, U. S. Revised Statutes; act of March 2, 1889, 25 U. S. Statutes atLarge, p. 854; section 13 of the act of March 2, 1889, 25 U. S. Statutesat Large, p. 1005; act of August 30, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 391; section 20, act of May 2, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 91, and section 10, act of March 3, 1893, 27 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 640. )

2. Each entry shall be in a compact body, according to the rectangularsubdivisions of the public surveys, and in a square form, as nearly asreasonably practicable consistently with such surveys; and no personshall be permitted to enter more than one quarter section in quantity ofsaid lands. (See section 13, act of March 2, 1889, 25 U. S. Statutes atLarge, p. 1005. )

3. Parties who own and reside upon land (not acquired by them under thehomestead law) not amounting in quantity to a quarter section may, ifotherwise qualified, enter other land lying contiguous to their own toan amount which shall not with the land already owned by them exceed inthe aggregate 160 acres. (See section 2289, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

4. Any party who has made a homestead entry prior to March 2, 1889, forless than one quarter section of land and who still owns and occupiesthe land so entered may, if otherwise qualified, enter an additionaltract of land lying contiguous to the land embraced in the originalentry, which shall not with the land first entered exceed in theaggregate 160 acres; but such additional entry will not be permitted, orif permitted will be canceled, if the original entry should fail for anyreason prior to patent or should appear to be illegal or fraudulent. Thefinal proof of residence and cultivation made on the original entry, together with the payment of the prescribed price for the land, will besufficient to entitle the party to a final certificate for the land soentered without further proof. (See section 5 of the act of March 2, 1889, 25 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 854. )

5. Parties who have complied with the conditions of the law with regardto a homestead entry for less than 160 acres of land made prior to March2, 1889, and have had the final papers issued therefor, may, ifotherwise qualified, make an additional entry, by legal subdivisions, ofso much land as added to the quantity previously so entered shall notexceed 160 acres. Parties making entry under the provisions set forth inthis paragraph will be required to reside upon and cultivate the landembraced therein for the prescribed period and to submit proof ofresidence and cultivation of a like character with that required inordinary homestead entries before the issuance of a final certificate. (See section 6, act of March 2, 1889, 25 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 854. )

6. Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less thanninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the War ofthe Rebellion and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal tothe Government, or, in case of his death, his widow, or, in case of herdeath or remarriage, his minor orphan children, by a guardian dulyappointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, may, either in person or by agent, file a declaratory statement for atract of land and have six months thereafter within which to make actualentry and commence residence and improvements upon the land. (Seesections 2304, 2307, and 2309, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

7. Every person entitled under the preceding paragraph to enter ahomestead who, or whose deceased husband or father, in case of the widowor minor children, may have prior to June 22, 1874, entered under thehomestead laws a quantity of land less than 160 acres may, if otherwisequalified, enter so much land as when added to the quantity previouslyentered shall not exceed 160 acres; but the party must make affidavitthat the entry is made for actual settlement and cultivation, and theproof of such settlement and cultivation prescribed by existinghomestead laws and regulations thereunder will be required to beproduced before the issue of final certificate. (See section 2306, U. S. Revised Statutes, and section 18 of the act of May 2, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 90. )

8. Parties may initiate claims under the homestead law either bysettlement on the land or by entry at the district office. In the formercase the party will have three months after settlement within which tofile his application for the tract at the district office; in the lattercase the party will have six months after entry at that office withinwhich to establish residence and begin improvements upon the land. (Seesections 2290 and 2297, U. S. Revised Statutes, and section 3 of the actof May 14, 1880, 21 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 140. )

9. The homestead affidavits required to be filed with the applicationmust be executed before the register or receiver of the proper districtland office (see section 2290, U. S. Revised Statutes) or before anyother officer who may be found duly qualified at the time to administersuch oaths, according to the provisions of the act of Congress of May26, 1890 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 121). 

10. Parties applying to make homestead entry will be required to tenderwith the application the legal fee and commissions, which are asfollows: For an entry of over 80 acres a fee of $10, and for an entry of80 acres or less a fee of $5, and in both cases, in addition, commissions of 2 per cent upon the Government price of the land, computed at the rate of $1. 25 per acre, the ordinary minimum price ofpublic lands under the general provisions of section 2357, United StatesRevised Statutes. (See sections 2238 and 2290, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

11. Homestead applicants appearing in great number at the local officeto make entry at the time of opening will be required to form in line, in order that their applications may be presented and acted upon inregular order. 

12. Soldiers' declaratory statements can only be made by the partiesentitled or by their agents in person, and will not be received if sentby mail. A party acting as agent and appearing in line, as contemplatedunder the eleventh paragraph, will be allowed to make one entry orfiling in his individual character, if he so desires, and to file onedeclaratory statement in his representative character as agent, if suchhe shall be, and thereupon he will be required to step out of line, giving place to the next person in order, and, if he desires to make anyother filings, to take his place at the end of the line and await hisproper turn before doing so, and thus to proceed in order until all thefilings desired by him shall be made. 

13. Section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, providingfor commutation of homestead entries, is not applicable to said lands. (See section 18 of the act of May 2, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 90. )

14. Proof of five years' residence, cultivation, and improvement and thepayment prescribed by the statute, as hereinbefore mentioned, must bemade before a party will be entitled to a patent under the homesteadlaw, and such proof is required to be made within seven years from thedate of the entry. Commissions equal to 2 per cent upon the Governmentprice for the land, computed at $1. 25 per acre, under section 2357, United States Revised Statutes, must also be tendered with the finalproof. Interest at 4 per cent per annum on the purchase price of theland must be paid from the date of the entry to date of final payment ofpurchase money. (See sections 2238 and 2291, U. S. Revised Statutes, andsections 10 and 13 of the act of March 3, 1893, 27 U. S. Statutes atLarge, p. 640. )

15. The parties named in paragraph 6 of these regulations are entitledto have the term of service in the Army or Navy under which the claim ismade, not exceeding four years, deducted from the period of five years'residence or cultivation required as stated in the preceding paragraph, or, if the party was discharged from service on account of wounds ordisabilities incurred in the line of duty, the whole term of enlistment, not exceeding four years, may be deducted. (See section 2305, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

16. Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, the widow, or, in case of her death, the heirs or devisee, may continuesettlement or cultivation and obtain title upon requisite proof at theproper time. If the widow proves up, title will pass to her; if she diesbefore proving up and the heirs or devisee make the proof, the titlewill vest in them, respectively. (See section 2291, U. S. RevisedStatutes. )

17. Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead maybe sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaserwill receive title from the United States. (See section 2292, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

18. In case of the death of a person after having entered a homesteadthe failure of the widow, children, or devisee of the deceased tofulfill the demands of the letter of the law as to residence on thelands will not necessarily subject the entry to forfeiture on the groundof abandonment. If the land is cultivated in good faith, the law will beconsidered as having been substantially complied with. 

19. Town-site claims maybe initiated upon said lands under the statutesby two methods, which are separate and distinct in character. Theregulations under the first method are hereinafter set forth inparagraphs 20, 21, and 22, and under the second method in paragraphs 23to 28, inclusive. Provision is further made for town-site entries incases where lands entered under the homestead law are required fortown-site purposes, as set forth in paragraph 30. 

20. Parties having founded or who desire to found a city or town on thepublic lands must file with the recorder of the county in which land issituate a plat thereof, describing the exterior boundaries of the landaccording to the lines of public surveys. Such plat must state the nameof the city or town, exhibit the streets, squares, blocks, lots, andalleys, and specify the size of the same, with measurements and area ofeach municipal subdivision the lots in which shall not exceed 4, 200square feet, with a statement of the extent and general character of theimprovements. The plat and statement must be verified by the oath of theparty, acting for and in behalf of the occupants and inhabitants of thetown or city. Within one month after filing the plat with the recorderof the county a verified copy of said plat and statement must be sent tothe General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two witnessesthat such town or city has been established in good faith, and a similarmap and statement must be filed with the register and receiver of theproper district office. Thereafter the President may cause the lotsembraced within the limits of such city or town to be offered at publicsale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum of $10 for each lot;and such lots as may not be disposed of at public sale shall thereafterbe liable to private entry at such minimum or at such reasonableincrease or diminution thereafter as the Secretary of the Interior mayorder from time to time, after at least three months' notice, in viewof the increase or decrease in the value of the municipal property. Anyactual settler upon any lot and upon any additional lot upon which hemay have substantial improvements shall be entitled to prove up andpurchase the same as a preemption, at such minimum, at any time beforethe day fixed for the public sale. (See section 2382, U. S. RevisedStatutes. )

21. In case the parties interested shall fail or refuse within twelvemonths after founding a city or town to file in the General Land Officea transcript map, with the statement and testimony, as required inparagraph 20, the Secretary of the Interior may cause a survey and platto be made of said city or town, and thereafter the lots will be sold atan increase of 50 per cent on the minimum price of $10 per lot. (Seesection 2384, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

22. When lots vary in size from the limitation of 4, 200 square feet andthe lots, buildings, and improvements cover an area greater than 640acres, such variance as to size of lots or excess in area will prove nobar to entry, but the price of the lots may be increased to suchreasonable amount as the Secretary of the Interior may by ruleestablish. (See section 2385, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

23. Under the second method lands actually settled upon and occupied asa town site, and therefore not subject to entry under the homesteadlaws, may be entered as a town site at the proper district land office. (See section 2387, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

24. If the town is incorporated, the entry may be made by the corporateauthorities thereof through the mayor or other principal officer dulyauthorized so to do. If the town is not incorporated, the entry may bemade by the judge of the county court for the county in which said townis situated. In either case the entry must be made in trust for the useand benefit of the occupants thereof according to their respectiveinterests. The execution of such trust as to the disposal of lots andthe proceeds of sales is to be conducted under regulations prescribed bythe territorial laws. Acts of trustees not in accordance with suchregulations are void. (See sections 2387 and 2391, U. S. RevisedStatutes. )

25. The officer authorized to enter a town site may make entry at once, or he may initiate an entry by filing a declaratory statement of thepurpose of the inhabitants to make a town-site entry of the landdescribed. The entry or declaratory statement shall include only suchland as is actually occupied by the town and the title to which is inthe United States, and its exterior limits must conform to the legalsubdivisions of the public lands. (See sections 2388 and 2389, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

26. The amount of land that may be entered under this method isproportionate to the number of inhabitants. One hundred and less than200 inhabitants may enter not to exceed 320 acres; 200 and less than1, 000 inhabitants may enter not to exceed 640 acres; and where theinhabitants number 1, 000 and over an amount not to exceed 1, 280 acresmay be entered, and for each additional 1, 000 inhabitants, not to exceed5, 000 in all, a further amount of 320 acres may be allowed. When thenumber of inhabitants of a town is less than 100, the town site shall berestricted to the land actually occupied for town purposes by legalsubdivisions. (See section 2389, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

27. Where an entry is made of less than the maximum quantity of landallowed for town-site purposes, additional entries may be made ofcontiguous tracts occupied for town purposes which when added to theprevious entry or entries will not exceed 2, 560 acres; but no additionalentry can be allowed which will make the total area exceed the area towhich the town may be entitled by virtue of its population at date ofadditional entry. (See section 4 of the act of March 3, 1877, 19 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 392. )

28. The land must be paid for at the Government price per acre, andproof must be furnished relating, first, to municipal occupation of theland; second, number of inhabitants; third, extent and value of townimprovements; fourth, date when land was first used for town-sitepurposes; fifth, official character and authority of officer makingentry; sixth, if an incorporated town, proof of incorporation, whichshould be a certified copy of the act of incorporation, and, seventh, that a majority of the occupants or owners of the lots within the towndesire that such action be taken. Thirty days' publication of notice ofintention to make proof must be made and proof of publication furnished. (See section 2387, U. S. Revised Statutes. )

29. All surveys for town sites on said lands shall contain reservationsfor parks (of substantially equal area if more than one park) and forschools and other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not lessthan 10 nor more than 20 acres, and patents for such reservations, to bemaintained for such purposes, will be issued to the towns respectivelywhen organized as municipalities. (See section 22, act of May 2, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 92. )

30. In case any of said lands which may be entered under the homesteadlaws by a person who is entitled to perfect his title thereto under suchlaws are required for town-site purposes, the entryman may apply tothe Secretary of the Interior to purchase the lands embraced in saidhomestead, or any part thereof not less than a legal subdivision, fortown-site purposes. The party must file in the district office withhis application a plat of the proposed town site and evidence of hisqualifications to perfect title under the homestead law and of hiscompliance with all the requirements of the law and the instructionsthereunder, and must deposit with the Secretary of the Interior the sumof $10 per acre for all the lands embraced in such town site, except thelands to be donated and maintained for public purposes as mentioned inthe preceding paragraph. (See section 22, act of May 2, 1890, 26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 92. )

Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that noperson shall be permitted to occupy or enter upon any of the landsherein referred to except in the manner prescribed by this proclamation, and any person otherwise occupying or entering upon any of said landsshall forfeit all right to acquire any of said lands, and that theofficers of the United States will be required to enforce thisprovision. 

And further notice is hereby given that four land districts have beenestablished in Oklahoma Territory, with boundaries as follows:

The Perry district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at themiddle of the main channel of the Arkansas River where the same isintersected by the northern boundary of Oklahoma Territory; thence westto the northwest corner of township 29 north, range 2 west of the Indianmeridian; thence south on the range line between ranges 2 and 3 west tothe southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north, range 2west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section 36, township 20 north, range 4 east; thence south on the range line betweenranges 4 and 5 east to the middle of the main channel of the CimarronRiver; thence down said river, in the middle of the main channelthereof, to the western boundary of the Creek country; thence north tothe northwest corner of the Creek country; thence east on the northernboundary of said Creek country to the middle of the main channel of theArkansas River; thence up said river, in the middle of the main channelthereof, to the place of beginning; the local land, office of which willbe located at the town of Perry, in County P. 

The Enid district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at thenortheast corner of township 29 north, range 3 west of the Indianmeridian; thence west to the northwest corner of township 29 north, range 8 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 8 and 9 westto the southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north, range8 west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section 36, township 20 north, range 3 west; thence north on the range line betweenranges 2 and 3 west to the place of beginning; the local land office ofwhich will be located at the town of Enid, in County O. 

The Alva district, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at thenortheast corner of township 29 north, range 9 west of the Indianmeridian; thence west to the northwest corner of township 29 north, range 16 west; thence south on the range line between ranges 16 and 17west to the southwest corner of lot 3 of section 31, township 20 north, range 16 west; thence east to the southeast corner of lot 4 of section36, township 20 north, range 9 west; thence north on the range linebetween ranges 8 and 9 west to the place of beginning; the local landoffice of which will be located at the town of Alva, in County M. 

The Woodward land district, bounded and described as follows: Beginningat the northeast corner of township 29 north, range 17 west of theIndian meridian; thence west to the north west corner of township 29north, range 26 west; thence south to the southwest corner of lot 3 ofsection 32, township 20 north, range 26 west; thence east to thesoutheast corner of lot 4 of section 36, township 20 north, range 17west; thence north on the range line between ranges 16 and 17 west tothe place of beginning; the local land office of which will be locatedat the town of Woodward, in County N. 

And further notice is hereby given that the line of 97-1/2° westlongitude, named herein for the purpose of disposing of the land herebyopened to settlement, is held to fall on the west line of sections 2, 11, 14, 23, 26, and 35 of the townships in range 3 west of the Indianmeridian, and the line of 98-1/2° of west longitude is held to fall onthe line running due north and south through the centers of sections 4, 9, 16, 21, 28, and 33 of the townships in range 12 west of the Indianmeridian, and said lines have been so laid down upon the township platson file in the General Land Office. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of August, A. D. 1893, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

A. 

 DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING A HOMESTEAD ENTRY. 

 No. ----. 

 BOOTH IN T. ---- N. , R. ----, ----, _1893_. 

 I, ----, of ----, being desirous of occupying or entering upon the lands opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, for the purpose of making a homestead entry, do solemnly declare that I am over 21 years of age or the head of a family; that I am a citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to become such); that I have not perfected a homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any law except what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law contained in section 2301, Revised Statutes, nor have I made or commuted a homestead entry since March 2, 1889;[*] ---- that I have not entered since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United States or filed upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and not mineral which with the tracts now desired would make more than 320 acres; that I am not the owner in fee simple of 160 acres of land in any State or Territory; that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I enter upon or occupy, the lands to be opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of the requirements of said proclamation; that I desire to make entry for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation; that I will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all the requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation necessary to acquire title to the land I may select; that I am not acting as agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in entering upon said lands, nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land I may enter, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon; that I do not apply to enter upon said lands for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for myself; and that I have not, directly or indirectly, made and will not make any agreement or contract in any way or manner with any person or persons, corporation, or syndicate whatsoever by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except myself. 

 ----------. 

 I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before me this ---- day of ----, 1893. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

 * NOTE. --If the party has made a homestead entry since March 2, 1889, but has failed or is unable to perfect title to the land covered thereby because of a valid adverse claim or other invalidity existing at the date of its inception, strike out the words "made or" and insert in the blank space _that I have made a homestead entry since March 2, 1889, but have failed or am unable to perfect title to the land covered thereby because of a valid adverse claim or other invalidity existing at the date of its inception_. 

B. 

 DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILING A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT IN PERSON. 

 No. ----. 

 BOOTH IN T. ---- N. , R. ----, ----, _1893_. 

 I, ----, of ---- County and State or Territory of ----, do solemnly declare that I served for a period of ---- in the Army of the United States during the War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, as shown by a statement of such service herewith, and that I have remained loyal to the Government; that I have not perfected a homestead entry for 160 acres of land under any law except what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law contained in section 2301, Revised Statutes, nor have I filed a declaratory statement under sections 2304 and 2309 of the Revised Statutes or made or commuted a homestead entry since March 2, 1889;[*] ---- that I have not entered since August 30, 1890, under the land laws of the United States or filed upon a quantity of land agricultural in character and not mineral which with the tracts now desired would make more than 320 acres; that I am not the owner in fee simple of 160 acres of land in any State or Territory; that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I enter upon or occupy, the lands to be opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of said proclamation; that I intend to file a soldier's declaratory statement upon said lands, which location will be made for my exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of my actual settlement and cultivation, and not, either directly or indirectly, for the use and benefit of any other person. 

 -------- ----------. 

 I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before me this ------ day of --------, 1893. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

 * NOTE. --If the party has made an entry or filing since March 2, 1889, to which he is unable to perfect title because of a valid adverse claim or other invalidity existing at the date of its inception, strike out the words "filed a declaratory statement under sections 2304 and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, or made or" and insert in the blank space _that I have made an entry or filing since March 2, 1889, but have failed or am unable to perfect title to the land covered thereby because of a valid adverse claim or other invalidity existing at the date of its inception_. 

C. 

 DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, PREPARATORY TO ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILING A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT AS AGENT. 

 No. ------. 

 BOOTH IN T. ------- N. , R. -------, -------, _1893_. 

 I, -------- of --------, desiring to enter upon the Cherokee Outlet for the purpose of filing a soldier's declaratory statement under sections 2304 and 2309, United States Revised Statutes, as agent of --------, do hereby declare that I have no interest or authority in the matter, present or prospective, beyond the filing of such declaratory statement as the true and lawful attorney of the said -------- as provided by said sections 2304 and 2309. 

 -------- ----------. 

 I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before me this ----- day of --------, 1893. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

D. 

 CERTIFICATE THAT MUST BE HELD BY PARTY DESIRING TO OCCUPY OR TO ENTER UPON THE LANDS OPENED TO SETTLEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING A HOMESTEAD ENTRY OR FILING A SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT. 

 No. -----. 

 BOOTH IN T. ------- N. , R. -------, -------, _1893_. 

 This certifies that -------- has this day made the declaration before me required by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, and he is therefore permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by said proclamation at the time named therein for the purpose of making a homestead entry or filing a soldier's declaratory statement. 

 It is agreed and understood that this certificate will not prevent the district land officers from passing upon the holder's qualifications to enter or file for any of said lands at the proper time and in the usual manner, and that the holder will be required when he makes his homestead affidavit, or, if a soldier or a soldier's agent, when he files a declaratory statement at the district office, to allege under oath before the officer taking such homestead affidavit or to whom said declaratory statement is presented for filing that all of the statements contained in the declaration made by him, upon which this certificate is based, are true in every particular. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

 This certificate is not transferable. The holder will display the certificate, if demanded, after locating on claim. 

E. 

 DECLARATION REQUIRED BY PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, PREPARATORY TO OCCUPYING OR ENTERING UPON THE LANDS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTLING UPON A TOWN LOT. 

 No. ----. 

 BOOTH IN T. ----N. , R. ----, ----, _1893_. 

 I, ----, of ----, being desirous of occupying or entering upon lands opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, do solemnly declare that I have not entered upon or occupied, nor will I enter upon or occupy, any of the lands to be opened to settlement by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, in violation of the requirements of said proclamation, and that I desire to go in upon said lands for the purpose of settling upon a town lot. 

 -------- --------. 

 I certify that the foregoing declaration was made and subscribed before me this ---- day of ----, 1893. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

F. 

 CERTIFICATE THAT MUST BE HELD BY PARTY DESIRING TO OCCUPY OR ENTER UPON THE LANDS OPENED TO SETTLEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION OF AUGUST 19, 1893, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SETTLING UPON A TOWN LOT. 

 No. ----. 

 BOOTH IN T. ----N. , R. ----, ----, _1893_. 

 This certifies that ---- has this day made the declaration before me required by the President's proclamation of August 19, 1893, and he is therefore permitted to go in upon the lands opened to settlement by said proclamation at the time named therein for the purpose of settling upon a town lot. 

 -------- ----------, _Officer in Charge_. 

 This certificate is not transferable. The holder will display the certificate, if demanded, after locating on claim. 

4-102d. 

 AFFIDAVIT. 

 LAND OFFICE AT --------, --------, 1893. 

 I, ----, of ----, applying to enter (or file for) a homestead, do solemnly swear that I did not enter upon and occupy any portion of the lands described and declared open to entry in the President's proclamation dated August 19, 1893, prior to 12 o'clock noon of September 16, 1893; also that all of the statements contained in a certain declaration made by me as foundation for obtaining permission to enter upon the Cherokee Outlet in pursuance of requirements of the President's proclamation opening said outlet to settlement are true in every particular. 

 -------- --------. 

 Sworn to and subscribed before me this ---- day of ----, 189--. 

 -------- --------. 

 NOTE. --This affidavit must be made before the register or receiver of the proper district land office or before some officer authorized to administer oaths and using a seal. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Oregon within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Oregon and particularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the meander corner at the intersection of the range linebetween ranges six (6) and seven (7) east, township two (2) north, Willamette meridian, Oregon, with the mean high-water mark on the southbank of the Columbia River in said State; thence northeasterly alongsaid mean high-water mark to its intersection with the township linebetween townships two (2) and three (3) north; thence easterly alongsaid township line to the northeast corner of township two (2) north, range eight (8) east; thence southerly along the range line betweenranges eight (8) and nine (9) east to the southwest corner of townshiptwo (2) north, range nine (9) east; thence westerly along the townshipline between townships one (1) and two (2) north to the northwest cornerof township one (1) north, range nine (9) east; thence southerly alongthe range line between ranges eight (8) and nine (9) east to thesouthwest corner of township one (1) north, range nine (9) east; thenceeasterly along the base line to the northeast corner of township one(1) south, range ten (10) east; thence southerly along the range linebetween ranges ten (10) and eleven (11) east to the southeast corner oftownship four (4) south, range ten (10) east; thence westerly along thetownship line between townships four (4) and five (5) south to thesouthwest corner of township four (4) south, range nine (9) east; thencesoutherly along the west boundary of township five (5) south, range nine(9) east, to its intersection with the west boundary of the Warm SpringsIndian Reservation; thence southwesterly along said Indian-reservationboundary to the southwest corner of said reservation; thencesoutheasterly along the south boundary of said Indian reservation to apoint on the north line of section three (3), township twelve (12)south, range nine (9) east, where said boundary crosses the townshipline between townships eleven (11) and twelve (12) south, range nine (9)east; thence easterly to the northeast corner of township twelve (12)south, range nine (9) east; thence southerly along the range linebetween ranges nine (9) and ten (10) east to the southeast corner oftownship thirteen (13) south, range nine (9) east; thence westerly alongthe third (3d) standard parallel south to the northeast corner oftownship fourteen (14) south, range nine (9) east; thence southerlyalong the range line between ranges nine (9) and ten (10) east to thesoutheast corner of township fifteen (15) south, range nine (9) east;thence easterly along the third (3d) standard parallel south to thenortheast corner of township sixteen (16) south, range nine (9) east;thence southerly along the range line between ranges nine (9) and ten(10) east to the southeast corner of township twenty (20) south, rangenine (9) east; thence easterly along the fourth (4th) standard parallelsouth to the northeast corner of township twenty-one (21) south, rangenine (9) east; thence southerly along the range line between ranges nine(9) and ten (10) east to the southeast corner of township twenty-three(23) south, range nine (9) east; thence westerly along the township linebetween townships twenty-three (23) and twenty-four (24) south to thesoutheast corner of township twenty-three (23) south, range six (6)east; thence southerly along the range line between ranges six (6) andseven (7) east to the southwest corner of township twenty-five (25)south, range seven (7) east; thence westerly along the fifth (5th)standard parallel south to the point for the northwest corner oftownship twenty-six (26) south, range seven (7) east; thence southerlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed west boundaries of townshipstwenty-six (26), twenty-seven (27), twenty-eight (28), twenty-nine (29), and thirty (30) south to the southwest corner of township thirty (30)south, range seven (7) east; thence westerly along the unsurveyed sixth(6th) standard parallel south to the point for the northwest corner oftownship thirty-one (31) south, range seven and one-half (7-1/2) east;thence southerly along the surveyed and unsurveyed west boundaries oftownships thirty-one (31), thirty-two (32), and thirty-three (33) south, range seven and one-half (7-1/2) east, to the southwest corner oftownship thirty-three (33) south, range seven and one-half (7-1/2) east;thence easterly along the township line between townships thirty-three(33) and thirty-four (34) south to the northeast corner of townshipthirty-four (34) south, range six (6) east; thence southerly along theeast boundaries of townships thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35)south, range six (6) east, to the point of intersection of the eastboundary of township thirty-five (35) south, range six (6) east, withthe west shore of Upper Klamath Lake; thence along said shore of saidlake to its intersection with the range line between ranges six (6) andseven (7) east in township thirty-six (36) south; thence southerly alongthe range line between ranges six (6) and seven (7) east to thesoutheast corner of township thirty-seven (37) south, range six (6)east; thence westerly along the township line between townshipsthirty-seven (37) and thirty-eight (38) south to the southwest corner oftownship thirty-seven (37) south, range four (4) east; thence northerlyalong the range line between ranges three (3) and four (4) east to thenorthwest corner of township thirty-six (36) south, range four (4) east;thence easterly along the eighth (8th) standard parallel south to thesouthwest corner of township thirty-five (35) south, range four (4)east; thence northerly along the range line between ranges three (3) andfour (4) east to the southwest corner of township thirty-one (31) south, range four (4) east; thence westerly along the township line betweentownships thirty-one (31) and thirty-two (32) south to the southwestcorner of township thirty-one (31) south, range one (1) east; thencenortherly along the surveyed and unsurveyed Willamette meridian to thenorthwest corner, of township twenty (20) south, range one (1) east;thence easterly along the township line between townships nineteen (19)and twenty (20) south to the northeast corner of township twenty (20)south, range one (1) east; thence northerly along the range line betweenranges one (1) and two (2) east to the northwest corner of townshipeighteen (18) south, range two (2) east; thence easterly along thetownship line between townships seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) southto the southeast corner of township seventeen (17) south, range two (2)east; thence northerly along the range line between ranges two (2) andthree (3) east to the southwest corner of township seventeen (17) south, range three (3) east; thence easterly along the surveyed and unsurveyedtownship line between townships seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) southto the point for the southeast corner of township seventeen (17) south, range four (4) east; thence northerly along the surveyed and unsurveyedrange line between ranges four (4) and five (5) east, subject to theproper easterly or westerly offsets on the third (3d), second (2d), andfirst (1st) standard parallels south, to the northwest corner oftownship five (5) south, range five (5) east; thence easterly along thetownship line between townships four (4) and five (5) south to thesoutheast corner of township four (4) south, range six (6) east; thencenortherly along the range line between ranges six (6) and seven (7) eastto the northwest corner of township four (4) south, range seven (7)east; thence easterly along the township line between townships three(3) and four (4) south to the southwest corner of section thirty-four(34), township three (3) south, range seven (7) east; thence northerlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed section line between sectionsthirty-three (33) and thirty-four (34), twenty-seven (27) andtwenty-eight (28), twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22), fifteen (15) andsixteen (16), nine (9) and ten (10), and three (3) and four (4) to thenorthwest corner of section three (3) of said township and range; thenceeasterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed township line betweentownships two (2) and three (3) south to the point for the southeastcorner of township two (2) south, range eight (8) east; thence northerlyalong the unsurveyed range line between ranges eight (8) and nine (9)east to the southeast corner of township one (1) south, range eight (8)east; thence westerly along the township line between townships one (1)and two (2) south to the southeast corner of section thirty-four (34), township one (1) south, range eight (8) east; thence northerly along thesection line between sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five (35), twenty-six (26) and twenty-seven (27), and twenty-two (22) andtwenty-three (23) to the northeast corner of section twenty-two (22);thence westerly along the section line between sections fifteen (15) andtwenty-two (22) to the southeast corner of section sixteen (16); thencenortherly on the section line between sections fifteen (15) and sixteen(16) to the point for the northeast corner of section sixteen (16);thence westerly along the section line between sections nine (9) andsixteen (16) to the southeast corner of section eight (8); thencenortherly along the section line between sections eight (8) and nine (9)and four (4) and five (5) to the northwest corner of section four (4), township one (1) south, range eight (8) east; thence easterly along thebase line to the southeast corner of section thirty-three (33), townshipone (1) north, range eight (8) east; thence along the unsurveyed sectionlines northerly to the point for the northeast corner of sectionthirty-three (33), westerly to the point for the northeast corner ofsection thirty-two (32), northerly to the point for the northeast cornerof section eight (8), westerly to the point for the southwest corner ofsection six (6); thence northerly along the unsurveyed range linebetween ranges seven (7) and eight (8) east to the point for thenorthwest corner of township one (1) north, range eight (8) east; thencewesterly along the unsurveyed township line between townships one (1)and two (2) north to the northwest corner of township one (1) north, range seven (7) east; thence northerly along the surveyed and unsurveyedrange line between ranges six (6) and seven (7) east to the meandercorner at its intersection with the mean high-water mark on the southbank of the Columbia River, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of September, A. D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andeighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: ALVEY A. ADEE, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Oregon within the limitshereinafter described, are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Oregon and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the northeast corner of section twenty-seven (27), townshipthirty-nine (39) south, range one (1) east, Willamette meridian; thencewesterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed section line to the northwestcorner of section twenty-five (25), township thirty-nine (39) south, range one (1) west; thence southerly along the section line to thesouthwest corner of section thirty-six (36), said township and range;thence westerly along the ninth (9th) standard parallel south to thenorthwest corner of section one (1), township forty (40) south, rangeone (1) west; thence southerly along the section line to the southwestcorner of section thirteen (13), said township and range; thenceeasterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed section line to the point forthe southeast corner of section fourteen (14), township forty (40)south, range one (1) east; thence northerly along the surveyed andunsurveyed section line to the northeast corner of section thirty-five(35), township thirty-nine (39) south, range one (1) east; thencewesterly to the northwest corner of said section thirty-five (35);thence northerly to the northeast corner of section twenty-seven (27), said township and range, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filingof record has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of September, A. D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andeighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: ALVEY A. ADEE, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

While the American people should every day remember with praise andthanksgiving the divine goodness and mercy which have followed themsince their beginning as a nation, it is fitting that one day in eachyear should be especially devoted to the contemplation of the blessingswe have received from the hand of God and to the grateful acknowledgmentof His loving kindness. 

Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dohereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of the presentmonth of November, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to be kept andobserved by all the people of our land. On that day let us forego ourordinary work and employments and assemble in our usual places ofworship, where we may recall all that God has done for us and where fromgrateful hearts our united tribute of praise and song may reach theThrone of Grace. Let the reunion of kindred and the social meeting offriends lend cheer and enjoyment to the day, and let generous gifts ofcharity for the relief of the poor and needy prove the sincerity of ourthanksgiving. 

Witness my hand and the seal of the United States, which I have causedto be hereto affixed. 

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington on the 3d day of November, A. D. 1893, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

EXECUTIVE ORDER. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, _Washington, D. C. _

Clause 2 of Departmental Rule VIII is hereby amended by inserting afterthe letter "_d_" in parentheses in line 2 the following: "untilafter absolute appointment and, " and by striking out all after the word"transferred" in line 4 to and including the word "made" in line 7; sothat as amended the clause will read:

 2. No person may be transferred as herein authorized, except as provided in section 1, clause (_d_), until after absolute appointment and until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he is to be transferred: _Provided_, That no person who has been appointed from the copyist register shall be transferred to a place the salary of which is more than $900 per annum until one year after appointment. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, August 19, 1893_. 

The above amendments to clause 2 of Departmental Rule VIII and said ruleas so amended are hereby approved. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 4, 1893_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

The constitutional duty which requires the President from time to timeto give to the Congress information of the state of the Union andrecommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judgenecessary and expedient is fittingly entered upon by commending to theCongress a careful examination of the detailed statements andwell-supported recommendations contained in the reports of the heads ofDepartments, who are chiefly charged with the executive work of theGovernment. In an effort to abridge this communication as much as isconsistent with its purpose I shall supplement a brief reference to thecontents of these departmental reports by the mention of such executivebusiness and incidents as are not embraced therein and by suchrecommendations as appear to be at this particular time appropriate. 

While our foreign relations have not at all times during the past yearbeen entirely free from perplexity, no embarrassing situation remainsthat will not yield to the spirit of fairness and love of justice whichjoined with consistent firmness, characterize a truly American foreignpolicy. 

My predecessor having accepted the office of arbitrator of thelongstanding Missions boundary dispute, tendered to the President by theArgentine Republic and Brazil, it has been my agreeable duty to receivethe special envoys commissioned by those States to lay before meevidence and arguments in behalf of their respective Governments. 

The outbreak of domestic hostilities in the Republic of Brazil foundthe United States alert to watch the interests of our citizens in thatcountry, with which we carry on important commerce. Several vessels ofour new Navy are now and for some time have been stationed at Rio deJaneiro. The struggle being between the established Government, whichcontrols the machinery of administration, and with which we maintainfriendly relations, and certain officers of the navy employing thevessels of their command in an attack upon the national capital andchief seaport, and lacking as it does the elements of dividedadministration, I have failed to see that the insurgents can reasonablyclaim recognition as belligerents. 

Thus far the position of our Government has been that of an attentivebut impartial observer of the unfortunate conflict. Emphasizing ourfixed policy of impartial neutrality in such a condition of affairsas now exists, I deemed it necessary to disavow in a manner not tobe misunderstood the unauthorized action of our late naval commanderin those waters in saluting the revolted Brazilian admiral, beingindisposed to countenance an act calculated to give gratuitous sanctionto the local insurrection. 

The convention between our Government and Chile having for its objectthe settlement and adjustment of the demands of the two countriesagainst each other has been made effective by the organization of theclaims commission provided for. The two Governments failing to agreeupon the third member of the commission, the good offices of thePresident of the Swiss Republic were invoked, as provided in thetreaty, and the selection of the Swiss representative in this countryto complete the organization was gratifying alike to the United Statesand Chile. 

The vexatious question of so-called legation asylum for offendersagainst the state and its laws was presented anew in Chile by theunauthorized action of the late United States minister in receiving intohis official residence two persons who had just failed in an attempt atrevolution and against whom criminal charges were pending growing outof a former abortive disturbance. The doctrine of asylum as applied tothis case is not sanctioned by the best precedents, and when allowedtends to encourage sedition and strife. Under no circumstances can therepresentatives of this Government be permitted, under the ill-definedfiction of extraterritoriality, to interrupt the administration ofcriminal justice in the countries to which they are accredited. Atemperate demand having been made by the Chilean Government for thecorrection of this conduct in the instance mentioned, the ministerwas instructed no longer to harbor the offenders. 

The legislation of last year known as the Geary law, requiring theregistration of all Chinese laborers entitled to residence in the UnitedStates and the deportation of all not complying with the provisionsof the act within the time prescribed, met with much opposition fromChinamen in this country. Acting upon the advice of eminent counselthat the law was unconstitutional, the great mass of Chinese laborers, pending judicial inquiry as to its validity, in good faith declined toapply for the certificates required by its provisions. A test case uponproceeding by _habeas corpus_ was brought before the Supreme Court, and on May 15, 1893, a decision was made by that tribunal sustainingthe law. 

It is believed that under the recent amendment of the act extending thetime for registration the Chinese laborers thereto entitled who desireto reside in this country will now avail themselves of the renewedprivilege thus afforded of establishing by lawful procedure their rightto remain, and that thereby the necessity of enforced deportation mayto a great degree be avoided. 

It has devolved upon the United States minister at Peking, as dean ofthe diplomatic body, and in the absence of a representative of Swedenand Norway, to press upon the Chinese Government reparation for therecent murder of Swedish missionaries at Sung-pu. This question is ofvital interest to all countries whose citizens engage in missionary workin the interior. 

By Article XII of the general act of Brussels, signed July 2, 1890, for the suppression of the slave trade and the restriction of certaininjurious commerce in the Independent State of the Kongo and in theadjacent zone of central Africa, the United States and the othersignatory powers agreed to adopt appropriate means for the punishmentof persons selling arms and ammunition to the natives and for theconfiscation of the inhibited articles. It being the plain duty of thisGovernment to aid in suppressing the nefarious traffic, impairing asit does the praiseworthy and civilizing efforts now in progress in thatregion, I recommend that an act be passed prohibiting the sale of armsand intoxicants, to natives in the regulated zone by our citizens. 

Costa Rica has lately testified its friendliness by surrendering to theUnited States, in the absence of a convention of extradition, but uponduly submitted evidence of criminality, a noted fugitive from justice. It is trusted that the negotiation of a treaty with that country to meetrecurring cases of this kind will soon be accomplished. In my opiniontreaties for reciprocal extradition should be concluded with all thosecountries with which the United States has not already conventionalarrangements of that character. 

I have deemed it fitting to express to the Governments of Costa Ricaand Colombia the kindly desire of the United States to see their pendingboundary dispute finally closed by arbitration in conformity with thespirit of the treaty concluded between them some years ago. 

Our relations with the French Republic continue to be intimate andcordial. I sincerely hope that the extradition treaty with that country, as amended by the Senate, will soon be operative. 

While occasional questions affecting our naturalized citizens returningto the land of their birth have arisen in our intercourse with Germany, our relations with that country continue satisfactory. 

The questions affecting our relations with Great Britain have beentreated in a spirit of friendliness. 

Negotiations are in progress between the two Governments with a view tosuch concurrent action as will make the award and regulations agreedupon by the Bering Sea Tribunal of Arbitration practically effective, and it is not doubted that Great Britain will cooperate freely with thiscountry for the accomplishment of that purpose. 

The dispute growing out of the discriminating tolls imposed in theWelland Canal upon cargoes of cereals bound to and from the lake portsof the United States was adjusted by the substitution of a moreequitable schedule of charges, and my predecessor thereupon suspendedhis proclamation imposing discriminating tolls upon British transitthrough our canals. [1]

A request for additions to the list of extraditable offenses covered bythe existing treaty between the two countries is under consideration. 

During the past year an American citizen employed in a subordinatecommercial position in Hayti, after suffering a protracted imprisonmenton an unfounded charge of smuggling, was finally liberated on judicialexamination. Upon urgent representation to the Haytian Government asuitable indemnity was paid to the sufferer. 

By a law of Hayti a sailing vessel, having discharged her cargo, isrefused clearance until the duties on such cargo have been paid. Thehardship of this measure upon American shipowners, who conduct the bulkof the carrying trade of that country, has been insisted on with a viewof securing the removal of this cause of complaint. 

Upon receiving authentic information of the firing upon an American mailsteamer touching at the port of Amapala because her captain refused todeliver up a passenger in transit from Nicaragua to Guatemala upondemand of the military authorities of Honduras, our minister to thatcountry, under instructions, protested against the wanton act anddemanded satisfaction. The Government of Honduras, actuated by a senseof justice and in a spirit of the utmost friendship, promptly disavowedthe illegal conduct of its officers and expressed sincere regret for theoccurrence. 

It is confidently anticipated that a satisfactory adjustment willsoon be reached of the questions arising out of the seizure and use ofAmerican vessels by insurgents in Honduras and the subsequent denial bythe successful Government of commercial privileges to those vessels onthat account. 

A notable part of the southeasterly coast of Liberia between the Cavallyand San Pedro rivers, which for nearly half a century has been generallyrecognized as belonging to that Republic by cession and purchase, hasbeen claimed to be under the protectorate of France in virtue ofagreements entered into by the native tribes, over whom Liberia'scontrol has not been well maintained. 

More recently negotiations between the Liberian representative and theFrench Government resulted in the signature at Paris of a treaty wherebyas an adjustment certain Liberian territory is ceded to France. Thisconvention at last advices had not been ratified by the LiberianLegislature and Executive. 

Feeling a sympathetic interest in the fortunes of the littleCommonwealth, the establishment and development of which were largelyaided by the benevolence of our countrymen, and which constitutes theonly independently sovereign state on the west coast of Africa, thisGovernment has suggested to the French Government its earnest concernlest territorial impairment in Liberia should take place without herunconstrained consent. 

Our relations with Mexico continue to be of that close and friendlynature which should always characterize the intercourse of twoneighboring republics. 

The work of relocating the monuments marking the boundary between thetwo countries from Paso del Norte to the Pacific is now nearlycompleted. 

The commission recently organized under the conventions of 1884 and 1889it is expected will speedily settle disputes growing out of the shiftingcurrents of the Rio Grande River east of El Paso. 

Nicaragua has recently passed through two revolutions, the party atfirst successful having in turn been displaced by another. Our newlyappointed minister by his timely good offices aided in a peacefuladjustment of the controversy involved in the first conflict. The largeAmerican interests established in that country in connection with theNicaragua Canal were not molested. 

The canal company has unfortunately become financially seriouslyembarrassed, but a generous treatment had been extended to it by theGovernment of Nicaragua. The United States are especially interestedin the successful achievement of the vast undertaking this companyhas in charge. That it should be accomplished under distinctivelyAmerican auspices, and its enjoyment assured not only to the vesselsof this country as a channel of communication between our Atlantic andPacific seaboards, but to the ships of the world in the interests ofcivilization, is a proposition which, in my judgment, does not admitof question. 

Guatemala has also been visited by the political vicissitudes whichhave afflicted her Central American neighbors, but the dissolution ofits Legislature and the proclamation of a dictatorship have beenunattended with civil war. 

An extradition treaty with Norway has recently been exchanged andproclaimed. 

The extradition treaty with Russia signed in March, 1887, and amendedand confirmed by the Senate in February last, was duly proclaimed lastJune. 

Led by a desire to compose differences and contribute to the restorationof order in Samoa, which for some years previous had been the scene ofconflicting foreign pretensions and native strife, the United States, departing from its policy consecrated by a century of observance, entered four years ago into the treaty of Berlin, thereby becomingjointly bound with England and Germany to establish and maintainMalietoa Laupepa as King of Samoa. The treaty provided for a foreigncourt of justice; a municipal council for the district of Apia, with aforeign president thereof, authorized to advise the King; a tribunal forthe settlement of native and foreign land titles, and a revenue systemfor the Kingdom. It entailed upon the three powers that part of the costof the new Government not met by the revenue of the islands. 

Early in the life of this triple protectorate the native dissensions itwas designed to quell revived. Rivals defied the authority of the newKing, refusing to pay taxes and demanding the election of a ruler bynative suffrage. Mataafa, an aspirant to the throne, and a large numberof his native adherents were in open rebellion on one of the islands. Quite lately, at the request of the other powers and in fulfillment ofits treaty obligation, this Government agreed to unite in a jointmilitary movement of such dimensions as would probably secure thesurrender of the insurgents without bloodshed. 

The war ship _Philadelphia_ was accordingly put under orders forSamoa, but before she arrived the threatened conflict was precipitatedby King Malietoa's attack upon the insurgent camp. Mataafa was defeatedand a number of his men killed. The British and German naval vesselspresent subsequently secured the surrender of Mataafa and his adherents. The defeated chief and ten of his principal supporters were deported toa German island of the Marshall group, where they are held as prisonersunder the joint responsibility and cost of the three powers. 

This incident and the events leading up to it signally illustrate theimpolicy of entangling alliances with foreign powers. 

More than fifteen years ago this Government preferred a claim againstSpain in behalf of one of our citizens for property seized andconfiscated in Cuba. In 1886 the claim was adjusted, Spain agreeing topay unconditionally, as a fair indemnity, $1, 500, 000. A respectful butearnest note was recently addressed to the Spanish Government insistingupon prompt fulfillment of its long-neglected obligation. 

Other claims preferred by the United States against Spain in behalf ofAmerican citizens for property confiscated in Cuba have been pending formany years. 

At the time Spain's title to the Caroline Islands was confirmed byarbitration that Government agreed that the rights which had beenacquired there by American missionaries should be recognized andrespected. It is sincerely hoped that this pledge will be observed byallowing our missionaries, who were removed from Ponape to a place ofsafety by a United States war ship during the late troubles between theSpanish garrison and the natives, to return to their field ofusefulness. 

The reproduced caravel _Santa Maria_, built by Spain and sent tothe Columbian Exposition, has been presented to the United States intoken of amity and in commemoration of the event it was designed tocelebrate. I recommend that in accepting this gift Congress makegrateful recognition of the sincere friendship which prompted it. 

Important matters have demanded attention in our relations with theOttoman Porte. 

The firing and partial destruction by an unrestrained mob of one of theschool buildings of Anatolia College, established by citizens of theUnited States at Marsovan, and the apparent indifference of the TurkishGovernment to the outrage, notwithstanding the complicity of some of itsofficials, called for earnest remonstrance, which was followed bypromise of reparation and punishment of the offenders. 

Indemnity for the injury to the buildings has already been paid, permission to rebuild given, registration of the school property in thename of the American owners secured, and efficient protectionguaranteed. 

Information received of maltreatment suffered by an inoffensive Americanwoman engaged in missionary work in Turkish Koordistan was followed bysuch representations to the Porte as resulted in the issuance of ordersfor the punishment of her assailants, the removal of a delinquentofficial, and the adoption of measures for the protection of ourcitizens engaged in mission and other lawful work in that quarter. 

Turkey complains that her Armenian subjects obtain citizenship in thiscountry not to identify themselves in good faith with our people, butwith the intention of returning to the land of their birth and thereengaging in sedition. This complaint is not wholly without foundation. A journal published in this country in the Armenian language openlycounsels its readers to arm, organize, and participate in movementsfor the subversion of Turkish authority in the Asiatic provinces. The Ottoman Government has announced its intention to expel from itsdominions Armenians who have obtained naturalization in the UnitedStates since 1868. 

The right to exclude any or all classes of aliens is an attribute ofsovereignty. It is a right asserted and, to a limited extent, enforcedby the United States, with the sanction of our highest court. Therebeing no naturalization treaty between the United States and Turkey, ourminister at Constantinople has been instructed that, while recognizingthe right of that Government to enforce its declared policy againstnaturalized Armenians, he is expected to protect them from unnecessaryharshness of treatment. 

In view of the impaired financial resources of Venezuela consequent uponthe recent revolution there, a modified arrangement for the satisfactionof the awards of the late revisory claims commission, in progressiveinstallments, has been assented to, and payments are being regularlymade thereunder. 

The boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana is yetunadjusted. A restoration of diplomatic intercourse between thatRepublic and Great Britain and reference of the question to impartialarbitration would be a most gratifying consummation. 

The ratification by Venezuela of the convention for the arbitration ofthe long-deferred claim of the Venezuelan Transportation Company isawaited. 

It is hardly necessary for me to state that the questions arisingfrom our relations with Hawaii have caused serious embarrassment. Just prior to the installation of the present Administration theexisting Government of Hawaii had been suddenly overthrown and a treatyof annexation had been negotiated between the Provisional Governmentof the islands and the United States and submitted to the Senate forratification. This treaty I withdrew for examination and dispatchedHon. James H. Blount, of Georgia, to Honolulu as a special commissionerto make an impartial investigation of the circumstances attending thechange of government and of all the conditions bearing upon the subjectof the treaty. After a thorough and exhaustive examination Mr. Blountsubmitted to me his report, showing beyond all question that theconstitutional Government of Hawaii had been subverted with theactive aid of our representative to that Government and through theintimidation caused by the presence of an armed naval force of theUnited States, which was landed for that purpose at the instance of ourminister. Upon the facts developed it seemed to me the only honorablecourse for our Government to pursue was to undo the wrong that had beendone by those representing us and to restore as far as practicable thestatus existing at the time of our forcible intervention. With a view ofaccomplishing this result within the constitutional limits of executivepower, and recognizing all our obligations and responsibilities growingout of any changed conditions brought about by our unjustifiableinterference, our present minister at Honolulu has received appropriateinstructions to that end. Thus far no information of the accomplishmentof any definite results has been received from him. 

Additional advices are soon expected. When received they will bepromptly sent to the Congress, together with all other information athand, accompanied by a special Executive message fully detailing all thefacts necessary to a complete understanding of the case and presenting ahistory of all the material events leading up to the present situation. 

By a concurrent resolution passed by the Senate February 14, 1890, and by the House of Representatives on the 3d of April following thePresident was requested to "invite from time to time, as fit occasionsmay arise, negotiations with any government with which the United Stateshas or may have diplomatic relations, to the end that any differences ordisputes arising between the two governments which can not be adjustedby diplomatic agency may be referred to arbitration and be peaceablyadjusted by such means. " April 18, 1890, the International AmericanConference of Washington by resolution expressed the wish that allcontroversies between the republics of America and the nations of Europemight be settled by arbitration, and recommended that the government ofeach nation represented in that conference should communicate this wishto all friendly powers. A favorable response has been received fromGreat Britain in the shape of a resolution adopted by Parliament July 16last, cordially sympathizing with the purpose in view and expressing thehope that Her Majesty's Government will lend ready cooperation to theGovernment of the United States upon the basis of the concurrentresolution above quoted. 

It affords me signal pleasure to lay this parliamentary resolutionbefore the Congress and to express my sincere gratification that thesentiment of two great and kindred nations is thus authoritativelymanifested in favor of the rational and peaceable settlement ofinternational quarrels by honorable resort to arbitration. 

Since the passage of the act of March 3, 1893, authorizing the Presidentto raise the grade of our envoys to correspond with the rank in whichforeign countries accredit their agents here, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany have conferred upon their representatives at thiscapital the title of ambassador, and I have responded by accrediting theagents of the United States in those countries with the same title. Alike elevation of mission is announced by Russia, and when made will besimilarly met. This step fittingly comports with the position the UnitedStates hold in the family of nations. 

During my former Administration I took occasion to recommend a recast ofthe laws relating to the consular service, in order that it might becomea more efficient agency in the promotion of the interests it wasintended to subserve. The duties and powers of consuls have beenexpanded with the growing requirements of our foreign trade. Dischargingimportant duties affecting our commerce and American citizens abroad, and in certain countries exercising judicial functions, these officersshould be men of character, intelligence, and ability. 

Upon proof that the legislation of Denmark secures copyright to Americancitizens on equal footing with its own, the privileges of our copyrightlaws have been extended by proclamation to subjects of that country. [2]

The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of theGovernment from all sources during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1893, amounted to $461, 716, 561. 94 and its expenditures to $459, 374, 674. 29. There was collected from customs $205, 355, 016. 73 and from internalrevenue $161, 027, 623. 93. Our dutiable imports amounted to $421, 856, 711, an increase of $52, 453, 907 over the preceding year, and importationsfree of duty amounted to $444, 544, 211, a decrease from the precedingyear of $13, 455, 447. Internal-revenue receipts exceeded those of thepreceding year by $7, 147, 445. 32. The total tax collected on distilledspirits was $94, 720, 260. 55, on manufactured tobacco $31, 889, 711. 74, andon fermented liquors $32, 548, 983. 07. We exported merchandise during theyear amounting to $847, 665, 194, a decrease of $182, 612, 954 from thepreceding year. The amount of gold exported was larger than any previousyear in the history of the Government, amounting to $108, 680, 844, andexceeding the amount exported during the preceding year by $58, 485, 517. 

The sum paid from the Treasury for sugar bounty was $9, 375, 130. 88, anincrease over the preceding year of $2, 033, 053. 09. 

It is estimated upon the basis of present revenue laws that the receiptsof the Government for the year ending June 30, 1894, will be$430, 121, 365. 38 and its expenditures $458, 121, 365. 28, resulting in adeficiency of $28, 000, 000. 

On the 1st day of November, 1893, the amount of money of all kinds incirculation, or not included in Treasury holdings, was $1, 718, 544, 682, an increase for the year of $112, 404, 947. Estimating our population at67, 426, 000 at the time mentioned, the per capita circulation was $25. 49. On the same date there was in the Treasury gold bullion amounting to$96, 657, 273 and silver bullion which was purchased at a cost of$126, 261, 553. 

The purchases of silver under the law of July 14, 1890, during the lastfiscal year aggregated 54, 008, 162. 59 fine ounces, which cost$45, 531, 374. 53. The total amount of silver purchased from the time thatlaw became operative until the repeal of its purchasing clause, on the1st day of November, 1893, was 168, 674, 590. 46 fine ounces, which cost$155, 930, 940. 84. Between the 1st day of March, 1873, and the 1st day ofNovember, 1893, the Government purchased under all laws 503, 003, 717 fineounces of silver, at a cost of $516, 622, 948. The silver dollars thathave been coined under the act of July 14, 1890, number 36, 087, 285. Theseigniorage arising from such coinage was $6, 977, 098. 39, leaving on handin the mints 140, 699, 760 fine ounces of silver, which cost $126, 758, 218. 

Our total coinage of all metals during the last fiscal year consistedof 97, 280, 875 pieces, valued at $43, 685, 178. 80, of which there was$30, 038, 140 in gold coin, $5, 343, 715 in silver dollars, $7, 217, 220. 90in subsidiary silver coin, and $1, 086, 102. 90 in minor coins. 

During the calendar year 1892 the production of precious metals in theUnited States was estimated to be 1, 596, 375 fine ounces of gold of thecommercial and coinage value of $33, 000, 000 and 58, 000, 000 fine ouncesof silver of the bullion or market value of $50, 750, 000 and of thecoinage value of $74, 989, 900. 

It is estimated that on the 1st day of July, 1893, the metallic stock ofmoney in the United States, consisting of coin and bullion, amounted to$1, 213, 559, 169, of which $597, 697, 685 was gold and $615, 861, 484 wassilver. 

One hundred and nineteen national banks were organized during theyear ending October 31, 1893, with a capital of $11, 230, 000. Forty-sixwent into voluntary liquidation and 158 suspended. Sixty-five of thesuspended banks were insolvent, 86 resumed business, and 7 remain in thehands of the bank examiners, with prospects of speedy resumption. Of thenew banks organized, 44 were located in the Eastern States, 41 west ofthe Mississippi River, and 34 in the Central and Southern States. Thetotal number of national banks in existence on October 31, 1893, was3, 796, having an aggregate capital of $695, 558, 120. The net increasein the circulation of these banks during the year was $36, 886, 972. 

The recent repeal of the provision of law requiring the purchase ofsilver bullion by the Government as a feature of our monetary scheme hasmade an entire change in the complexion of our currency affairs. I donot doubt that the ultimate result of this action will be most salutaryand far-reaching. In the nature of things, however, it is impossible toknow at this time precisely what conditions will be brought about by thechange, or what, if any, supplementary legislation may in the light ofsuch conditions appear to be essential or expedient. Of course, afterthe recent financial perturbation, time is necessary for thereestablishment of business confidence. When, however, through thisrestored confidence, the money which has been frightened into hoardingplaces is returned to trade and enterprise, a survey of the situationwill probably disclose a safe path leading to a permanently soundcurrency, abundantly sufficient to meet every requirement of ourincreasing population and business. 

In the pursuit of this object we should resolutely turn away fromalluring and temporary expedients, determined to be content with nothingless than a lasting and comprehensive financial plan. In thesecircumstances I am convinced that a reasonable delay in dealing withthis subject, instead of being injurious, will increase the probabilityof wise action. 

The monetary conference which assembled at Brussels upon our invitationwas adjourned to the 30th day of November of the present year. Theconsiderations just stated and the fact that a definite propositionfrom us seemed to be expected upon the reassembling of the conferenceled me to express a willingness to have the meeting still furtherpostponed. 

It seems to me that it would be wise to give general authority to thePresident to invite other nations to such a conference at any time whenthere should be a fair prospect of accomplishing an internationalagreement on the subject of coinage. 

I desire also to earnestly suggest the wisdom of amending the existingstatutes in regard to the issuance of Government bonds. The authoritynow vested in the Secretary of the Treasury to issue bonds is not asclear as it should be, and the bonds authorized are disadvantageous tothe Government both as to the time of their maturity and rate ofinterest. 

The Superintendent of Immigration, through the Secretary of theTreasury, reports that during the last fiscal year there arrived at ourports 440, 793 immigrants. Of these, 1, 063 were not permitted to landunder the limitations of the law and 577 were returned to the countriesfrom whence they came by reason of their having become public charges. The total arrivals were 141, 034 less than for the previous year. 

The Secretary in his report gives an account of the operation of theMarine-Hospital Service and of the good work done under its supervisionin preventing the entrance and spread of contagious diseases. 

The admonitions of the last two years touching our public health and thedemonstrated danger of the introduction of contagious diseases fromforeign ports have invested the subject of national quarantine withincreased interest. A more general and harmonious system than nowexists, acting promptly and directly everywhere and constantly operatingby preventive means to shield our country from the invasion of disease, and at the same time having due regard to the rights and duties of localagencies, would, I believe, add greatly to the safety of our people. 

The Secretary of War reports that the strength of the Army on the 30thday of September last was 25, 778 enlisted men and 2, 144 officers. 

The total expenditures of the Department for the year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $51, 966, 074. 89. Of this sum $1, 992, 581. 95 was forsalaries and contingent expenses, $23, 377, 828. 35 for the support of themilitary establishment, $6, 077, 033. 18 for miscellaneous objects, and$20, 518, 631. 41 for public works. This latter sum includes $15, 296, 876. 46for river and harbor improvements and $3, 266, 141. 20 for fortificationsand other works of defense. 

The total enrollment of the militia of the several States was on the31st of October of the current year 112, 597 officers and enlisted men. The officers of the Army detailed for the inspection and instruction ofthis reserve of our military force report that increased interest andmarked progress are apparent in the discipline and efficiency of theorganization. 

Neither Indian outbreaks nor domestic violence have called theArmy into service during the year, and the only active military dutyrequired of it has been in the Department of Texas, where violations ofthe neutrality laws of the United States and Mexico were promptly andefficiently dealt with by the troops, eliciting the warm approval of thecivil and military authorities of both countries. 

The operation of wise laws and the influences of civilization constantlytending to relieve the country from the dangers of Indian hostilities, together with the increasing ability of the States, through theefficiency of the National Guard organizations, to protect theircitizens from domestic violence, lead to the suggestion that the time isfast approaching when there should be a reorganization of our Army onthe lines of the present necessities of the country. This changecontemplates neither increase in number nor added expense, but aredistribution of the force and an encouragement of measures tending togreater efficiency among the men and improvement of the service. 

The adoption of battalion formations for infantry regiments, thestrengthening of the artillery force, the abandonment of smaller andunnecessary posts, and the massing of the troops at important andaccessible stations all promise to promote the usefulness of the Army. In the judgment of army officers, with but few exceptions, the operationof the law forbidding the reenlistment of men after ten years' servicehas not proved its wisdom, and while the arguments that led to itsadoption were not without merit the experience of the year constrains meto join in the recommendation for its repeal. 

It is gratifying to note that we have begun to attain completed resultsin the comprehensive scheme of seacoast defense and fortificationentered upon eight years ago. A large sum has been already expended, butthe cost of maintenance will be inconsiderable as compared with theexpense of construction and ordnance. At the end of the current calendaryear the War Department will have nine 12-inch guns, twenty 10-inch, andthirty-four 8-inch guns ready to be mounted on gun lifts and carriages, and seventy-five 12-inch mortars. In addition to the product of the ArmyGun Factory, now completed at Watervliet, the Government has contractedwith private parties for the purchase of one hundred guns of thesecalibers, the first of which should be delivered to the Department fortest before July 1, 1894. 

The manufacture of heavy ordnance keeps pace with current needs, but torender these guns available for the purposes they are designed to meetemplacements must be prepared for them. Progress has been made in thisdirection, and it is desirable that Congress by adequate appropriationsshould provide for the uninterrupted prosecution of this necessary work. 

After much preliminary work and exhaustive examination in accordancewith the requirements of the law, the board appointed to select amagazine rifle of modern type with which to replace the obsoleteSpringfield rifle of the infantry service completed its labors duringthe last year, and the work of manufacture is now in progress at thenational armory at Springfield. It is confidently expected that by theend of the current year our infantry will be supplied with a weaponequal to that of the most progressive armies of the world. 

The work on the projected Chickamauga and Chattanooga NationalMilitary Park has been prosecuted with zeal and judgment, and itsopening will be celebrated during the coming year. Over 9 square milesof the Chickamauga battlefield have been acquired, 25 miles of roadwayhave been constructed, and permanent tablets have been placed at manyhistorical points, while the invitation to the States to mark thepositions of their troops participating in the battle has been verygenerally accepted. 

The work of locating and preserving the lines of battle at theGettysburg battlefield is making satisfactory progress on the plansdirected by the last Congress. 

The reports of the Military Academy at West Point and the severalschools for special instruction of officers show marked advance in theeducation of the Army and a commendable ambition among its officers toexcel in the military profession and to fit themselves for the highestservice to the country. 

Under the supervision of Adjutant-General Robert Williams, latelyretired, the Bureau of Military Information has become well establishedand is performing a service that will put in possession of theGovernment in time of war most valuable information, and at all timesserve a purpose of great utility in keeping the Army advised of theworld's progress in all matters pertaining to the art of war. 

The report of the Attorney-General contains the usual summary of theaffairs and proceedings of the Department of Justice for the past year, together with certain recommendations as to needed legislation onvarious subjects. I can not too heartily indorse the proposition thatthe fee system as applicable to the compensation of United Statesattorneys, marshals, clerks of Federal courts, and United Statescommissioners should be abolished with as little delay as possible. Itis clearly in the interest of the community that the business of thecourts, both civil and criminal, shall be as small and as inexpensivelytransacted as the ends of justice will allow. 

The system is therefore thoroughly vicious which makes the compensationof court officials depend upon the volume of such business, and thuscreates a conflict between a proper execution of the law and privategain, which can not fail to be dangerous to the rights and freedom ofthe citizen and an irresistible temptation to the unjustifiableexpenditure of public funds. If in addition to this reform another wasinaugurated which would give to United States commissioners the finaldisposition of petty offenses within the grade of misdemeanors, especially those coming under the internal-revenue laws, a great advancewould be made toward a more decent administration of the criminal law. 

In my first message to Congress, dated December 8, 1885, [3] I stronglyrecommended these changes and referred somewhat at length to the evilsof the present system. Since that time the criminal business of theFederal courts and the expense attending it have enormously increased. The number of criminal prosecutions pending in the circuit and districtcourts of the United States on the 1st day of July, 1885, was 3, 808, ofwhich 1, 884 were for violations of the internal-revenue laws, while thenumber of such prosecutions pending on the 1st day of July, 1893, was9, 500, of which 4, 200 were for violations of the internal-revenue laws. The expense of the United States courts, exclusive of judges' salaries, for the year ending July 1, 1885, was $2, 874, 733. 11 and for the yearending July 1, 1893, $4, 528, 676. 87. 

It is therefore apparent that the reasons given in 1885 for a change inthe manner of enforcing the Federal criminal law have gained cogency andstrength by lapse of time. 

I also heartily join the Attorney-General in recommending legislationfixing degrees of the crime of murder within Federal jurisdiction, ashas been done in many of the States; authorizing writs of error onbehalf of the Government in cases where final judgment is renderedagainst the sufficiency of an indictment or against the Government uponany other question arising before actual trial; limiting the right ofreview in cases of felony punishable only by fine and imprisonment tothe circuit court of appeals, and making speedy provision for theconstruction of such prisons and reformatories as may be necessary forthe confinement of United States convicts. 

The report of the Postmaster-General contains a detailed statement ofthe operations of the Post-Office Department during the last fiscal yearand much interesting information touching this important branch of thepublic service. 

The business of the mails indicates with absolute certainty thecondition of the business of the country, and depression in financialaffairs inevitably and quickly reduces the postal revenues. Thereforea larger discrepancy than usual between the post-office receipts andexpenditures is the expected and unavoidable result of the distressingstringency which has prevailed throughout the country during much of thetime covered by the Postmaster-General's report. At a date when bettertimes were anticipated it was estimated by his predecessor that thedeficiency on the 30th day of June, 1893, would be but a little overa million and a half dollars. It amounted, however, to more than fivemillions. At the same time and under the influence of like anticipationsestimates were made for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 1894, which exhibited a surplus of revenue over expenditures of $872, 245. 71;but now, in view of the actual receipts and expenditures during thatpart of the current fiscal year already expired, the presentPostmaster-General estimates that at its close instead of a surplusthere will be a deficiency of nearly $8, 000, 000. 

The post-office receipts for the last fiscal year amounted to$75, 896, 933. 16 and its expenditures to $81, 074, 104. 90. This post-officedeficiency would disappear or be immensely decreased if less matter werecarried free through the mails, an item of which is upward of 300 tonsof seeds and grain from the Agricultural Department. 

The total number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day ofJune, 1893, was 68, 403, an increase of 1, 284 over the preceding year. Ofthese, 3, 360 were Presidential, an increase in that class of 204 overthe preceding year. 

Forty-two free-delivery offices were added during the year to thosealready existing, making a total of 610 cities and towns provided withfree delivery on June 30, 1893. Ninety-three other cities and towns arenow entitled to this service under the law, but it has not been accordedthem on account of insufficient funds to meet the expenses of itsestablishment. 

I am decidedly of the opinion that the provisions of the present lawpermit as general an introduction of this feature of mail service asis necessary or justifiable, and that it ought not to be extended tosmaller communities than are now designated. 

The expenses of free delivery for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, will be more than $11, 000, 000, and under legislation now existing theremust be a constant increase in this item of expenditure. 

There were 6, 401 additions to the domestic money-order offices duringthe last fiscal year, being the largest increase in any year since theinauguration of the system. The total number of these offices at theclose of the year was 18, 434. There were 13, 309, 735 money orders issuedfrom these offices, being an increase over the preceding year of1, 240, 293, and the value of these orders amounted to $127, 576, 433. 65, anincrease of $7, 509, 632. 58. There were also issued during the year postalnotes amounting to $12, 903, 076. 73. 

During the year 195 international money-order offices were added tothose already provided, making a total of 2, 407 in operation on June 30, 1893. The number of international money orders issued during the yearwas 1, 055, 999, an increase over the preceding year of 72, 525, and theirvalue was $16, 341, 837. 86, an increase of $1, 221, 506. 31. The number oforders paid was 300, 917, an increase over the preceding year of 13, 503, and their value was $5, 283, 375. 70, an increase of $94, 094. 83. 

From the foregoing statements it appears that the total issue of moneyorders and postal notes for the year amounted to $156, 821, 348. 24. 

The number of letters and packages mailed during the year for specialdelivery was 3, 375, 693, an increase over the preceding year of nearly22 per cent. The special-delivery stamps used upon these letters andpackages amounted to $337, 569. 30, and the messengers' fees paid fortheir delivery amounted to $256, 592. 71, leaving a profit to theGovernment of $80, 976. 59. 

The Railway Mail Service not only adds to the promptness ofmail delivery at all offices, but it is the especial instrumentalitywhich puts the smaller and way places in the service on an equalityin that regard with the larger and terminal offices. This branchof the postal service has therefore received much attention from thePostmaster-General, and though it is gratifying to know that it is ina condition of high efficiency and great usefulness, I am led to agreewith the Postmaster-General that there is room for its furtherimprovement. 

There are now connected to the Post-Office establishment 28, 324employees who are in the classified service. The head of this greatDepartment gives conclusive evidence of the value of civil-servicereform when, after an experience that renders his judgment on thesubject absolutely reliable, he expresses the opinion that withoutthe benefit of this system it would be impossible to conduct the vastbusiness intrusted to him. 

I desire to commend as especially worthy of prompt attention thesuggestions of the Postmaster-General relating to a more sensible andbusinesslike organization and a better distribution of responsibilityin his Department. 

The report of the Secretary of the Navy contains a history of theoperations of his Department during the past year and exhibits a mostgratifying condition of the personnel of our Navy. He presents asatisfactory account of the progress which has been made in theconstruction of vessels and makes a number of recommendations to whichattention is especially invited. 

During the past six months the demands for cruising vessels have beenmany and urgent. There have been revolutions calling for vessels toprotect American interests in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Argentina, and Brazil, while the condition of affairs inHonolulu has required the constant presence of one or more ships. Withall these calls upon our Navy it became necessary, in order to make up asufficient fleet to patrol the Bering Sea under the _modus vivendi_agreed upon with Great Britain, to detail to that service one vesselfrom the Fish Commission and three from the Revenue Marine. 

Progress in the construction of new vessels has not been as rapid aswas anticipated. There have been delays in the completion of unarmoredvessels, but for the most part they have been such as are constantlyoccurring even in countries having the largest experience in navalshipbuilding. The most serious delays, however, have been in the workupon armored ships. The trouble has been the failure of contractors todeliver armor as agreed. The difficulties seem now, however, to havebeen all overcome, and armor is being delivered with satisfactorypromptness. As a result of the experience acquired by shipbuilders anddesigners and material men, it is believed that the dates when vesselswill be completed can now be estimated with reasonable accuracy. Greatguns, rapid-fire guns, torpedoes, and powder are being promptlysupplied. 

The following vessels of the new Navy have been completed and arenow ready for service: The double-turreted coast-defense monitor_Miantonomoh_, the double-turreted coast-defense monitor _Monterey_, the armored cruiser _New York_, the protected cruisers _Baltimore_, _Chicago_, _Philadelphia_, _Newark_, _San Francisco_, _Charleston_, _Atlanta_, and _Boston_, the cruiser _Detroit_, the gunboats _Yorktown_, _Concord_, _Bennington_, _Machias_, _Castine_, and _Petrel_, thedispatch vessel _Dolphin_, the practice vessel _Bancroft_, and thedynamite gunboat _Vesuvius_. Of these the _Bancroft_, _Machias_, _Detroit_, and _Castine_ have been placed in commission during the currentcalendar year. 

The following vessels are in process of construction: The second-classbattle ships _Maine_ and _Texas_, the cruisers _Montgomery_ and_Marblehead_, and the coast-defense monitors _Terror_, _Puritan_, _Amphitrite_, and _Monadnock_, all of which will be completed within oneyear; the harbor-defense ram _Katahdin_ and the protected cruisers_Columbia_, _Minneapolis_, _Olympia_, _Cincinnati_, and _Raleigh_, allof which will be completed prior to July 1, 1895; the first-class battleships _Iowa_, _Indiana_, _Massachusetts_, and _Oregon_, which will becompleted February 1, 1896, and the armored cruiser _Brooklyn_, whichwill be completed by August 1 of that year. It is also expected that thethree gunboats authorized by the last Congress will be completed in lessthan two years. 

Since 1886 Congress has at each session authorized the building of oneor more vessels, and the Secretary of the Navy presents an earnest pleafor the continuance of this plan. He recommends the authorization of atleast one battle ship and six torpedo boats. 

While I am distinctly in favor of consistently pursuing the policy wehave inaugurated of building up a thorough and efficient Navy, I can notrefrain from the suggestion that the Congress should carefully take intoaccount the number of unfinished vessels on our hands and the depletedcondition of our Treasury in considering the propriety of anappropriation at this time to begin new work. 

The method of employing mechanical labor at navy-yards through boards oflabor and making efficiency the sole test by which laborers are employedand continued is producing the best results, and the Secretary isearnestly devoting himself to its development. Attention is invited tothe statements of his report in regard to the workings of the system. 

The Secretary of the Interior has the supervision of so many importantsubjects that his report is of especial value and interest. 

On the 30th day of June, 1893, there were on the pension rolls 966, 012names, an increase of 89, 944 over the number on the rolls June 30, 1892. Of these there were 17 widows and daughters of Revolutionary soldiers, 86 survivors of the War of 1812, 5, 425 widows of soldiers of that war, 21, 518 survivors and widows of the Mexican War, 3, 882 survivors andwidows of Indian wars, 284 army nurses, and 475, 645 survivors andwidows and children of deceased soldiers and sailors of the War of theRebellion. The latter number represents those pensioned on account ofdisabilities or death resulting from army and navy service. The numberof persons remaining on the rolls June 30, 1893, who were pensionedunder the act of June 27, 1890, which allows pensions on account ofdeath and disability not chargeable to army service, was 459, 155. 

The number added to the rolls during the year was 123, 634 and the numberdropped was 33, 690. The first payments on pensions allowed during theyear amounted to $33, 756, 549. 98. This includes arrears, or theaccumulation between the time from which the allowance of pension datesand the time of actually granting the certificate. 

Although the law of 1890 permits pensions for disabilities not relatedto military service, yet as a requisite to its benefits a disabilitymust exist incapacitating applicants "from the performance of manuallabor to such a degree as to render them unable to earn a support. " Theexecution of this law in its early stages does not seem to have been inaccord with its true intention, but toward the close of the lastAdministration an authoritative construction was given to the statute, and since that time this construction has been followed. This has hadthe effect of limiting the operation of the law to its intended purpose. The discovery having been made that many names had been put upon thepension roll by means of wholesale and gigantic frauds, the Commissionersuspended payments upon a number of pensions which seemed to befraudulent or unauthorized pending a complete examination, giving noticeto the pensioners, in order that they might have an opportunity toestablish, if possible, the justice of their claims notwithstandingapparent invalidity. 

This, I understand, is the practice which has for a long time prevailedin the Pension Bureau; but after entering upon these recentinvestigations the Commissioner modified this rule so as not to allowuntil after a complete examination interference with the payment of apension apparently not altogether void, but which merely had been fixedat a rate higher than that authorized by law. 

I am unable to understand why frauds in the pension rolls shouldnot be exposed and corrected with thoroughness and vigor. Every namefraudulently put upon these rolls is a wicked imposition upon thekindly sentiment in which pensions have their origin; every fraudulentpensioner has become a bad citizen; every false oath in support ofa pension has made perjury more common, and false and undeservingpensioners rob the people not only of their money, but of the patrioticsentiment which the survivors of a war fought for the preservation ofthe Union ought to inspire. Thousands of neighborhoods have theirwell-known fraudulent pensioners, and recent developments by the Bureauestablish appalling conspiracies to accomplish pension frauds. By nomeans the least wrong done is to brave and deserving pensioners, whocertainly ought not to be condemned to such association. Those whoattempt in the line of duty to rectify these wrongs should not beaccused of enmity or indifference to the claims of honest veterans. 

The sum expended on account of pensions for the year ending June 30, 1893, was $156, 740, 467. 14. 

The Commissioner estimates that $165, 000, 000 will be required to paypensions during the year ending June 30, 1894. 

The condition of the Indians and their ultimate fate are subjects whichare related to a sacred duty of the Government and which strongly appealto the sense of justice and the sympathy of our people. 

Our Indians number about 248, 000. Most of them are located on 161reservations, containing 86, 116, 531 acres of land. About 110, 000 ofthese Indians have to a large degree adopted civilized customs. Lands inseveralty have been allotted to many of them. Such allotments have beenmade to 10, 000 individuals during the last fiscal year, embracing about1, 000, 000 acres. The number of Indian Government schools opened duringthe year was 195, an increase of 12 over the preceding year. Of thistotal 170 were on reservations, of which 73 were boarding schools and 97were day schools. Twenty boarding schools and 5 day schools supported bythe Government were not located on reservations. The total number ofIndian children enrolled during the year as attendants of all schoolswas 21, 138, an increase of 1, 231 over the enrollment for the previousyear. 

I am sure that secular education and moral and religious teaching mustbe important factors in any effort to save the Indian and lead him tocivilization. I believe, too, that the relinquishment of tribalrelations and the holding of land in severalty may in favorableconditions aid this consummation. It seems to me, however, thatallotments of land in severalty ought to be made with great care andcircumspection. If hastily done, before the Indian knows its meaning, while yet he has little or no idea of tilling a farm and no conceptionof thrift, there is great danger that a reservation life in tribalrelations may be exchanged for the pauperism of civilization instead ofits independence and elevation. 

The solution of the Indian problem depends very largely upon goodadministration. The personal fitness of agents and their adaptability tothe peculiar duty of caring for their wards are of the utmost importance. 

The law providing that, except in special cases, army officers shall bedetailed as Indian agents it is hoped will prove a successful experiment. 

There is danger of great abuses creeping into the prosecution of claimsfor Indian depredations, and I recommend that every possible safeguardbe provided against the enforcement of unjust and fictitious claims ofthis description. 

The appropriations on account of the Indian Bureau for the year endingJune 30, 1894, amount to $7, 954, 962. 99, a decrease as compared with theyear preceding it of $387, 131. 95. 

The vast area of land which but a short time ago constituted the publicdomain is rapidly falling into private hands. It is certain that inthe transfer the beneficent intention of the Government to supply fromits domain homes to the industrious and worthy home seekers is oftenfrustrated. Though the speculator, who stands with extortionate purposebetween the land office and those who, with their families, are invitedby the Government to settle on the public lands, is a despicablecharacter who ought not to be tolerated, yet it is difficult to thwarthis schemes. The recent opening to settlement of the lands in theCherokee Outlet, embracing an area of 6, 500, 000 acres, notwithstandingthe utmost care in framing the regulations governing the selection oflocations and notwithstanding the presence of United States troops, furnished an exhibition, though perhaps in a modified degree, of themad scramble, the violence, and the fraudulent occupation which haveaccompanied previous openings of public land. 

I concur with the Secretary in the belief that these outrageousincidents can not be entirely prevented without a change in the laws onthe subject, and I hope his recommendations in that direction will befavorably considered. 

I especially commend to the attention of the Congress the statementscontained in the Secretary's report concerning forestry. The time hascome when efficient measures should be taken for the preservation ofour forests from indiscriminate and remediless destruction. 

The report of the Secretary of Agriculture will be found exceedinglyinteresting, especially to that large part of our citizens intimatelyconcerned in agricultural occupations. 

On the 7th day of March, 1893, there were upon its pay rolls 2, 430employees. This number has been reduced to 1, 850 persons. In view of adepleted public Treasury and the imperative demand of the people foreconomy in the administration of their Government, the Secretary hasentered upon the task of rationally reducing expenditures by theelimination from the pay rolls of all persons not needed for anefficient conduct of the affairs of the Department. 

During the first quarter of the present year the expenses of theDepartment aggregated $345, 876. 76, as against $402, 012. 42 for thecorresponding period of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893. TheSecretary makes apparent his intention to continue this rate ofreduction by submitting estimates for the next fiscal year less by$994, 280 than those for the present year. 

Among the heads of divisions in this Department the changes have beenexceedingly few. Three vacancies occurring from death and resignationshave been filled by the promotion of assistants in the same divisions. 

These promotions of experienced and faithful assistants have not onlybeen in the interest of efficient work, but have suggested to those inthe Department who look for retention and promotion that merit anddevotion to duty are their best reliance. 

The amount appropriated for the Bureau of Animal Industry for thecurrent fiscal year is $850, 000. The estimate for the ensuing year is$700, 000. 

The regulations of 1892 concerning Texas fever have been enforced duringthe last year and the large stock yards of the country have been keptfree from infection. Occasional local outbreaks have been largely suchas could have been effectually guarded against by the owners of theaffected cattle. 

While contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle has been eradicated, animaltuberculosis, a disease widespread and more dangerous to human life thanpleuro-pneumonia, is still prevalent. Investigations have been madeduring the past year as to the means of its communication and the methodof its correct diagnosis. Much progress has been made in this directionby the studies of the division of animal pathology, but work ought to beextended, in cooperation with local authorities, until the danger tohuman life arising from this cause is reduced to a minimum. 

The number of animals arriving from Canada during the year and inspectedby Bureau officers was 462, 092, and the number from transatlanticcountries was 1, 297. No contagious diseases were found among theimported animals. 

The total number of inspections of cattle for export during the pastfiscal year was 611, 542. The exports show a falling off of about 25 percent from the preceding year, the decrease occurring entirely in thelast half of the year. This suggests that the falling off may have beenlargely due to an increase in the price of American export cattle. 

During the year ending June 30, 1893, exports of inspected porkaggregated 20, 677, 410 pounds, as against 38, 152, 874 pounds for thepreceding year. The falling off in this export was not confined, however, to inspected pork, the total quantity exported for 1892 being665, 490, 616 pounds, while in 1893 it was only 527, 308, 695 pounds. 

I join the Secretary in recommending that hereafter each applicant forthe position of inspector or assistant inspector in the Bureau of AnimalIndustry be required, as a condition precedent to his appointment, toexhibit to the United States Civil Service Commission his diploma froman established, regular, and reputable veterinary college, and that thisbe supplemented by such an examination in veterinary science as theCommission may prescribe. 

The exports of agricultural products from the United States for thefiscal year ending June 30, 1892, attained the enormous figure of$800, 000, 000, in round numbers, being 78. 7 per cent of our totalexports. In the last fiscal year this aggregate was greatly reduced, butnevertheless reached 615, 000, 000, being 75. 1 per cent of all Americancommodities exported. 

A review of our agricultural exports with special reference to theirdestination will show that in almost every line the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland absorbs by far the largest proportion. Ofcattle the total exports aggregated in value for the fiscal year endingJune 30, 1893, $26, 000, 000, of which Great Britain took considerablyover $25, 000, 000. Of beef products of all kinds our total exports were$28, 000, 000, of which Great Britain took $24, 000, 000. Of pork productsthe total exports were $84, 000, 000, of which Great Britain took$53, 000, 000. In breadstuffs, cotton, and minor products like proportionssent to the same destination are shown. 

The work of the statistical division of the Department of Agriculturedeals with all that relates to the economics of farming. 

The main purpose of its monthly reports is to keep the farmers informedas fully as possible of all matters having any influence upon theworld's markets, in which their products find sale. Its publicationsrelate especially to the commercial side of farming. 

It is therefore of profound importance and vital concern to the farmersof the United States, who represent nearly one-half of our population, and also of direct interest to the whole country, that the work of thisdivision be efficiently performed and that the information it hasgathered be promptly diffused. 

It is a matter for congratulation to know that the Secretary will notspare any effort to make this part of his work thoroughly useful. 

In the year 1839 the Congress appropriated $1, 000, to be taken from thePatent Office funds, for the purpose of collecting and distributingrare and improved varieties of seeds and for prosecuting agriculturalinvestigations and procuring agricultural statistics. From this smallbeginning the seed division of the Department of Agriculture has grownto its present unwieldy and unjustifiably extravagant proportions. 

During the last fiscal year the cost of seeds purchased was $66, 548. 61. The remainder of an appropriation of $135, 000 was expended in puttingthem up and distributing them. It surely never could have entered theminds of those who first sanctioned appropriations of public money forthe purchase of new and improved varieties of seeds for gratuitousdistribution that from this would grow large appropriations for thepurchase and distribution by members of Congress of ordinary seeds, bulbs, and cuttings which are common in all the States and Territoriesand everywhere easily obtainable at low prices. 

In each State and Territory an agricultural experiment station has beenestablished. These stations, by their very character and name, are theproper agencies to experiment with and test new varieties of seeds; andyet this indiscriminate and wasteful distribution by legislation andlegislators continues, answering no purpose unless it be to remindconstituents that their representatives are willing to remember themwith gratuities at public cost. 

Under the sanction of existing legislation there was sent out from theAgricultural Department during the last fiscal year enough of cabbageseed to plant 19, 200 acres of land, a sufficient quantity of beans toplant 4, 000 acres, beet seed enough to plant 2, 500 acres, sweet cornenough to plant 7, 800 acres, sufficient cucumber seed to cover 2, 025acres with vines, and enough muskmelon and watermelon seeds to plant2, 675 acres. The total quantity of flower and vegetable seeds thusdistributed was contained in more than 9, 000, 000 packages, and they weresufficient if planted to cover 89, 596 acres of land. 

In view of these facts this enormous expenditure without legitimatereturns of benefit ought to be abolished. Anticipating a consummation somanifestly in the interest of good administration, more than $100, 000has been stricken from the estimate made to cover this object for theyear ending June 30, 1895; and the Secretary recommends that theremaining $35, 000 of the estimate be confined strictly to the purchaseof new and improved varieties of seeds, and that these be distributedthrough experiment stations. 

Thus the seed will be tested, and after the test has been completed bythe experiment station the propagation of the useful varieties and therejection of the valueless may safely be left to the common sense of thepeople. 

The continued intelligent execution of the civil-service law and theincreasing approval by the people of its operation are most gratifying. The recent extension of its limitations and regulations to the employeesat free-delivery post-offices, which has been honestly and promptlyaccomplished by the Commission, with the hearty cooperation of thePostmaster-General, is an immensely important advance in the usefulnessof the system. 

I am, if possible, more than ever convinced of the incalculable benefitsconferred by the civil-service law, not only in its effect upon thepublic service, but also, what is even more important, in its effect inelevating the tone of political life generally. 

The course of civil-service reform in this country instructively andinterestingly illustrates how strong a hold a movement gains upon ourpeople which has underlying it a sentiment of justice and right andwhich at the same time promises better administration of theirGovernment. 

The law embodying this reform found its way to our statute bookmore from fear of the popular sentiment existing in its favor thanfrom any love for the reform itself on the part of legislators, andit has lived and grown and flourished in spite of the covert as wellas open hostility of spoilsmen and notwithstanding the querulousimpracticability of many self-constituted guardians. Beneath allthe vagaries and sublimated theories which are attracted to it thereunderlies this reform a sturdy common-sense principle not only suited tothis mundane sphere, but whose application our people are more and morerecognizing to be absolutely essential to the most successful operationof their Government, if not to its perpetuity. 

It seems to me to be entirely inconsistent with the character of thisreform, as well as with its best enforcement, to oblige the Commissionto rely for clerical assistance upon clerks detailed from otherDepartments. There ought not to be such a condition in any Departmentthat clerks hired to do work there can be spared to habitually workat another place, and it does not accord with a sensible view ofcivil-service reform that persons should be employed on the theory thattheir labor is necessary in one Department when in point of fact theirservices are devoted to entirely different work in another Department. 

I earnestly urge that the clerks necessary to carry on the work of theCommission be regularly put upon its roster and that the system ofobliging the Commissioners to rely upon the services of clerks belongingto other Departments be discontinued. This ought not to increase theexpense to the Government, while it would certainly be more consistentand add greatly to the efficiency of the Commission. 

Economy in public expenditure is a duty that can not innocently beneglected by those intrusted with the control of money drawn from thepeople for public uses. It must be confessed that our apparently endlessresources, the familiarity of our people with immense accumulationsof wealth, the growing sentiment among them that the expenditure ofpublic money should in some manner be to their immediate and personaladvantage, the indirect and almost stealthy manner in which a largepart of our taxes is exacted, and a degenerated sense of officialaccountability have led to growing extravagance in governmentalappropriations. 

At this time, when a depleted public Treasury confronts us, when manyof our people are engaged in a hard struggle for the necessaries oflife, and when enforced economy is pressing upon the great mass of ourcountrymen, I desire to urge with all the earnestness at my command thatCongressional legislation be so limited by strict economy as to exhibitan appreciation of the condition of the Treasury and a sympathy with thestraitened circumstances of our fellow-citizens. 

The duty of public economy is also of immense importance in its intimateand necessary relation to the task now in hand of providing revenue tomeet Government expenditures and yet reducing the people's burden ofFederal taxation. 

After a hard struggle tariff reform is directly before us. Nothing soimportant claims our attention and nothing so clearly presents itself asboth an opportunity and a duty--an opportunity to deserve the gratitudeof our fellow-citizens and a duty imposed upon us by our oft-repeatedprofessions and by the emphatic mandate of the people. After fulldiscussion our countrymen have spoken in favor of this reform, and theyhave confided the work of its accomplishment to the hands of those whoare solemnly pledged to it. 

If there is anything in the theory of a representation in public placesof the people and their desires, if public officers are really theservants of the people, and if political promises and professions haveany binding force, our failure to give the relief so long awaited willbe sheer recreancy. Nothing should intervene to distract our attentionor disturb our effort until this reform is accomplished by wise andcareful legislation. 

While we should stanchly adhere to the principle that only the necessityof revenue justifies the imposition of tariff duties and other Federaltaxation and that they should be limited by strict economy, we can notclose our eyes to the fact that conditions have grown up among us whichin justice and fairness call for discriminating care in the distributionof such duties and taxation as the emergencies of our Governmentactually demand. 

Manifestly if we are to aid the people directly through tariff reform, one of its most obvious features should be a reduction in present tariffcharges upon the necessaries of life. The benefits of such a reductionwould be palpable and substantial, seen and felt by thousands who wouldbe better fed and better clothed and better sheltered. These giftsshould be the willing benefactions of a Government whose highestfunction is the promotion of the welfare of the people. 

Not less closely related to our people's prosperity and well-being isthe removal of restrictions upon the importation of the raw materialsnecessary to our manufactures. The world should be open to our nationalingenuity and enterprise. This can not be while Federal legislationthrough the imposition of high tariff forbids to American manufacturersas cheap materials as those used by their competitors. It is quiteobvious that the enhancement of the price of our manufactured productsresulting from this policy not only confines the market for theseproducts within our own borders, to the direct disadvantage of ourmanufacturers, but also increases their cost to our citizens. 

The interests of labor are certainly, though indirectly, involved inthis feature of our tariff system. The sharp competition and activestruggle among our manufacturers to supply the limited demand for theirgoods soon fill the narrow market to which they are confined. Thenfollows a suspension of work in mills and factories, a discharge ofemployees, and distress in the homes of our workingmen. 

Even if the often-disproved assertion could be made good that a lowerrate of wages would result from free raw materials and low tariffduties, the intelligence of our workmen leads them quickly to discoverthat their steady employment, permitted by free raw materials, is themost important factor in their relation to tariff legislation. 

A measure has been prepared by the appropriate Congressional committeeembodying tariff reform on the lines herein suggested, which will bepromptly submitted for legislative action. It is the result of muchpatriotic and unselfish work, and I believe it deals with its subjectconsistently and as thoroughly as existing conditions permit. 

I am satisfied that the reduced tariff duties provided for in theproposed legislation, added to existing internal-revenue taxation, willin the near future, though perhaps not immediately, produce sufficientrevenue to meet the needs of the Government. 

The committee, after full consideration and to provide against atemporary deficiency which may exist before the business of the countryadjusts itself to the new tariff schedules, have wisely embraced intheir plan a few additional internal-revenue taxes, including a smalltax upon incomes derived from certain corporate investments. 

These new adjustments are not only absolutely just and easily borne, butthey have the further merit of being such as can be remitted withoutunfavorable business disturbance whenever the necessity of theirimposition no longer exists. 

In my great desire for the success of this measure I can not restrainthe suggestion that its success can only be attained by means ofunselfish counsel on the part of the friends of tariff reform and as aresult of their willingness to subordinate personal desires andambitions to the general good. The local interests affected by theproposed reform are so numerous and so varied that if all are insistedupon the legislation embodying the reform must inevitably fail. 

In conclusion my intense feeling of responsibility impels me to invokefor the manifold interests of a generous and confiding people the mostscrupulous care and to pledge my willing support to every legislativeeffort for the advancement of the greatness and prosperity of ourbeloved country. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 1: See pp. 377-378. ]

[Footnote 2: See pp. 395-396. ]

[Footnote 3: See Vol. VIII, pp. 353-355. ]

SPECIAL MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 18, 1893_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In my recent annual message to the Congress I briefly referred to ourrelations with Hawaii and expressed the intention of transmittingfurther information on the subject when additional advices permitted. 

Though I am not able now to report a definite change in the actualsituation, I am convinced that the difficulties lately created bothhere and in Hawaii, and now standing in the way of a solution throughExecutive action of the problem presented, render it proper andexpedient that the matter should be referred to the broader authorityand discretion of Congress, with a full explanation of the endeavorthus far made to deal with the emergency and a statement of theconsiderations which have governed my action. 

I suppose that right and justice should determine the path to befollowed in treating this subject. If national honesty is to bedisregarded and a desire for territorial extension or dissatisfactionwith a form of government not our own ought to regulate our conduct, Ihave entirely misapprehended the mission and character of our Governmentand the behavior which the conscience of our people demands of theirpublic servants. 

When the present Administration entered upon its duties, the Senatehad under consideration a treaty providing for the annexation of theHawaiian Islands to the territory of the United States. Surely under ourConstitution and laws the enlargement of our limits is a manifestationof the highest attribute of sovereignty, and if entered upon as anExecutive act all things relating to the transaction should be clear andfree from suspicion. Additional importance attached to this particulartreaty of annexation because it contemplated a departure from unbrokenAmerican tradition in providing for the addition to our territory ofislands of the sea more than 2, 000 miles removed from our nearest coast. 

These considerations might not of themselves call for interference withthe completion of a treaty entered upon by a previous Administration, but it appeared from the documents accompanying the treaty whensubmitted to the Senate that the ownership of Hawaii was tendered to usby a Provisional Government set up to succeed the constitutional rulerof the islands, who had been dethroned, and it did not appear that suchProvisional Government had the sanction of either popular revolution orsuffrage. Two other remarkable features of the transaction naturallyattracted attention. One was the extraordinary haste, not to sayprecipitancy, characterizing all the transactions connected with thetreaty. It appeared that a so-called committee of safety, ostensibly thesource of the revolt against the constitutional Government of Hawaii, was organized on Saturday, the 14th day of January; that on Monday, the16th, the United States forces were landed at Honolulu from a navalvessel lying in its harbor; that on the 17th the scheme of a ProvisionalGovernment was perfected, and a proclamation naming its officers wason the same day prepared and read at the Government building; thatimmediately thereupon the United States minister recognized theProvisional Government thus created; that two days afterwards, on the19th day of January, commissioners representing such Government sailedfor this country in a steamer especially chartered for the occasion, arriving in San Francisco on the 28th day of January and in Washingtonon the 3d day of February; that on the next day they had their firstinterview with the Secretary of State, and another on the 11th, when thetreaty of annexation was practically agreed upon, and that on the 14thit was formally concluded and on the 15th transmitted to the Senate. Thus between the initiation of the scheme for a Provisional Governmentin Hawaii, on the 14th day of January, and the submission to the Senateof the treaty of annexation concluded with such Government the entireinterval was thirty-two days, fifteen of which were spent by theHawaiian commissioners in their journey to Washington. 

In the next place, upon the face of the papers submitted with the treatyit clearly appeared that there was open and undetermined an issue offact of the most vital importance. The message of the Presidentaccompanying the treaty[4] declared that "the overthrow of the monarchywas not in any way promoted by this Government, " and in a letter to thePresident from the Secretary of State, also submitted to the Senate withthe treaty, the following passage occurs:

 At the time the Provisional Government took possession of the Government buildings no troops or officers of the United States were present or took any part whatever in the proceedings. No public recognition was accorded to the Provisional Government by the United States minister until after the Queen's abdication and when they were in effective possession of the Government buildings, the archives, the treasury, the barracks, the police station, and all the potential machinery of the Government. 

But a protest also accompanied said treaty, signed by the Queen and herministers at the time she made way for the Provisional Government, whichexplicitly stated that she yielded to the superior force of the UnitedStates, whose minister had caused United States troops to be landed atHonolulu and declared that he would support such Provisional Government. 

The truth or falsity of this protest was surely of the first importance. If true, nothing but the concealment of its truth could induce ourGovernment to negotiate with the semblance of a government thus created, nor could a treaty resulting from the acts stated in the protest havebeen knowingly deemed worthy of consideration by the Senate. Yet thetruth or falsity of the protest had not been investigated. 

I conceived it to be my duty, therefore, to withdraw the treaty from theSenate for examination, and meanwhile to cause an accurate, full, andimpartial investigation to be made of the facts attending the subversionof the constitutional Government of Hawaii and the installment inits place of the Provisional Government. I selected for the work ofinvestigation the Hon. James H. Blount, of Georgia, whose service ofeighteen years as a member of the House of Representatives and whoseexperience as chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs in that body, and his consequent familiarity with international topics, joined withhis high character and honorable reputation, seemed to render himpeculiarly fitted for the duties intrusted to him. His report detailinghis action under the instructions given to him and the conclusionsderived from his investigation accompany this message. 

These conclusions do not rest for their acceptance entirely uponMr. Blount's honesty and ability as a man, nor upon his acumen andimpartiality as an investigator. They are accompanied by the evidenceupon which they are based, which evidence is also herewith transmitted, and from which it seems to me no other deductions could possibly bereached than those arrived at by the commissioner. 

The report, with its accompanying proofs and such other evidence as isnow before the Congress or is herewith submitted, justifies, in myopinion, the statement that when the President was led to submit thetreaty to the Senate with the declaration that "the overthrow of themonarchy was not in any way promoted by this Government, " and when theSenate was induced to receive and discuss it on that basis, bothPresident and Senate were misled. 

The attempt will not be made in this communication to touch upon allthe facts which throw light upon the progress and consummation of thisscheme of annexation. A very brief and imperfect reference to the factsand evidence at hand will exhibit its character and the incidents inwhich it had its birth. 

It is unnecessary to set forth the reasons which in January, 1893, leda considerable proportion of American and other foreign merchants andtraders residing at Honolulu to favor the annexation of Hawaii to theUnited States. It is sufficient to note the fact and to observe thatthe project was one which was zealously promoted by the ministerrepresenting the United States in that country. He evidently had anardent desire that it should become a fact accomplished by his agencyand during his ministry, and was not inconveniently scrupulous as to themeans employed to that end. On the 19th day of November, 1892, nearlytwo months before the first overt act tending toward the subversion ofthe Hawaiian Government and the attempted transfer of Hawaiian territoryto the United States, he addressed a long letter to the Secretary ofState, in which the case for annexation was elaborately argued on moral, political, and economical grounds. He refers to the loss to the Hawaiiansugar interests from the operation of the McKinley bill and the tendencyto still further depreciation of sugar property unless some positivemeasure of relief is granted. He strongly inveighs against the existingHawaiian Government and emphatically declares for annexation. He says:

 In truth, the monarchy here is an absurd anachronism. It has nothing on which it logically or legitimately stands. The feudal basis on which it once stood no longer existing, the monarchy now is only an impediment to good government--an obstruction to the prosperity and progress of the islands. 

He further says:

 As a Crown colony of Great Britain or a Territory of the United States the government modifications could be made readily and good administration of the law secured. Destiny and the vast future interests of the United States in the Pacific clearly indicate who at no distant day must be responsible for the government of these islands. Under a Territorial government they could be as easily governed as any of the existing Territories of the United States. * * * Hawaii has reached the parting of the ways. She must now take the road which leads to Asia, or the other, which outlets her in America, gives her an American civilization, and binds her to the care of American destiny. 

He also declares:

 One of two courses seems to me absolutely necessary to be followed--either bold and vigorous measures for annexation or a "customs union, " an ocean cable from the Californian coast to Honolulu, Pearl Harbor perpetually ceded to the United States, with an implied but not expressly stipulated American protectorate over the islands. I believe the former to be the better, that which will prove much the more advantageous to the islands and the cheapest and least embarrassing in the end to the United States. If it was wise for the United States, through Secretary Marcy, thirty-eight years ago, to offer to expend $100, 000 to secure a treaty of annexation, it certainly can not be chimerical or unwise to expend $100, 000 to secure annexation in the near future. To-day the United States has five times the wealth she possessed in 1854, and the reasons now existing for annexation are much stronger than they were then. I can not refrain from expressing the opinion with emphasis that the golden hour is near at hand. 

These declarations certainly show a disposition and condition of mindwhich may be usefully recalled when interpreting the significance of theminister's conceded acts or when considering the probabilities of suchconduct on his part as may not be admitted. 

In this view it seems proper to also quote from a letter written by theminister to the Secretary of State on the 8th day of March, 1892, nearlya year prior to the first step taken toward annexation. After statingthe possibility that the existing Government of Hawaii might beoverturned by an orderly and peaceful revolution, Minister Stevenswrites as follows:

 Ordinarily, in like circumstances, the rule seems to be to limit the landing and movement of United States forces in foreign waters and dominion exclusively to the protection of the United States legation and of the lives and property of American citizens; but as the relations of the United States to Hawaii are exceptional, and in former years the United States officials here took somewhat exceptional action in circumstances of disorder, I desire to know how far the present minister and naval commander may deviate from established international rules and precedents in the contingencies indicated in the first part of this dispatch. 

To a minister of this temper, full of zeal for annexation, there seemedto arise in January, 1893, the precise opportunity for which he waswatchfully waiting--an opportunity which by timely "deviation fromestablished international rules and precedents" might be improved tosuccessfully accomplish the great object in view; and we are quiteprepared for the exultant enthusiasm with which, in a letter to theState Department dated February 1, 1893, he declares:

 The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it. 

As a further illustration of the activity of this diplomaticrepresentative, attention is called to the fact that on the day theabove letter was written, apparently unable longer to restrain hisardor, he issued a proclamation whereby, "in the name of the UnitedStates, " he assumed the protection of the Hawaiian Islands and declaredthat said action was "taken pending and subject to negotiations atWashington. " Of course this assumption of a protectorate was promptlydisavowed by our Government, but the American flag remained over theGovernment building at Honolulu and the forces remained on guard untilApril, and after Mr. Blount's arrival on the scene, when both wereremoved. 

A brief statement of the occurrences that led to the subversion of theconstitutional Government of Hawaii in the interests of annexation tothe United States will exhibit the true complexion of that transaction. 

On Saturday, January 14, 1893, the Queen of Hawaii, who had beencontemplating the proclamation of a new constitution, had, in deferenceto the wishes and remonstrances of her cabinet, renounced the projectfor the present at least. Taking this relinquished purpose as a basisof action, citizens of Honolulu numbering from fifty to one hundred, mostly resident aliens, met in a private office and selected a so-calledcommittee of safety, composed of thirteen persons, seven of whom wereforeign subjects, and consisted of five Americans, one Englishman, and one German. This committee, though its designs were not revealed, had in view nothing less than annexation to the United States, andbetween Saturday, the 14th, and the following Monday, the 16th ofJanuary--though exactly what action was taken may not be clearlydisclosed--they were certainly in communication with the United Statesminister. On Monday morning the Queen and her cabinet made publicproclamation, with a notice which was specially served upon therepresentatives of all foreign governments, that any changes in theconstitution would be sought only in the methods provided by thatinstrument. Nevertheless, at the call and under the auspices of thecommittee of safety, a mass meeting of citizens was held on that day toprotest against the Queen's alleged illegal and unlawful proceedings andpurposes. Even at this meeting the committee of safety continued todisguise their real purpose and contented themselves with procuringthe passage of a resolution denouncing the Queen and empowering thecommittee to devise ways and means "to secure the permanent maintenanceof law and order and the protection of life, liberty, and propertyin Hawaii. " This meeting adjourned between 3 and 4 o'clock in theafternoon. On the same day, and immediately after such adjournment, thecommittee, unwilling to take further steps without the cooperation ofthe United States minister, addressed him a note representing that thepublic safety was menaced and that lives and property were in danger, and concluded as follows:

 We are unable to protect ourselves without aid, and therefore pray for the protection of the United States forces. 

Whatever may be thought of the other contents of this note, the absolutetruth of this latter statement is incontestable. When the note waswritten and delivered the committee, so far as it appears, had neithera man nor a gun at their command, and after its delivery they became sopanic-stricken at their position that they sent some of their number tointerview the minister and request him not to land the United Statesforces till the next morning. But he replied that the troops had beenordered and whether the committee were ready or not the landing shouldtake place. And so it happened that on the 16th day of January, 1893, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon, a detachment of marines fromthe United States steamer _Boston_, with two pieces of artillery, landed at Honolulu. The men, upward of 160 in all, were supplied withdouble cartridge belts filled with ammunition and with haversacks andcanteens, and were accompanied by a hospital corps with stretchers andmedical supplies. 

This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself anact of war, unless made either with the consent of the Government ofHawaii or for the _bona fide_ purpose of protecting the imperiledlives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is nopretense of any such consent on the part of the Government of the Queen, which at that time was undisputed and was both the _de facto_ andthe _de jure_ Government. In point of fact the existing Government, instead of requesting the presence of an armed force, protested againstit. There is as little basis for the pretense that such forces werelanded for the security of American life and property. If so, they wouldhave been stationed in the vicinity of such property and so as toprotect it, instead of at a distance and so as to command the HawaiianGovernment building and palace. Admiral Skerrett, the officer in commandof our naval force on the Pacific station, has frankly stated that inhis opinion the location of the troops was inadvisable if they werelanded for the protection of American citizens, whose residences andplaces of business, as well as the legation and consulate, were in adistant part of the city; but the location selected was a wise one ifthe forces were landed for the purpose of supporting the ProvisionalGovernment. If any peril to life and property calling for any suchmartial array had existed, Great Britain and other foreign powersinterested would not have been behind the United States in activity toprotect their citizens. But they made no sign in that direction. Whenthese armed men were landed the city of Honolulu was in its customaryorderly and peaceful condition. There was no symptom of riot ordisturbance in any quarter. Men, women, and children were about thestreets as usual, and nothing varied the ordinary routine or disturbedthe ordinary tranquillity except the landing of the _Boston's_marines and their march through the town to the quarters assigned them. Indeed, the fact that after having called for the landing of the UnitedStates forces on the plea of danger to life and property the committeeof safety themselves requested the minister to postpone action exposedthe untruthfulness of their representations of present peril to life andproperty. The peril they saw was an anticipation growing out of guiltyintentions on their part and something which, though not then existing, they knew would certainly follow their attempt to overthrow theGovernment of the Queen without the aid of the United States forces. 

Thus it appears that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United Statesforces without the consent or wish of the Government of the islands, or of anybody else so far as shown except the United States minister. Therefore the military occupation of Honolulu by the United Stateson the day mentioned was wholly without justification, either as anoccupation by consent or as an occupation necessitated by dangersthreatening American life and property. It must be accounted for in someother way and on some other ground, and its real motive and purpose areneither obscure nor far to seek. 

The United States forces being now on the scene and favorablystationed, the committee proceeded to carry out their original scheme. They met the next morning, Tuesday, the 17th, perfected the plan oftemporary government, and fixed upon its principal officers, ten of whomwere drawn from the thirteen members of the committee of safety. Between1 and 2 o'clock, by squads and by different routes to avoid notice, andhaving first taken the precaution of ascertaining whether there wasanyone there to oppose them, they proceeded to the Government buildingto proclaim the new Government. No sign of opposition was manifest, andthereupon an American citizen began to read the proclamation from thesteps of the Government building, almost entirely without auditors. It is said that before the reading was finished quite a concourse ofpersons, variously estimated at from 50 to 100, some armed and someunarmed, gathered about the committee to give them aid and confidence. This statement is not important, since the one controlling factor in thewhole affair was unquestionably the United States marines, who, drawnup under arms and with artillery in readiness only 76 yards distant, dominated the situation. 

The Provisional Government thus proclaimed was by the terms of theproclamation "to exist until terms of union with the United States hadbeen negotiated and agreed upon. " The United States minister, pursuantto prior agreement, recognized this Government within an hour after thereading of the proclamation, and before 5 o'clock, in answer to aninquiry on behalf of the Queen and her cabinet, announced that he haddone so. 

When our minister recognized the Provisional Government, the only basisupon which it rested was the fact that the committee of safety had inthe manner above stated declared it to exist. It was neither agovernment _de facto_ nor _de jure_. That it was not in such possessionof the Government property and agencies as entitled it to recognition isconclusively proved by a note found in the files of the legation atHonolulu, addressed by the declared head of the Provisional Governmentto Minister Stevens, dated January 17, 1893, in which he acknowledgeswith expressions of appreciation the minister's recognition of theProvisional Government, and states that it is not yet in the possessionof the station house (the place where a large number of the Queen'stroops were quartered), though the same had been demanded of the Queen'sofficers in charge. Nevertheless, this wrongful recognition by ourminister placed the Government of the Queen in a position of mostperilous perplexity. On the one hand she had possession of the palace, of the barracks, and of the police station, and had at her command atleast 500 fully armed men and several pieces of artillery. Indeed, thewhole military force of her Kingdom was on her side and at her disposal, while the committee of safety, by actual search, had discovered thatthere were but very few arms in Honolulu that were not in the service ofthe Government. 

In this state of things, if the Queen could have dealt with theinsurgents alone, her course would have been plain and the resultunmistakable. But the United States had allied itself with her enemies, had recognized them as the true Government of Hawaii, and had puther and her adherents in the position of opposition against lawfulauthority. She knew that she could not withstand the power of the UnitedStates, but she believed that she might safely trust to its justice. Accordingly, some hours after the recognition of the ProvisionalGovernment by the United States minister, the palace, the barracks, andthe police station, with all the military resources of the country, weredelivered up by the Queen upon the representation made to her that hercause would thereafter be reviewed at Washington, and while protestingthat she surrendered to the superior force of the United States, whoseminister had caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu anddeclared that he would support the Provisional Government, and that sheyielded her authority to prevent collision of armed forces and loss oflife, and only until such time as the United States, upon the factsbeing presented to it, should undo the action of its representative andreinstate her in the authority she claimed as the constitutionalsovereign of the Hawaiian Islands. 

This protest was delivered to the chief of the Provisional Government, who indorsed thereon his acknowledgment of its receipt. The terms of theprotest were read without dissent by those assuming to constitute theProvisional Government, who were certainly charged with the knowledgethat the Queen, instead of finally abandoning her power, had appealed tothe justice of the United States for reinstatement in her authority; andyet the Provisional Government, with this unanswered protest in itshand, hastened to negotiate with the United States for the permanentbanishment of the Queen from power and for a sale of her Kingdom. 

Our country was in danger of occupying the position of having actuallyset up a temporary government on foreign soil for the purpose ofacquiring through that agency territory which we had wrongfully put inits possession. The control of both sides of a bargain acquired in sucha manner is called by a familiar and unpleasant name when found inprivate transactions. We are not without a precedent showing howscrupulously we avoided such accusations in former days. After thepeople of Texas had declared their independence of Mexico they resolvedthat on the acknowledgment of their independence by the United Statesthey would seek admission into the Union. Several months after thebattle of San Jacinto, by which Texan independence was practicallyassured and established, President Jackson declined to recognize it, alleging as one of his reasons that in the circumstances it became us"to beware of a too early movement, as it might subject us, howeverunjustly, to the imputation of seeking to establish the claim of ourneighbors to a territory with a view to its subsequent acquisition byourselves. " This is in marked contrast with the hasty recognition of agovernment openly and concededly set up for the purpose of tendering tous territorial annexation. 

I believe that a candid and thorough examination of the facts will forcethe conviction that the Provisional Government owes its existence toan armed invasion by the United States. Fair-minded people, with theevidence before them, will hardly claim that the Hawaiian Governmentwas overthrown by the people of the islands or that the ProvisionalGovernment had ever existed with their consent. I do not understand thatany member of this Government claims that the people would uphold it bytheir suffrages if they were allowed to vote on the question. 

While naturally sympathizing with every effort to establish a republicanform of government, it has been the settled policy of the United Statesto concede to people of foreign countries the same freedom andindependence in the management of their domestic affairs that we havealways claimed for ourselves, and it has been our practice to recognizerevolutionary governments as soon as it became apparent that they weresupported by the people. For illustration of this rule I need only torefer to the revolution in Brazil in 1889, when our minister wasinstructed to recognize the Republic "so soon as a majority of thepeople of Brazil should have signified their assent to its establishmentand maintenance;" to the revolution in Chile in 1891, when our ministerwas directed to recognize the new Government "if it was accepted by thepeople, " and to the revolution in Venezuela in 1892, when ourrecognition was accorded on condition that the new Government was "fullyestablished, in possession of the power of the nation, and accepted bythe people. "

As I apprehend the situation, we are brought face to face with thefollowing conditions:

The lawful Government of Hawaii was overthrown without the drawing of asword or the firing of a shot by a process every step of which, it maysafely be asserted, is directly traceable to and dependent for itssuccess upon the agency of the United States acting through itsdiplomatic and naval representatives. 

But for the notorious predilections of the United States minister forannexation the committee of safety, which should be called the committeeof annexation, would never have existed. 

But for the landing of the United States forces upon false pretextsrespecting the danger to life and property the committee would neverhave exposed themselves to the pains and penalties of treason byundertaking the subversion of the Queen's Government. 

But for the presence of the United States forces in the immediatevicinity and in position to afford all needed protection and support thecommittee would not have proclaimed the Provisional Government from thesteps of the Government building. 

And finally, but for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under falsepretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister Stevens'srecognition of the Provisional Government when the United States forceswere its sole support and constituted its only military strength, theQueen and her Government would never have yielded to the ProvisionalGovernment, even for a time and for the sole purpose of submitting hercase to the enlightened justice of the United States. 

Believing, therefore, that the United States could not, under thecircumstances disclosed, annex the islands without justly incurring theimputation of acquiring them by unjustifiable methods, I shall not againsubmit the treaty of annexation to the Senate for its consideration, andin the instructions to Minister Willis, a copy of which accompanies thismessage, I have directed him to so inform the Provisional Government. 

But in the present instance our duty does not, in my opinion, end withrefusing to consummate this questionable transaction. It has been theboast of our Government that it seeks to do justice in all thingswithout regard to the strength or weakness of those with whom it deals. I mistake the American people if they favor the odious doctrine thatthere is no such thing as international morality; that there is one lawfor a strong nation and another for a weak one, and that even byindirection a strong power may with impunity despoil a weak one of itsterritory. 

By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomaticrepresentative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has beenoverthrown. A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regardfor our national character as well as the rights of the injured peoplerequires we should endeavor to repair. The Provisional Government hasnot assumed a republican or other constitutional form, but has remaineda mere executive council or oligarchy, set up without the assent of thepeople. It has not sought to find a permanent basis of popular supportand has given no evidence of an intention to do so. Indeed, therepresentatives of that Government assert that the people of Hawaii areunfit for popular government and frankly avow that they can be bestruled by arbitrary or despotic power. 

The law of nations is founded upon reason and justice, and the rules ofconduct governing individual relations between citizens or subjects of acivilized state are equally applicable as between enlightened nations. 

The considerations that international law is without a court for itsenforcement and that obedience to its commands practically depends upongood faith instead of upon the mandate of a superior tribunal onlygive additional sanction to the law itself and brand any deliberateinfraction of it not merely as a wrong, but as a disgrace. A man oftrue honor protects the unwritten word which binds his conscience morescrupulously, if possible, than he does the bond a breach of whichsubjects him to legal liabilities, and the United States, in aiming tomaintain itself as one of the most enlightened nations, would do itscitizens gross injustice if it applied to its international relationsany other than a high standard of honor and morality. On that ground theUnited States can not properly be put in the position of countenancing awrong after its commission any more than in that of consenting to it inadvance. On that ground it can not allow itself to refuse to redress aninjury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with itsauthority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeblebut friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence andits sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense ofjustice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation. 

These principles apply to the present case with irresistible force whenthe special conditions of the Queen's surrender of her sovereignty arerecalled. She surrendered, not to the Provisional Government, but tothe United States. She surrendered, not absolutely and permanently, buttemporarily and conditionally until such time as the facts could beconsidered by the United States. Furthermore, the Provisional Governmentacquiesced in her surrender in that manner and on those terms, not onlyby tacit consent, but through the positive acts of some members of thatGovernment, who urged her peaceable submission, not merely to avoidbloodshed, but because she could place implicit reliance upon thejustice of the United States and that the whole subject would be finallyconsidered at Washington. 

I have not, however, overlooked an incident of this unfortunate affairwhich remains to be mentioned. The members of the Provisional Governmentand their supporters, though not entitled to extreme sympathy, have beenled to their present predicament of revolt against the Government of theQueen by the indefensible encouragement and assistance of our diplomaticrepresentative. This fact may entitle them to claim that in our effortto rectify the wrong committed some regard should be had for theirsafety. This sentiment is strongly seconded by my anxiety to do nothingwhich would invite either harsh retaliation on the part of the Queen orviolence and bloodshed in any quarter. In the belief that the Queen, as well as her enemies, would be willing to adopt such a course aswould meet these conditions, and in view of the fact that both the Queenand the Provisional Government had at one time apparently acquiescedin a reference of the entire case to the United States Government, and considering the further fact that in any event the ProvisionalGovernment by its own declared limitation was only "to exist until termsof union with the United States of America have been negotiated andagreed upon, " I hoped that after the assurance to the members of thatGovernment that such union could not be consummated I might compass apeaceful adjustment of the difficulty. 

Actuated by these desires and purposes, and not unmindful of theinherent perplexities of the situation nor of the limitations uponmy power, I instructed Minister Willis to advise the Queen and hersupporters of my desire to aid in the restoration of the status existingbefore the lawless landing of the United States forces at Honolulu onthe 16th of January last if such restoration could be effected uponterms providing for clemency as well as justice to all partiesconcerned. The conditions suggested, as the instructions show, contemplate a general amnesty to those concerned in setting up theProvisional Government and a recognition of all its _bona fide_acts and obligations. In short, they require that the past should beburied and that the restored Government should reassume its authority asif its continuity had not been interrupted. These conditions have notproved acceptable to the Queen, and though she has been informed thatthey will be insisted upon and that unless acceded to the efforts of thePresident to aid in the restoration of her Government will cease, I havenot thus far learned that she is willing to yield them her acquiescence. The check which my plans have thus encountered has prevented theirpresentation to the members of the Provisional Government, whileunfortunate public misrepresentations of the situation and exaggeratedstatements of the sentiments of our people have obviously injured theprospects of successful Executive mediation. 

I therefore submit this communication, with its accompanying exhibits, embracing Mr. Blount's report, the evidence and statements taken by himat Honolulu, the instructions given to both Mr. Blount and MinisterWillis, and correspondence connected with the affair in hand. 

In commending this subject to the extended powers and wide discretion ofthe Congress I desire to add the assurance that I shall be muchgratified to cooperate in any legislative plan which may be devised forthe solution of the problem before us which is consistent with Americanhonor, integrity, and morality. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 4: See pp. 348-349. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 18, 1893_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution passed by the Senate on the 6th instant, I hereby transmit reports of the Secretaries of State and of the Navy, with copies of all instructions given to the respective diplomatic andnaval representatives of the United States in the Hawaiian Islands sincethe 4th day of March, 1881, touching the matters specified in theresolution. 

It has seemed convenient to include in the present communication to theSenate copies of the diplomatic correspondence concerning the politicalcondition of Hawaii, prepared for transmission to the House ofRepresentatives in response to a later resolution passed by that body onthe 13th instant. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 18, 1893_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution passed by your honorable body on the13th instant, I hereby transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with copies of the instructions given to Mr. Albert S. Willis, therepresentative of the United States now in the Hawaiian Islands, andalso the correspondence since the 4th day of March, 1889, concerningthe relations of this Government to those islands. 

In making this communication I have withheld only a dispatch from theformer minister to Hawaii, numbered 70, under date of October 8, 1892, and a dispatch from the present minister, numbered 3, under date ofNovember 16, 1893, because in my opinion the publication of these twopapers would be incompatible with the public interest. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, submitted incompliance with the resolution of October 17 last, in the matter of theclaim of certain persons against the Government of Spain for illegalarrest off the coast of Yucatan in the year 1850, and subsequentimprisonment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 13, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith copies of all dispatches from our minister at Hawaiirelating in any way to political affairs in that country, except such ashave been heretofore laid before the Congress. 

I also transmit a copy of the last instructions sent to our minister, dated January 12, 1894, being the only instructions to him not alreadysent to the Congress. 

In transmitting certain correspondence with my message dated December18, 1893, I withheld a dispatch from our present minister, numbered3 and dated November 16, 1893, and also a dispatch from our formerminister, numbered 70 and dated October 8, 1892. Inasmuch as thecontents of the dispatch of November 16, 1893, are referred to in thedispatches of a more recent date, now sent to Congress, and inasmuchas there seems no longer to be sufficient reason for withholding saiddispatch, a copy of the same is herewith submitted. The dispatchnumbered 70 and dated October 8, 1892, above referred to, is stillwithheld for the reason that such a course still appears to bejustifiable and proper. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith dispatches received yesterday from our ministerat Hawaii, with certain correspondence which accompanied the same, including a most extraordinary letter, dated December 27, 1893, signedby Sanford B. Dole, minister of foreign affairs of the ProvisionalGovernment, addressed to our minister, Mr. Willis, and delivered to hima number of hours after the arrival at Honolulu of a copy of my messageto Congress on the Hawaiian question, with copies of instructions givento our minister. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 22, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith copies of dispatches received from our minister toHawaii after the arrival of those copies which accompanied my messageof the 20th instant. I also inclose, for the information of Congress, copies of reports and a copy of an order just received by the Secretaryof the Navy from Rear-Admiral Irwin, commanding our naval forces atHonolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 2, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying adispatch received a few days ago from our minister at Hawaii. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 12, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith two dispatches received a few days ago from ourminister at Hawaii, and a reply to one of them from the Secretary ofState, in which a correct version is given of an interview whichoccurred November 14, 1893, between the Secretary of State and Mr. Thurston, representing the Provisional Government at Washington. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 16, 1894_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communicationfrom the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of theBureau of the American Republics for the year 1893. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1894_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit copies of certain dispatches recently received fromour minister at Honolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

On the evening of the 16th instant I received a copy of a resolutionpassed by the Senate, requesting the transmission to that body of allreports and dispatches from our minister at Hawaii, and especially acertain letter written to him by Mr. Dole, President of the ProvisionalGovernment. 

On the same day I received from the State Department a copy of adispatch from Minister Willis, accompanied by various exhibits. I wasnot able to send them to the Senate on that day. The Senate adjournedthat afternoon until to-day, and thus prevented the submission until nowof these papers. 

The next day after the receipt of the Senate resolution, and on the 17thinstant, other dispatches were received from Mr. Willis at the StateDepartment. They were copied with all possible haste, and are nowsubmitted at the first meeting of the Senate since their receipt. Theyinclude the letter mentioned in the Senate resolution and the answer ofMinister Willis to the same. 

Since the 18th day of December last, when I submitted to the "broaderauthority and discretion of the Congress" all matters connected with ourrelations with Hawaii, I have with the utmost promptness transmittedto the Congress all dispatches and reports relative to the subject, and I am not aware of any dispatches or documents in the remotest wayconnected with these relations which have come to the possession of theState Department or the Executive and been withheld from the Senate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 7, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report submitted by the Secretary of State inresponse to the resolution of the Senate dated January 23, 1894, requesting communication of correspondence exchanged between theGovernment of the United States and the Governments of Colombia, Venezuela, and Hayti. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 7, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith copies of certain dispatches lately received fromour minister at Hawaii, together with copies of the inclosures whichaccompanied such dispatches. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 8, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report furnished by the Secretary of State inresponse to a resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, makinginquiry respecting the present condition of the _Virginius_indemnity fund. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , March 14, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith transmit a report[5] of the Secretary of State of the 14thinstant, concerning the several inquiries in the resolution of theSenate addressed to him under date of the 9th instant. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 5: Relating to the coined silver money and the products ofIndia, Russia, and the Argentine Republic. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 19, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a conventionconcluded at this capital on the 17th instant between the United Statesand China concerning the subject of emigration between those twocountries. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 19, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, concerning thelanding of British troops at Bluefields, Nicaragua, in answer to theresolution of the Senate of the 7th instant on that subject. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 19, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a copy of a dispatch received from our minister atHawaii, together with copies of the inclosures which accompanied saiddispatch. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 3, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith report from the Secretary of State, inclosingthe final report of the agent of the United States before the ParisTribunal, also the protocols thus far received and certain other papersrelating to that arbitration. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 13, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith copies of certain dispatches from the United Statesminister at Honolulu, received by the Secretary of State since mymessage of March 19, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 21, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, covering a dispatch from the United States minister at Honolulu andreply thereto. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , May 1, 1894_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the ninth annual report of the Commissioner ofLabor. This report relates entirely to building and loan associations inthe United States. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 9, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate ofApril 6, 1894, a report of the Secretary of State, containing therequested information as to the present condition of affairs in theSamoan Islands, with copies of the correspondence in relation thereto, including that with the Governments of Great Britain and Germany. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 9, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, inregard to recent dispatches from the United States minister at Honolulu, received since my message of April 21, 1894, and also a dispatch fromthe minister dated April 14, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 29, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I herewith transmit, having regard to my message of May 9, 1894, acommunication from the Secretary of State, covering a dispatch from theUnited States minister at Honolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 20, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate ofDecember 20, 1893, a report from the Acting Secretary of State, coveringthe desired copies of correspondence in the matter of the claim ofAntonio Maximo Mora against Spain. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 23, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I herewith transmit a communication covering dispatches from the UnitedStates minister at Honolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 25, 1894_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The shocking intelligence has been received that the President of theFrench Republic met his death yesterday at the hands of an assassin. This terrible event which has overtaken a sister Republic can not fail todeeply arouse the sympathies of the American nation, while the violenttermination of a career promising so much in aid of liberty and advancingcivilization should be mourned as an affliction to mankind. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 29, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

Answering a resolution of your honorable body dated the 13th instant, I transmit herewith a report[6] of the Secretary of State, with anaccompanying document, which contain all the information in mypossession touching the matters embraced in said resolution. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 6: Relating to the probable retaliatory action of foreigngovernments for the proposed imposition by the United States of a dutyon sugar. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 9, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in further response to the Senate resolution ofApril 6, 1894, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied bycopies of certain correspondence relating to Samoan affairs. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 19, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant, the House of Representatives concurring, I return herewith the bill(S. 1105) entitled "An act for the relief of Albert Redstone. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 24, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of State, covering a dispatch from the United States minister at Honolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , July 27, 1894_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the seventh special report of the Commissioner ofLabor. This report relates to what is generally known as the slums ofcities, and has been prepared in accordance with a joint resolutionapproved July 20, 1892. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 30, 1894_. 

_To the Congress_:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of State, covering two dispatches from the United States minister at Honolulu. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

VETO MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1894_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without my approval House bill No. 71, entitled "An act for therelief of purchasers of timber and stone lands under the act of June 3, 1878. "

This bill permits the proofs and affidavits which under present statutesparties desiring to acquire certain public lands are required to makebefore the registers and receivers of the land offices within which suchlands are located to be made before any commissioner of the UnitedStates circuit court or before the judge or clerk of any court ofrecords of the county or parish in which the lands are situated. 

A similar bill was passed by the Fifty-second Congress and wasdisapproved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office and theSecretary of the Interior. The successors of these officers oppose thepresent bill on the ground that in its operation it would open the doorto fraud and to a perversion of the intentions of the Government inrelation to the public lands. 

It is difficult, with the most scrupulous care, to guard the alienationof our public lands from fraud and illegal practices. It is perfectlyplain, however, that the prospect of accomplishing this result is betterunder present laws, which require the necessary proofs to be made beforeland officers who are appointed for that purpose and who are under thecontrol of the General Land Office and amenable to its regulations, thanit would be by substituting other officers over whom the Land Office hasno control. 

Certain rules and orders of the Land Office are now in force whichregulate the taking of the necessary proofs and permit oral examinationsby registers and receivers. These regulations are of the utmostimportance if our land laws are to be justly and honestly administered. 

I fully concur in the objections made to this bill by the officershaving charge of the public lands in the last Administration and bytheir successors who are now charged with that responsibility. I amconvinced that such a relaxation of our existing land laws as iscontemplated by the bill under consideration would not be in theinterest of good administration. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1894_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I hereby return without my approval House bill No. 3289, entitled"An act to authorize the New York and New Jersey Bridge Companiesto construct and maintain a bridge across the Hudson River betweenNew York City and the State of New Jersey. "

This bill authorizes the construction of a bridge over the North Riverbetween the States of New York and New Jersey, the terminus of whichin the city of New York shall not be below Sixty-sixth street. Itcontemplates the construction of a bridge upon piers placed in theriver. No mention is made of a single span crossing the entire river, nor is there anything in the bill indicating that it was within theintention of the Congress that there should be a bridge built withoutpiers. I am by no means certain that the Secretary of War, who isinvested by the terms of the bill with considerable discretion so far asthe plans for the structure are concerned, would have the right to exactof the promoters of this enterprise the erection of a bridge spanningthe entire river. 

Much objection has been made to the location of any piers in the riverfor the reason that they would seriously interfere with the commercewhich seeks the port of New York through that channel. It is certainlyvery questionable whether piers should be permitted at all in the NorthRiver at the point designated for the location of this bridge. It seemsabsolutely certain that within a few years a great volume of shippingwill extend to that location, which would be seriously embarrassed bysuch obstruction. 

I appreciate fully the importance of securing some means by whichrailroad traffic can cross this river, and no one can fail to realizethe serious inconvenience to travel caused by lack of facilities ofthat character. At the same time, it is a plain dictate of wisdom andexpediency that the commerce of the river be not unnecessarilyinterfered with by bridges or in any other manner. 

Engineers whose judgment upon the matter can not be questioned, including the engineer of the company proposing to build this bridge, have expressed the opinion that the entire river can be spanned safelyand effectively by a suspension bridge, or a construction not needingthe use of piers. 

The company to which the permission to bridge the river is granted inthe bill under consideration was created by virtue of an act of thelegislature of the State of New York which became a law, by reason ofthe failure of the governor to either approve or veto the same, on the30th day of April, 1890. It may be safely assumed that the members ofthe legislature which passed this law knew what was necessary for theprotection of the commerce of the city of New York and had informedthemselves concerning the plan of a bridge that should be built in viewof all the interests concerned. 

By paragraph 24 of the law creating this company it is provided that"the said bridge shall be constructed with a single span over the entireriver between towers or piers located between the span and the existingpier-head lines in either State, " and that "no pier or tower or otherobstruction of a permanent character shall be placed or built in theriver between said towers or piers under this act. "

In view of such professional judgment, and considering the interestswhich would be interfered with by the location of piers in the river, and having due regard to the judgment of the legislature of the Stateof New York, it seems to me that a plan necessitating the use of piersin the bed of the river should be avoided. The question of increasedexpense of construction or the compromise of conflicting interestsshould not outweigh the other important considerations involved. 

I notice the bill provides that the companies availing themselves ofits privileges shall receive no greater pay for transporting the mailsacross the bridge than is allowed per mile to railroads using the same. If this is intended, as the language seems to import, to authorize thisbridge company to charge the United States Government a toll for thecarriage of its mails across the bridge equal to the amount which maybe paid per mile by the Government for carrying the mails by railroadscrossing the bridge, it seems to me it should not be allowed. Theexpense to the Government for carrying the mails over the structureshould beyond any doubt be limited to the compensation paid therailroads for transportation. 

An exceedingly important objection to the bill remains to be considered. In 1890 the North River Bridge Company was incorporated by an act ofCongress for the purpose of constructing a bridge across the NorthRiver, the New York terminus of which was located at or nearTwenty-third street in the city of New York. The proposition toconstruct the bridge at that point was a subject very carefully andthoroughly examined at that time and during the agitation of the projectfor a number of years prior to the passage of the act. As a result ofsuch examination and much discussion, Congress granted permission tothis company to construct a bridge having a single span and suspendedfrom towers on each side of the river, and in the act especiallyprohibited the placing of any piers in the river, either of a temporaryor of a permanent character, in connection with said bridge. This planto bridge the river without piers was at that time considered feasibleby the engineers of the company, and it accepted the terms of the act. Before this permission was finally granted a number of bills wereintroduced in the Congress covering the same subject, which werereferred to Government engineers. Reports were made by these officers inevery case insisting upon a construction with a single span and withoutpiers in the bed of the river. 

The eighth subdivision of the bill herewith returned provides that anycompany heretofore created for the purpose of bridging the river mayavail itself of the provisions of the act, and makes such companysubject to all its provisions. This, of course, has reference tothe North River Bridge Company and releases that company from theprohibition of the act under which it was permitted to span the riverand permits it to construct piers in the river. It seems to me thatthe language of the bill under consideration, so far as it relates tothis particular feature, is equivalent to a new grant to that company, differing very materially from the grant which was thought expedient atthe time it was before the Congress, and removes the guaranty that inthe construction of its bridge there shall be no obstructions in theriver such as were especially guarded against by the bill originallypassed for its benefit. In effect a new charter is granted to a companynot named in the bill, and with no apparent reason for the importantenlargement of its privileges thus accomplished. It is entirely apparentthat the reasons against obstructions in the North River which mightinterfere with commerce and navigation and the beneficial use of theharbor of New York are immensely strengthened when they are applied toa location in the river far below the location of the bridge which ispermitted in the bill now before me. 

Whatever question there may be about the injurious character of theobstruction at Sixty-sixth street in New York City, I believe there canbe no doubt whatever that piers placed in the river more than 2 milesbelow, at Twenty-third street, would be very serious impediments. Ifthis thoroughfare, so important to the commerce of the country and theState of New York, is to be crossed by bridges, each scheme for thatpurpose should be considered by itself and its merits and advisabilitydetermined by the circumstances which naturally belong to it. Theobjection to piers in the river for the purpose of supporting bridges isin any event so serious that the considerations which would determinethe question of a bridge located at Sixty-sixth street ought not insuch an indirect manner as is done by this bill be applied to a likestructure at Twenty-third street. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 29, 1894_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without my approval House bill No. 4956, entitled "An actdirecting the coinage of the silver bullion held in the Treasury, andfor other purposes. "

My strong desire to avoid disagreement with those in both Houses ofCongress who have supported this bill would lead me to approve it if Icould believe that the public good would not be thereby endangered andthat such action on my part would be a proper discharge of officialduty. Inasmuch, however, as I am unable to satisfy myself that theproposed legislation is either wise or opportune, my conception of theobligations and responsibilities attached to the great office I holdforbids the indulgence of my personal desire and inexorably confines meto that course which is dictated by my reason and judgment and pointedout by a sincere purpose to protect and promote the general interests ofour people. 

The financial disturbance which swept over the country during the lastyear was unparalleled in its severity and disastrous consequences. Thereseemed to be almost an entire displacement of faith in our financialability and a loss of confidence in our fiscal policy. Among those whoattempted to assign causes for our distress it was very generallyconceded that the operation of a provision of law then in force whichrequired the Government to purchase monthly a large amount of silverbullion and issue its notes in payment therefor was either entirely orto a large extent responsible for our condition. This led to the repealon the 1st day of November, 1893, of this statutory provision. 

We had, however, fallen so low in the depths of depression and timidityand apprehension had so completely gained control in financial circlesthat our rapid recuperation could not be reasonably expected. Ourrecovery has, nevertheless, steadily progressed, and though less thanfive months have elapsed since the repeal of the mischievoussilver-purchase requirement a wholesome improvement is unmistakablyapparent. Confidence in our absolute solvency is to such an extentreinstated and faith in our disposition to adhere to sound financialmethods is so far restored as to produce the most encouraging resultsboth at home and abroad. The wheels of domestic industry have beenslowly set in motion and the tide of foreign investment has againstarted in our direction. 

Our recovery being so well under way, nothing should be done to checkour convalescence; nor should we forget that a relapse at this timewould almost surely reduce us to a lower stage of financial distressthan that from which we are just emerging. 

I believe that if the bill under consideration should become a law itwould be regarded as a retrogression from the financial intentionsindicated by our recent repeal of the provision forcing silver-bullionpurchases; that it would weaken, if it did not destroy, returningfaith and confidence in our sound financial tendencies, and thatas a consequence our progress to renewed business health would beunfortunately checked and a return to our recent distressing plightseriously threatened. 

This proposed legislation is so related to the currency conditionsgrowing out of the law compelling the purchase of silver by theGovernment that a glance at such conditions and a partial review of thelaw referred to may not be unprofitable. 

Between the 14th day of August, 1890, when the law became operative, andthe 1st day of November, 1893, when the clause it contained directingthe purchase of silver was repealed, there were purchased by theSecretary of the Treasury more than 168, 000, 000 ounces of silverbullion. In payment for this bullion the Government issued its Treasurynotes, of various denominations, amounting to nearly $156, 000, 000, whichnotes were immediately added to the currency in circulation among ourpeople. Such notes were by the law made legal tender in payment of alldebts, public and private, except when otherwise expressly stipulated, and were made receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and when so received might be reissued. They were also permitted to beheld by banking associations as a part of their lawful reserves. 

On the demand of the holders these Treasury notes were to be redeemed ingold or silver coin, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury;but it was declared as a part of this redemption provision that it was"the established policy of the United States to maintain the two metalson a parity with each other upon the present legal ratio or such ratioas may be provided by law. " The money coined from such bullion was to bestandard silver dollars, and after directing the immediate coinage of alittle less than 28, 000, 000 ounces the law provided that as much of theremaining bullion should be thereafter coined as might be necessary toprovide for the redemption of the Treasury notes issued on its purchase, and that "any gain or seigniorage arising from such coinage shall beaccounted for and paid into the Treasury. "

This gain or seigniorage evidently indicates so much of the bullionowned by the Government as should remain after using a sufficient amountto coin as many standard silver dollars as should equal in number thedollars represented by the Treasury notes issued in payment of theentire quantity of bullion. These Treasury notes now outstanding and incirculation amount to $152, 951, 280, and although there has been thusfar but a comparatively small amount of this bullion coined, yet theso-called gain or seigniorage, as above defined, which would arisefrom the coinage of the entire mass has been easily ascertained to be aquantity of bullion sufficient to make when coined 55, 156, 681 standardsilver dollars. 

Considering the present intrinsic relation between gold and silver, themaintenance of the parity between the two metals, as mentioned in thislaw, can mean nothing less than the maintenance of such a parity in theestimation and confidence of the people who use our money in their dailytransactions. Manifestly the maintenance of this parity can only beaccomplished, so far as it is affected by these Treasury notes and inthe estimation of the holders of the same, by giving to such holderson their redemption the coin, whether it is gold or silver, which theyprefer. It follows that while in terms the law leaves the choice of cointo be paid on such redemption to the discretion of the Secretary of theTreasury, the exercise of this discretion, if opposed to the demands ofthe holder, is entirely inconsistent with the effective and beneficialmaintenance of the parity between the two metals. 

If both gold and silver are to serve us as money and if they togetherare to supply to our people a safe and stable currency, the necessity ofpreserving this parity is obvious. Such necessity has been repeatedlyconceded in the platforms of both political parties and in our Federalstatutes. It is nowhere more emphatically recognized than in the recentlaw which repealed the provision under which the bullion now on hand waspurchased. This law insists upon the "maintenance of the parity in valueof the coins of the two metals and the equal power of every dollar atall times in the markets and in the payment of debts. "

The Secretary of the Treasury has therefore, for the best of reasons, not only promptly complied with every demand for the redemption of theseTreasury notes in gold, but the present situation as well as the letterand spirit of the law appear plainly to justify, if they do not enjoinupon him, a continuation of such redemption. 

The conditions I have endeavored to present may be thus summarized:

First. The Government has purchased and now has on hand sufficientsilver bullion to permit the coinage of all the silver dollars necessaryto redeem in such dollars the Treasury notes issued for the purchase ofsaid silver bullion, and enough besides to coin, as gain or seigniorage, 55, 156, 681 additional standard silver dollars. 

Second. There are outstanding and now in circulation Treasury notesissued in payment of the bullion purchased amounting to $152, 951, 280. These notes are legal tender in payment of all debts, public andprivate, except when otherwise expressly stipulated; they are receivablefor customs, taxes, and all public dues; when held by bankingassociations they may be counted as part of their lawful reserves, and they are redeemed by the Government in gold at the option of theholders. These advantageous attributes were deliberately attached tothese notes at the time of their issue. They are fully understood by ourpeople to whom such notes have been distributed as currency, and haveinspired confidence in their safety and value, and have undoubtedly thusinduced their continued and contented use as money, instead of anxietyfor their redemption. 

Having referred to some incidents which I deem relevant to the subject, it remains for me to submit a specific statement of my objections to thebill now under consideration. 

This bill consists of two sections, excluding one which merelyappropriates a sum sufficient to carry the act into effect. The firstsection provides for the immediate coinage of the silver bullion in theTreasury which represents the so-called gain or seigniorage, or whichwould arise from the coinage of all the bullion on hand, which gain orseigniorage this section declares to be $55, 156, 681. It directs that themoney so coined or the certificates issued thereon shall be used in thepayment of public expenditures, and provides that if the needs of theTreasury demand it the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, issue silver certificates in excess of such coinage, not exceeding theamount of seigniorage in said section authorized to be coined. 

The second section directs that as soon as possible after the coinage ofthis seigniorage the remainder of the bullion held by the Governmentshall be coined into legal-tender standard silver dollars, and that theyshall be held in the Treasury for the redemption of the Treasury notesissued in the purchase of said bullion. It provides that as fast as thebullion shall be coined for the redemption of said notes they shall notbe reissued, but shall be canceled and destroyed in amounts equal to thecoin held at any time in the Treasury derived from the coinage providedfor, and that silver certificates shall be issued on such coin in themanner now provided by law. It is, however, especially declared in saidsection that the act shall not be construed to change existing lawsrelating to the legal-tender character or mode of redemption of theTreasury notes issued for the purchase of the silver bullion to becoined. 

The entire bill is most unfortunately constructed. Nearly every sentencepresents uncertainty and invites controversy as to its meaning andintent. The first section is especially faulty in this respect, and itis extremely doubtful whether its language will permit the consummationof its supposed purposes. I am led to believe that the promoters of thebill intended in this section to provide for the coinage of the bullionconstituting the gain or seigniorage, as it is called, into standardsilver dollars, and yet there is positively nothing in the section toprevent its coinage into any description of silver coins now authorizedunder any existing law. 

I suppose this section was also intended, in case the needs of theTreasury called for money faster than the seigniorage bullion couldactually be coined, to permit the issue of silver certificates inadvance of such coinage; but its language would seem to permit theissuance of such certificates to double the amount of seigniorage asstated, one-half of which would not represent an ounce of silver inthe Treasury. The debate upon this section in the Congress developedan earnest and positive difference of opinion as to its object andmeaning. In any event, I am clear that the present perplexities andembarrassments of the Secretary of the Treasury ought not to beaugmented by devolving upon him the execution of a law so uncertainand confused. 

I am not willing, however, to rest my objection to this section solelyon these grounds. In my judgment sound finance does not commend afurther infusion of silver into our currency at this time unaccompaniedby further adequate provision for the maintenance in our Treasury of asafe gold reserve. 

Doubts also arise as to the meaning and construction of the secondsection of the bill. If the silver dollars therein directed to be coinedare, as the section provides, to be held in the Treasury for theredemption of Treasury notes, it is suggested that, strictly speaking, certificates can not be issued on such coin "in the manner now providedby law, " because these dollars are money held in the Treasury for theexpress purpose of redeeming Treasury notes on demand, which wouldordinarily mean that they were set apart for the purpose of substitutingthem for these Treasury notes. They are not, therefore, held in such away as to furnish a basis for certificates according to any provision ofexisting law. 

If however, silver certificates can properly be issued upon thesedollars, there is nothing in the section to indicate the characteristicsand functions of these certificates. If they were to be of the samecharacter as silver certificates in circulation under existing laws, they would at best be receivable only for customs, taxes, and all publicdues; and under the language of this section it is, to say the least, extremely doubtful whether the certificates it contemplates would belawfully received even for such purposes. 

Whatever else may be said of the uncertainties of expression in thisbill, they certainly ought not to be found in legislation affectingsubjects so important and far-reaching as our finances and currency. In stating other and more important reasons for my disapproval of thissection I shall, however, assume that under its provisions the Treasurynotes issued in payment for silver bullion will continue to be redeemedas heretofore, in silver or gold, at the option of the holders, and thatif when they are presented for redemption or reach the Treasury in anyother manner there are in the Treasury coined silver dollars equal innominal value to such Treasury notes, then and in that case the noteswill be destroyed and silver certificates to an equal amount besubstituted. 

I am convinced that this scheme is ill advised and dangerous. As anultimate result of its operation Treasury notes, which are legal tenderfor all debts, public and private, and which are redeemable in goldor silver at the option of the holder, will be replaced by silvercertificates, which, whatever may be their character and description, will have none of these qualities. In anticipation of this result andas an immediate effect the Treasury notes will naturally appreciate invalue and desirability. The fact that gold can be realized upon them andthe further fact that their destruction has been decreed when they reachthe Treasury must tend to their withdrawal from general circulationto be immediately presented for gold redemption or to be hoarded forpresentation at a more convenient season. The sequel of both operationswill be a large addition to the silver currency in our circulation and acorresponding reduction of gold in the Treasury. The argument has beenmade that these things will not occur at once, because a long time mustelapse before the coinage of anything but the seigniorage can be enteredupon. If the physical effects of the execution of the second sectionof this bill are not to be realized until far in the future, this mayfurnish a strong reason why it should not be passed so much in advance;but the postponement of its actual operation can not prevent the fearand loss of confidence and nervous precaution which would immediatelyfollow its passage and bring about its worst consequences. I regard thissection of the bill as embodying a plan by which the Government will beobliged to pay out its scanty store of gold for no other purpose thanto force an unnatural addition of silver money into the hands of ourpeople. This is an exact reversal of the policy which safe financedictates if we are to preserve parity between gold and silver andmaintain sensible bimetallism. 

We have now outstanding more than $338, 000, 000 in silver certificatesissued under existing laws. They are serving the purpose of moneyusefully and without question. Our gold reserve, amounting to only alittle more than $100, 000, 000, is directly charged with the redemptionof $346, 000, 000 of United States notes. When it is proposed to inflateour silver currency it is a time for strengthening our gold reserveinstead of depleting it. I can not conceive of a longer step towardsilver monometallism than we take when we spend our gold to buy silvercertificates for circulation, especially in view of the practicaldifficulties surrounding the replenishment of our gold. 

This leads me to earnestly present the desirability of granting to theSecretary of the Treasury a better power than now exists to issue bondsto protect our gold reserve when for any reason it should be necessary. Our currency is in such a confused condition and our financial affairsare apt to assume at any time so critical a position that it seems to mesuch a course is dictated by ordinary prudence. 

I am not insensible to the arguments in favor of coining the bullionseigniorage now in the Treasury, and I believe it could be done safelyand with advantage if the Secretary of the Treasury had the power toissue bonds at a low rate of interest under authority in substitution ofthat now existing and better suited to the protection of the Treasury. 

I hope a way will present itself in the near future for the adjustmentof our monetary affairs in such a comprehensive and conservative manneras will accord to silver its proper place in our currency; but in themeantime I am extremely solicitous that whatever action we take on thissubject may be such as to prevent loss and discouragement to our peopleat home and the destruction of confidence in our financial managementabroad. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 7, 1894_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 2637, entitled "An actfor the relief of Eugene Wells, late captain, Twelfth Infantry, andsecond lieutenant, First Artillery, United States Army. "

This bill authorizes the President to nominate and, by and with theadvice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the beneficiary thereinnamed a second lieutenant of artillery in the Army of the United States, and it directs that when so appointed he shall be placed upon theretired list on account of disability, thus dispensing with the usualexamination and finding by a retiring board and all other ordinaryprerequisites of retirement. 

Appointments to the Army under the authority of special legislationwhich names the proposed appointee, and the purpose of which is theimmediate retirement of the appointee, are open to serious objections, though I confess I have been persuaded through sympathy and sentiment ona number of occasions to approve such legislation. When, however, it isproposed to make the retirement compulsory and without reference to ageor previous examination, a most objectionable feature is introduced. 

The cases covered by the special enactments referred to are usually suchas should, if worthy of any consideration, be provided for under generalor private pension laws, leaving the retired list of the Army to servethe legitimate purpose for which it was established. 

A recent discussion in the House of Representatives upon a bill similarto the one now before me drew from a member of the House Committee onMilitary Affairs the declaration that hundreds of such bills were beforethat committee and that there were fifty precedents for the passage ofthe particular one then under discussion. 

It seems to me that this condition suggests such an encroachment uponthe retired list of the Army as should lead to the virtual abandonmentof the legislation referred to. 

In addition to the objections to such legislation based upon soundpolicy and good administration, there are facts connected with the casecovered by the bill now before me which, in my judgment, forbid itsfavorable consideration. 

The beneficiary named in this bill entered the military service as firstlieutenant in 1861. In September or October, 1870, then being a captain, a charge of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman was preferredagainst him with a view to his trial on said charge before acourt-martial. 

The Articles of War provide that any officer convicted of this offenseshall be dismissed the service. 

The first specification under this charge alleged that Captain Wells didviolently and without just cause or provocation assault First LieutenantP. H. Breslin "by furiously striking and hitting him (Lieutenant Breslin)upon the head with a hickory stick, the butt end of a billiard cue, anddid continue the assault (upon Lieutenant Breslin) until forced todesist therefrom by First Lieutenant Carl Veitenhimer, Fourth UnitedStates Infantry, thereby endangering the life of Lieutenant Breslin anddisgracing himself (Captain Wells) as an officer of the United StatesArmy. "

The second specification alleged that Captain Wells "did become so muchunder the influence of intoxicating liquor as to behave himself in ascandalous manner by violently attacking the person of First LieutenantP. H. Breslin, Fourth United States Infantry. "

These offenses were charged to have been committed on the 3d day ofSeptember, 1870, at Fort Fetterman, in Wyoming Territory. 

On the 15th day of July, 1870, a law was passed, among other things, to bring about a reduction of the Army, which law provided that thePresident should before the 1st day of July, 1871, reduce the number ofenlisted men in the Army to 30, 000, and authorized him in his discretionto honorably discharge from the service of the United States officers ofthe Army who might apply therefor on or before January 1, 1871. 

Before the trial by court-martial upon the charge then pending againsthim Captain Wells applied for his discharge under the provision of thelaw above recited, whereupon the charge against him was withdrawn andcanceled, and on the 27th day of October, 1870, his application for adischarge was granted. 

On the 6th day of July, 1875, he was again appointed to the Army assecond lieutenant in the artillery, against which a remonstrance wasmade by certain officers in the Army. 

In August, 1877, Second Lieutenant Wells was charged with being "drunkon duty, in violation of the thirty-eighth article of war. "

He was also charged with "conduct to the prejudice of good order andmilitary discipline. "

The first specification under the latter charge alleged that the accuseddid "engage in an affray with First Lieutenant E. Van A. Andruss, FirstArtillery. " The second specification under said charge alleged that theaccused addressed his superior officer in a defiant and disrespectfulmanner and neglected and hesitated to promptly obey the order of saidsuperior officer. 

All these offenses were alleged to have been committed at Reading, Pa. , on the 2d day of August, 1877. 

Soon after these charges were preferred a court-martial was convened forthe trial of the accused thereon. He pleaded not guilty to the chargesand specifications, but was convicted of them all and sentenced "to bedismissed the service of the United States. "

On the 6th day of October the proceedings, findings, and sentence of thecourt-martial were approved by the President, who ordered the sentenceto be executed; and on the 13th day of October, 1877, in pursuancethereof, Lieutenant Eugene Wells was dismissed from the service. 

Since that time repeated efforts have been made to vacate this judgmentand restore the dismissed officer to the service. While a number ofcommittees in Congress have made reports favorable to such action, atleast two committees have recommended a denial of legislative relief. Both of these reports were made on behalf of House Committees onMilitary Affairs by distinguished soldiers, who, after patientexamination and with an inclination to be not only just but generous toa fellow-soldier, were constrained to recommend a refusal of theapplication for restoration. One of these reports was made to theForty-seventh and the other to the Forty-ninth Congress. 

I am impressed with the belief that legislation of the kind proposed isof extremely doubtful expediency in any save very exceptional cases, andI am thoroughly convinced by the facts now before me that the disciplineand efficiency of our Army, as well as justice to its meritoriousmembers, do not permit my approval on any ground of the bill herewithreturned. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 11, 1894_. 

_To the Senate_:

I hereby return without my approval Senate bill No. 1438, entitled"An act for the relief of Louis A. Yorke. "

In the year 1886 the beneficiary named in this bill was a passedassistant paymaster in the Navy. In December of that year he appearedbefore a naval examining board convened pursuant to law for the purposeof passing upon his fitness to be promoted to the grade of paymaster. 

The investigation of the board was conducted fairly and thoroughly. Muchof the evidence relating to the candidate's moral fitness for promotionwas documentary, and the examination touching his professionalcompetency was of the usual character in such cases. 

Considerable evidence was before the board showing quite a large amountof personal indebtedness owing by the candidate, and it appeared thatin a few instances his accounts with the Navy Department had not beenpromptly settled. It was also shown that he had not at all timesdeposited the Government money intrusted to his care in the placesrequired by law and the regulations of the Navy. In connection with hispersonal indebtedness incidents and circumstances were brought to lightwhich certainly indicated that he entertained very lax ideas of honestdealing and fairness and which developed a disregard of the obligationsand requirements of his position as an officer in the Navy. He was givenabundant opportunity to meet and explain every damaging allegation andevery adverse inference arising from the evidence, and his claim, notwithout foundation it appeared, that the charges against him wereinstigated by malice was doubtless given full weight. 

The examining board on the evidence made the following decisions andfindings:

 The written examination of the candidate shows that he is deficient in his knowledge of the duties appertaining to the next higher grade; and the record evidence puts in question his moral fitness, and he has failed to establish both his professional and moral qualifications for promotion to the satisfaction of the board. 

 Therefore we hereby certify that Passed Assistant Paymaster Louis A. Yorke, United States Navy, has the mental fitness to perform efficiently all the duties, both at sea and on shore, of the next higher grade, but he has not the professional and moral qualifications required, and we do not recommend him for promotion. 

After the board had thus disposed of the case and had adjourned it was, at the request of the candidate, reconvened by order of the Secretary ofthe Navy, who issued for its guidance the following directions, amongothers:

 The board will inform Passed Assistant Paymaster Yorke of its findings and of the evidence upon which it finds him to be not morally qualified for promotion, and will afford him a further hearing and an opportunity to present such evidence as he may desire as to his moral fitness for promotion. 

The board met pursuant to such order on the 4th day of January, 1887, when the findings of the board were read to the candidate for promotion, and also the evidence upon which said findings were based, and he wasinformed that the board would accord him a further hearing as to hismoral fitness for promotion and would afford him a reasonable time inwhich to submit his case. Thereupon he requested the board to allow himuntil the 26th day of January to produce the necessary witnesses in hisbehalf. This request was granted, but on the day appointed, upon hisrepresentation that he was then unable to submit his defense, he wasupon his request allowed another day for that purpose. 

In availing himself of the opportunity thus afforded him to presentevidence in defense or explanation of the matters charged against himhe examined no witnesses and contented himself with presenting his ownstatement, containing little more than a reiteration of statements hehad already made before the board at previous hearings, supplemented byslight documentary evidence which established no new facts in his favor. 

The board thereupon reviewed all the evidence and proofs which had beensubmitted during the entire examination, and after full considerationdecided that there was nothing in the additional evidence produced towarrant a modification of the original finding, and the board thereforeagain certified and decided that the candidate had not the moralqualifications to perform efficiently the duties of the grade to whichhe sought promotion. 

The Secretary of the Navy transmitted the record, proceedings, andfindings of said examining board to the President, with a recommendationthat the same be approved and that the candidate be discharged from theNavy with one year's pay, pursuant to a statute passed on the 5th day ofAugust, 1882, directing a discharge from the service in such cases. 

Thereupon, and on the 19th day of February, 1887, the record, proceedings, and findings of said board were approved by the President, and Passed Assistant Paymaster Yorke was ordered discharged from thenaval service with one year's pay. 

The bill now under consideration provides that the action of theexamining board above recited "be set aside and declared null and void. "It also authorizes the President "to appoint the beneficiary to theoffice to which he would have been promoted but for said action and toretire him in that grade as of the date he was wholly retired. "

The authority attempted by the bill to be given to the President to thusmake an appointment to the office of paymaster in the Navy without theinterposition of the Senate appears to be inadmissible under that clauseof the Constitution which only permits the President to appoint certainofficers "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. "

The bill provides for the immediate retirement of the beneficiary. He is now but 47 years old, thus lacking fifteen years of the timewhen he would be entitled to retirement on account of age. There is nosuggestion that he is physically incapacitated. On the contrary, whenhe was examined for promotion a medical board certified that he wasphysically qualified to perform all his duties at sea, and the candidatehimself not only certified to the same thing, but further declared thathe was "free from all bodily ailments. " If this condition continues andif he should be restored to the Navy at all, he should be sent to dutyon the active list instead of being retired. On the facts as presentedhe would seem to be out of place among those who, though stillcompensated by the Government, have been on account of age, long andhonorable service, or disabilities incurred in the discharge of dutyrelieved from further activity. 

A careful investigation of the facts submitted to the examining boardand a consideration of all the statements made on behalf of thebeneficiary named in the bill utterly fail, in my opinion, to justifythe impeachment of the findings and determination of the board. 

I have no doubt malicious feeling growing out of domestic difficultiesentered into the affair and gave impetus to the search after inculpatingevidence, but facts were nevertheless established beyond any reasonabledoubt which abundantly uphold these findings. 

I feel obliged to disapprove the bill herewith returned because Ibelieve the power to appoint a paymaster in the Navy ought not, underthe Constitution, be conferred upon the President alone; because if thebeneficiary were restored to the Navy there would be no justice orpropriety in placing him upon the retired list, and because upon themerits of the case I am of the opinion the judgment of the examiningboard ought not to be reversed. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to give effect to the awardrendered by the Tribunal of Arbitration at Paris under the treatybetween the United States and Great Britain concluded at WashingtonFebruary 29, 1892, for the purpose of submitting to arbitration certainquestions concerning the preservation of the fur seals, " was approvedApril 6, 1894, and reads as follows:

 Whereas the following articles of the award of the Tribunal of Arbitration constituted under the treaty concluded at Washington the 29th of February, 1892, between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were delivered to the agents of the respective Governments on the 15th day of August, 1893:

 "ARTICLE 1. The Governments of the United States and Great Britain shall forbid their citizens and subjects, respectively, to kill, capture, or pursue at any time and in any manner whatever the animals commonly called fur seals within a zone of 60 miles around the Pribilof Islands, inclusive of the territorial waters. 

 "The miles mentioned in the preceding paragraph are geographical miles, of 60 to a degree of latitude. 

 "ART. 2. The two Governments shall forbid their citizens and subjects, respectively, to kill, capture, or pursue in any manner whatever during the season extending each year from the 1st of May to the 31st of July, both inclusive, the fur seals on the high sea in the part of the Pacific Ocean, inclusive of the Bering Sea, which is situated to the north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and eastward of the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich till it strikes the water boundary described in Article I of the treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, and following that line up to Bering Strait. 

 "ART. 3. During the period of time and in the waters in which the fur-seal fishing is allowed only sailing vessels shall be permitted to carry on or take part in fur-seal fishing operations. They will, however, be at liberty to avail themselves of the use of such canoes or undecked boats, propelled by paddles, oars, or sails, as are in common use as fishing boats. 

 "ART. 4. Each sailing vessel authorized to fish for fur seals must be provided with a special license issued for that purpose by its Government, and shall be required to carry a distinguishing flag to be prescribed by its Government. 

 "ART. 5. The masters of the vessels engaged in fur-seal fishing shall enter accurately in their official log book the date and place of each fur-seal fishing operation, and also the number and sex of the seals captured upon each day. These entries shall be communicated by each of the two Governments to the other at the end of each fishing season. 

 "ART. 6. The use of nets, firearms, and explosives shall be forbidden in the fur-seal fishing. This restriction shall not apply to shotguns when such fishing takes place outside of Bering Sea during the season when it may be lawfully carried on. 

 "ART. 7. The two Governments shall take measures to control the fitness of the men authorized to engage in fur-seal fishing. These men shall have been proved fit to handle with sufficient skill the weapons by means of which this fishing may be carried on. 

 "ART. 8. The regulations contained in the preceding articles shall not apply to Indians dwelling on the coast of the territory of the United States or of Great Britain and carrying on fur-seal fishing in canoes or undecked boats not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails and manned by not more than five persons each in the way hitherto practiced by the Indians, provided such Indians are not in the employment of other persons, and provided that when so hunting in canoes or undecked boats they shall not hunt fur seals outside of territorial waters under contract for the delivery of the skins to any person. 

 "This exemption shall not be construed to affect the municipal law of either country, nor shall it extend to the waters of Bering Sea or the waters of the Aleutian passes. 

 "Nothing herein contained is intended to interfere with the employment of Indians as hunters or otherwise in connection with fur-sealing vessels as heretofore. 

 "ART. 9. The concurrent regulations hereby determined with a view to the protection and preservation of the fur seals shall remain in force until they have been in whole or in part abolished or modified by common agreement between the Governments of the United States and of Great Britain. 

 "The said concurrent regulations shall be submitted every five years to a new examination, so as to enable both interested Governments to consider whether in the light of past experience, there is occasion for any modification thereof. "

 _Now, therefore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That no citizen of the United States or person owing the duty of obedience to the laws or the treaties of the United States, nor any person belonging to or on board of a vessel of the United States, shall kill, capture, or pursue at any time or in any manner whatever outside of territorial waters any fur seal in the waters surrounding the Pribilof Islands within a zone of 60 geographical miles (60 to a degree of latitude) around said islands, exclusive of the territorial waters. 

 SEC. 2. That no citizen of the United States or person above described in section 1 of this act, nor any person belonging to or on board of a vessel of the United States, shall kill, capture, or pursue in any manner whatever during the season extending from the 1st day of May to the 31st day of July, both inclusive, in each year any fur seal on the high seas outside of the zone mentioned in section 1, and in that part of the Pacific Ocean, including Bering Sea, which is situated to the north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and to the east of the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich till it strikes the water boundary described in Article I of the treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, and following that line up to Bering Strait. 

 SEC. 3. No citizen of the United States or person above described in the first section of this act shall during the period and in the waters in which by section 2 of this act the killing of fur seals is not prohibited use or employ any vessel, nor shall any vessel of the United States be used or employed, in carrying on or taking part in fur-seal fishing operations, other than a sailing vessel propelled by sails exclusively and such canoes or undecked boats propelled by paddles, oars, or sails as may belong to and be used in connection with such sailing vessels; nor shall any sailing vessel carry on or take part in such operations without a special license obtained from the Government for that purpose and without carrying a distinctive flag prescribed by the Government for the same purpose. 

 SEC. 4. That every master of a vessel licensed under this act to engage in fur-seal fishing operations shall accurately enter in his official log book the date and place of every such operation, and also the number and sex of the seals captured each day; and on coming into port and before landing cargo the master shall verify on oath such official log book as containing a full and true statement of the number and character of his fur-seal fishing operations, including the number and sex of seals captured; and for any false statement willfully made by a person so licensed by the United States in this behalf he shall be subject to the penalties of perjury, and any seal skins found in excess of the statement in the official log book shall be forfeited to the United States. 

 SEC. 5. That no person or vessel engaging in fur-seal fishing operations under this act shall use or employ in such operations any net, firearm, air gun, or explosive: _Provided, however_, That this prohibition shall not apply to the use of shotguns in such operations outside of Bering Sea during the season when the killing of fur seals is not there prohibited by this act. 

 SEC. 6. That the foregoing sections of this act shall not apply to Indians dwelling on the coast of the United States and taking fur seals in canoes or undecked boats propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails, and not transported by or used in connection with other vessels or manned by more than five persons, in the manner heretofore practiced by the said Indians: _Provided, however_, That the exception made in this section shall not apply to Indians in the employment of other persons, or who shall kill, capture, or pursue fur seals outside of territorial waters under contract to deliver the skins to other persons, nor to the waters of Bering Sea or of the passes between the Aleutian Islands. 

 SEC. 7. That the President shall have power to make regulations respecting the special license and the distinctive flag mentioned in this act, and regulations otherwise suitable to secure the due execution of the provisions of this act, and from time to time to add to, modify, amend, or revoke such regulations as in his judgment may seem expedient. 

 SEC. 8. That, except in the case of a master making a false statement under oath in violation of the provisions of the fourth section of this act, every person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this act or of the regulations made thereunder shall for each offense be fined not less than $200 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, at any time used or employed in violation of this act or of the regulations made thereunder shall be forfeited to the United States. 

 SEC. 9. That any violation of this act or the regulations made thereunder may be prosecuted either in the district court of Alaska or in any district court of the United States in California, Oregon, or Washington. 

 SEC. 10. That if any unlicensed vessel of the United States shall be found within the waters to which this act applies, and at a time when the killing of fur seals is by this act there prohibited, having on board seal skins or bodies of seals or apparatus or implements suitable for killing or taking seals, or if any licensed vessel shall be found in the waters to which this act applies having on board apparatus or implements suitable for taking seals, but forbidden then and there to be used, it shall be presumed that the vessel in the one case and the apparatus or implements in the other was or were used in violation of this act until it is otherwise sufficiently proved. 

 SEC. 11. That it shall be the duty of the President to cause a sufficient naval force to cruise in the waters to which this act is applicable to enforce its provisions; and it shall be the duty of the commanding officer of any vessel belonging to the naval or revenue service of the United States, when so instructed by the President, to seize and arrest all vessels of the United States found by him to be engaged, used, or employed in the waters last aforesaid in violation of any of the prohibitions of this act or of any regulations made thereunder, and to take the same, with all persons on board thereof, to the most convenient port in any district of the United States mentioned in this act, there to be dealt with according to law. 

 SEC. 12. That any vessel or citizen of the United States or person described in the first section of this act offending against the prohibitions of this act or the regulations thereunder may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, but when so seized and detained they shall be delivered as soon as practicable, with any witnesses and proofs on board, to any naval or revenue officer or other authorities of the United States, whose courts alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the came: _Provided, however_, That British officers shall arrest and detain vessels and persons as in this section specified only after, by appropriate legislation, Great Britain shall have authorized officers of the United States duly commissioned and instructed by the President to that end to arrest, detain, and deliver to the authorities of Great Britain vessels and subjects of that Government offending against any statutes or regulations of Great Britain enacted or made to enforce the award of the treaty mentioned in the title of this act. 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Grover Cleveland, President of theUnited States of America, have caused the said act specially to beproclaimed, to the end that its provisions may be known and observed;and I hereby proclaim that every person guilty of a violation of theprovisions of said act will be arrested and punished as thereinprovided, and all vessels so employed, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, will be seized and forfeited. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 9th day of April, A. D. 1894, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me that no light-house andlight dues, tonnage dues, beacon and buoy dues, or other equivalenttaxes of any kind are imposed upon vessels of the United States in theports of the island of Grenada, one of the British West India Islands:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of theact of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for officialservices to American vessels and to amend the laws relating to shippingcommissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes, "approved June 19, 1886, and in virtue of the further act amendatorythereof, entitled "An act to amend the laws relating to navigation, and for other purposes, " approved April 4, 1888, do hereby declare andproclaim that from and after the date of this my proclamation shallbe suspended the collection of the whole of the tonnage duty whichis imposed by said section 11 of the act approved June 19, 1886, uponvessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the portsof the island of Grenada. 

_Provided_, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of thesuspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreigncountry in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed onvessels of the United States or the import or export duties on theircargoes are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on thevessels of such country or on the cargoes of such vessels; but thisproviso shall not be held to be inconsistent with the special regulationby foreign countries of duties and other charges on their own vesselsand the cargoes thereof engaged in their coasting trade, or with theexistence between such countries and other states of reciprocalstipulations founded on special conditions and equivalents, and thus notwithin the treatment of American vessels under the most-favored-nationclause in treaties between the United States and such countries. 

And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so longas the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of theUnited States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports ofthe island of Grenada, and no longer. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of May, A. D. 1894, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, andassemblages of persons, it has become impracticable, in the judgment ofthe President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedingsthe laws of the United States within the State of Illinois, andespecially in the city of Chicago within said State; and

Whereas, for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution ofthe laws of the United States and protecting its property and removingobstructions to the United States mails in the State and city aforesaid, the President has employed a part of the military forces of the UnitedStates:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dohereby admonish all good citizens and all persons who may be or may comewithin the city and State aforesaid against aiding, countenancing, encouraging, or taking any part in such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages; and I hereby warn all persons engaged inor in any way connected with such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages to disperse and retire peaceably to their respectiveabodes on or before 12 o'clock noon on the 9th day of July instant. 

Those who disregard this warning and persist in taking part with ariotous mob in forcibly resisting and obstructing the execution ofthe laws of the United States or interfering with the functions of theGovernment or destroying or attempting to destroy the property belongingto the United States or under its protection can not be regardedotherwise than as public enemies. 

Troops employed against such a riotous mob will act with all themoderation and forbearance consistent with the accomplishment of thedesired end, but the stern necessities that confront them will not withcertainty permit discrimination between guilty participants and thosewho are mingled with them from curiosity and without criminal intent. The only safe course, therefore, for those not actually unlawfullyparticipating is to abide at their homes, or at least not to be foundin the neighborhood of riotous assemblages. 

While there will be no hesitation or vacillation in the decisivetreatment of the guilty, this warning is especially intended to protectand save the innocent. 

[SEAL. ]

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

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of July, A. D. 1894, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, andassemblages of persons, it has become impracticable, in the judgment ofthe President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedingsthe laws of the United States at certain points and places within theStates of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, and California and the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, andespecially along the lines of such railways traversing said States andTerritories as are military roads and post routes and are engaged ininterstate commerce and in carrying United States mails; and

Whereas, for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution of the lawsof the United States and protecting property belonging to the UnitedStates or under its protection, and of preventing obstructions of theUnited States mails and of commerce between the States and Territories, and of securing to the United States the right guaranteed by law to theuse of such roads for postal, military, naval, and other Governmentservice, the President has employed a part of the military forces of theUnited States:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dohereby command all persons engaged in or in any way connected with suchunlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages to disperse andretire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 3 o'clock inthe afternoon on the 10th day of July instant. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 9th day of July, A. D. 1894, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to adopt regulations forpreventing collisions at sea" was approved August 19, 1890, the said actbeing in the following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the following regulations for preventing collisions at sea shall be followed by all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels:

 PRELIMINARY. 

 In the following rules every steam vessel which is under sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing vessel, and every vessel under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a steam vessel. 

 The words "steam vessel" shall include any vessel propelled by machinery. 

 A vessel is "under way" within the meaning of these rules when she is not at anchor or made fast to the shore or aground. 

 RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS, ETC. 

 The word "visible" in these rules when applied to lights shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear atmosphere. 

 ARTICLE 1. The rules concerning lights shall be complied with in all weathers from sunset to sunrise, and during such time no other lights which may be mistaken for the prescribed lights shall be exhibited. 

 ART. 2. A steam vessel when under way shall carry--

 (_a_) On or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without a foremast, then in the fore part of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than 20 feet, and if the breadth of the vessel exceeds 20 feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such breadth, so, however, that the light need not be carried at a greater height above the hull than 40 feet a bright white light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 20 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 10 points on each side of the vessel--namely, from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on either side--and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 5 miles. 

 (_b_) On the starboard side a green light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_c_) On the port side a red light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_d_) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least 3 feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow. 

 (_e_) A steam vessel when under way may carry an additional white light similar in construction to the light mentioned in subdivision (_a_). These two lights shall be so placed in line with the keel that one shall be at least 15 feet higher than the other and in such a position with reference to each other that the lower light shall be forward of the upper one. The vertical distance between these lights shall be less than the horizontal distance. 

 ART. 3. A steam vessel when towing another vessel shall, in addition to her side lights, carry two bright white lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and when towing more than one vessel shall carry an additional bright white light 6 feet above or below such light if the length of the tow measuring from the stern of the towing vessel to the stern of the last vessel towed exceeds 600 feet. Bach of these lights shall be of the same construction and character and shall be carried in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_), excepting the additional light, which may be carried at a height of not less than 14 feet above the hull. 

 Such steam vessel may carry a small white light abaft the funnel or aftermast for the vessel towed to steer by, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam. 

 ART. 4. (_a_) A vessel which from any accident is not under command shall carry at the same height as a white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_), where they can best be seen, and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, two red lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles; and shall by day carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, two black balls or shapes each 2 feet in diameter. 

 (_b_) A vessel employed in laying or in picking up a telegraph cable shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_), and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, three lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart. The highest and lowest of these lights shall be red and the middle light shall be white, and they shall be of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles. By day she shall carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, three shapes not less than 2 feet in diameter, of which the highest and lowest shall be globular in shape and red in color and the middle one diamond in shape and white. 

 (_c_) The vessels referred to in this article, when not making way through the water, shall not carry the side lights, but when making way shall carry them. 

 (_d_) The lights and shapes required to be shown by this article are to be taken by other vessels as signals that the vessel showing them is not under command and can not, therefore, get out of the way. 

 These signals are not signals of vessels in distress and requiring assistance. Such signals are contained in article 31. 

 ART. 5. A sailing vessel under way and any vessel being towed shall carry the same lights as are prescribed by article 2 for a steam vessel under way, with the exception of the white lights mentioned therein, which they shall never carry. 

 ART. 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels under way during bad weather, the green and red side lights can not be fixed, these lights shall be kept at hand, lighted and ready for use, and shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited on their respective sides, in sufficient time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible and so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side, nor, if practicable, more than 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. 

 To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy the lanterns containing them shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain and shall be provided with proper screens. 

 ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, when under way shall not be obliged to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (_a_), (_b_), and (_c_), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:

 First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry--

 (_a_) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_a_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_b_) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_b_) and (_c_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light. 

 Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (_b_). 

 Third. Vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_) and article 11, last paragraph. 

 ART. 8. Pilot vessels when engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall not show the lights required for other vessels, but shall carry a white light at the masthead, visible all around the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare-up light or flare-up lights at short intervals, which shall never exceed fifteen minutes. 

 On the near approach of or to other vessels they shall have their side lights lighted, ready for use, and shall flash or show them at short intervals to indicate the direction in which they are heading; but the green light shall not be shown on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 A pilot vessel of such a class as to be obliged to go alongside of a vessel to put a pilot on board may show the white light instead of carrying it at the masthead, and may, instead of the colored lights above mentioned, have at hand, ready for use, a lantern with a green glass on the one side and a red glass on the other, to be used as prescribed above. 

 Pilot vessels when not engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall carry lights similar to those of other vessels of their tonnage. 

 ART. 9. Fishing vessels and fishing boats when under way and when not required by this article to carry or show the lights therein named shall carry or show the lights prescribed for vessels of their tonnage under way. 

 (_a_) Vessels and boats when fishing with drift nets shall exhibit two white lights from any part of the vessel where they can best be seen. Such lights shall be placed so that the vertical distance between them shall be not less than 6 feet and not more than 10 feet, and so that the horizontal distance between them measured in a line with the keel shall be not less than 5 feet and not more than 10 feet. The lower of these two lights shall be the more forward, and both of them shall be of such a character as to show all around the horizon and to be visible at a distance of not less than 3 miles. 

 (_b_) Vessels when engaged in trawling, by which is meant the dragging of an apparatus along the bottom of the sea--

 First. If steam vessels, shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_) a tricolored lantern so constructed and fixed as to show a white light from right ahead to 2 points on each bow and a green light and a red light over an arc of the horizon from 2 points on either bow to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard and port sides, respectively, and not less than 6 nor more than 12 feet below the tricolored lantern, a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon. 

 Second. If sailing vessels of 7 tons gross tonnage and upward, shall carry a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon, and shall also be provided with a sufficient supply of red pyrotechnic lights, which shall each burn for at least 30 seconds, and shall be shown on the approach of or to other vessels in sufficient time to prevent collision. 

 In the Mediterranean Sea the vessels referred to in subdivision (_b_) 2 may use a flare-up light in lieu of a pyrotechnic light. 

 All lights mentioned in subdivision (_b_) 1 and 2 shall be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 Third. If sailing vessels of less than 7 tons gross tonnage, shall not be obliged to carry the white light mentioned in subdivision (_b_) 2 of this article, but if they do not carry such light they shall have at hand, ready for use, a lantern showing a bright white light, which shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited where it can best be seen, in sufficient time to prevent collision; and they shall also show a red pyrotechnic light, as prescribed in subdivision (_b_) 2, or in lieu thereof a flare-up light. 

 (_c_) Vessels and boats when line fishing with their lines out and attached to their lines, and when not at anchor or stationary, shall carry the same lights as vessels fishing with drift nets. 

 (_d_) Fishing vessels and fishing boats may at any time use a flare-up light in addition to the lights which they are by this article required to carry and show. All flare-up lights exhibited by a vessel when trawling or fishing with any kind of dragnet shall be shown at the after part of the vessel, excepting that if the vessel is hanging by the stern to her fishing gear they shall be exhibited from the bow. 

 (_e_) Every fishing vessel and every boat when at anchor shall exhibit a white light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile. 

 (_f_) If a vessel or boat when fishing becomes stationary in consequence of her gear getting fast to a rock or other obstruction, she shall show the light and make the fog signal prescribed for a vessel at anchor, respectively. (See article 15 (_d_), (_e_), and last paragraph. )

 (_g_) In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms drift-net vessels attached to their nets, and vessels when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnet, and vessels line fishing with their lines out shall, if of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward, respectively, at intervals of not more than one minute make a blast--if steam vessels, with the whistle or siren, and if sailing vessels, with the fog horn--each blast to be followed by ringing the bell. 

 (_h_) Sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls when under way shall in daytime indicate their occupation to an approaching vessel by displaying a basket or other efficient signal where it can best be seen. 

 The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_) and article 11, last paragraph. 

 ART. 10. A vessel which is being overtaken by another shall show from her stern to such last-mentioned vessel a white light or a flare-up light. 

 The white light required to be shown by this article may be fixed and carried in a lantern, but in such case the lantern shall be so constructed, fitted, and screened that it shall throw an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 12 points of the compass--namely, for 6 points from right aft on each side of the vessel--so as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile. Such light shall be carried as nearly as practicable on the same level as the side lights. 

 ART. 11. A vessel under 150 feet in length when at anchor shall carry forward, where it can best be seen, but at a height not exceeding 20 feet above the hull, a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile. 

 A vessel of 150 feet or upward in length when at anchor shall carry in the forward part of the vessel, at a height of not less than 20 and not exceeding 40 feet above the hull, one such light, and at or near the stern of the vessel, and at such a height that it shall be not less than 15 feet lower than the forward light, another such light. 

 The length of a vessel shall be deemed to be the length appearing in her certificate of registry. 

 A vessel aground in or near a fairway shall carry the above light or lights and the two red lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_). 

 ART. 12. Every vessel may, if necessary in order to attract attention, in addition to the lights which she is by these rules required to carry, show a flare-up light or use any detonating signal that can not be mistaken for a distress signal. 

 ART. 13. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of any special rules made by the government of any nation with respect to additional station and signal lights for two or more ships of war or for vessels sailing under convoy, or with the exhibition of recognition signals adopted by shipowners which have been authorized by their respective governments and duly registered and published. 

 ART. 14. A steam vessel proceeding under sail only, but having her funnel up, shall carry in daytime forward, where it can best be seen, one black ball or shape 2 feet in diameter. 

 SOUND SIGNALS FOR FOG, ETC. 

 ART. 15. All signals prescribed by this article for vessels under way shall be given--

 1. By "steam vessels, " on the whistle or siren. 

 2. By "sailing vessels" and "vessels towed, " on the fog horn. 

 The words "prolonged blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of from four to six seconds' duration. 

 A steam vessel shall be provided with an efficient whistle or siren, sounded by steam or by some substitute for steam, so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any obstruction, and with an efficient fog horn, to be sounded by mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. (In all cases where the rules require a bell to be used a drum may be substituted on board Turkish vessels or a gong where such articles are used on board small seagoing vessels. ) A sailing vessel of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward shall be provided with a similar fog horn and bell. 

 In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms, whether by day or night, the signals described in this article shall be used as follows, viz:

 (_a_) A steam vessel having way upon her shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes a prolonged blast. 

 (_b_) A steam vessel under way, but stopped and having no way upon her, shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes two prolonged blasts with an interval of about one second between them. 

 (_c_) A sailing vessel under way shall sound at intervals of not more than one minute, when on the starboard tack one blast, when on the port tack two blasts in succession, and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in succession. 

 (_d_) A vessel when at anchor shall at intervals of not more than one minute ring the bell rapidly for about five seconds. 

 (_e_) A vessel at anchor at sea, when not in ordinary anchorage ground and when in such a position as to be an obstruction to vessels under way, shall sound, if a steam vessel, at intervals of not more than two minutes, two prolonged blasts with her whistle or siren, followed by ringing her bell; or, if a sailing vessel, at intervals of not more than one minute two blasts with her fog horn, followed by ringing her bell. 

 (_f_) A vessel when towing shall, instead of the signals prescribed in subdivisions (_a_) and (_c_) of this article, at intervals of not more than two minutes sound three blasts in succession, namely, one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts. A vessel towed may give this signal, and she shall not give any other. 

 (_g_) A steam vessel wishing to indicate to another "The way is off my vessel; you may feel your way past me" may sound three blasts in succession, namely, short, long, short, with intervals of about one second between them. 

 (_h_) A vessel employed in laying or picking up a telegraph cable shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer three prolonged blasts in succession. 

 (_i_) A vessel under way which is unable to get out of the way of an approaching vessel through being not under command or unable to maneuver as required by these rules shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer four short blasts in succession. 

 Sailing vessels and boats of less than 20 tons gross tonnage shall not be obliged to give the above-mentioned signals, but if they do not they shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than one minute. 

 SPEED OF SHIPS TO BE MODERATE IN FOG, ETC. 

 ART. 16. Every vessel shall in a fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storm go at a moderate speed, having careful regard to the existing circumstances and conditions. 

 A steam vessel hearing, apparently forward of her beam, the fog signal of a vessel the position of which is not ascertained shall, so far as the circumstances of the case admit, stop her engines, and then navigate with caution until danger of collision is over. 

 STEERING AND SAILING RULES. 

 PRELIMINARY. --RISK OF COLLISION. 

 Risk of collision can, when circumstances permit, be ascertained by carefully watching the compass bearing of an approaching vessel. If the bearing does not appreciably change, such risk should be deemed to exist. 

 ART. 17. When two sailing vessels are approaching one another so as to involve risk of collision, one of them shall keep out of the way of the other as follows, namely:

 (_a_) A vessel which is running free shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled. 

 (_b_) A vessel which is closehauled on the port tack shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled on the starboard tack. 

 (_c_) When both are running free with the wind on different sides, the vessel which has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the other. 

 (_d_) When both are running free with the wind on the same side, the vessel which is to the windward shall keep out of the way of the vessel which is to leeward. 

 (_e_) A vessel which has the wind aft shall keep out of the way of the other vessel. 

 ART. 18. When two steam vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, each shall alter her course to starboard, so that each may pass on the port side of the other. 

 This article only applies to cases where vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on in such a manner as to involve risk of collision, and does not apply to two vessels which must if both keep on their respective courses pass clear of each other. 

 The only cases to which it does apply are when each of the two vessels is end on or nearly end on to the other; in other words, to cases in which by day each vessel sees the masts of the other in a line or nearly in a line with her own, and by night to cases in which each vessel is in such a position as to see both the side lights of the other. 

 It does not apply by day to cases in which a vessel sees another ahead crossing her own course, or by night to cases where the red light of one vessel is opposed to the red light of the other, or where the green light of one vessel is opposed to the green light of the other, or where a red light without a green light or a green light without a red light is seen ahead, or where both green and red lights are seen anywhere but ahead. 

 ART. 19. When two steam vessels are crossing, so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the other. 

 ART. 20. When a steam vessel and a sailing vessel are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steam vessel shall keep out of the way of the sailing vessel. 

 ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course and speed. 

 ART. 22. Every vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other. 

 ART. 23. Every steam vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall on approaching her, if necessary, slacken her speed or stop or reverse. 

 ART. 24. Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules every vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the overtaken vessel. 

 Every vessel coming up with another vessel from any direction more than 2 points abaft her beam--that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel which she is overtaking, that at night she would be unable to see either of that vessel's side lights--shall be deemed to be an overtaking vessel, and no subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear. 

 As by day the overtaking vessel can not always know with certainty whether she is forward of or abaft this direction from the other vessel, she should if in doubt assume that she is an overtaking vessel and keep out of the way. 

 ART. 25. In narrow channels every steam vessel shall, when it is safe and practicable, keep to that side of the fairway or mid-channel which lies on the starboard side of such vessel. 

 ART. 26. Sailing vessels under way shall keep out of the way of sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls. This rule shall not give to any vessel or boat engaged in fishing the right of obstructing a fairway used by vessels other than fishing vessels or boats. 

 ART. 27. In obeying and construing these rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances which may render a departure from the above rules necessary in order to avoid immediate danger. 

 SOUND SIGNALS FOR VESSELS IN SIGHT OF ONE ANOTHER. 

 ART. 28. The words "short blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of about one second's duration. 

 When vessels are in sight of one another, a steam vessel under way, in taking any course authorized or required by these rules, shall indicate that course by the following signals on her whistle or siren, namely:

 One short blast to mean, "I am directing my course to starboard. "

 Two short blasts to mean, "I am directing my course to port. "

 Three short blasts to mean, "My engines are going at full speed astern. "

 NO VESSEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO NEGLECT PROPER PRECAUTIONS. 

 ART. 29. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any vessel or the owner or master or crew thereof from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper lookout, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen or by the special circumstances of the case. 

 RESERVATION OF RULES FOR HARBORS AND INLAND NAVIGATION. 

 ART. 30. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of a special rule duly made by local authority relative to the navigation of any harbor, river, or inland waters. 

 DISTRESS SIGNALS. 

 ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore, the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:

 In the daytime--

 First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 Second. The international code signal of distress, indicated by N. C. 

 Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball. 

 Fourth. Rockets or shells as prescribed below for use at night. 

 Fifth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 At night--

 First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc. ). 

 Third. Rockets or shells bursting in the air with a loud report and throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals. 

 Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 SEC. 2. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing regulations for preventing collisions at sea for the navigation of all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels are hereby repealed. 

 SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect at a time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose. 

And whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to amend an act approvedAugust 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventingcollisions at sea, '" was approved May 28, 1894, the said act being inthe following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That article 7 of the act approved August 19, 1890, entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea, " be amended to read as follows:

 "ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, and rowing boats, when under way, shall not be required to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (_a_), (_b_), and (_c_), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:

 "First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry--

 "(_a_) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_a_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 "(_b_) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_b_) and (_c_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light. 

 "Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (_b_). 

 "Third. Vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 "Fourth. Rowing boats, whether under oars or sail, shall have ready at hand a lantern showing a white light, which shall be temporarily exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision. 

 "The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (a) and article 11, last paragraph. "

 That article 9 be hereby repealed. 

 That article 21 be amended to read as follows:

 "ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way the other shall keep her course and speed. 

 "NOTE. --When, in consequence of thick weather or other causes, such vessel finds herself so close that collision can not be avoided by the action of the giving-way vessel alone, she also shall take such action as will best aid to avert collision. " (See articles 27 and 29. )

That article 31 be amended to read as follows:

 "DISTRESS SIGNALS. 

 "ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:

 "In the daytime--

 "First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 "Second. The international code signal of distress indicated by N. C. 

 "Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball. 

 "Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 "At night--

 "First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 "Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc. ). 

 "Third. Rockets or shells throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals. 

 "Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. "

And whereas it is provided by section 3 of the act approved August 19, 1890, that it shall take effect at a time to be fixed by the Presidentby proclamation issued for that purpose:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do hereby, in virtue of the authority vested in me by section 3of the act aforesaid, proclaim the 1st day of March, 1895, as the day onwhich the said act approved August 19, 1890, as amended by the actapproved May 28, 1894, shall take effect. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of July, 1894, and of theIndependence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas Congress by a statute approved March 22, 1882, and by statutesin furtherance and amendment thereof defined the crimes of bigamy, polygamy, and unlawful cohabitation in the Territories and other placeswithin the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and prescribed apenalty for such crimes; and

Whereas on or about the 6th day of October, 1890, the Church of theLatter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, through itspresident issued a manifesto proclaiming the purpose of said church nolonger to sanction the practice of polygamous marriages and calling uponall members and adherents of said church to obey the laws of the UnitedStates in reference to said subject-matter; and

Whereas on the 4th day of January, A. D. 1893, [7] Benjamin Harrison, thenPresident of the United States, did declare and grant a full pardon andamnesty to certain offenders under said acts upon condition of futureobedience to their requirements, as is fully set forth in saidproclamation of amnesty and pardon; and

Whereas upon the evidence now furnished me I am satisfied that themembers and adherents of said church generally abstain from pluralmarriages and polygamous cohabitation and are now living in obedience tothe laws, and that the time has now arrived when the interests of publicjustice and morality will be promoted by the granting of amnesty andpardon to all such offenders as have complied with the conditions ofsaid proclamation, including such of said offenders as have beenconvicted under the provisions of said act:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the powers in me vested, do hereby declare and grant a fullamnesty and pardon to all persons who have in violation of said actscommitted either of the offenses of polygamy, bigamy, adultery, orunlawful cohabitation under the color of polygamous or plural marriage, or who, having been convicted of violations of said acts, are nowsuffering deprivation of civil rights in consequence of the same, excepting all persons who have not complied with the conditionscontained in said executive proclamation of January 4, 1893. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of September, A. D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andnineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 7: See pp. 368-369. ]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

The American people should gratefully render thanksgiving and praise tothe Supreme Ruler of the Universe, who has watched over them withkindness and fostering care during the year that has passed; they shouldalso with humility and faith supplicate the Father of All Mercies forcontinued blessings according to their needs, and they should by deedsof charity seek the favor of the Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift. 

Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dohereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the 29th day of November instant, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to be kept and observed by all thepeople of the land. 

On that day let our ordinary work and business be suspended and let usmeet in our accustomed places of worship and give thanks to Almighty Godfor our preservation as a nation, for our immunity from disease andpestilence, for the harvests that have rewarded our husbandry, for arenewal of national prosperity, and for every advance in virtue andintelligence that has marked our growth as a people. 

And with our thanksgiving let us pray that these blessings may bemultiplied unto us, that our national conscience may be quickened to abetter recognition of the power and goodness of God, and that in ournational life we may clearer see and closer follow the path ofrighteousness. 

And in our places of worship and praise, as well as in the happyreunions of kindred and friends on that day, let us invoke divineapproval by generously remembering the poor and needy. Surely He who hasgiven us comfort and plenty will look upon our relief of the destituteand our ministrations of charity as the work of hearts truly gratefuland as proofs of the sincerity of our thanksgiving. 

Witness my hand and the seal of the United States, which I have causedto be hereto affixed. 

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington on the 1st day of November, A. D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andnineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas by the sixteenth section of the act of Congress approved March2, 1889 (25 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 888), the agreements entered intobetween the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company and theSioux Indians for the right of way and occupation of certain lands forstation purposes in that portion of the Sioux Reservation, in the Stateof South Dakota, relinquished by said Indians were ratified upon thecondition that said railway company shall within three years after thesaid act takes effect construct, complete, and put into operation itsline of road as therein provided for, due location of which was to bemade within nine months after said act took effect; and in case offailure to so construct said road "the lands granted for right of way, station grounds, or other railway purposes as in this act provided shallwithout any further act or ceremony be declared by proclamation of thePresident forfeited, and shall without entry or further action on thepart of the United States revert to the United States and be subject toentry under the other provisions of this act;" and

Whereas under previous proclamation[8] said act took effect on February10, 1890, and more than three years have elapsed and no construction hasbeen reported of the said road beyond the town of Chamberlain, in theState of South Dakota, as evidenced by the report of the Secretary ofthe Interior dated December 3, 1894:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dodeclare that the said lands granted for right of way and stationpurposes, to wit, that tract of land known as lots 2, 3, and 4 and thesoutheast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 10, and lots 1 and9 in section 15, township 104 north, range 71 west, containing 188acres, as shown by a plat approved January 24, 1891, being the tractselected by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company underthe sixteenth section of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 U. S. Statutes atLarge, p. 888), also the 640 acres in said township 104 north, ranges 71and 72 west, fifth principal meridian, in the State of South Dakota, plat of which was approved by the Secretary of the Interior January 24, 1889, and now on file in the General Land Office, are forfeited to theUnited States and will be subject to entry under the homestead laws asprovided by said act of March 2, 1889, whenever the Secretary of theInterior shall give due notice to the local officers of this declarationof forfeiture. 

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 5th day ofDecember, A. D. 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND, _President of the United States_. 

By the President: S. W. LAMOREUX, _Commissioner of the General Land Office_. 

[Footnote 8: See pp. 94-97. ]

EXECUTIVE ORDERS. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --REVOCATION OF PROMOTION REGULATIONS. 

DECEMBER 11, 1893. 

The promotion regulations applied to the War Department May 7, 1887, under authority contained in amended Civil-Service Rule VI are herebyrevoked, and hereafter promotions in that Department, until otherwiseprovided, will be made in accordance with the provisions of DepartmentalRule IX and the order of the Secretary of War of March 2, 1892, or suchother and further orders as the said Secretary may make not inconsistentwith the civil-service rules and the order of the President of December4, 1891, directing the keeping of an efficiency record with a view tothe placing of promotions wholly upon the basis of merit. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

GENERAL RULE III. 

Amend General Rule III by striking out clause (_e_) of section 2. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. 

Amend Departmental Rule II by striking out the whole of section 1 andsubstituting therefor the following:

 1. To test fitness for the classified departmental service there shall be a clerk-copyist examination and such supplementary and special examinations as the Commission may provide to meet the special requirements of the service. The clerk-copyist examination shall not include more than the following subjects: Orthography, copying, penmanship, arithmetic (fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, interest, and discount), elements of bookkeeping and accounts, elements of the English language, letter writing, elements of the geography, history, and government of the United States. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VI. 

Amend Departmental Rule VI as follows:

In section 1, line 1, strike out the words "copyist and of the clerk"and insert in lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist, " and in the sameline strike out the final letter in the word "examinations. " In section4 strike out all after the word "the" where it occurs the second time inline 6 down to and including the word "separated" in line 8 and insertin lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist, " and strike out the finalletter of the word "examinations" in line 9. In section 9, line 1, strike out the words "the copyist and the clerk" and insert in lieuthereof the word "all, " and strike out all after the word "register" inline 3 to the end of the section. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VII. 

Amend Departmental Rule VII as follows:

In section 1, after the word "clerk" in line 3, insert a hyphen and theword "copyist. " In section 3, after the word "the" where it occurs thesecond time in line 1, strike out the words "copyist or the clerk" andinsert in lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist. " Strike out all ofsection 4 and change the numbering of the sections following asrequired. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE IX. 

Amend Departmental Rule IX as follows:

In section 2, after the word "clerk" in line 1, insert a hyphen and theword "copyist. " In section 3, after the word "clerk" in line 1, inserta hyphen and the word "copyist. " Strike out the period at the end ofsection 5 and insert in lieu thereof a comma, and add to the sectionthe following:

 But the provisions of clause I of this rule shall cease to be operative when, by reason of the consolidation of the clerk and copyist examinations, there shall no longer be any persons in the departmental service to whom they apply. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE IV. 

Postal Rule IV is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection:

 4. In case of the sudden occurrence of a vacancy in a position within the classified service of any post-office which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: _Provided_, Such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Approved, January 5, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Departmental Rule VII is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection:

 9. In case of the sudden occurrence of a vacancy in the position of observer in the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture may fill such vacancy by temporary appointment until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: _Provided_, Such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days. Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Approved, January 5, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --EXECUTIVE ORDER WITHDRAWING FISH CULTURISTS FROM THELIST OF PLACES TO BE FILLED BY NONCOMPETITIVE EXAMINATION. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1894_. 

So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (d), as provides for the appointment of fishculturists upon noncompetitive examination is hereby revoked, andhereafter fish culturists will be appointed upon competitiveexamination. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

SPECIAL INDIAN RULE NO. 1. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 6, 1894_. 

Exceptions from examination are hereby made as follows: Onesuperintendent and the necessary teachers, not exceeding four in number, for the organization and equipment of a normal school to be establishedat Albuquerque, N. Mex. , this rule to expire by limitation six monthsafter the date of its approval. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 20, 1894_. 

So much of clause 6 of Special Departmental Rule No. 1, providing forexceptions from examination in the office of the Secretary in theDepartment of Agriculture, as excepts "clerk to act as appointmentclerk" is hereby revoked, and that position will hereafter be treated assubject to competitive examination. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Section 6 of Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended bystriking from the list of excepted places in the Weather Bureau of theDepartment of Agriculture enumerated therein the following:

 The three professors of meteorology of highest grade. 

Said section is further amended by adding thereto the following:

 Noncompetitive examinations shall be held, on such dates and at such places as the Commission may from time to time determine, to test the competency of inspectors and assistant inspectors in the Bureau of Animal Industry in the Department of Agriculture employed elsewhere than at Washington, who were so employed on the date inspectors and assistant inspectors were included in the classified service and have been continued in the service of the Department until opportunity has been provided for their noncompetitive examination. The results of such examination shall be reported by the Commission to the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Approved, May 1, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1894_. 

SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. I. 

Special Departmental Rule No. I is hereby amended by adding to theexceptions from examination therein made in the Department of theTreasury the following:

 In the office of the Second Auditor: One skilled laborer with duties exclusively of a carpenter and cabinetmaker. 

 In the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Custodian of proving presses and modeler. 

SPECIAL CUSTOMS RULE NO. I. 

Special Customs Rule No. I, authorizing certain exceptions fromexamination in the classified customs service, is hereby amended byadding to the statement of places therein excepted the following:

 In the customs district of Vermont: One deputy collector and inspector, to be stationed at Halifax during the winter and at Quebec during the time the St. Lawrence River is open to navigation. 

RAILWAY MAIL RULE IV. 

Railway Mail Rule IV, section 2, clause (b), of the civil-service rulesis hereby amended by striking out all after the word "averages" in line3 to and including the word "territory" in line 10, and the word"further" in line 10; so that as amended the clause will read:

 The Commission shall certify from the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists the names of the three eligibles thereon having the highest averages: _Provided_, That if upon the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists there are the names of eligibles having a claim of preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before the names of other eligibles of higher grade: _Provided further_, That on a line on which the service does not require the full time of a clerk, and one can be employed jointly with the railroad company, the appointment may be made without examination and certification, with the consent of the Commission, upon a statement of the facts by the general superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appointment to any other place in the service. 

Section 6 of said rule is hereby amended by adding after the word"substitutes" in line 6 the words "resident in the counties which aresupplied wholly or in part by the road on which the vacancy exists;" sothat as amended the section will read:

 6. There may be certified and appointed in each State and Territory, in the manner provided for in this rule, such number of substitute clerks, not exceeding the ratio of one substitute to ten regular clerks, in such State or Territory as the Postmaster-General may authorize, and any vacancies occurring in class I in any State or Territory in which substitutes have been appointed shall be filled by the appointment thereto of those substitutes resident in the counties which are supplied wholly or in part by the road on which the vacancy exists, in the order of their appointment as substitutes, without further certification. The time during which any substitute is actually employed in the service shall be counted as part of his probation. 

GENERAL RULE III. 

Section 2 of General Rule III is hereby amended by adding thereto thefollowing clause:

 (_h_) For the appointment of an Indian as assistant teacher in the Indian-school service. 

INDIAN RULE IV. 

Indian Rule IV is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection:

 6. Upon the nomination by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, of an Indian for appointment as assistant teacher, the Commission shall give such Indian noncompetitive examination under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_h_), upon passing which at the required grade he shall be certified and appointed for the probationary period provided for in section 3 of this rule, at the end of which period he shall be absolutely appointed or discharged from the service in accordance with the provisions of said section. Any Indian appointed assistant teacher as herein provided may be, any time after absolute appointment, appointed teacher upon the certification of the Commission that he has passed the teacher's examination. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION OF THE INDIAN SERVICE ASMADE BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR APRIL 13, 1891. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1894_. 

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the thirdparagraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate andimprove the civil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise theclassification of the Indian service made by him, by direction of thePresident, on the 13th day of April, 1891, and to include in class 3of said classification assistant teachers. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

EXECUTIVE ORDER. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1894_. 

_It is hereby ordered_, That the several Executive Departments andthe Government Printing Office be closed on Wednesday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the gravesof the soldiers and sailors who fell in defense of the Union during theWar of the Rebellion. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Indian Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by adding to the placesexcepted from examination therein the following:

 Kindergarten teachers, to be employed as such, not exceeding twenty in number. 

Approved, June 21, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Customs Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by adding to the placesexcepted from examination therein the following:

 In the customs district of Boston, office of the collector: One superintendent of warehouses. 

 In the customs district of Philadelphia, office of the collector: Five chiefs of division. 

Approved, June 21, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 9, 1894_. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. 

Departmental Rule II, clause 3 (_f_), is hereby amended by addingat the end thereof the following words:

 Except in the Department of Agriculture the chiefs of the following divisions: Entomology and economic ornithology and mammalogy. 

SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. I. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by dropping from amongthe places therein excepted from examination the following:

 In the Department of Agriculture, office of the Secretary, the assistant chiefs of the following divisions: Of entomology and of economic ornithology and mammalogy. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THEINTERIOR. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 25, 1894_. 

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the thirdparagraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate andimprove the civil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise theclassification of the Department of the Interior so as to includetherein the chief clerk and the assistant chief clerk at the Indianwarehouse at New York. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by adding to theplaces therein excepted from examination in the Department of theTreasury the following:

 In the Bureau of Statistics: One expert in mechanical designs and in diagramming commercial and financial facts. 

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. 

Departmental Rule II, clause 3 (_f_), is hereby amended by addingat the end thereof the following words: "and of pomology;" so that asamended the paragraph will read:

 (_f_) Chiefs of divisions, except in the Department of Agriculture the chiefs of the following divisions: Entomology, economic ornithology and mammalogy, and of pomology. 

SPECIAL DEPARTMENTAL RULE NO. I. 

Special Departmental Rule No. I is hereby amended by dropping from amongthe places therein excepted from examination the following:

 In the Department of Agriculture, office of the Secretary: The assistant chief of the division of pomology. 

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 2, 1894_. 

INDIAN RULE IV. 

Section 6 of Indian Rule IV is hereby amended by inserting the followingproviso at the end of the first sentence:

 _Provided_, That the certificates of graduation of the Indian graduates of the normal classes at Santa Fe, N. Mex. ; Salem, Oreg. ; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans. ; Carlisle, Pa. , and Hampton, Va. , may be accepted by the Commission as the basis of certification in lieu of the examination herein provided. 

As amended the section will read:

 6. Upon the nomination by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, of an Indian for appointment as assistant teacher, the Commission shall give such Indian noncompetitive examination, under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_h_), upon passing which at the required grade he shall be certified and appointed for the probationary period provided for in section 3 of this rule, at the end of which period he shall be absolutely appointed or discharged from the service in accordance with the provisions of said section: _Provided_, That the certificates of graduation of the Indian graduates of the normal classes at Santa Fe, N. Mex. ; Salem, Oreg. ; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans. ; Carlisle, Pa. , and Hampton, Va. , may be accepted by the Commission as the basis of certification in lieu of the examination herein provided for. Any Indian appointed assistant teacher as herein provided may at any time after absolute appointment be appointed teacher upon the certification of the Commission that he has passed the teacher examination. 

SPECIAL INDIAN RULE NO. 1. 

Special Indian Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by inserting after the words"New Mexico" in line 3 the words "also one normal teacher each at theSalem (Oreg. ) school and the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans. " Asamended the rule will read:

 Exceptions from examination are hereby made as follows: One superintendent and the necessary teachers, not exceeding four in number, for the organization and equipment of one normal school to be established at Santa Fe, N. Mex. ; also one normal teacher each at the Salem (Oreg. ) school and the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans. ; this rule to expire by limitation six months after the date of its approval. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Postal Rule II is hereby amended by striking put all of section 5 andinserting in lieu thereof the following:

 5. Exceptions from examination in the classified postal service are hereby made as follows:

 (_a_) Assistant postmaster or the chief assistant to the postmaster, by whatever designation known. 

 (_b_) One secretary to the postmaster, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department. 

 (_c_) Cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title. 

 (_d_) Assistant cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title. 

 (_e_) Superintendents of station or branch post-offices at which letter carriers are employed. 

 (_f_) Printers and pressmen, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department and employed as such. 

 6. No person appointed to a place under any exception made by any postal rule shall be transferred to any other place not also excepted from examination. 

Postal Rule IV is hereby amended by inserting after the word "manner, "in section 1, line 3, the following:

 _Provided_, That superintendents of mail shall be selected from among the employees of the railway mail service or of the mailing division of the post-office at which they are respectively to serve. 

Postal Rule VIII is hereby amended as follows:

 In clause (_a_), line 2, after the word "by, " insert the word "any, " and in the same line strike out "II, clause 5. "

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 2, 1894_. 

Departmental Rule VII, clause 1, is hereby amended by inserting at theend of line 6 the following:

 Vacancies in places authorized to be filled by noncompetitive examination may be filled without examination for a period not exceeding thirty days, until a regular appointment can be made upon certification made by the Commission. 

 Every such appointment and the reasons therefor shall be at once reported to the Commission. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION. 

In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph ofsection 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civilservice of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the heads ofthe several Executive Departments are hereby directed to amend theirseveral classifications so as to include among the employees classifiedthereunder messengers, assistant messengers, and watchmen. 

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION. 

In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph ofsection 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve thecivil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, thePostmaster-General is hereby directed to amend the classification ofthe Post-Office Department so as to include among the classes coveredthereby clerks to post-office inspectors. 

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

GENERAL RULE III. 

General Rule III is hereby amended by striking out clause (_b_) ofsection 2 and relettering the remaining clauses of the sectionaccordingly. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULES. 

Departmental Rule II is hereby amended as follows:

In section 4, line 1, strike out the word "hereby, " and insert afterthe word "made, " at the end of the line, the words "by any departmentalrule;" in line 2, after the word "shall, " strike out the words "withinone year after appointment;" substitute a period for the semicolon inline 3 and strike out the remainder of the section. As amended thesection will read:

 4. No person appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination made by any departmental rule shall be transferred from such place to a place not also excepted from examination. 

Departmental Rule XI is hereby amended as follows:

In clause (_a_) line 2, insert the word "any" before the word"departmental, " and strike out in line 3 all after the word "rule. "

RAILWAY MAIL RULES. 

Railway Mail Rule II is hereby amended as follows:

In section 6, line 2, after the word "shall, " strike out the words"within one year after appointment;" substitute a period for thesemicolon in line 3 and strike out the remainder of the section. Asamended the section will read:

 6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination hereby made shall be transferred to another place not also excepted from examination. 

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Customs Rule I is hereby amended as follows:

In section 2, line 2, strike out the word "fifty" and insert in lieuthereof the word "twenty. "

Customs Rule II is hereby amended as follows:

In section 6, line 1, strike out the word "hereby, " and after the word"made, " at the end of the line, insert the words "by any customs rule;"in line 2, after the word "shall, " strike out the words "within one yearafter appointment;" substitute a period for the semicolon in line 3 andstrike out the remainder of the section. As amended the clause willread:

 No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination made by any customs rule shall be transferred from such place to another place not also excepted from examination. 

Customs Rule VIII is hereby amended as follows:

In clause (_a_), line 2, after the word "by, " insert the word"any, " and in the same line strike out "II, clause 5. "

Approved, November 2, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VII. 

Departmental Rule VII is hereby amended by adding to the first paragraphof section 1 the following proviso:

 _Provided further_, That sea post clerks in the Post-Office Department shall be appointed by transfer from the classified railway mail service or the classified postal service, and shall be eligible at any time for retransfer to the service from which transferred, but shall not be transferred to any other department or branch of the service, nor to any other place in the Post-Office Department, without examination and certification by the Commission. 

RAILWAY MAIL RULE II. 

Railway Mail Rule II is hereby amended as follows:

In section 5 strike out clauses (_e_) and (_f_). 

RAILWAY MAIL RULE IV. 

Railway Mail Rule IV is hereby amended as follows:

In the last proviso of clause (_b_) of section 2, in line 2 ofthat proviso, after the word "line, " insert the words "or at a transferstation or on a steamboat;" in the same line strike out the words "onwhich" and substitute therefor the word "where, " and in line 3, afterthe word "railroad, " insert the words "or steamboat;" so that as amendedthe proviso will read:

 _Provided further_, That on a line or at a transfer station or on a steamboat where the service does not require the full time of a clerk, and one can be employed jointly with the railroad or steamboat company, the appointment may be made without examination and certification, with the consent of the Commission, upon a statement of the facts by the general superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appointment to any other place in the service. 

Approved, November 17, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 3, 1894_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

The assemblage within the nation's legislative halls of those chargedwith the duty of making laws for the benefit of a generous and freepeople impressively suggests the exacting obligation and inexorableresponsibility involved in their task. At the threshold of such labornow to be undertaken by the Congress of the United States, and in thedischarge of an executive duty enjoined by the Constitution, I submitthis communication, containing a brief statement of the condition ofour national affairs and recommending such legislation as seems to menecessary and expedient. 

The history of our recent dealings with other nations and our peacefulrelations with them at this time additionally demonstrate the advantageof consistently adhering to a firm but just foreign policy, free fromenvious or ambitious national schemes and characterized by entirehonesty and sincerity. 

During the past year, pursuant to a law of Congress, commissioners wereappointed to the Antwerp Industrial Exposition. Though the participationof American exhibitors fell far short of completely illustrating ournational ingenuity and industrial achievements, yet it was quitecreditable in view of the brief time allowed for preparation. 

I have endeavored to impress upon the Belgian Government theneedlessness and positive harmfulness of its restrictions upon theimportation of certain of our food products, and have strongly urgedthat the rigid supervision and inspection under our laws are amplysufficient to prevent the exportation from this country of diseasedcattle and unwholesome meat. 

The termination of the civil war in Brazil has been followed by thegeneral prevalence of peace and order. It appearing at an early stage ofthe insurrection that its course would call for unusual watchfulness onthe part of this Government, our naval force in the harbor of Rio deJaneiro was strengthened. This precaution, I am satisfied, tended torestrict the issue to a simple trial of strength between the BrazilianGovernment and the insurgents and to avert complications which at timesseemed imminent. Our firm attitude of neutrality was maintained to theend. The insurgents received no encouragement of eventual asylum fromour commanders, and such opposition as they encountered was for theprotection of our commerce and was clearly justified by public law. 

A serious tension of relations having arisen at the close of the warbetween Brazil and Portugal by reason of the escape of the insurgentadmiral Da Gama and his followers, the friendly offices of ourrepresentatives to those countries were exerted for the protection ofthe subjects of either within the territory of the other. 

Although the Government of Brazil was duly notified that the commercialarrangement existing between the United States and that country based onthe third section of the tariff act of 1890 was abrogated on August 28, 1894, by the taking effect of the tariff law now in force, thatGovernment subsequently notified us of its intention to terminate sucharrangement on the 1st day of January, 1895, in the exercise of theright reserved in the agreement between the two countries. I inviteattention to the correspondence between the Secretary of State and theBrazilian minister on this subject. 

The commission organized under the convention which we had enteredinto with Chile for the settlement of the outstanding claims of eachGovernment against the other adjourned at the end of the periodstipulated for its continuance leaving undetermined a number of Americancases which had been duly presented. These claims are not barred, andnegotiations are in progress for their submission to a new tribunal. 

On the 17th of March last a new treaty with China in further regulationof emigration was signed at Washington, and on August 13 it received thesanction of the Senate. Ratification on the part of China and formalexchange are awaited to give effect to this mutually beneficialconvention. 

A gratifying recognition of the uniform impartiality of this countrytoward all foreign states was manifested by the coincident request ofthe Chinese and Japanese Governments that the agents of the UnitedStates should within proper limits afford protection to the subjects ofthe other during the suspension of diplomatic relations due to a stateof war. This delicate office was accepted, and a misapprehension whichgave rise to the belief that in affording this kindly unofficialprotection our agents would exercise the same authority which thewithdrawn agents of the belligerents had exercised was promptlycorrected. Although the war between China and Japan endangers no policyof the United States, it deserves our gravest consideration by reason ofits disturbance of our growing commercial interests in the two countriesand the increased dangers which may result to our citizens domiciled orsojourning in the interior of China. 

Acting under a stipulation in our treaty with Korea (the first concludedwith a western power), I felt constrained at the beginning of thecontroversy to tender our good offices to induce an amicable arrangementof the initial difficulty growing out of the Japanese demands foradministrative reforms in Korea, but the unhappy precipitation of actualhostilities defeated this kindly purpose. 

Deploring the destructive war between the two most powerful of theeastern nations and anxious that our commercial interests in thosecountries may be preserved and that the safety of our citizens thereshall not be jeopardized, I would not hesitate to heed any intimationthat our friendly aid for the honorable termination of hostilities wouldbe acceptable to both belligerents. 

A convention has been finally concluded for the settlement byarbitration of the prolonged dispute with Ecuador growing out of theproceedings against Emilio Santos, a naturalized citizen of the UnitedStates. 

Our relations with the Republic of France continue to be such as shouldexist between nations so long bound together by friendly sympathy andsimilarity in their form of government. 

The recent cruel assassination of the President of this sister Republiccalled forth such universal expressions of sorrow and condolence fromour people and Government as to leave no doubt of the depth andsincerity of our attachment. The resolutions passed by the Senate andHouse of Representatives on the occasion have been communicated to thewidow of President Carnot. 

Acting upon the reported discovery of Texas fever in cargoes of Americancattle, the German prohibition against importations of live stock andfresh meats from this country has been revived. It is hoped that Germanywill soon become convinced that the inhibition is as needless as it isharmful to mutual interests. 

The German Government has protested against that provision of thecustoms tariff act which imposes a discriminating duty of one-tenth of1 cent a pound on sugars coming from countries paying an export bountythereon, claiming that the exaction of such duty is in contravention ofArticles V and IX of the treaty of 1828 with Prussia. 

In the interests of the commerce of both countries and to avoid even theaccusation of treaty violation, I recommend the repeal of so much of thestatute as imposes that duty, and I invite attention to the accompanyingreport of the Secretary of State, containing a discussion of thequestions raised by the German protests. 

Early in the present year an agreement was reached with Great Britainconcerning instructions to be given to the naval commanders of the twoGovernments in Bering Sea and the contiguous North Pacific Ocean fortheir guidance in the execution of the award of the Paris Tribunal ofArbitration and the enforcement of the regulations therein prescribedfor the protection of seal life in the waters mentioned. Anunderstanding has also been reached for the payment by the United Statesof $425, 000 in full satisfaction of all claims which may be made byGreat Britain for damages growing out of the controversy as to fur sealsin Bering Sea or the seizure of British vessels engaged in taking sealin those waters. The award and findings of the Paris Tribunal to a greatextent determined the facts and principles upon which these claimsshould be adjusted, and they have been subjected by both Governments toa thorough examination upon the principles as well as the facts whichthey involve. I am convinced that a settlement upon the terms mentionedwould be an equitable and advantageous one, and I recommend thatprovision be made for the prompt payment of the stated sum. 

Thus far only France and Portugal have signified their willingness toadhere to the regulations established under the award of the ParisTribunal of Arbitration. 

Preliminary surveys of the Alaskan boundary and a preparatoryexamination of the question of protection of food fish in the contiguouswaters of the United States and the Dominion of Canada are in progress. 

The boundary of British Guiana still remains in dispute between GreatBritain and Venezuela. Believing that its early settlement on some justbasis alike honorable to both parties is in the line of our establishedpolicy to remove from this hemisphere all causes of difference withpowers beyond the sea, I shall renew the efforts heretofore made tobring about a restoration of diplomatic relations between the disputantsand to induce a reference to arbitration--a resort which Great Britainso conspicuously favors in principle and respects in practice and whichis earnestly sought by her weaker adversary. 

Since communicating the voluminous correspondence in regard to Hawaiiand the action taken by the Senate and House of Representatives oncertain questions submitted to the judgment and wider discretion ofCongress the organization of a government in place of the provisionalarrangement which followed the deposition of the Queen has beenannounced, with evidence of its effective operation. The recognitionusual in such cases has been accorded the new Government. 

Under our present treaties of extradition with Italy miscarriagesof justice have occurred owing to the refusal of that Government tosurrender its own subjects. Thus far our efforts to negotiate an amendedconvention obviating this difficulty have been unavailing. 

Apart from the war in which the Island Empire is engaged, Japan attractsincreasing attention in this country by her evident desire to cultivatemore liberal intercourse with us and to seek our kindly aid infurtherance of her laudable desire for complete autonomy in her domesticaffairs and full equality in the family of nations. The Japanese Empireof to-day is no longer the Japan of the past, and our relations withthis progressive nation should not be less broad and liberal than thosewith other powers. 

Good will, fostered by many interests in common, has marked ourrelations with our nearest southern neighbor. Peace being restored alongher northern frontier, Mexico has asked the punishment of the latedisturbers of her tranquillity. There ought to be a new treaty ofcommerce and navigation with that country to take the place of the onewhich terminated thirteen years ago. The friendliness of the intercoursebetween the two countries is attested by the fact that during this longperiod the commerce of each has steadily increased under the rule ofmutual consideration, being neither stimulated by conventionalarrangements nor retarded by jealous rivalries or selfish distrust. 

An indemnity tendered by Mexico as a gracious act for the murder in 1887of Leon Baldwin, an American citizen, by a band of marauders in Durangohas been accepted and is being paid in installments. 

The problem of the storage and use of the waters of the Rio Grande forirrigation should be solved by appropriate concurrent action of the twointerested countries. Rising in the Colorado heights, the stream flowsintermittently, yielding little water during the dry months to theirrigation channels already constructed along its course. This scarcityis often severely felt in the regions where the river forms a commonboundary. Moreover, the frequent changes in its course through levelsands often raise embarrassing questions of territorial jurisdiction. 

Prominent among the questions of the year was the Bluefields incident, in what is known as the Mosquito Indian Strip, bordering on the AtlanticOcean and within the jurisdiction of Nicaragua. By the treaty of 1860between Great Britain and Nicaragua the former Government expresslyrecognized the sovereignty of the latter over the strip, and a limitedform of self-government was guaranteed to the Mosquito Indians, to beexercised according to their customs, for themselves and other dwellerswithin its limits. The so-called native government, which grew to belargely made up of aliens, for many years disputed the sovereignty ofNicaragua over the strip and claimed the right to maintain therein apractically independent municipal government. Early in the past yearefforts of Nicaragua to maintain sovereignty over the Mosquito territoryled to serious disturbances, culminating in the suppression of thenative government and the attempted substitution of an impracticablecomposite administration in which Nicaragua and alien residents were toparticipate. Failure was followed by an insurrection, which for a timesubverted Nicaraguan rule, expelling her officers and restoring the oldorganization. This in turn gave place to the existing local governmentestablished and upheld by Nicaragua. 

Although the alien interests arrayed against Nicaragua in thesetransactions have been largely American and the commerce of that regionfor some time has been and still is chiefly controlled by our citizens, we can not for that reason challenge the rightful sovereignty ofNicaragua over this important part of her domain. 

For some months one, and during part of the time two, of our naval shipshave been stationed at Bluefields for the protection of all legitimateinterests of our citizens. In September last the Government at Managuaexpelled from its territory twelve or more foreigners, including twoAmericans, for alleged participation in the seditious or revolutionarymovements against the Republic at Bluefields already mentioned; butthrough the earnest remonstrance of this Government the two Americanshave been permitted to return to the peaceful management of theirbusiness. Our naval commanders at the scene of these disturbances bytheir constant exhibition of firmness and good judgment contributedlargely to the prevention of more serious consequences and to therestoration of quiet and order. I regret that in the midst of theseoccurrences there happened a most grave and irritating failure ofNicaraguan justice. An American citizen named Wilson, residing at Rama, in the Mosquito territory, was murdered by one Argüello, the actinggovernor of the town. After some delay the murderer was arrested, but soinsecurely confined or guarded that he escaped, and notwithstanding ourrepeated demands it is claimed that his recapture has been impossible byreason of his flight beyond Nicaraguan jurisdiction. 

The Nicaraguan authorities, having given notice of forfeiture of theirconcession to the canal company on grounds purely technical and notembraced in the contract, have receded from that position. 

Peru, I regret to say, shows symptoms of domestic disturbance, dueprobably to the slowness of her recuperation from the distresses ofthe war of 1881. Weakened in resources, her difficulties in facinginternational obligations invite our kindly sympathy and justify ourforbearance in pressing long-pending claims. I have felt constrainedto testify this sympathy in connection with certain demands urgentlypreferred by other powers. 

The recent death of the Czar of Russia called forth appropriateexpressions of sorrow and sympathy on the part of our Government withhis bereaved family and the Russian people. As a further demonstrationof respect and friendship our minister at St. Petersburg was directed torepresent our Government at the funeral ceremonies. 

The sealing interests of Russia in Bering Sea are second only to ourown. A _modus vivendi_ has therefore been concluded with theImperial Government restrictive of poaching on the Russian rookeries andof sealing in waters which were not comprehended in the protected areadefined in the Paris award. 

Occasion has been found to urge upon the Russian Government equality oftreatment for our great life-insurance companies whose operations havebeen extended throughout Europe. Admitting as we do foreign corporationsto transact business in the United States, we naturally expect no lesstolerance for our own in the ample fields of competition abroad. 

But few cases of interference with naturalized citizens returning toRussia have been reported during the current year. One Krzeminski wasarrested last summer in a Polish province on a reported charge ofunpermitted renunciation of Russian allegiance, but it transpiredthat the proceedings originated in alleged malfeasance committed byKrzeminski while an imperial official a number of years ago. Efforts forhis release, which promised to be successful, were in progress when hisdeath was reported. 

The Government of Salvador having been overthrown by an abrupt popularoutbreak, certain of its military and civil officers, while hotlypursued by infuriated insurgents, sought refuge on board the UnitedStates war ship _Bennington_, then lying in a Salvadorean port. Although the practice of asylum is not favored by this Government, yetin view of the imminent peril which threatened the fugitives and solelyfrom considerations of humanity they were afforded shelter by our navalcommander, and when afterwards demanded under our treaty of extraditionwith Salvador for trial on charges of murder, arson, and robbery Idirected that such of them as had not voluntarily left the ship beconveyed to one of our nearest ports where a hearing could be had beforea judicial officer, in compliance with the terms of the treaty. On theirarrival at San Francisco such a proceeding was promptly institutedbefore the United States district judge, who held that the actsconstituting the alleged offenses were political and discharged all theaccused except one Cienfuegos, who was held for an attempt to murder. Thereupon I was constrained to direct his release for the reason that anattempt to murder was not one of the crimes charged against him and uponwhich his surrender to the Salvadorean authorities had been demanded. 

Unreasonable and unjust fines imposed by Spain on the vessels andcommerce of the United States have demanded from time to time during thelast twenty years earnest remonstrance on the part of our Government. In the immediate past exorbitant penalties have been imposed upon ourvessels and goods by customs authorities of Cuba and Puerto Rico forclerical errors of the most trivial character in the manifests or billsof lading. In some cases fines amounting to thousands of dollars havebeen levied upon cargoes or the carrying vessels when the goods inquestion were entitled to free entry. Fines have been exacted even whenthe error had been detected and the Spanish authorities notified beforethe arrival of the goods in port. 

This conduct is in strange contrast with the considerate and liberaltreatment extended to Spanish vessels and cargoes in our ports in likecases. No satisfactory settlement of these vexatious questions has yetbeen reached. 

The Mora case, referred to in my last annual message, remains unsettled. From the diplomatic correspondence on this subject which has been laidbefore the Senate it will be seen that this Government has offered toconclude a convention with Spain for disposal by arbitration ofoutstanding claims between the two countries, except the Mora claim, which, having been long ago adjusted, now only awaits payment asstipulated, and of course it could not be included in the proposedconvention. It was hoped that this offer would remove parliamentaryobstacles encountered by the Spanish Government in providing payment ofthe Mora indemnity. I regret to say that no definite reply to this offerhas yet been made and all efforts to secure payment of this settledclaim have been unavailing. 

In my last annual message I adverted to the claim on the part of Turkeyof the right to expel as persons undesirable and dangerous Armeniansnaturalized in the United States and returning to Turkishjurisdiction. [9] Numerous questions in this relation have arisen. Whilethis Government acquiesces in the asserted right of expulsion, it willnot consent that Armenians may be imprisoned or otherwise punished forno other reason than having acquired without imperial consent Americancitizenship. 

Three of the assailants of Miss Melton, an American teacher in Mosul, have been convicted by the Ottoman courts, and I am advised that anappeal against the acquittal of the remaining five has been taken by theTurkish prosecuting officer. 

A convention has been concluded with Venezuela for the arbitration of along-disputed claim growing out of the seizure of certain vessels theproperty of citizens of the United States. Although signed, the treatyof extradition with Venezuela is not yet in force, owing to theinsistence of that Government that when surrendered its citizens shallin no case be liable to capital punishment. 

The rules for the prevention of collisions at sea which were framedby the maritime conference held in this city in 1889, having beenconcurrently incorporated in the statutes of the United States andGreat Britain, have been announced to take effect March 1, 1895, andinvitations have been extended to all maritime nations to adhere tothem. Favorable responses have thus far been received from Austria, France, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. 

In my last annual message I referred briefly to the unsatisfactory stateof affairs in Samoa under the operation of the Berlin treaty as signallyillustrating the impolicy of entangling alliances with foreignpowers, [10] and on May 9, 1894, in response to a resolution of theSenate, I sent a special message [11] and documents to that body on thesame subject, which emphasized my previously expressed opinions. Lateroccurrences, the correspondence in regard to which will be laid beforethe Congress, further demonstrate that the Government which was devisedby the three powers and forced upon the Samoans against their inveteratehostility can be maintained only by the continued presence of foreignmilitary force and at no small sacrifice of life and treasure. 

The suppression of the Mataafa insurrection by the powers and thesubsequent banishment of the leader and eleven other chiefs, as recitedin my last message, did not bring lasting peace to the islands. Formidable uprisings continued, and finally a rebellion broke out inthe capital island, Upolu, headed in Aana, the western district, by theyounger Tamasese, and in Atua, the eastern district, by other leaders. The insurgents ravaged the country and fought the Government's troopsup to the very doors of Apia. The King again appealed to the powersfor help, and the combined British and German naval forces reduced theAtuans to apparent subjection, not, however, without considerable lossto the natives. A few days later Tamasese and his adherents, fearing theships and the marines, professed submission. 

Reports received from our agents at Apia do not justify the beliefthat the peace thus brought about will be of long duration. It istheir conviction that the natives are at heart hostile to the presentGovernment, that such of them as profess loyalty to it do so from fearof the powers, and that it would speedily go to pieces if the war shipswere withdrawn. In reporting to his Government on the unsatisfactorysituation since the suppression of the late revolt by foreign armedforces, the German consul at Apia stated:

 That peace will be lasting is hardly to be presumed. The lesson given by firing on Atua was not sufficiently sharp and incisive to leave a lasting impression on the forgetful Samoan temperament. In fact, conditions are existing which show that peace will not last and is not seriously intended. Malietoa, the King, and his chiefs are convinced that the departure of the war ships will be a signal for a renewal of war. The circumstance that the representatives of the villages of all the districts which were opposed to the Government have already withdrawn to Atua to hold meetings, and that both Atua and Aana have forbidden inhabitants of those districts which fought on the side of the Government to return to their villages, and have already partly burned down the latter, indicates that a real conciliation of the parties is still far off. 

And in a note of the 10th ultimo, inclosing a copy of that report forthe information of this Government, the German ambassador said:

 The contents of the report awakened the Imperial Government's apprehension that under existing circumstances the peace concluded with the rebels will afford no assurance of the lasting restoration of tranquillity in the islands. 

The present Government has utterly failed to correct, if indeed it hasnot aggravated, the very evils it was intended to prevent. It has notstimulated our commerce with the islands. Our participation in itsestablishment against the wishes of the natives was in plain defiance ofthe conservative teachings and warnings of the wise and patriotic menwho laid the foundations of our free institutions, and I invite anexpression of the judgment of Congress on the propriety of steps beingtaken by this Government looking to the withdrawal from its engagementswith the other powers on some reasonable terms not prejudicial to any ofour existing rights. 

The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of theGovernment from all sources of revenue during the fiscal year endingJune 30, 1894, amounted to $372, 802, 498. 29 and its expenditures to$442, 605, 758. 87, leaving a deficit of $69, 803, 260. 58. There was adecrease of $15, 952, 674. 66 in the ordinary expense of the Government ascompared with the fiscal year 1893. 

There was collected from customs $131, 818, 530. 62 and from internalrevenue $147, 168, 449. 70. The balance of the income for the year, amounting to $93, 815, 517. 97, was derived from the sales of lands andother sources. 

The value of our total dutiable imports amounted to $275, 199, 086, being$146, 657, 625 less than during the preceding year, and the importationsfree of duty amounted to $379, 795, 536, being $64, 748, 675 less thanduring the preceding year. The receipts from customs were $73, 536, 486. 11less and from internal revenue $13, 836, 539. 97 less than in 1893. 

The total tax collected from distilled spirits was $85, 259, 250. 25, onmanufactured tobacco $28, 617, 898. 62, and on fermented liquors$31, 414, 788. 04. 

Our exports of merchandise, domestic and foreign, amounted during theyear to $892, 140, 572, being an increase over the preceding year of$44, 495, 378. 

The total amount of gold exported during the fiscal year was$76, 898, 061, as against $108, 680, 444 during the fiscal year 1893. Theamount imported was $72, 449, 119, as against $21, 174, 381 during theprevious year. 

The imports of silver were $13, 286, 552 and the exports were $50, 451, 265. 

The total bounty paid upon the production of sugar in the UnitedStates for the fiscal year was $12, 100, 208. 89, being an increase of$2, 725, 078. 01 over the payments made during the preceding year. Theamount of bounty paid from July 1, 1894, to August 28, 1894, the timewhen further payments ceased by operation of law, was $966, 185. 84. Thetotal expenses incurred in the payment of the bounty upon sugar duringthe fiscal year was $130, 140. 85. 

It is estimated that upon the basis of the present revenue laws thereceipts of the Government during the current fiscal year, ending June30, 1895, will be $424, 427, 748. 44 and its expenditures $444, 427, 748. 44, resulting in a deficit of $20, 000, 000. 

On the 1st day of November, 1894, the total stock of money of all kindsin the country was $2, 240, 773, 888, as against $2, 204, 651, 000 on the 1stday of November, 1893, and the money of all kinds in circulation, or notincluded in the Treasury holdings, was $1, 672, 093, 422, or $24. 27 percapita upon an estimated population of 68, 887, 000. At the same datethere was held in the Treasury gold bullion amounting to $44, 615, 177. 55and silver bullion which was purchased at a cost of $127, 772, 988. Thepurchase of silver bullion under the act of July 14, 1890, ceased on the1st day of November, 1893, and up to that time there had been purchasedduring the fiscal year 11, 917, 658. 78 fine ounces, at a cost of$8, 715, 521. 32, an average cost of $O. 7313 per fine ounce. The totalamount of silver purchased from the time that law took effect until therepeal of its purchasing clause, on the date last mentioned, was168, 674, 682. 53 fine ounces, which cost $155, 931, 002. 25, the averageprice per fine ounce being $0. 9244. 

The total amount of standard silver dollars coined at the mints of theUnited States since the passage of the act of February 28, 1878, is$421, 776, 408, of which $378, 166, 793 were coined under the provisions ofthat act, $38, 531, 143 under the provisions of the act of July 14, 1890, and $5, 078, 472 under the act providing for the coinage of trade-dollarbullion. 

The total coinage of all metals at our mints during the last fiscal yearconsisted of 63, 485, 220 pieces, valued at $106, 216, 730. 06, of whichthere were $99, 474, 912. 50 in gold coined, $758 in standard silverdollars, $6, 024, 140. 30 in subsidiary silver coin, and $716, 919. 26 inminor coin. 

During the calendar year 1893 the production of precious metals in theUnited States was estimated at 1, 739, 323 fine ounces of gold of thecommercial and coinage value of $35, 955, 000 and 60, 000, 000 fine ouncesof silver of the bullion or market value of $46, 800, 000 and of thecoinage value of $77, 576, 000. It is estimated that on the 1st day ofJuly, 1894, the stock of metallic money in the United States, consistingof coin and bullion, amounted to $1, 251, 640, 958, of which $627, 923, 201was gold and $624, 347, 757 was silver. 

Fifty national banks were organized during the year ending October31, 1894, with a capital of $5, 285, 000, and 79, with a capital of$10, 475, 000, went into voluntary liquidation. Twenty-one banks, with acapital of $2, 770, 000, were placed in the hands of receivers. The totalnumber of national banks in existence on the 31st day of October lastwas 3, 756, being 40 less than on the 31st day of October, 1893. Thecapital stock paid in was $672, 671, 365, being $9, 678, 491 less than atthe same time in the previous year, and the surplus fund and individualprofits, less expenses and taxes paid, amounted to $334, 121, 082. 10, which was $16, 089, 780 less than on October 31, 1893. The circulation wasdecreased $1, 741, 563. The obligations of the banks to each other wereincreased $117, 268, 334 and the individual deposits were $277, 294, 489less than at the corresponding date in the previous year. Loans anddiscounts were $161, 206, 923 more than at the same time the previousyear, and checks and other cash items were $90, 349, 963 more. The totalresources of the banks at the date mentioned amounted to $3, 473, 922, 055, as against $3, 109, 563, 284. 36 in 1893. 

From the report of the Secretary of War it appears that the strength ofthe Army on September 30, 1894, was 2, 135 officers and 25, 765 enlistedmen. Although this is apparently a very slight decrease compared withthe previous year, the actual effective force has been increased to theequivalent of nearly two regiments through the reorganization of thesystem of recruiting and the consequent release to regimental duty ofthe large force of men hitherto serving at the recruiting depots. Theabolition of these depots, it is predicted, will furthermore effect anannual reduction approximating $250, 000 in the direct expenditures, besides promoting generally the health, morale, and discipline of thetroops. 

The execution of the policy of concentrating the Army at importantcenters of population and transportation, foreshadowed in the lastannual report of the Secretary, has resulted in the abandonment offifteen of the smaller posts, which was effected under a plan whichassembles organizations of the same regiments hitherto widely separated. This renders our small forces more readily effective for any servicewhich they may be called upon to perform, increases the extent of theterritory under protection without diminishing the security heretoforeafforded to any locality, improves the discipline, training, and_esprit de corps_ of the Army, besides considerably decreasing thecost of its maintenance. 

Though the forces of the Department of the East have been somewhatincreased, more than three-fourths of the Army is still stationed westof the Mississippi. This carefully matured policy, which secures thebest and greatest service in the interests of the general welfare fromthe small force comprising our Regular Army, should not be thoughtlesslyembarrassed by the creation of new and unnecessary posts through acts ofCongress to gratify the ambitions or interests of localities. 

While the maximum legal strength of the Army is 25, 000 men, theeffective strength, through various causes, is but little over 20, 000men. The purpose of Congress does not, therefore, seem to be fullyattained by the existing condition. While no considerable increase inthe Army is, in my judgment, demanded by recent events, the policy ofseacoast fortification, in the prosecution of which we have beensteadily engaged for some years, has so far developed as to suggest thatthe effective strength of the Army be now made at least equal to thelegal strength. Measures taken by the Department during the year, asindicated, have already considerably augmented the effective force, and the Secretary of War presents a plan, which I recommend to theconsideration of Congress, to attain the desired end. Economies effectedin the Department in other lines of its work will offset to a greatextent the expenditure involved in the proposition submitted. Amongother things this contemplates the adoption of the three-battalionformation of regiments, which for several years has been indorsed bythe Secretaries of War and the Generals Commanding the Army. Compactin itself, it provides a skeleton organization, ready to be filled outin the event of war, which is peculiarly adapted to our strength andrequirements; and the fact that every other nation, with a singleexception, has adopted this formation to meet the conditions ofmodern warfare should alone secure for the recommendation an earlyconsideration. 

It is hardly necessary to recall the fact that in obedience to thecommands of the Constitution and the laws, and for the purpose ofprotecting the property of the United States, aiding the process ofFederal courts, and removing lawless obstructions to the performanceby the Government of its legitimate functions, it became necessary invarious localities during the year to employ a considerable portion ofthe regular troops. The duty was discharged promptly, courageously, andwith marked discretion by the officers and men, and the most gratifyingproof was thus afforded that the Army deserves that complete confidencein its efficiency and discipline which the country has at all timesmanifested. 

The year has been free from disturbances by Indians, and the chances offurther depredations on their part are constantly becoming more remoteand improbable. 

The total expenditures for the War Department for the year ended June30, 1894, amounted to $56, 039, 009. 34. Of this sum $2, 000, 614. 99 was forsalaries and contingent expenses, $23, 665, 156. 16 for the support of themilitary establishment, $5, 001, 682. 23 for miscellaneous objects, and$25, 371, 555. 96 for public works. This latter sum includes $19, 494, 037. 49for river and harbor improvements and $3, 947, 863. 56 for fortificationsand other works of defense. The appropriations for the current yearaggregate $52, 429, 112. 78, and the estimates submitted by the Secretaryof War for the next fiscal year call for appropriations amounting to$52, 318, 629. 55. 

The skill and industry of our ordnance officers and inventors have, itis believed, overcome the mechanical obstacles which have heretoforedelayed the armament of our coasts, and this great national undertakingupon which we have entered may now proceed as rapidly as Congress shalldetermine. With a supply of finished guns of large caliber alreadyon hand, to which additions should now rapidly follow, the wisdom ofproviding carriages and emplacements for their mount can not be toostrongly urged. 

The total enrollment of the militia of the several States is 117, 533officers and enlisted men, an increase of 5, 343 over the number reportedat the close of the previous year. The reports of militia inspections byRegular Army officers show a marked increase in interest and efficiencyamong the State organizations, and I strongly recommend a continuance ofthe policy of affording every practical encouragement possible to thisimportant auxiliary of our military establishment. 

The condition of the Apache Indians held as prisoners by the Governmentfor eight years at a cost of half a million dollars has been changedduring the year from captivity to one which gives them an opportunityto demonstrate their capacity for self-support and at least partialcivilization. Legislation enacted at the late session of Congress gavethe War Department authority to transfer the survivors, numbering 346, from Mount Vernon Barracks, in Alabama, to any suitable reservation. TheDepartment selected as their future home the military lands near FortSill, Ind. T. , where, under military surveillance, the former prisonershave been established in agriculture under conditions favorable to theiradvancement. 

In recognition of the long and distinguished military services andfaithful discharge of delicate and responsible civil duties byMajor-General John M. Schofield, now the General Commanding the Army, it is suggested to Congress that the temporary revival of the grade oflieutenant-general in his behalf would be a just and gracious act andwould permit his retirement, now near at hand, with rank befitting hismerits. 

The report of the Attorney-General notes the gratifying progress madeby the Supreme Court in overcoming the arrears of its business and inreaching a condition in which it will be able to dispose of cases asthey arise without any unreasonable delay. This result is of course verylargely due to the successful working of the plan inaugurating circuitcourts of appeals. In respect to these tribunals the suggestion is madein quarters entitled to the highest consideration that an additionalcircuit judge for each circuit would greatly strengthen these courts andthe confidence reposed in their adjudications, and that such an additionwould not create a greater force of judges than the increasing businessof such courts requires. I commend the suggestion to the carefulconsideration of the Congress. Other important topics are adverted toin the report, accompanied by recommendations, many of which have beentreated at large in previous messages, and at this time, therefore, needonly be named. I refer to the abolition of the fee system as a measureof compensation to Federal officers; the enlargement of the powers ofUnited States commissioners, at least in the Territories; the allowanceof writs of error in criminal cases on behalf of the United States, andthe establishment of degrees in the crime of murder. A topic dealtwith by the Attorney-General of much importance is the condition ofthe administration of justice in the Indian Territory. The permanentsolution of what is called the Indian problem is probably not to beexpected at once, but meanwhile such ameliorations of present conditionsas the existing system will admit of ought not to be neglected. I amsatisfied there should be a Federal court established for the Territory, with sufficient judges, and that this court should sit within theTerritory and have the same jurisdiction as to Territorial affairs asis now vested in the Federal courts sitting in Arkansas and Texas. 

Another subject of pressing moment referred to by the Attorney-Generalis the reorganization of the Union Pacific Railway Company on a basisequitable as regards all private interests and as favorable to theGovernment as existing conditions will permit. The operation of arailroad by a court through a receiver is an anomalous state of thingswhich should be terminated on all grounds, public and private, at theearliest possible moment. Besides, not to enact the needed enablinglegislation at the present session postpones the whole matter untilthe assembling of a new Congress and inevitably increases all thecomplications of the situation, and could not but be regarded as asignal failure to solve a problem which has practically been beforethe present Congress ever since its organization. 

Eight years ago in my annual message I urged upon the Congress asStrongly as I could the location and construction of two prisons for theconfinement of United States prisoners. [12] A similar recommendation hasbeen made from time to time since, and a few years ago a law was passedproviding for the selection of sites for three such institutions. Noappropriation has, however, been made to carry the act into effect, andthe old and discreditable condition still exists. 

It is not my purpose at this time to repeat the considerations whichmake an impregnable case in favor of the ownership and management by theGovernment of the penal institutions in which Federal prisoners areconfined. I simply desire to again urge former recommendations on thesubject and to particularly call the attention of the Congress to thatpart of the report of the Secretary of War in which he states that themilitary prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. , can be turned over to theGovernment as a prison for Federal convicts without the least difficultyand with an actual saving of money from every point of view. 

Pending a more complete reform, I hope that by the adoption of thesuggestion of the Secretary of War this easy step may be taken in thedirection of the proper care of its convicts by the Government of theUnited States. 

The report of the Postmaster-General presents a comprehensive statementof the operations of the Post-Office Department for the last fiscalyear. The receipts of the Department during the year amounted to$75, 080, 479. 04 and the expenditures to $84, 324, 414. 15. 

The transactions of the postal service indicate with barometriccertainty the fluctuations in the business of the country. Inasmuch, therefore, as business complications continued to exist throughoutthe last year to an unforeseen extent, it is not surprising that thedeficiency of revenue to meet the expenditures of the Post-OfficeDepartment, which was estimated in advance at about $8, 000, 000, shouldbe exceeded by nearly $1, 225, 000. The ascertained revenues of the lastyear, which were the basis of calculation for the current year, beingless than estimated, the deficiency for the current year will becorrespondingly greater, though the Postmaster-General states that thelatest indications are so favorable that he confidently predicts anincrease of at least 8 per cent in the revenues of the current year overthose of the last year. 

The expenditures increase steadily and necessarily with the growth andneeds of the country, so that the deficiency is greater or less in anyyear, depending upon the volume of receipts. 

The Postmaster-General states that this deficiency is unnecessary andmight be obviated at once if the law regulating rates upon mail matterof the second class was modified. The rate received for the transmissionof this second-class matter is 1 cent per pound, while the cost of suchtransmission to the Government is eight times that amount. In thegeneral terms of the law this rate covers newspapers and periodicals. The extensions of the meaning of these terms from time to time haveadmitted to the privileges intended for legitimate newspapers andperiodicals a surprising range of publications and created abuses thecost of which amounts in the aggregate to the total deficiency of thePost-Office Department. Pretended newspapers are started by businesshouses for the mere purpose of advertising goods, complying with the lawin form only and discontinuing the publications as soon as the period ofadvertising is over. "Sample copies" of pretended newspapers are issuedin great numbers for a like purpose only. The result is a great loss ofrevenue to the Government, besides its humiliating use as an agency toaid in carrying out the scheme of a business house to advertise itsgoods by means of a trick upon both its rival houses and the regularand legitimate newspapers. Paper-covered literature, consisting mainlyof trashy novels, to the extent of many thousands of tons is sentthrough the mails at 1 cent per pound, while the publishers of standardworks are required to pay eight times that amount in sending theirpublications. Another abuse consists in the free carriage through themails of hundreds of tons of seed and grain uselessly distributedthrough the Department of Agriculture. The Postmaster-General predictsthat if the law be so amended as to eradicate these abuses not only willthe Post-Office Department show no deficiency, but he believes that inthe near future all legitimate newspapers and periodical magazines mightbe properly transmitted through the mails to their subscribers free ofcost. I invite your prompt consideration of this subject and fullyindorse the views of the Postmaster-General. 

The total number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day ofJune, 1894, was 69, 805, an increase of 1, 403 over the preceding year. Ofthese, 3, 428 were Presidential, an increase in that class of 68 over thepreceding year. 

Six hundred and ten cities and towns are provided with free delivery. Ninety-three other cities and towns entitled to this service under thelaw have not been accorded it on account of insufficient funds. Theexpense of free delivery for the current fiscal year will be more than$12, 300, 000, and under existing legislation this item of expenditure issubject to constant increase. The estimated cost of rural free deliverygenerally is so very large that it ought not to be considered in thepresent condition of affairs. 

During the year 830 additional domestic money-order offices wereestablished. The total number of these offices at the close of the yearwas 19, 264. There were 14, 304, 041 money orders issued during the year, being an increase over the preceding year of 994, 306. The value of theseorders amounted to $138, 793, 579. 49, an increase of $11, 217, 145. 84. Therewere also issued during the year postal notes amounting to$12, 649, 094. 55. 

During the year 218 international money-order offices were added tothose already established, making a total of 2, 625 such offices inoperation June 30, 1894. The number of international money orders issuedduring the year was 917, 823, a decrease in number of 138, 176, and theirvalue was $13, 792, 455. 31, a decrease in amount of $2, 549, 382. 55. Thenumber of orders paid was 361, 180, an increase over the preceding yearof 60, 263, and their value was $6, 568, 493. 78, an increase of$1, 285, 118. 08. 

From the foregoing statements it appears that the total issue of moneyorders and postal notes for the year amounted to $165, 235, 129. 35. 

The number of letters and packages mailed during the year for specialdelivery was 3, 436, 970. The special-delivery stamps used upon theseletters and packages amounted to $343, 697. The messengers' fees paid fortheir delivery amounted to $261, 209. 70, leaving a balance in favor ofthe Government of $82, 487. 30. 

The report shows most gratifying results in the way of economies workedout without affecting the efficiency of the postal service. Theseconsist in the abrogation of steamship subsidy contracts, reletting ofmail transportation contracts, and in the cost and amount of suppliesused in the service, amounting in all to $16, 619, 047. 42. 

This report also contains a valuable contribution to the history of theUniversal Postal Union, an arrangement which amounts practically tothe establishment of one postal system for the entire civilized world. Special attention is directed to this subject at this time in view ofthe fact that the next congress of the union will meet in Washington in1897, and it is hoped that timely action will be taken in the directionof perfecting preparations for that event. 

The Postmaster-General renews the suggestion made in a previous reportthat the Department organization be increased to the extent of creatinga direct district supervision of all postal affairs, and in thissuggestion I fully concur. 

There are now connected with the Post-Office establishment 32, 661employees who are in the classified service. This includes many who havebeen classified upon the suggestion of the Postmaster-General. He statesthat another year's experience at the head of the Department serves onlyto strengthen the conviction as to the excellent working of thecivil-service law in this branch of the public service. 

Attention is called to the report of the Secretary of the Navy, whichshows very gratifying progress in the construction of ships for our newNavy. All the vessels now building, including the three torpedo boatsauthorized at the last session of Congress and excepting the first-classbattle ship _Iowa_, will probably be completed during the comingfiscal year. 

The estimates for the increase of the Navy for the year ending June 30, 1896, are large, but they include practically the entire sum necessaryto complete and equip all the new ships not now in commission, so thatunless new ships are authorized the appropriations for the naval servicefor the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, should fall below theestimates for the coming year by at least $12, 000, 000. 

The Secretary presents with much earnestness a plea for the authorizationof three additional battle ships and ten or twelve torpedo boats. Whilethe unarmored vessels heretofore authorized, including those now nearingcompletion, will constitute a fleet which it is believed is sufficientfor ordinary cruising purposes in time of peace, we have now completedand in process of construction but four first-class battle ships andbut few torpedo boats. If we are to have a navy for warlike operations, offensive and defensive, we certainly ought to increase both the numberof battle ships and torpedo boats. 

The manufacture of armor requires expensive plants and the aggregationof many skilled workmen. All the armor necessary to complete the vesselsnow building will be delivered before the 1st of June next. If no newcontracts are given out, contractors must disband their workmen andtheir plants must lie idle. Battle ships authorized at this time wouldnot be well under way until late in the coming fiscal year, and at leastthree years and a half from the date of the contract would be requiredfor their completion. The Secretary states that not more than 15 percent of the cost of such ships need be included in the appropriationsfor the coming year. 

I recommend that provision be made for the construction of additionalbattle ships and torpedo boats. 

The Secretary recommends the manufacture not only of a reserve supply ofordnance and ordnance material for ships of the Navy, but also a supplyfor the auxiliary fleet. Guns and their appurtenances should be providedand kept on hand for both these purposes. We have not to-day a singlegun that could be put upon the ships _Paris_ or _New York_ of theInternational Navigation Company or any other ship of our reserve Navy. 

The manufacture of guns at the Washington Navy-Yard is proceedingsatisfactorily, and none of our new ships will be required to wait fortheir guns or ordnance equipment. 

An important order has been issued by the Secretary of the Navycoordinating the duties of the several bureaus concerned in theconstruction of ships. This order, it is believed, will secure to agreater extent than has heretofore been possible the harmonious actionof these several bureaus and make the attainment of the best resultsmore certain. 

During the past fiscal year there has been an unusual and pressingdemand in many quarters of the world for the presence of vessels toguard American interests. 

In January last, during the Brazilian insurrection, a large fleet wasconcentrated in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. The vigorous action ofRear-Admiral Benham in protecting the personal and commercial rights ofour citizens during the disturbed conditions afforded results whichwill, it is believed, have a far-reaching and wholesome influencewhenever in like circumstances it may become necessary for our navalcommanders to interfere on behalf of our people in foreign ports. 

The war now in progress between China and Japan has rendered itnecessary or expedient to dispatch eight vessels to those waters. 

Both the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasuryrecommend the transfer of the work of the Coast Survey proper to theNavy Department. I heartily concur in this recommendation. ExcludingAlaska and a very small area besides, all the work of mapping andcharting our coasts has been completed. The hydrographic work, whichmust be done over and over again by reason of the shifting and varyingdepths of water consequent upon the action of streams and tides, has heretofore been done under the direction of naval officers insubordination to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. There seems tobe no good reason why the Navy should not have entire charge hereafterof such work, especially as the Hydrographic Office of the NavyDepartment is now and has been for many years engaged in makingefficient maps entirely similar to those prepared by the Coast Survey. 

I feel it my imperative duty to call attention to the recommendation ofthe Secretary in regard to the personnel of the line of the Navy. Thestagnation of promotion in this the vital branch of the service is sogreat as to seriously impair its efficiency. 

I consider it of the utmost importance that the young and middle-agedofficers should before the eve of retirement be permitted to reach agrade entitling them to active and important duty. 

The system adopted a few years ago regulating the employment of laborat the navy-yards is rigidly upheld and has fully demonstrated itsusefulness and expediency. It is within the domain of civil-servicereform inasmuch as workmen are employed through a board of laborselected at each navy-yard and are given work without reference topolitics and in the order of their application, preference, however, being given to Army and Navy veterans and those having former navy-yardexperience. 

Amendments suggested by experience have been made to the rulesregulating the system. Through its operation the work at our navy-yardshas been vastly improved in efficiency and the opportunity to work hasbeen honestly and fairly awarded to willing and competent applicants. 

It is hoped that if this system continues to be strictly adhered tothere will soon be as a natural consequence such an equalization ofparty benefit as will remove all temptation to relax or abandon it. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits the situation ofthe numerous and interesting branches of the public service connectedwith his Department. I commend this report and the valuablerecommendations of the Secretary to the careful attention of theCongress. 

The public land disposed of during the year amounted to 10, 406, 100. 77acres, including 28, 876. 05 of Indian lands. 

It is estimated that the public domain still remaining amounts toa little more than 600, 000, 000 acres, including, however, about360, 000, 000 acres in Alaska, as well as military reservations andrailroad and other selections of lands yet unadjudicated. 

The total cash receipts from sale of lands amounted to $2, 674, 285. 79, including $91, 981. 03 received for Indian lands. 

Thirty-five thousand patents were issued for agricultural lands, and3, 100 patents were issued to Indians on allotments of their holdingsin severalty, the land so allotted being inalienable by the Indianallottees for a period of twenty-five years after patent. 

There were certified and patented on account of railroad and wagon-roadgrants during the year 865, 556. 45 acres of land, and at the close of theyear 29, 000, 000 acres were embraced in the lists of selections made byrailroad and wagon-road companies and awaited settlement. 

The selections of swamp lands and that taken as indemnity therefor sincethe passage of the act providing for the same in 1849 amount to nearlyor quite 80, 500, 000 acres, of which 58, 000, 000 have been patented toStates. About 138, 000 acres were patented during the last year. Nearly820, 000 acres of school and education grants were approved during theyear, and at its close 1, 250, 363. 81 acres remained unadjusted. 

It appears that the appropriation for the current year on account ofspecial service for the protection of the public lands and the timberthereon is much less than those for previous years, and inadequate foran efficient performance of the work. A larger sum of money than hasbeen appropriated during a number of years past on this account has beenreturned to the Government as a result of the labors of those employedin the particular service mentioned, and I hope it will not be crippledby insufficient appropriation. 

I fully indorse the recommendation of the Secretary that adequateprotection be provided for our forest reserves and that a comprehensiveforestry system be inaugurated. Such keepers and superintendents as arenecessary to protect the forests already reserved should be provided. I am of the opinion that there should be an abandonment of the policysanctioned by present laws under which the Government, for a very smallconsideration, is rapidly losing title to immense tracts of land coveredwith timber, which should be properly reserved as permanent sources oftimber supply. 

The suggestion that a change be made in the manner of securing surveysof the public lands is especially worthy of consideration. I amsatisfied that these surveys should be made by a corps of competentsurveyors under the immediate control and direction of the Commissionerof the General Land Office. 

An exceedingly important recommendation of the Secretary relates to themanner in which contests and litigated cases growing out of efforts toobtain Government land are determined. The entire testimony upon whichthese controversies depend in all their stages is taken before thelocal registers and receivers, and yet these officers have no powerto subpoena witnesses or to enforce their attendance to testify. Thesecases, numbering three or four thousand annually, are sent by the localofficers to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for his action. The exigencies of his other duties oblige him to act upon the decisionsof the registers and receivers without an opportunity of thoroughpersonal examination. Nearly 2, 000 of these cases are appealed annuallyfrom the Commissioner to the Secretary of the Interior. Burdened withother important administrative duties, his determination of theseappeals must be almost perfunctory and based upon the examination ofothers, though this determination of the Secretary operates as a finaladjudication upon rights of very great importance. 

I concur in the opinion that the Commissioner of the General Land Officeshould be relieved from the duty of deciding litigated land cases, thata nonpartisan court should be created to pass on such cases, and thatthe decisions of this court should be final, at least so far as thedecisions of the Department are now final. The proposed court might begiven authority to certify questions of law in matters of especialimportance to the Supreme Court of the United States or the court ofappeals for the District of Columbia for decision. The creation of sucha tribunal would expedite the disposal of cases and insure decisions ofa more satisfactory character. The registers and receivers whooriginally hear and decide these disputes should be invested withauthority to compel witnesses to attend and testify before them. 

Though the condition of the Indians shows a steady and healthy progress, their situation is not satisfactory at all points. Some of them to whomallotments of land have been made are found to be unable or disinclinedto follow agricultural pursuits or to otherwise beneficially managetheir land. This is especially true of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, who, as it appears by reports of their agent, have in many instances neverbeen located upon their allotments, and in some cases do not even knowwhere their allotments are. Their condition has deteriorated. They arenot self-supporting and they live in camps and spend their time inidleness. 

I have always believed that allotments of reservation lands to Indiansin severalty should be made sparingly, or at least slowly, and withthe utmost caution. In these days, when white agriculturists and stockraisers of experience and intelligence find their lot a hard one, weought not to expect Indians, unless far advanced in civilization andhabits of industry, to support themselves on the small tracts of landusually allotted to them. 

If the self-supporting scheme by allotment fails, the wretched pauperismof the allottees which results is worse than their original conditionof regulated dependence. It is evident that the evil consequences ofill-advised allotment are intensified in cases where the false stepcan not be retraced on account of the purchase by the Governmentof reservation lands remaining after allotments are made and thedisposition of such remaining lands to settlers or purchasers fromthe Government. 

I am convinced that the proper solution of the Indian problem and thesuccess of every step taken in that direction depend to a very largeextent upon the intelligence and honesty of the reservation agents andthe interest they have in their work. An agent fitted for his place cando much toward preparing the Indians under his charge for citizenshipand allotment of their lands, and his advice as to any matter concerningtheir welfare will not mislead. An unfit agent will make no effortto advance the Indians on his reservation toward civilization orpreparation for allotment of lands in severalty, and his opinion as totheir condition in this and other regards is heedless and valueless. 

The indications are that the detail of army officers as Indian agentswill result in improved management on the reservations. 

Whenever allotments are made and any Indian on the reservation haspreviously settled upon a lot and cultivated it or shown a dispositionto improve it in any way, such lot should certainly be allotted to him, and this should be made plainly obligatory by statute. 

In the light of experience and considering the uncertainty of the Indiansituation and its exigencies in the future, I am not only disposed tobe very cautious in making allotments, but I incline to agree with theSecretary of the Interior in the opinion that when allotments are madethe balance of reservation land remaining after allotment, instead ofbeing bought by the Government from the Indians and opened forsettlement with such scandals and unfair practices as seem unavoidable, should remain for a time at least as common land or be sold by theGovernment on behalf of the Indians in an orderly way and at fixedprices, to be determined by its location and desirability, and that theproceeds, less expenses, should be held in trust for the benefit of theIndian proprietors. 

The intelligent Indian-school management of the past year has beenfollowed by gratifying results. Efforts have been made to advance thework in a sound and practical manner. Five institutes of Indian teachershave been held during the year, and have proved very beneficial throughthe views exchanged and methods discussed particularly applicable toIndian education. 

Efforts are being made in the direction of a gradual reduction of thenumber of Indian contract schools, so that in a comparatively short timethey may give way altogether to Government schools, and it is hopedthat the change may be so gradual as to be perfected without too greatexpense to the Government or undue disregard of investments made bythose who have established and are maintaining such contract schools. 

The appropriation for the current year, ending June 30, 1895, applicableto the ordinary expenses of the Indian service amounts to $6, 733, 003. 18, being less by $663, 240. 64 than the sum appropriated on the same accountfor the previous year. 

At the close of the last fiscal year, on the 30th day of June, 1894, there were 969, 544 persons on our pension rolls, being a net increaseof 3, 532 over the number reported at the end of the previous year. 

These pensioners may be classified as follows: Soldiers and sailorssurvivors of all wars, 753, 968; widows and relatives of deceasedsoldiers, 215, 162; army nurses in the War of the Rebellion, 414. Ofthese pensioners 32, 039 are surviving soldiers of Indian and otherwars prior to the late Civil War and the widows or relatives of suchsoldiers. 

The remainder, numbering 937, 505, are receiving pensions on account ofthe rebellion, and of these 469, 344 are on the rolls under the authorityof the act of June 27, 1890, sometimes called the dependent-pension law. 

The total amount expended for pensions during the year was$139, 804, 461. 05, leaving an unexpended balance from the sum appropriatedof $25, 205, 712. 65. 

The sum necessary to meet pension expenditures for the year ending June30, 1896, is estimated at $140, 000, 000. 

The Commissioner of Pensions is of the opinion that the year 1895, being the thirtieth after the close of the War of the Rebellion, must, according to all sensible human calculation, see the highest limit ofthe pension roll, and that after that year it must begin to decline. 

The claims pending in the Bureau have decreased more than 90, 000 duringthe year. A large proportion of the new claims filed are for increase ofpension by those now on the rolls. 

The number of certificates issued was 80, 213. 

The names dropped from the rolls for all causes during the year numbered37, 951. 

Among our pensioners are 9 widows and 3 daughters of soldiers of theRevolution and 45 survivors of the War of 1812. 

The barefaced and extensive pension frauds exposed under the directionof the courageous and generous veteran soldier now at the head of theBureau leave no room for the claim that no purgation of our pensionrolls was needed or that continued vigilance and prompt action are notnecessary to the same end. 

The accusation that an effort to detect pension frauds is evidence ofunfriendliness toward our worthy veterans and a denial of their claimsto the generosity of the Government suggests an unfortunate indifferenceto the commission of any offense which has for its motive the securingof a pension and indicates a willingness to be blind to the existenceof mean and treacherous crimes which play upon demagogic fears and makesport of the patriotic impulse of a grateful people. 

The completion of the Eleventh Census is now in charge of theCommissioner of Labor. The total disbursements on account of the workfor the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, amounted to $10, 365, 676. 81. At the close of the year the number of persons employed in the CensusOffice was 679; at present there are about 400. The whole number ofvolumes necessary to comprehend the Eleventh Census will be 25, and theywill contain 22, 270 printed pages. The assurance is confidently madethat before the close of the present calendar year the material stillincomplete will be practically in hand, and the census can certainly beclosed by the 4th of March, 1895. After that the revision and proofreading necessary to bring out the volumes will still be required. 

The text of the census volumes has been limited as far as possible tothe analysis of the statistics presented. This method, which is inaccordance with law, has caused more or less friction and in someinstances individual disappointment, for when the Commissioner of Labortook charge of the work he found much matter on hand which accordingto this rule he was compelled to discard. The census is being preparedaccording to the theory that it is designed to collect facts and certifythem to the public, not to elaborate arguments or to present personalviews. 

The Secretary of Agriculture in his report reviews the operations of hisDepartment for the last fiscal year and makes recommendations for thefurther extension of its usefulness. He reports a saving in expendituresduring the year of $600, 000, which is covered back into the Treasury. This sum is 23 per cent of the entire appropriation. 

A special study has been made of the demand for American farm productsin all foreign markets, especially Great Britain. That country receivedfrom the United States during the nine months ending September 30, 1894, 305, 910 live beef cattle, valued at $26, 500, 000, as against 182, 611cattle, valued at $16, 634, 000, during the same period for 1893. 

During the first six months of 1894 the United Kingdom took also112, 000, 000 pounds of dressed beef from the United States, valued atnearly $10, 000, 000. 

The report shows that during the nine months immediately precedingSeptember 30, 1894, the United States exported to Great Britain222, 676, 000 pounds of pork; of apples, 1, 900, 000 bushels, valued at$2, 500, 000, and of horses 2, 811, at an average value of $139 per head. There was a falling off in American wheat exports of 13, 500, 000 bushels, and the Secretary is inclined to believe that wheat may not in thefuture be the staple export cereal product of our country, but that cornwill continue to advance in importance as an export on account of thenew uses to which it is constantly being appropriated. 

The exports of agricultural products from the United States for thefiscal year ending June 30, 1894, amounted to $628, 363, 038, being 72. 28per cent of American exports of every description, and the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain took more than 54 per cent of all farm productsfinding foreign markets. 

The Department of Agriculture has undertaken during the year two newand important lines of research. The first relates to grasses and forageplants, with the purpose of instructing and familiarizing the people asto the distinctive grasses of the United States and teaching them how tointroduce valuable foreign forage plants which may be adapted to thiscountry. The second relates to agricultural soils and crop production, involving the analyses of samples of soils from all sections of theAmerican Union, to demonstrate their adaptability to particular plantsand crops. Mechanical analyses of soils may be of such inestimableutility that it is foremost in the new lines of agricultural research, and the Secretary therefore recommends that a division having it incharge be permanently established in the Department. 

The amount appropriated for the Weather Bureau was $951, 100. Of that sum$138, 500, or 14 per cent, has been saved and is returned to the Treasury. 

As illustrating the usefulness of this service it may be here statedthat the warnings which were very generally given of two tropical stormsoccurring in September and October of the present year resulted indetaining safely in port 2, 305 vessels, valued at $36, 283, 913, ladenwith cargoes of probably still greater value. What is much moreimportant and gratifying, many human lives on these ships were alsoundoubtedly saved. 

The appropriation to the Bureau of Animal Industry was $850, 000, and theexpenditures for the year were only $495, 429. 24, thus leaving unexpended$354, 570. 76. The inspection of beef animals for export and interstatetrade has been continued, and 12, 944, 056 head were inspected during theyear, at a cost of 1-3/4 cents per head, against 4-3/4 cents for 1893. The amount of pork microscopically examined was 35, 437, 937 pounds, against 20, 677, 410 pounds in the preceding year. The cost of thisinspection has been diminished from 8-3/4 cents per head in 1893 to6-1/2 cents in 1894. 

The expense of inspecting the pork sold in 1894 to Germany and France bythe United States was $88, 922. 10. The quantity inspected was greater by15, 000, 000 pounds than during the preceding year, when the cost of suchinspection was $172, 367. 08. The Secretary of Agriculture recommendsthat the law providing for the microscopic inspection of export andinterstate meat be so amended as to compel owners of the meat inspectedto pay the cost of such inspection, and I call attention to thearguments presented in his report in support of this recommendation. 

The live beef cattle exported and tagged during the year numbered353, 535. This is an increase of 69, 533 head over the previous year. 

The sanitary inspection of cattle shipped to Europe has cost an averageof 10-3/4 cents for each animal, and the cost of inspecting Southerncattle and the disinfection of cars and stock yards averages 2. 7 centsper animal. 

The scientific inquiries of the Bureau of Animal Industry haveprogressed steadily during the year. Much tuberculin and mallein havebeen furnished to State authorities for use in the agricultural collegesand experiment stations for the treatment of tuberculosis and glanders. 

Quite recently this Department has published the results of itsinvestigations of bovine tuberculosis, and its researches will bevigorously continued. Certain herds in the District of Columbia will bethoroughly inspected and will probably supply adequate scope for theDepartment to intelligently prosecute its scientific work and furnishsufficient material for purposes of illustration, description, anddefinition. 

The sterilization of milk suspected of containing the bacilli oftuberculosis has been during the year very thoroughly explained in aleaflet by Dr. D. E. Salmon, the Chief of the Bureau, and given generalcirculation throughout the country. 

The Office of Experiment Stations, which is a part of the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, has during the past year engaged itselfalmost wholly in preparing for publication works based upon the reportsof agricultural experiment stations and other institutions foragricultural inquiry in the United States and foreign countries. 

The Secretary in his report for 1893 called attention to the fact thatthe appropriations made for the support of the experiment stationsthroughout the Union were the only moneys taken out of the NationalTreasury by act of Congress for which no accounting to Federalauthorities was required. Responding to this suggestion, the Fifty-thirdCongress, in making the appropriation for the Department for the presentfiscal year, provided that--

 The Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe the form of annual financial statement required by section 3 of said act of March 2, 1887; shall ascertain whether the expenditures under the appropriation hereby made are in accordance with the provisions of said act, and shall make report thereon to Congress. 

In obedience to this law the Department of Agriculture immediately sentout blank forms of expense accounts to each station, and proposes inaddition to make, through trusted experts, systematic examination ofthe several stations during each year for the purpose of acquiring bypersonal investigation the detailed information necessary to enablethe Secretary of Agriculture to make, as the statute provides, asatisfactory report to Congress. The boards of management of theseveral stations with great alacrity and cordiality have approved theamendment to the law providing this supervision of their expenditures, anticipating that it will increase the efficiency of the stations andprotect their directors and managers from loose charges concerning theiruse of public funds, besides bringing the Department of Agriculture intocloser and more confidential relations with the experimental stations, and through their joint service largely increasing their usefulness tothe agriculture of the country. 

Acting upon a recommendation contained in the report of 1893, Congressappropriated $10, 000 "to enable the Secretary of Agriculture toinvestigate and report upon the nutritive value of the various articlesand commodities used for human food, with special suggestions of full, wholesome, and edible rations less wasteful and more economical thanthose in common use. "

Under this appropriation the Department has prepared and now has nearlyready for distribution an elementary discussion of the nutritive valueand pecuniary economy of food. When we consider that fully one-half ofall the money earned by the wage earners of the civilized world isexpended by them for food, the importance and utility of such aninvestigation is apparent. 

The Department expended in the fiscal year 1893 $2, 354, 809. 56, andout of that sum the total amount expended in scientific research was45. 6 per cent. But in the year ending June 30, 1894, out of a totalexpenditure of $1, 948, 988. 38, the Department applied 51. 8 per cent ofthat sum to scientific work and investigation. It is therefore veryplainly observable that the economies which have been practiced inthe administration of the Department have not been at the expense ofscientific research. 

The recommendation contained in the report of the Secretary for 1893that the vicious system of promiscuous free distribution of itsdepartmental documents be abandoned is again urged. These publicationsmay well be furnished without cost to public libraries, educationalinstitutions, and the officers and libraries of States and of theFederal Government; but from all individuals applying for them a pricecovering the cost of the document asked for should be required. Thus thepublications and documents would be secured by those who really desirethem for proper purposes. Half a million of copies of the report of theSecretary of Agriculture are printed for distribution, at an annual costof about $300, 000. Large numbers of them are cumbering storerooms at theCapitol and the shelves of secondhand-book stores throughout thecountry. All this labor and waste might be avoided if therecommendations of the Secretary were adopted. 

The Secretary also again recommends that the gratuitous distribution ofseeds cease and that no money be appropriated for that purpose except toexperiment stations. He reiterates the reasons given in his report for1893 for discontinuing this unjustifiable gratuity, and I fully concurin the conclusions which he has reached. 

The best service of the statistician of the Department of Agricultureis the ascertainment, by diligence and care, of the actual and realconditions, favorable or unfavorable, of the farmers and farms of thecountry, and to seek the causes which produce these conditions, to theend that the facts ascertained may guide their intelligent treatment. 

A further important utility in agricultural statistics is found in theirelucidation of the relation of the supply of farm products to the demandfor them in the markets of the United States and of the world. 

It is deemed possible that an agricultural census may be taken each yearthrough the agents of the statistical division of the Department. Such acourse is commended for trial by the chief of that division. Its scopewould be:

(1) The area under each of the more important crops. (2) The aggregateproducts of each of such crops. (3) The quantity of wheat and corn inthe hands of farmers at a date after the spring sowings and plantingsand before the beginning of harvest, and also the quantity of cotton andtobacco remaining in the hands of planters, either at the same date orat some other designated time. 

The cost of the work is estimated at $500, 000. 

Owing to the peculiar quality of the statistician's work and the naturaland acquired fitness necessary to its successful prosecution, theSecretary of Agriculture expresses the opinion that every personemployed in gathering statistics under the chief of that division shouldbe admitted to that service only after a thorough, exhaustive, andsuccessful examination at the hands of the United States Civil ServiceCommission. This has led him to call for such examination of candidatesfor the position of assistant statisticians, and also of candidates forchiefs of sections in that division. 

The work done by the Department of Agriculture is very superficiallydealt with in this communication, and I commend the report of theSecretary and the very important interests with which it deals to thecareful attention of the Congress. 

The advantages to the public service of an adherence to the principlesof civil-service reform are constantly more apparent, and nothingis so encouraging to those in official life who honestly desire goodgovernment as the increasing appreciation by our people of theseadvantages. A vast majority of the voters of the land are ready toinsist that the time and attention of those they select to perform forthem important public duties should not be distracted by doling outminor offices, and they are growing to be unanimous in regarding partyorganization as something that should be used in establishing partyprinciples instead of dictating the distribution of public places asrewards of partisan activity. 

Numerous additional offices and places have lately been brought withincivil-service rules and regulations, and some others will probably soonbe included. 

The report of the Commissioners will be submitted to the Congress, andI invite careful attention to the recommendations it contains. 

I am entirely convinced that we ought not to be longer without anational board of health or national health officer charged with noother duties than such as pertain to the protection of our countryfrom the invasion of pestilence and disease. This would involve theestablishment by such board or officer of proper quarantine precautions, or the necessary aid and counsel to local authorities on the subject;prompt advice and assistance to local boards of health or healthofficers in the suppression of contagious disease, and in cases wherethere are no such local boards or officers the immediate direction bythe national board or officer of measures of suppression; constant andauthentic information concerning the health of foreign countries andall parts of our own country as related to contagious diseases, andconsideration of regulations to be enforced in foreign ports to preventthe introduction of contagion into our cities and the measures whichshould be adopted to secure their enforcement. 

There seems to be at this time a decided inclination to discuss measuresof protection against contagious diseases in international conference, with a view of adopting means of mutual assistance. The creation of sucha national health establishment would greatly aid our standing in suchconferences and improve our opportunities to avail ourselves of theirbenefits. 

I earnestly recommend the inauguration of a national board of healthor similar national instrumentality, believing the same to be a neededprecaution against contagious disease and in the interest of the safetyand health of our people. 

By virtue of a statute of the United States passed in 1888 I appointedin July last Hon. John D. Kernan, of the State of New York, and Hon. Nicholas E. Worthington, of the State of Illinois, to form, with Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, who was designated by saidstatute, a commission for the purpose of making careful inquiry intothe causes of the controversies between certain railroads and theiremployees which had resulted in an extensive and destructive strike, accompanied by much violence and dangerous disturbance, withconsiderable loss of life and great destruction of property. 

The report of the commissioners has been submitted to me and will betransmitted to the Congress with the evidence taken upon theirinvestigation. 

Their work has been well done, and their standing and intelligence giveassurance that the report and suggestions they make are worthy ofcareful consideration. 

The tariff act passed at the last session of the Congress needsimportant amendments if it is to be executed effectively and withcertainty. In addition to such necessary amendments as will not changerates of duty, I am still very decidedly in favor of putting coal andiron upon the free list. 

So far as the sugar schedule is concerned, I would be glad, underexisting aggravations, to see every particle of differential duty infavor of refined sugar stricken out of our tariff law. If with all thefavor now accorded the sugar-refining interest in our tariff laws itstill languishes to the extent of closed refineries and thousands ofdischarged workmen, it would seem to present a hopeless case forreasonable legislative aid. Whatever else is done or omitted, Iearnestly repeat here the recommendation I have made in another portionof this communication, that the additional duty of one-tenth of a centper pound laid upon sugar imported from countries paying a bounty on itsexport be abrogated. It seems to me that exceedingly importantconsiderations point to the propriety of this amendment. 

With the advent of a new tariff policy not only calculated to relievethe consumers of our land in the cost of their daily life, but to invitea better development of American thrift and create for us closer andmore profitable commercial relations with the rest of the world, itfollows as a logical and imperative necessity that we should at onceremove the chief if not the only obstacle which has so long preventedour participation in the foreign carrying trade of the sea. A tariffbuilt upon the theory that it is well to check imports and that a homemarket should bound the industry and effort of American producers wasfitly supplemented by a refusal to allow American registry to vesselsbuilt abroad, though owned and navigated by our people, thus exhibitinga willingness to abandon all contest for the advantages of Americantransoceanic carriage. Our new tariff policy, built upon the theory thatit is well to encourage such importations as our people need, and thatour products and manufactures should find markets in every part of thehabitable globe, is consistently supplemented by the greatest possibleliberty to our citizens in the ownership and navigation of ships inwhich our products and manufactures may be transported. The millions nowpaid to foreigners for carrying American passengers and products acrossthe sea should be turned into American hands. Shipbuilding, which hasbeen protected to strangulation, should be revived by the prospect ofprofitable employment for ships when built, and the American sailorshould be resurrected and again take his place--a sturdy and industriouscitizen in time of peace and a patriotic and safe defender of Americaninterests in the day of conflict. 

The ancient provision of our law denying American registry to shipsbuilt abroad and owned by Americans appears in the light of presentconditions not only to be a failure for good at every point, but tobe nearer a relic of barbarism than anything that exists under thepermission of a statute of the United States. I earnestly recommendits prompt repeal. 

During the last month the gold reserved in the Treasury for the purposeof redeeming the notes of the Government circulating as money in thehands of the people became so reduced and its further depletion in thenear future seemed so certain that in the exercise of proper care forthe public welfare it became necessary to replenish this reserve andthus maintain popular faith in the ability and determination of theGovernment to meet as agreed its pecuniary obligations. 

It would have been well if in this emergency authority had existed toissue the bonds of the Government bearing a low rate of interest andmaturing within a short period; but the Congress having failed to confersuch authority, resort was necessarily had to the resumption act of1875, and pursuant to its provisions bonds were issued drawing interestat the rate of 5 per cent per annum and maturing ten years after theirissue, that being the shortest time authorized by the act. I am gladto say, however, that on the sale of these bonds the premium receivedoperated to reduce the rate of interest to be paid by the Governmentto less than 3 per cent. 

Nothing could be worse or further removed from sensible finance than therelations existing between the currency the Government has issued, thegold held for its redemption, and the means which must be resorted tofor the purpose of replenishing such redemption fund when impaired. Evenif the claims upon this fund were confined to the obligations originallyintended and if the redemption of these obligations meant theircancellation, the fund would be very small. But these obligations whenreceived and redeemed in gold are not canceled, but are reissued and maydo duty many times by way of drawing gold from the Treasury. Thus wehave an endless chain in operation constantly depleting the Treasury'sgold and never near a final rest. As if this was not bad enough, wehave, by a statutory declaration that it is the policy of the Governmentto maintain the parity between gold and silver, aided the force andmomentum of this exhausting process and added largely to the currencyobligations claiming this peculiar gold redemption. Our small goldreserve is thus subject to drain from every side. The demands thatincrease our danger also increase the necessity of protecting thisreserve against depletion, and it is most unsatisfactory to know thatthe protection afforded is only a temporary palliation. 

It is perfectly and palpably plain that the only way under presentconditions by which this reserve when dangerously depleted can bereplenished is through the issue and sale of the bonds of the Governmentfor gold, and yet Congress has not only thus far declined to authorizethe issue of bonds best suited to such a purpose, but there seems adisposition in some quarters to deny both the necessity and power forthe issue of bonds at all. 

I can not for a moment believe that any of our citizens aredeliberately willing that their Government should default in itspecuniary obligations or that its financial operations should be reducedto a silver basis. At any rate, I should not feel that my duty was doneif I omitted any effort I could make to avert such a calamity. As long, therefore, as no provision is made for the final redemption or theputting aside of the currency obligation now used to repeatedly andconstantly draw from the Government its gold, and as long as no betterauthority for bond issues is allowed than at present exists, suchauthority will be utilized whenever and as often as it becomes necessaryto maintain a sufficient gold reserve, and in abundant time to save thecredit of our country and make good the financial declarations of ourGovernment. 

Questions relating to our banks and currency are closely connected withthe subject just referred to, and they also present some unsatisfactoryfeatures. Prominent among them are the lack of elasticity in ourcurrency circulation and its frequent concentration in financial centerswhen it is most needed in other parts of the country. 

The absolute divorcement of the Government from the business of bankingis the ideal relationship of the Government to the circulation of thecurrency of the country. 

This condition can not be immediately reached, but as a step in thatdirection and as a means of securing a more elastic currency andobviating other objections to the present arrangement of bankcirculation the Secretary of the Treasury presents in his report ascheme modifying present banking laws and providing for the issue ofcirculating notes by State banks free from taxation under certainlimitations. 

The Secretary explains his plan so plainly and its advantages aredeveloped by him with such remarkable clearness that any effort on mypart to present argument in its support would be superfluous. I shalltherefore content myself with an unqualified indorsement of theSecretary's proposed changes in the law and a brief and imperfectstatement of their prominent features. 

It is proposed to repeal all laws providing for the deposit of UnitedStates bonds as security for circulation; to permit national banks toissue circulating notes not exceeding in amount 75 per cent of theirpaid-up and unimpaired capital, provided they deposit with theGovernment as a guaranty fund, in United States legal-tender notes, including Treasury notes of 1890, a sum equal in amount to 30 per centof the notes they desire to issue, this deposit to be maintained atall times, but whenever any bank retires any part of its circulationa proportional part of its guaranty fund shall be returned to it;to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and keep on handready for issue in case an increase in circulation is desired blanknational-bank notes for each bank having circulation and to repeal theprovisions of the present law imposing limitations and restrictions uponbanks desiring to reduce or increase their circulation, thus permittingsuch increase or reduction within the limit of 75 per cent of capitalto be quickly made as emergencies arise. 

In addition to the guaranty fund required, it is proposed to provide asafety fund for the immediate redemption of the circulating notes offailed banks by imposing a small annual tax, say one-half of 1 per cent, upon the average circulation of each bank until the fund amounts to 5per cent of the total circulation outstanding. When a bank fails itsguaranty fund is to be paid into this safety fund and its notes are tobe redeemed in the first instance from such safety fund thus augmented, any impairment of such fund caused thereby to be made good from theimmediately available cash assets of said bank, and if these shouldbe insufficient such impairment to be made good by _pro rata_assessment among the other banks, their contributions constitutinga first lien upon the assets of the failed bank in favor of thecontributing banks. As a further security it is contemplated that theexisting provision fixing the individual liability of stockholders is tobe retained and the bank's indebtedness on account of its circulatingnotes is to be made a first lien on all its assets. 

For the purpose of meeting the expense of printing notes, officialsupervision, cancellation, and other like charges there shall be imposeda tax of say one-half of 1 per cent per annum upon the average amount ofnotes in circulation. 

It is further provided that there shall be no national-bank notes issuedof a less denomination than $10; that each national bank, except in caseof a failed bank, shall redeem or retire its notes in the first instanceat its own office or at agencies to be designated by it, and that nofixed reserve need be maintained on account of deposits. 

Another very important feature of this plan is the exemption of Statebanks from taxation by the United States in cases where it is shown tothe satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury and Comptroller ofthe Currency by banks claiming such exemption that they have not hadoutstanding their circulating notes exceeding 75 per cent of theirpaid-up and unimpaired capital; that their stockholders are individuallyliable for the redemption of their circulating notes to the full extentof their ownership of stock; that the liability of said banks upon theircirculating notes constitutes under their State law a first lien upontheir assets; that such banks have kept and maintained a guaranty fundin United States legal-tender notes, including Treasury notes of 1890, equal to 30 per cent of their outstanding circulating notes, and thatsuch banks have promptly redeemed their circulating notes when presentedat their principal or branch offices. 

It is quite likely that this scheme may be usefully amended in some ofits details, but I am satisfied it furnishes a basis for a very greatimprovement in our present banking and currency system. 

I conclude this communication fully appreciating that the responsibilityfor all legislation affecting the people of the United States rests upontheir representatives in the Congress, and assuring them that, whetherin accordance with recommendations I have made or not, I shall be gladto cooperate in perfecting any legislation that tends to the prosperityand welfare of our country. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 9: See pp. 440-441. ]

[Footnote 10: See p. 439. ]

[Footnote 11: See p. 477. ]

[Footnote 12: See Vol. VIII, pp. 517-518. ]

SPECIAL MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 6, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th of July, 1894, directing the Secretary of State to furnish copies of all papers, correspondence, diplomatic or otherwise, on file in the State Departmentin connection with the arrest and imprisonment at Arequipa, Peru, ofVictor H. McCord, I transmit herewith the correspondence indicated. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 10, 1894_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, inclosing the report, with accompanying papers, of the commission of theUnited States for the Columbian Historical Exposition in Madrid in 1892and 1893, constituted in virtue of the act of Congress approved May 13, 1892. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 10, 1894_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the report on the Chicago strike of June and July, 1894, forwarded to me by the Strike Commission appointed July 26, 1894, under the provisions of section 6 of chapter 1063 of the laws of theUnited States, passed October 1, 1888. 

The testimony taken by the commission and the suggestions andrecommendations made to it accompany the report in the form ofappendixes. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 11, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate dated December 6, 1894, requesting that copies of correspondence in regard to the claim ofAntonio Maximo Mora against the Government of Spain exchanged since mylast message to the Senate on the same subject, dated June 20, 1894, [13]be communicated to it, if not incompatible with the public interests, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State on the matter, with accompanying copies of correspondence. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 13: See p. 478. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 11, 1894_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received a copy of the following resolution of the Senate, passedon 3d instant:

 _Resolved_, That the President be requested, if in his judgment it be not incompatible with the public interest, to communicate to the Senate any information he may have received in regard to alleged cruelties committed upon Armenians in Turkey, and especially whether any such cruelties have been committed upon citizens who have declared their intention to become naturalized in this country or upon persons because of their being Christians. 

 And further, to inform the Senate whether any expostulations have been addressed by this Government to the Government of Turkey in regard to such matters or any proposals made by or to this Government to act in concert with other Christian powers regarding the same. 

In response to said resolution I beg leave to inform the Senate thatI have no information concerning cruelties committed upon Armenians inTurkey or upon persons because of their being Christians, except suchinformation as has been derived from newspapers and statements emanatingfrom the Turkish Government denying such cruelties and two telegraphicreports from our minister at Constantinople. 

One of these reports, dated November 28, 1894, is in answer to aninquiry by the State Department touching reports in the press allegingthe killing of Armenians, and is as follows:

 Reports in American papers of Turkish atrocities at Sassoun are sensational and exaggerated. The killing was in a conflict between armed Armenians and Turkish soldiers. The grand vizier says it was necessary to suppress insurrection, and that about fifty Turks were killed; between three and four hundred Armenian guns were picked up after the fight, and reports that about that number of Armenians were killed. I give credit to his statement. 

The other dispatch referred to is dated December 2, 1894, and is asfollows:

 Information from British ambassador indicates far more loss of lives in Armenia, attended with atrocities, than stated in my telegram of 28th. 

I have received absolutely no information concerning any crueltiescommitted "upon citizens who have declared their intention to becomenaturalized in this country, " or upon any persons who had a right toclaim or have claimed for any reason the protection of the United StatesGovernment. 

In the absence of such authentic detailed knowledge on the subject aswould justify our interference no "expostulations have been addressed bythis Government to the Government of Turkey in regard to such matters. "

The last inquiry contained in the resolution of the Senate touchingthese alleged cruelties seeks information concerning "any proposals madeby or to this Government to act in concert with other Christian powersregarding the same. "

The first proposal of the kind referred to was made by the TurkishGovernment through our minister on the 30th day of November, when theSultan then expressed a desire that a consul of the United States besent with a Turkish commission to investigate these alleged atrocitieson Armenians. This was construed as an invitation on the part of theTurkish Government to actually take part with a Turkish commission in aninvestigation of these affairs and any report to be made thereon, andthe proposition came before our minister's second dispatch was receivedand at a time when the best information in the possession of ourGovernment was derived from his first report, indicating that thestatements made in the press were sensational and exaggerated and thatthe atrocities alleged really did not exist. This condition very muchweakened any motive for an interference based on considerations ofhumanity, and permitted us without embarrassment to pursue a courseplainly marked out by other controlling incidents. 

By a treaty entered into at Berlin in the year 1878 between Turkey andvarious other governments Turkey undertook to guarantee protection tothe Armenians, and agreed that it would "periodically make known thesteps taken to this effect to the powers, who will superintend theirapplication. "

Our Government was not a party to this treaty, and it is entirelyobvious that in the face of the provisions of such treaty above recitedour interference in the proposed investigation, especially without theinvitation of any of the powers which had assumed by treaty obligationsto secure the protection of these Armenians, might have been exceedinglyembarrassing, if not entirely beyond the limits of justification orpropriety. 

The Turkish invitation to join the investigation set on foot by thatGovernment was therefore, on the 2d day of December, declined. On thesame day, and after this declination had been sent, our minister atConstantinople forwarded his second dispatch, tending to modify hisformer report as to the extent and character of Armenian slaughter. At the same time the request of the Sultan for our participation in theinvestigation was repeated, and Great Britain, one of the powers whichjoined in the treaty of Berlin, made a like request. 

In view of changed conditions and upon reconsideration of the subjectit was determined to send Mr. Jewett, our consul at Sivas, to the sceneof the alleged outrages, not for the purpose of joining with any othergovernment in an investigation and report, but to the end that he mightbe able to inform this Government as to the exact truth. 

Instructions to this effect were sent to Mr. Jewett, and it is supposedhe has already entered upon the duty assigned him. 

I submit with this communication copies of all correspondence anddispatches in the State Department on this subject and the report to meof the Secretary of State thereon. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 3, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 4th ultimo, requesting "any reports or correspondence relating to affairs atBluefields, in the Mosquito territory, " and also information as to"whether any American citizens have been arrested or the rights of anyAmerican citizens at Bluefields have been interfered with during thepast two years by the Government of Nicaragua, " I transmit herewith areport from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1895_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I submit herewith certain dispatches from our minister at Hawaii and thedocuments which accompanied the same. 

They disclose the fact that the Hawaiian Government desires to leaseto Great Britain one of the uninhabited islands belonging to Hawaii asa station for a submarine telegraph cable to be laid from Canada toAustralia, with a connection between the island leased and Honolulu. 

Both the Hawaiian Government and the representatives of Great Britainin this negotiation concede that the proposed lease can not be effectedwithout the consent of the United States, for the reason that in ourreciprocity treaty with the King of Hawaii he agreed that as long assaid treaty remained in force he would not "lease or otherwise disposeof or create any lien upon any port, harbor, or other territory in hisdominion, or grant any special privilege or right of use therein, to anyother power, state, or government. "

At the request of the Hawaiian Government this subject is laid beforethe Congress for its determination upon the question of so modifying thetreaty agreement above recited as to permit the proposed lease. 

It will be seen that the correspondence which is submitted between theHawaiian and British negotiators negatives the existence on the part ofHawaii of any suspicion of British unfriendliness or the fear of Britishaggression. 

The attention of the Congress is directed to the following statementcontained in a communication addressed to the Hawaiian Government by therepresentatives of Great Britain:

 We propose to inform the British Government of your inquiry whether they would accept the sovereignty of Nicker Island or some other uninhabited island on condition that no subsidy is required from you. As we explained, we have not felt at liberty to entertain that question ourselves, as we were definitely instructed not to ask for the sovereignty of any island, but only for a lease simply for the purpose of the cable. 

Some of the dispatches from our minister, which are submitted, notonly refer to the project for leasing an uninhabited island belongingto Hawaii, but contain interesting information concerning recentoccurrences in that country and its political and social condition. This information is valuable because it is based upon the observationand knowledge necessarily within the scope of the diplomatic dutieswhich are intrusted solely to the charge of this intelligent diplomaticofficer representing the United States Government at Hawaii. 

I hope the Congress will see fit to grant the request of the HawaiianGovernment, and that our consent to the proposed lease will be promptlyaccorded. It seems to me we ought not by a refusal of this request tostand in the way of the advantages to be gained by isolated Hawaiithrough telegraphic communication with the rest of the world, especiallyin view of the fact that our own communication with that country wouldthereby be greatly improved without apparent detriment to any legitimateAmerican interest. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 11, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo, requesting the record of the extradition proceedings in the case ofGeneral Ezeta, etc. , I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary ofState, with accompanying papers. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 15, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanyingpapers, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, requesting "all correspondence or other papers relating to the deliveryby the United States consul at Shanghai of two Japanese citizens tothe Chinese authorities, " and information "whether the said Japanesewere put to death after being tortured, and whether there was anyunderstanding with the Chinese Government that officers of the UnitedStates should aid, assist, and give comfort to any Japanese citizendesiring to leave China, and whether the United States consul at Hankowwas reprimanded by Chinese officials for aiding Japanese citizens toleave the country, and whether all information was refused to the UnitedStates consul at Ningpo when he made inquiries as to the charges againstcertain Japanese citizens arrested there. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 28, 1895_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In my last annual message I commended to the serious consideration ofthe Congress the condition of our national finances, and in connectionwith the subject indorsed a plan of currency legislation which at thattime seemed to furnish protection against impending danger. [14] This planhas not been approved by the Congress. In the meantime the situation hasso changed and the emergency now appears so threatening that I deem itmy duty to ask at the hands of the legislative branch of the Governmentsuch prompt and effective action as will restore confidence in ourfinancial soundness and avert business disaster and universal distressamong our people. 

Whatever may be the merits of the plan outlined in my annual message asa remedy for ills then existing and as a safeguard against the depletionof the gold reserve then in the Treasury, I am now convinced that itsreception by the Congress and our present advanced stage of financialperplexity necessitate additional or different legislation. 

With natural resources unlimited in variety and productive strength andwith a people whose activity and enterprise seek only a fair opportunityto achieve national success and greatness, our progress should not bechecked by a false financial policy and a heedless disregard of soundmonetary laws, nor should the timidity and fear which they engenderstand in the way of our prosperity. 

It is hardly disputed that this predicament confronts us to-day. Therefore no one in any degree responsible for the making and executionof our laws should fail to see a patriotic duty in honestly andsincerely attempting to relieve the situation. Manifestly this effortwill not succeed unless it is made untrammeled by the prejudice ofpartisanship and with a steadfast determination to resist the temptationto accomplish party advantage. We may well remember that if we arethreatened with financial difficulties all our people in every stationof life are concerned; and surely those who suffer will not receive thepromotion of party interests as an excuse for permitting our presenttroubles to advance to a disastrous conclusion. It is also of the utmostimportance that we approach the study of the problems presented as freeas possible from the tyranny of preconceived opinions, to the end thatin a common danger we may be able to seek with unclouded vision a safeand reasonable protection. 

The real trouble which confronts us consists in a lack of confidence, widespread and constantly increasing, in the continuing ability ordisposition of the Government to pay its obligations in gold. This lackof confidence grows to some extent out of the palpable and apparentembarrassment attending the efforts of the Government under existinglaws to procure gold and to a greater extent out of the impossibilityof either keeping it in the Treasury or canceling obligations by itsexpenditure after it is obtained. 

The only way left open to the Government for procuring gold is by theissue and sale of its bonds. The only bonds that can be so issued wereauthorized nearly twenty-five years ago and are not well calculated tomeet our present needs. Among other disadvantages, they are made payablein coin instead of specifically in gold, which in existing conditionsdetracts largely and in an increasing ratio from their desirability asinvestments. It is by no means certain that bonds of this descriptioncan much longer be disposed of at a price creditable to the financialcharacter of our Government. 

The most dangerous and irritating feature of the situation, however, remains to be mentioned. It is found in the means by which the Treasuryis despoiled of the gold thus obtained without canceling a singleGovernment obligation and solely for the benefit of those who findprofit in shipping it abroad or whose fears induce them to hoard it athome. We have outstanding about five hundred millions of currency notesof the Government for which gold may be demanded, and, curiously enough, the law requires that when presented and, in fact, redeemed and paid ingold they shall be reissued. Thus the same notes may do duty many timesin drawing gold from the Treasury; nor can the process be arrested aslong as private parties, for profit or otherwise, see an advantage inrepeating the operation. More than $300, 000, 000 in these notes havealready been redeemed in gold, and notwithstanding such redemption theyare all still outstanding. 

Since the 17th day of January, 1894, our bonded interest-bearing debthas been increased $100, 000, 000 for the purpose of obtaining gold toreplenish our coin reserve. Two issues were made amounting to fiftymillions each, one in January and the other in November. As a result ofthe first issue there was realized something more than $58, 000, 000 ingold. Between that issue and the succeeding one in November, comprisinga period of about ten months, nearly $103, 000, 000 in gold were drawnfrom the Treasury. This made the second issue necessary, and upon thatmore than fifty-eight millions in gold was again realized. Between thedate of this second issue and the present time, covering a period ofonly about two months, more than $69, 000, 000 in gold have been drawnfrom the Treasury. These large sums of gold were expended without anycancellation of Government obligations or in any permanent waybenefiting our people or improving our pecuniary situation. 

The financial events of the past year suggest facts and conditions whichshould certainly arrest attention. 

More than $172, 000, 000 in gold have been drawn out of the Treasuryduring the year for the purpose of shipment abroad or hoarding at home. 

While nearly $103, 000, 000 of this amount was drawn out during the firstten months of the year, a sum aggregating more than two-thirds of thatamount, being about $69, 000, 000, was drawn out during the following twomonths, thus indicating a marked acceleration of the depleting processwith the lapse of time. 

The obligations upon which this gold has been drawn from the Treasuryare still outstanding and are available for use in repeating theexhausting operation with shorter intervals as our perplexitiesaccumulate. 

Conditions are certainly supervening tending to make the bonds which maybe issued to replenish our gold less useful for that purpose. 

An adequate gold reserve is in all circumstances absolutely essential tothe upholding of our public credit and to the maintenance of our highnational character. 

Our gold reserve has again reached such a stage of diminution as torequire its speedy reenforcement. 

The aggravations that must inevitably follow present conditions andmethods will certainly lead to misfortune and loss, not only to ournational credit and prosperity and to financial enterprise, but to thoseof our people who seek employment as a means of livelihood and to thosewhose only capital is their daily labor. 

It will hardly do to say that a simple increase of revenue will cure ourtroubles. The apprehension now existing and constantly increasing as toour financial ability does not rest upon a calculation of our revenue. The time has passed when the eyes of investors abroad and our people athome were fixed upon the revenues of the Government. Changed conditionshave attracted their attention to the gold of the Government. There needbe no fear that we can not pay our current expenses with such money aswe have. There is now in the Treasury a comfortable surplus of more than$63, 000, 000, but it is not in gold, and therefore does not meet ourdifficulty. 

I can not see that differences of opinion concerning the extent to whichsilver ought to be coined or used in our currency should interfere withthe counsels of those whose duty it is to rectify evils now apparent inour financial situation. They have to consider the question of nationalcredit and the consequences that will follow from its collapse. Whateverideas may be insisted upon as to silver or bimetallism, a propersolution of the question now pressing upon us only requires arecognition of gold as well as silver and a concession of itsimportance, rightfully or wrongfully acquired, as a basis of nationalcredit, a necessity in the honorable discharge of our obligationspayable in gold, and a badge of solvency. I do not understand that thereal friends of silver desire a condition that might follow inaction orneglect to appreciate the meaning of the present exigency if it shouldresult in the entire banishment of gold from our financial and currencyarrangements. 

Besides the Treasury notes, which certainly should be paid in gold, amounting to nearly $500, 000, 000, there will fall due in 1904 onehundred millions of bonds issued during the last year, for which we havereceived gold, and in 1907 nearly six hundred millions of 4 per centbonds issued in 1877. Shall the payment of these obligations in gold berepudiated? If they are to be paid in such a manner as the preservationof our national honor and national solvency demands, we should notdestroy or even imperil our ability to supply ourselves with gold forthat purpose. 

While I am not unfriendly to silver and while I desire to see itrecognized to such an extent as is consistent with financial safety andthe preservation of national honor and credit, I am not willing to seegold entirely banished from our currency and finances. To avert such aconsequence I believe thorough and radical remedial legislation shouldbe promptly passed. I therefore beg the Congress to give the subjectimmediate attention. 

In my opinion the Secretary of the Treasury should be authorizedto issue bonds of the Government for the purpose of procuringand maintaining a sufficient gold reserve and the redemption andcancellation of the United States legal-tender notes and the Treasurynotes issued for the purchase of silver under the law of July 14, 1890. We should be relieved from the humiliating process of issuing bondsto procure gold to be immediately and repeatedly drawn out on theseobligations for purposes not related to the benefit of our Government orour people. The principal and interest of these bonds should be payableon their face in gold, because they should be sold only for gold or itsrepresentative, and because there would now probably be difficulty infavorably disposing of bonds not containing this stipulation. I suggestthat the bonds be issued in denominations of twenty and fifty dollarsand their multiples and that they bear interest at a rate not exceeding3 per cent per annum. I do not see why they should not be payable fiftyyears from their date. We of the present generation have large amountsto pay if we meet our obligations, and long bonds are most salable. TheSecretary of the Treasury might well be permitted at his discretion toreceive on the sale of bonds the legal-tender and Treasury notes to beretired, and of course when they are thus retired or redeemed in goldthey should be canceled. 

These bonds under existing laws could be deposited by nationalbanks as security for circulation, and such banks should be allowed toissue circulation up to the face value of these or any other bonds sodeposited, except bonds outstanding bearing only 2 per cent interest andwhich sell in the market at less than par. National banks should not beallowed to take out circulating notes of a less denomination than $10, and when such as are now outstanding reach the Treasury, except forredemption and retirement, they should be canceled and notes of thedenomination of $10 and upward issued in their stead. Silver certificatesof the denomination of $10 and upward should be replaced by certificatesof the denominations under $10. 

As a constant means for the maintenance of a reasonable supply of goldin the Treasury, our duties on imports should be paid in gold, allowingall other dues to the Government to be paid in any other form of money. 

I believe all the provisions I have suggested should be embodied in ourlaws if we are to enjoy a complete reinstatement of a sound financialcondition. They need not interfere with any currency scheme providingfor the increase of the circulating medium through the agency ofnational or State banks that may commend itself to the Congress, sincethey can easily be adjusted to such a scheme. Objection has been made tothe issuance of interest-bearing obligations for the purpose of retiringthe noninterest-bearing legal-tender notes. In point of fact, however, these notes have burdened us with a large load of interest, and it isstill accumulating. The aggregate interest on the original issue ofbonds, the proceeds of which in gold constituted the reserve for thepayment of these notes, amounted to $70, 326, 250 on January 1, 1895, andthe annual charge for interest on these bonds and those issued for thesame purpose during the last year will be $9, 145, 000, dating fromJanuary 1, 1895. 

While the cancellation of these notes would not relieve us from theobligations already incurred on their account, these figures are givenby way of suggesting that their existence has not been free frominterest charges and that the longer they are outstanding, judging fromthe experience of the last year, the more expensive they will become. 

In conclusion I desire to frankly confess my reluctance to issuing morebonds in present circumstances and with no better results than havelately followed that course. I can not, however, refrain from adding toan assurance of my anxiety to cooperate with the present Congress in anyreasonable measure of relief an expression of my determination to leavenothing undone which furnishes a hope for improving the situation orchecking a suspicion of our disinclination or disability to meet withthe strictest honor every national obligation. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 14: See pp. 553-556. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 30, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the28th instant, the Senate concurring, I herewith return the bill (H. R. 6186) entitled "An act to pension Maria Davis. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 4, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate dated December 6, 1894, requesting that copies of correspondence in regard to the claim ofAntonio Maximo Mora against the Government of Spain exchanged since mylast message to the Senate on the same subject, dated June 20, 1894, [15]be communicated to it if not incompatible with the public interests, Itransmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, inclosing copiesof further correspondence exchanged between the Governments of theUnited States and Spain since the date of my last message to the Senate, December 11, 1894. [16]

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 15: See p. 476. ]

[Footnote 16: See p. 557. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 4, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives ofthe 1st instant, calling for certain information touching the recentinsurrection in the Hawaiian Islands, I transmit herewith a report ofthe Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 7, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the2d instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill (H. R. 5377) entitled "An act granting a pension to Richard R. Knight. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 7, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the16th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copiesof certain correspondence touching the enforcement of the provisions ofthe tariff act of 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1895_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

Since my recent communication to the Congress calling attention to ourfinancial condition and suggesting legislation which I deemed essentialto our national welfare and credit[17] the anxiety and apprehension thenexisting in business circles have continued. 

As a precaution, therefore, against the failure of timely legislativeaid through Congressional action, cautious preparations have beenpending to employ to the best possible advantage, in default of bettermeans, such Executive authority as may without additional legislation beexercised for the purpose of reenforcing and maintaining in our Treasuryan adequate and safe gold reserve. 

In the judgment of those especially charged with this responsibilitythe business situation is so critical and the legislative situation isso unpromising, with the omission thus far on the part of Congress tobeneficially enlarge the powers of the Secretary of the Treasury in thepremises, as to enjoin immediate Executive action with the facilitiesnow at hand. 

Therefore, in pursuance of section 3700 of the Revised Statutes, thedetails of an arrangement have this day been concluded with partiesabundantly able to fulfill their undertaking whereby bonds of the UnitedStates authorized under the act of July 14, 1875, payable in coin thirtyyears after their date, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent perannum, to the amount of a little less than $62, 400, 000, are to be issuedfor the purchase of gold coin, amounting to a sum slightly in excess of$65, 000, 000, to be delivered to the Treasury of the United States, whichsum added to the gold now held in our reserve will so restore suchreserve as to make it amount to something more than $100, 000, 000. Such apremium is to be allowed to the Government upon the bonds as to fix therate of interest upon the amount of gold realized at 3-3/4 per cent perannum. At least one-half of the gold to be obtained is to be suppliedfrom abroad, which is a very important and favorable feature of thetransaction. 

The privilege is especially reserved to the Government to substituteat par within ten days from this date, in lieu of the 4 per cent coinbonds, other bonds in terms payable in gold and bearing only 3 per centinterest if the issue of the same should in the meantime be authorizedby the Congress. 

The arrangement thus completed, which after careful inquiry appears inpresent circumstances and considering all the objects desired to bethe best attainable, develops such a difference in the estimation ofinvestors between bonds made payable in coin and those specificallymade payable in gold in favor of the latter as is represented bythree-fourths of a cent in annual interest. In the agreement justconcluded the annual saving in interest to the Government if 3 per centgold bonds should be substituted for 4 per cent coin bonds under theprivilege reserved would be $539, 159 amounting in thirty years, or atthe maturity of the coin bonds, to $16, 174, 770. 

Of course there never should be a doubt in any quarter as to theredemption in gold of the bonds of the Government which are made payablein coin. Therefore the discrimination, in the judgment of investors, between our bond obligations payable in coin and those specifically madepayable in gold is very significant. It is hardly necessary to suggestthat, whatever may be our views on the subject, the sentiments orpreferences of those with whom we must negotiate in disposing of ourbonds for gold are not subject to our dictation. 

I have only to add that in my opinion the transaction herein detailedfor the information of the Congress promises better results than theefforts previously made in the direction of effectively adding to ourgold reserve through the sale of bonds, and I believe it will tend, as far as such action can in present circumstances, to meet thedetermination expressed in the law repealing the silver-purchasingclause of the act of July 14, 1890, and that, in the language of suchrepealing act, the arrangement made will aid our efforts to "insure themaintenance of the parity in value of the coins of the two metals andthe equal power of every dollar at all times in the markets and in thepayment of debts. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 17: See pp. 561-565. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1895_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, a copy ofa telegraphic dispatch just received from Mr. Willis, our minister toHawaii, with a copy of the reply thereto which was immediately sent bythe Secretary of State. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 11, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_::

On the 8th day of January I received a copy of the following Senateresolution:

 _Resolved_, That the President be requested, if not incompatible with the public interests, to communicate to the Senate all reports, documents, and other papers, including logs of vessels, relating to the enforcement of the regulations respecting fur seals adopted by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain in accordance with the decision of the Tribunal of Arbitration convened at Paris and the resolutions under which said reports are required to be made, as well as relating to the number of seals taken during the season of 1894 by pelagic hunters and by the lessees of the Pribilof and Commander islands; also relating to the steps which may have been taken to extend the said regulations to the Asiatic waters of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea and to secure the concurrence of other nations in said regulations, and, further, all papers not heretofore published, including communications of the agent of the United States before said tribunal at Paris, relating to the claims of the British Government on account of the seizure of the sealing vessels in Bering Sea. 

In compliance with said request I herewith transmit sundry papers, documents, and reports which have been returned to me by the Secretaryof State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Navy, to whom said resolution was referred. I am not in possession of anyfurther information touching the various subjects embodied in suchresolution. 

It will be seen from a letter of the Secretary of the Navy accompanyingthe papers and documents sent from his Department that it is impossibleto furnish at this time the complete log books of some of the navalvessels referred to in the resolution, but I venture to express the hopethat the reports of the commanders of such vessels herewith submittedwill be found to contain in substance so much of the matters recorded insaid log books as are important in answering the inquiries addressed tome by the Senate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 12, 1895_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, acommunication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of theDirector of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1895_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the eighth special report of the Commissioner ofLabor, which relates to "the housing of the working people" in differentcountries. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 26, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the29th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copiesof correspondence touching Samoan affairs. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

VETO MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 7451, entitled"An act to authorize the entry of land for gravel pits and reservoirpurposes and authorizing the grant of right of way for pipe lines. "

The first section of this bill permits the sale to railroad companies, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, under certainrestrictions and at an appraised value, certain public lands to be usedby said companies for gravel pits or the construction of reservoirs. Italso permits grants of the right of way for pipe lines connecting suchreservoirs with the railways of said companies. 

The second, third, and fourth sections of the bill relate to thepurchase by any citizen of the United States, or any association ofcitizens, or any ditch or water company, of public lands suitable forreservoir purposes at such a price as the Secretary of the Interiorshall prescribe, not less than $2 per acre. 

The right to purchase these lands is given by the sections last referredto "under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of theInterior. "

I think the expediency and propriety of disposing of these lands for thepurposes specified should in each case be determined by the Secretary ofthe Interior, as well as the rules and regulations governing suchdisposition. 

The objections to the bill, however, which appear to be the most seriousare found in its fifth and last section, which provides:

 That any State or any county or district organization duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory may apply for any of the storage-reservoir sites not reserved by the United States, situated on unentered public lands, for the storage of water for irrigating, mining, or other useful purposes, whereupon the Secretary of the Interior shall set aside and withdraw from public sale or other disposition such site or sites and permit the use thereof for either or all of such purposes. 

These provisions do not seem to be in harmony with prior laws by which, under certain conditions, arid lands may be conveyed to States for thepurpose of irrigation, and it is not clear what is intended by the words"any of the storage-reservoir sites not reserved by the United States. "

The apparent purpose and effect of the section is to give to theorganizations mentioned the right to select such land as may presenteligible reservoir sites not reserved and upon unentered lands, anddemand of the Secretary of the Interior a grant of the same, leavingno discretion on the subject to him or to any other officer of theGovernment; and these grants are to be made without any compensationto the Government and without any specific requirement of the amountor kind of work to be done or improvements to be made upon such sites. 

The grants may be demanded not only for the storage of water forirrigating purposes, but for "mining and other useful purposes. "Inasmuch as no officer of the Government is vested with any discretionin the premises, the pretext that the "purpose" to be accomplished is"useful" might result in the use of these sites in a manner prejudicialto the surrounding public domain and destructive of the utilization ofsuch sites for irrigating purposes. 

The wise and prudent safeguards which have been incorporated inother legislation relating to the disposition of arid public lands andtheir irrigation seem to have been to such an extent overlooked in theconstruction of the bill under consideration that, in my judgment, ifit should become the law a beneficent policy which the Government hasentered upon in the interest of agriculture would be seriouslyendangered. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 1, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith return without my approval Senate bill No. 2338, entitled"An act granting to the Gila Valley, Globe and Northern Railway Company aright of way through the San Carlos Indian Reservation, in the Territoryof Arizona. "

The reservation through which it is proposed to construct a railroadunder the provisions of this bill is inhabited by tribes of Indianswhich in the past have been most troublesome and whose depredationson more than one occasion have caused loss of life, destruction ofproperty, and serious alarm to the people of the surrounding country;and their condition as to civilization is not now so far improved asto give assurance that in the future they may not upon occasion maketrouble. 

The discontent among the Indians which has given rise to disturbancesin the past has been largely caused by trespass upon their lands andinterference with their rights by the neighboring whites. I am invery great doubt whether in any circumstances a road through theirreservation should at this time be permitted, and especially since theroute, which is rather indefinitely described in the bill, appears topass through the richest and most desirable part of their lands. Inany event, I am thoroughly convinced that the construction of the roadshould not be permitted without first obtaining the consent of theseIndians. This is a provision which has been insisted upon, so far asI am aware, in all the like bills which have been approved for a longtime, and I think it should especially be inserted in this bill if, evenupon any conditions, it is thought expedient to permit a railroad totraverse this reservation. 

The importance of this consent does not rest solely upon the extent towhich the Indians have the right of ownership over this land. The factthat the procurement of this consent is the most effective means ofallaying the discontent which might arise and perhaps develop into atrain of lamentable and destructive outbreaks of violence particularlyemphasizes its importance. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 5, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5368, entitled "An actfor the relief of H. W. McConnell. "

The reports of both the Senate and House committees, which favorablyreported this bill, disclose an intention to partially relieve theformer postmaster at Jacksboro, in the State of Texas, from liabilityon account of two remittances of postal funds which he dispatched atdifferent times during the year 1883 to be deposited at Dallas, in thesame State, and which were lost by robberies of the stage conveyingthe same. In dealing with the first remittance the committees reportthat the postmaster should be relieved of liability to the amount ofonly $94, the loss of the remainder of the money being chargeable tohis neglect and violation of postal regulations. As to the secondremittance, the committees report that by reason of like neglect andviolation of regulations the postmaster should be held responsiblefor the loss of all the money transmitted except the sum of $42. 

For these two sums, amounting to $136, an appropriation is made for thebenefit of H. W. McConnell. 

The name of the postmaster intended to be relieved is H. H. McConnell, asappears by the records of the Post-Office Department. The person to whomthe money appropriated should be paid is therefore not correctly namedin the bill. 

An examination of this postmaster's accounts discloses the further factthat the amount proposed to be appropriated for his relief is too largeby $42, that being the sum allowed him by reason of the second stagerobbery. This item has already been credited to him in the adjustmentof his accounts at the Post-Office Department, and the claim for itsreimbursement has been thereby extinguished. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_:

I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 143, entitled "An actfor the relief of the heirs of D. Fulford. "

This bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury "to redeem, in favor ofthe heirs at law of D. Fulford, four bonds of the United States, consolsof 1867, of the denomination of $500, $100, $50, and $50, and known asfive-twenties, said bonds having been destroyed by fire the 9th day ofJuly, 1872, and to pay to the heirs at law of said D. Fulford the amountof said bonds, together with accrued interest from July 1, 1872, to thedate of the maturity of said bonds. "

The bill further provides that the heirs to whom the payment is to bemade shall execute and file with the Secretary of the Treasury a bond"conditioned to save harmless the United States from loss or liabilityon account of said bonds or the interest accrued thereon, and to containsuch words as to cover any liability resulting from any mistake in thedesignation or description of the bonds, so that in no event shall theUnited States be called upon by a rightful claimant for a second paymentthereof. "

The proposition is that the Government shall pay bonds alleged to havebeen destroyed by fire nearly twenty-three years ago. 

The Secretary of the Treasury states that an application for thepayment of these bonds, made by Mr. Fulford himself, was rejected bythe Department because he was unable to describe the bonds in such away as to permit their identification and because the evidence of theirdestruction by fire was inconclusive. 

The Senate Committee on Claims, however, in their report on the billunder consideration, state that they are entirely satisfied that Mr. Fulford was the owner of four Government bonds, one for $500, one for$100, and two for $50, and that they were burned with his residence, which was destroyed by fire on the 9th day of July, 1872, and thatwhile he could not furnish the numbers or descriptions of said bondshe understood all these bonds were of the class known as consols of1867, and that he had collected the coupons thereon for the interestdue July 1, 1872. 

The particular class of bonds mentioned were dated July 1, 1867, andwere payable or redeemable not less than five nor more than twenty yearsfrom their date. The short period expired, therefore, on the 1st day ofJuly, 1872. That was the date when the last coupons on Mr. Fulford'sbonds, which it is alleged were detached and collected, became due, andonly nine days before the supposed destruction of the bonds by fire. 

A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury dated July 20, 1892, attached to the report of the Senate committee made upon a bill similarto this which was pending at that time, discloses the fact that amongthe consols of 1867 then outstanding there were 107 of the denominationof $500, 167 of the denomination of $100, and 85 of the denominationof $50. This statement merely shows that there were numerous bondsprecisely similar to those described as belonging to Mr. Fulford whichhad not in July, 1892, been redeemed, though the extreme limit oftheir maturity expired on the 1st day of July, 1887. The letter ofthe Secretary further discloses, however, that there were two ofthese outstanding bonds of the denomination of $500 and two of thedenomination of $100 upon which coupons of interest had not been paidsince July 1, 1872. Of course this lends plausibility to the suggestionthat two of these four bonds, one of each denomination, were thosedestroyed when Mr. Fulford's house was burned in July, 1872; but thissuggestion loses its force under the additional statement in the letterof the Secretary of the Treasury that in July, 1892, there were noconsols of 1867 of the denomination of $50 whose last coupon was paidJuly 1, 1872. This shows conclusively that no fifty-dollar bonds of thisclass were destroyed by fire in Mr. Fulford's house and casts greatuncertainty upon the description of the other bonds, inasmuch as thetheory of the claimants seems to be that all the bonds destroyedbelonged to the same class. 

In 1893, upon an examination of the records of the Treasury Department, it was found that the two unpaid bonds for $500 reported in 1892 asoutstanding, from which no coupons had been paid since July 1, 1872, still remained unredeemed, but that one of the two one-hundred-dollarbonds which were in that condition in 1892 had been since that time paidand canceled. I think it must be conceded that this late redemption ofthis bond greatly weakens any presumption that the other three will notbe presented for payment. 

It is perfectly clear that so far as this bill directs the payment tothe persons therein named of two consols of 1867 of the denomination of$50 each on the ground that such bonds were destroyed by fire in July, 1872, it requires the payment of money to those not entitled to it, since it is shown that these consols could not have been destroyed atthe time stated, because coupons due on all consols of that denominationunredeemed have been paid since that date. 

While the objections to the payment of the amount of the other two bondsmentioned in the bill are less conclusive, there seem to be so muchdoubt and uncertainty concerning their description and character, andtheir identification as unredeemed consols of 1867 is so unsatisfactory, that, in my opinion, it is not safe to assume, as is done in this bill, that they are represented among those bonds of that class recorded asstill outstanding whose coupons for some reason have not been presentedfor payment since July 1, 1872. 

I do not believe that an indemnity bond could be drawn which, as againstthe strict rights of sureties, would protect the Government againstdouble liability in case all the payments directed by this bill weremade. Even if the payments were confined to the two larger consolsdescribed, there would be great difficulty in framing a bond which wouldsurely indemnify the Government. 

There should always be a willingness to save the holders of Governmentsecurities from damage through their loss or destruction, but, in myjudgment, a bad precedent would be established by paying obligationswhose destruction and identification are not more satisfactorilyestablished than in this case. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 19, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6244, entitled "An actto remove the charge of desertion from the military record of JacobEckert. "

This bill directs the Secretary of War "to cause the records of the WarDepartment to be so amended as to remove the charge of desertion fromthe service record of Jacob Eckert, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, late aprivate in Company B, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and to grantan honorable discharge to said Jacob Eckert from the service of theUnited States Army as of date when said company was mustered out ofservice. "

The regiment and company to which this soldier belonged, except suchmembers as reenlisted as veterans, were mustered out of the serviceOctober 17, 1864. 

Jacob Eckert did not reenlist and was not mustered out with his comradesfor the reason that he was then under arrest on a charge of desertion. In November, 1864, he was tried by a general court-martial and convictedof having deserted on the 1st of September, 1864, and again on the 2dday of September, 1864, and upon such conviction he was sentenced toforfeit all pay due him from September 1, the date of his firstdesertion, until the expiration of his term of service, to bedishonorably discharged and confined at hard labor for twelve months. 

This sentence was approved by the reviewing authority, and I assume theconvicted soldier served his term of imprisonment, since the statementcontained in the report of the House committee to whom this bill wasreferred that he was dishonorably discharged in 1865 can be accountedfor in no other way. 

It seems to me that the provisions of this bill amount to a legislativereversal of the judgment of a regularly constituted court and alegislative pardon of the offense of which this soldier was convicted. If this doubtful authority is to be exercised by Congress, it should bedone in such a manner as not to restore a man properly convicted andsentenced as a deserter, without even the allegation of injustice, to the rights of pay, allowance, and pension belonging to those whofaithfully and honorably served in the military service of theircountry according to the terms of their enlistment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 20, 1895_. 

_To the Senate_:

I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 1526, entitled "Anact for the relief of Henry Halteman. "

This bill directs the Secretary of War "to grant an honorable dischargefrom the United States service to Henry Halteman, late of Company F, Second United States Artillery. "

It is conceded that this soldier enlisted in the Regular Army on the18th day of December, 1860, for the term of five years and that hedeserted on the 18th day of August, 1865. The only excuse or palliationoffered for his offense is found in the statement that his desertionwas provoked by his company's being ordered to California so near thetermination of his enlistment that his term would have expired beforeor soon after his company could have reached California, and "that hisreturn would have been both tedious and somewhat perilous, if notexpensive. "

The fact must not be overlooked that this soldier enlisted in theRegular Army and that his term had no relation to the duration of thewar or the immediate need of the Government for troops at the time ofhis desertion. The morale and discipline of the Regular Army aretherefore directly involved in the proposed legislation. 

The soldier's name remained on the records of the War Department asa deserter at large for twenty-three years, and until the year 1888. In August of that year application was made to the Department for theremoval of the charge of desertion against him, which was refused onthe ground that it was not shown that such charge was founded in error. Thereupon he applied for a discharge without character, as it is called, as of the date of his desertion. This was granted on the 21st day ofSeptember, 1888. Such discharges, which were not uncommon at that time, omitted the certificate of character which entitled the soldier toreenlistment. 

In 1892 a bill similar to that now under consideration was referredto the Adjutant-General of the Army and was returned with an adversereport. 

The record of the War Department on the subject of this soldier'sseparation from the Army is absolutely correct as it stands, and nosufficient reason is apparent why another record should be substituted. If this deserter is to be allowed an honorable discharge, I do not seewhy every deserter should not be absolved from the consequences of hisunfaithfulness. 

The effect of this bill if it should become a law would be to allowthe beneficiary not only a pensionable status, but arrears of pay andclothing allowances up to the date of his desertion and travel allowancefrom the place of his desertion to the place of his enlistment. 

It is not denied that all these things have been justly forfeited bydeliberate and inexcusable desertion. In the case presented it seems tome that the laws and regulations adopted for the purpose of maintainingthe discipline and efficiency of the Army ought not to be set aside. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 8165, entitled "Anact authorizing the Kansas City, Oklahoma and Pacific Railway Companyto construct and operate a railway through Indian reservations in theIndian Territory and the Territories of Oklahoma and New Mexico, andfor other purposes. "

This bill contains concessions more comprehensive and sweeping thanany ever presented for my approval, and it seems to me the rights andinterests of the Indians and the Government are the least protected. 

The route apparently desired, though passing through or into one Stateand three Territories, is described as indefinitely as possible, anddoes not seem to be subject to the approval in its entirety of theSecretary of the Interior or any other governmental agency havingrelation to the interest involved. 

There is no provision for obtaining the consent of the Indians throughwhose territory and reservations the railroad may be located. 

Though it is proposed to build the railroad through territories havinglocal courts convenient to their inhabitants, all controversies that mayarise out of the location and building of the road are by the provisionsof the bill to be passed upon by the United States circuit and districtcourts for the district of Kansas "and such other courts as may beauthorized by Congress. "

The bill provides that "the civil jurisdiction of said courts ishereby extended within the limits of said Indian reservations, withoutdistinction as to citizenship of the parties, so far as may be necessaryto carry out the provisions of this act. " This provision permits thesubordination of the jurisdiction of Indian courts, which we are boundby treaty to protect, to the "provisions of this act" and to theinterests and preferences of the railroad company for whose benefit thebill under consideration is intended. 

A plan of appraisal is provided for in the bill in case an agreementcan not be reached as to the amount of compensation to be paid for thetaking of lands held by individual occupants according to the laws, customs, and usages of any of the Indian nations or tribes or byallotment or agreement with the Indians. It is, however, furtherprovided that in case either party is dissatisfied with the award of thereferees to be appointed an appeal may be taken to the district courtheld at Wichita, Kans. , no matter where on the proposed route of theroad the controversy may originate. If upon the hearing of said appealthe judgment of the court shall be for the same sum as the award of thereferees, the costs shall be adjudged against the appellant, and if saidjudgment shall be for a smaller sum the costs shall be adjudged againstthe party claiming damages. It does not seem to me that the interests ofan Indian occupant or allottee are properly regarded when he is obliged, if dissatisfied with an award for the taking of his land, to go to thedistrict court of Kansas for redress, at the risk of incurring costs andexpenses that may not only exceed the award originally made to him, butleave him in debt. 

It is probable that there are other valid objections to this bill. I have only attempted to suggest enough to justify my action indisapproving it. 

In constructing legislation of this description it should not beforgotten that the rights and interests of the Indians are important inevery view and should be scrupulously protected. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5740, entitled "An actincorporating the Society of American Florists. "

No sufficient reason is apparent for the incorporation of thisorganization under Federal laws. There is not the least difficulty inthe way of the accomplishment under State laws by the incorporatorsnamed in the bill of every purpose which can legitimately belong totheir corporate existence. The creation of such a corporation by aspecial act of Congress establishes a vexatious and troublesomeprecedent. 

There appears to be no limit in the bill to the value of the real andpersonal property which the proposed corporation may hold if acquiredby donation or bequest. The limit of $50, 000 applies only to propertyacquired by purchase. 

A conclusive objection to the bill is found in the fact that it fails tocarry out the purposes and objects of those interested in its passage. The promoters of the bill are florists, who undoubtedly seek to advancefloriculture. The declared object of the proposed incorporation is, however, stated in the bill to be "the elevation and advancement ofhorticulture in all its branches, to increase and diffuse the knowledgethereof, and for kindred purposes in the interest of horticulture. "

It is entirely clear that the interests of florists would be badlyserved by a corporation confined to the furtherance of garden culture. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 23, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 4658, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Hiram R. Rhea and repealing an act approved March3, 1871. "

The person named in the title of this bill was pensioned under theprovisions of a private act passed March 3, 1871. In 1892 a letter fromthe Commissioner of Pensions was presented to Congress exhibiting factswhich established in a most satisfactory manner that the claim forpension allowed by said special act was a barefaced and impudent fraud, supported by deliberate perjury. This letter appears to be the movingcause of the passage of the bill now before me. Payment of pension underthe fraudulent act has been suspended since January 28, 1893, and sincethat time no information has been received from the fraudulent pensioner. 

The circumstances developed called for the repeal of the law of 1871lacing him upon the pension roll. This is accomplished in the secondsection of the bill under consideration, which section I would be gladto approve. This repeal, however, is accompanied by a provision in thefirst section of the bill directing the Secretary of the Interior toplace upon the pension roll this identical fraudulent pensioner, undera certificate numbered precisely the same as that heretofore issued tohim, "at a rate proportionate to the degree of disability from suchgunshot wounds as may be shown to the satisfaction of said Secretary tohave been received at the hands of Confederate soldiers or sympathizerswhile said Rhea was attempting to cooperate with the Union forces, " etc. 

Inasmuch as the letter of the Commissioner of Pensions to whichreference has been made, and which forms part of the committee's reporton this bill, is the basis of this repealing provision, and inasmuch asthis letter furnishes evidence that the pensioner was when injured avery disreputable member of a band of armed rebels and was wounded byUnion soldiers, I can not understand why the same bill which for thisreason purges the pension rolls of his name should in the same breathundo this work and direct his name to be rewritten on the rolls. 

If the facts before Congress justify the repeal of the law under whichthis man fraudulently received a pension for nearly twenty-two years, they certainly do not justify the provision directing his name to be puton the rolls again with a view to further examination of his case or forany other purpose. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 27, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 2051, entitled "An actto grant a pension to Eunice Putman. "

This bill provides for a pension to the beneficiary therein named as thehelpless daughter of John Putman, who served as a private in the War ofthe Rebellion from August 27, 1864, to June 2, 1865. In 1870, when thebeneficiary was not 2 years old, her mother died, and her father marriedagain in 1872. He applied for a pension in 1884, but died the same year. His claim was allowed, however, in 1891, and his pension which hadaccrued between the date of his application and his death was paid tohis widow, Jeanette S. Putman. Immediately thereafter a pension wasallowed the widow in her own right, dating from the soldier's death, in1884, with $2 additional per month for each of the two minor children. The beneficiary was not included because she had reached the age of 16years prior to her father's death. 

The report of the committee to whom this bill was referred states thatno claim for pension on account of the soldier's death has ever beenfiled in the Pension Bureau, and it seems that upon this theory it wasproposed to pension the daughter. I do not suppose it was intended thata double pension should be allowed. In point of fact, the widow hasalready been pensioned, and no such pension allowance has been made forthe minor children. There is no suggestion that the widow has died orremarried. 

If this bill should become a law, two full pensions would be in force atthe same time, one to the widow and another to the daughter, eachpredicated upon the services and death of the same soldier. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 27, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6868, entitled "An actfor the relief of Catherine Ott, widow of Joseph Ott. "

An application by the beneficiary named in this bill, under the law of1890, was rejected on the ground that her husband died in the service, and therefore had not been honorably discharged, as required by thatlaw. 

It appears that after he had served a number of years in a cavalryregiment, and having been once discharged for reenlistment, he wastransferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and was in that service at thetime of his death. 

In these circumstances the rejection of the beneficiary's claim on theground stated is held, under present rulings of the Pension Bureau, tohave been erroneous, and such claim can now be favorably adjudicatedupon proof of continued widowhood of the applicant and the lack of othermeans of support than her daily labor. 

If such proof is supplied, she would be entitled to a pension datingfrom July 14, 1890, which would be much more advantageous than therelief afforded by the bill herewith returned. 

If the beneficiary can justly claim a pension dating from herapplication to the Pension Bureau in 1890, the benefits accruing to hertherefrom should not be superseded by this special legislation, whichallows relief only from the date of its enactment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8681, entitled "An actauthorizing the Arkansas Northwestern Railway Company to construct andoperate a railway through the Indian Territory, and for other purposes. "

The contemplated route of this railway, so far as it is disclosed in thebill, would run from a point in the southwestern corner of the State ofMissouri, across the northeastern corner of the Indian Territory, toa point in the southeastern part of the State of Kansas. This routenecessarily runs through the lands of the Cherokee Indians or throughthe small reservations of the Quapaws, the Peorias, the Ottawas, theWyandottes, and the Senecas. 

There is no provision in the bill requiring the consent of the Indianswhose lands are to be thus traversed. 

There is no provision requiring the entire line to be located andapproved by the Secretary of the Interior before the work of buildingis commenced. 

The bill provides for compensation to individual occupants or allotteesby a process of appraisal by referees, with the right of appeal to thedistrict court held at Fort Smith, in the State of Arkansas. 

In the case of allotted land or land held in individual occupancy bythe Indians great care should be exercised in interfering with theirholdings. Their land is given them for cultivation and with a view ofmaking them self-supporting and industrious citizens. If their land isinvaded and cut up by railroads, the purpose of allotment is in dangerof being defeated. Money compensation is of but little use to them, andno amount can compensate for the disturbance in the cultivation of theirlands and their consequent discontent and discouragement. 

These considerations, it seems to me, emphasize the necessity of theexact location of the entire line of the contemplated railroad and suchcontrol over it by the Secretary of the Interior as will enable him toavoid as much as possible interference with individual Indian occupantsand other difficulties. 

This supervision and regulation of the line can be done with much moresafety and effectiveness in considering the entire line than it can bedone in sections of 25 miles each, as is provided in the bill. 

The United States circuit and district courts for the districts ofKansas and the district of Arkansas and such other courts as maybe authorized by Congress are given concurrent jurisdiction of allcontroversies arising between the railway company and the nationsand tribes of Indians through whose territory the railway shall beconstructed, or between said company and the members of said nations ortribes, without reference to the amount in controversy, and the civiljurisdiction of said courts is extended within the limits of said IndianTerritory, without distinction as to the citizenship of parties, so faras may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act. 

The requirement that an Indian shall be obliged to seek a distant courtfor the adjudication of his rights in his controversies, great andsmall, with this railway company would result in many cases to a denialof justice. 

I am convinced of the growing necessity, in this period of change in ourrelations with the Indians, of caution and certainty in the grants givento railroads to pass through Indian lands and of the exercise of care inallowing interference with their occupation. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1895_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5624, entitled "An actto authorize the Oklahoma Central Railroad to construct and operate arailway through the Indian and Oklahoma Territories, and for otherpurposes. "

The railroad proposed to be built under authority of this bill commencesat a point in the Creek Nation called Sapulpa and runs through theIndian Territory to Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma, and thence through theKiowa and Comanche Reservation to a point at or near the Red River, onthe west line of said reservation. 

There is no provision in this bill requiring the consent of the Indiansthrough whose lands it is proposed to build the road. 

The character and situation of these Indians are such as to make thisconsent important. 

The first section gives the railroad company the right to build not onlyits line of road, but "such tracks, turn-outs, branches, sidings, andextensions as said company may deem it to their interest to construct. "

If under an apparent grant to build a railroad the route of which isin a general way defined this company is to be allowed to build suchbranches and extensions as it may deem it to its interest to construct, the grant, I am sure, is more comprehensive than was intended by theCongress. 

It seems to me that the entire line of the proposed railroad should beprecisely located and subjected to the approval of the Secretary of theInterior before the work of construction is entered upon. This billprovides that it shall be approved in sections of 25 miles beforeconstruction on such sections shall be commenced. 

Our relations to the Indians on reservations and their welfare and quietare better preserved and protected when the entire line of road can besettled upon at one time and all uncertainty and doubt on the subjectremoved. The object sought by submitting the line to the supervision anddetermination of the Secretary of the Interior can be better and moreintelligently accomplished if it is dealt with in its entirety insteadof in sections. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

The following provisions of the laws of the United States are herebypublished for the information of all concerned:

Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, Title XXIII, enacts that--

 No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall for each offense be fined not less than $200 nor more than $1, 000, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section. 

Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection ofthe salmon fisheries of Alaska, " approved March 2, 1889, provides--

 SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of the United States in the waters of Bering Sea; and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section; and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein. 

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, hereby warn all persons against entering the waters of Bering Sea withinthe dominion of the United States for the purpose of violating theprovisions of said section 1956 of the Revised Statutes; and I herebyproclaim that all persons found to be or to have been engaged in anyviolation of the laws of the United States in said waters will bearrested, proceeded against, and punished as above provided. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of February, A. D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andnineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to postpone the enforcementof the act of August 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations forpreventing collisions at sea, '" was approved February 23, 1895:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United Statesof America, do hereby give notice that said act of August 19, 1890, asamended by the act of May 28, 1894, will not go into force on March 1, 1895, the date fixed in my proclamation of July 13, 1894, [18] but on suchfuture date as may be designated in a proclamation of the President tobe issued for that purpose. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of February, 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: W. Q. GRESHAM, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 18: See pp. 501-510. ]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, pursuant to section 1 of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current andcontingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treatystipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June30, 1893, and for other purposes, " certain articles of agreement weremade and concluded at the Yankton Indian Agency, S. Dak. , on the 31stday of December, 1892, by and between the United States of Americaand the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians upon the YanktonReservation, whereby the said Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States all their claim, right, title, andinterest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of thereservation set apart to said tribe by the first article of the treatyof April 19, 1858, between said tribe and the United States; and

Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 8 that such partof the surplus lands by said agreement ceded and sold to the UnitedStates as may be occupied by the United States for agency, schools, andother purposes shall be reserved from sale to settlers until they are nolonger required for such purposes, but all of the other lands so cededand sold shall immediately after the ratification of the agreement byCongress be offered for sale through the proper land office, to bedisposed of under the existing land laws of the United States to actualand _bona fide_ settlers only; and

Whereas it is also stipulated and agreed by article 10 that anyreligious society or other organization shall have the right for twoyears from the date of the ratification of the said agreement withinwhich to purchase the lands occupied by it under proper authority forreligious or educational work among the Indians, at a valuation fixed bythe Secretary of the Interior, which shall not be less than the averageprice paid to the Indians for the surplus lands; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, andconfirming the said agreement, approved August 15, 1894, section 12(Pamphlet Statutes, Fifty-third Congress, second session, pp. 314-319)--

 That the lands by said agreement ceded to the United States shall upon proclamation by the President be opened to settlement, and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead and town-site laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of the State of South Dakota: _Provided_, That each settler on said lands shall, in addition to the fees provided by law, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him the sum of $3. 75 per acre, of which sum he shall pay 50 cents at the time of making his original entry and the balance before making final proof and receiving a certificate of final entry; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid. 

 That the Secretary of the Interior, upon proper plats and description being furnished, is hereby authorized to issue patents to Charles Picotte and Felix Brunot and W. T. Selwyn, United States interpreters, for not to exceed 1 acre of land each, so as to embrace their houses near the agency buildings upon said reservation, but not to embrace any buildings owned by the Government, upon the payment by each of said persons of the sum of $3. 75. 

 That every person who shall sell or give away any intoxicating liquors or other intoxicants upon any of the lands by said agreement ceded, or upon any of the lands included in the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation as created by the treaty of April 19, 1858, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years and by a fine of not more than $300. 

And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required bysaid agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relatingthereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as Ihereby declare, complied with:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands acquired from theYankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians by the said agreement, savingand excepting the lands reserved in pursuance of the provisions of saidagreement and the act of Congress ratifying the same, will, at and afterthe hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time) on the 21st day ofMay, 1895, and not before, be open to settlement under the terms ofand subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, andrestrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes hereinbeforespecified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto. 

The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenienceparticularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Scheduleof lands within the Yankton Reservation, S. Dak. , to be opened tosettlement by proclamation of the President, " and which schedule is madea part hereof. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A. D. 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: EDWIN F. UHL, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, pursuant to section I of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current andcontingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treatystipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June30, 1893, and for other purposes, " certain articles of cession andagreement were made and concluded at the Siletz Agency, Oreg. , on the31st day of October, 1892, by and between the United States of Americaand the Alsea and other Indians on Siletz Reservation in Oregon, wherebysaid Alsea and other Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and conveyed to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits ofsaid reservation, except the five sections described in article 4 ofthe agreement, viz: Section 9, township 9 south, range 11 west of theWillamette meridian; and the west half of the west half of section 5, and the east half of section 6, and the east half of the west half ofsection 6, township 10 south, range 10 west; and the south half ofsection 8, and the north half of section 17, and section 16, township 9south, range 9 west; and the east half of the northeast quarter and lot3, section 20, and south half and south half of north half of section21, township 8, range 10 west; and

Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 that anyreligious society or other organization shall have the right for twoyears from the date of the ratification of this agreement within whichto purchase the lands occupied by it with proper authority for religiousor educational work among the Indians, at the rate of $2. 50 per acre, the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, andconfirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (Pamphlet Statutes, pp. 286-338), section 15, that--

 The mineral lands shall be disposed of under the laws applicable thereto, and the balance of the land so ceded shall be disposed of until further provided by law under the town-site law and under the provisions of the homestead law: _Provided_, _however_, That each settler under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall at the time of making his original entry pay the sum of 50 cents per acre in addition to the fees now required by law, and at the time of making final proof shall pay the further sum of $1 per acre, final proof to be made within five years from the date of entry; and three years' actual residence on the land shall be established by such evidence as is now required in homestead proofs as a prerequisite to title or patent. 

And whereas it is provided--

 That immediately after the passage of this act the Secretary of the Interior shall, under such regulations as he may prescribe, open said lands to settlement, after proclamation by the President and sixty days' notice. 

And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required bysaid agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentionedand the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands tosettlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, andcomplied with:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentionedand by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of thelands acquired from the Alsea and other Indians by said agreement will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacific standard time) onthe 25th day of July, 1895, and not before, be opened to settlementunder the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutesabove specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto. 

The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenienceparticularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Scheduleof lands within the Siletz Indian Reservation, in Oregon, opened tosettlement by proclamation of the President dated May 16, 1895, " andwhich schedule is made a part hereof. 

Warning is hereby given that no person entering upon and occupying saidlands before said hour of 12 o'clock noon of the 25th day of July, 1895, hereinbefore fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said lands oracquire any rights thereto, and that the officers of the United Stateswill be required to strictly enforce this provision, which is authorizedby the act of August 15, 1894, hereinbefore mentioned. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A. D. 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: EDWIN F. UHL, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas by a written agreement made on the 9th day of September, 1891, the Kickapoo Nation of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded, conveyed, transferred, and relinquished, forever and absolutely, withoutany reservation whatever, all their claim, title, and interest of everykind and character in and to the lands particularly described in article1 of the agreement: _Provided_, That in said tract of country thereshall be allotted to each and every member, native and adopted, of saidKickapoo tribe of Indians 80 acres of land, in the manner and under theconditions stated in said agreement, and that when the allotments ofland shall have been made and approved by the Secretary of the Interiorthe title thereto shall be held in trust for the allottees respectivelyfor the period of twenty-five years in the manner and to the extentprovided for in the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887 (24 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 388); and

Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of theagreement that wherever in this reservation any religious society orother organization is now occupying any portion of said reservation forreligious or educational work among the Indians the land so occupied maybe allotted and confirmed to such society or organization, not, however, to exceed 160 acres of land to any one society or organization, so longas the same shall be so occupied and used: and such land shall not besubject to homestead entry; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, andconfirming the said agreement with the Kickapoo Indians, approved March3, 1893 (27 U. S. Statutes at Large, pp. 557-563), section 3--

 That whenever any of the lands acquired by this agreement shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement or entry they shall be disposed of (except sections 16 and 36 in each township thereof) to actual settlers only under the provisions of the homestead and town-site laws, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: _Provided_, _however_, That each settler on said lands shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of $1. 50 an acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid. Until said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation of the President of the United States no person shall be permitted to enter upon or occupy any of said lands, and any person violating this provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of said lands or acquire any title thereto: _Provided_, That any person having attempted to but for any cause failed to acquire a title in fee under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make homestead entry upon said lands. 

And whereas allotments of land in severalty to said Kickapoo Indianshave been made and approved in accordance with law and the provisions ofthe before-mentioned agreement with them; and

Whereas it is provided by the act of Congress for the temporarygovernment of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the sectionlines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for eachquarter section of land by reason of such reservation; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress approved February 10, 1894(28 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 37)--

 That every homestead settler on the public lands on the left bank of the Deep Fork River in the former Iowa Reservation, in the Territory of Oklahoma, who entered less than 160 acres of land may enter under the homestead laws other lands adjoining the land embraced in his original entry when such additional lands become subject to entry, which additional entry shall not with the lands originally entered exceed in the aggregate 160 acres: _Provided_, That where such adjoining entry is made residence shall not be required upon the lands so entered, but the residence and cultivation by the settler upon and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon the land embraced in his additional entry; but such lands so entered shall be paid for conformably to the terms of the act acquiring the same and opening it to homestead entry. 

And whereas it is further provided in the act of Congress approved March2, 1895 (28 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 899)--

 That any State or Territory entitled to indemnity school lands or entitled to select lands for educational purposes under existing law may select such lands within the boundaries of any Indian reservation in such State or Territory from the surplus lands thereof purchased by the United States, after allotments have been made to the Indians of such reservation and prior to the opening of such reservation to settlement. 

And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required bysaid agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relatingthereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as Ihereby declare, complied with:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentionedand by other the laws of the United States and by the said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbeforedescribed, acquired from the Kickapoo Indians by the agreementaforesaid, will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (centralstandard time), Thursday, the 23d day of the month of May, A. D. 1895, and not before, be open to settlement under the terms of and subjectto all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictionscontained in the said agreement, the statutes above specified, and thelaws of the United States applicable thereto, saving and excepting suchtracts as have been allotted, reserved, or selected under the lawsherein referred to and such tracts as may be properly selected by theTerritory of Oklahoma under and in accordance with the provisions ofthe act of March 2, 1895, hereinbefore quoted, prior to the time hereinfixed for the opening of said lands to settlement. 

The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenienceparticularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Scheduleof lands within the Kickapoo Reservation, Oklahoma Territory, to beopened to settlement by proclamation of the President;" but notice ishereby given that should any of the lands described in the accompanyingschedule be properly selected by the Territory of Oklahoma under and inaccordance with the provisions of said act of Congress approved March 2, 1895, prior to the time herein fixed for the opening of said lands tosettlement such tracts will not be subject to settlement or entry. 

Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that untilsaid lands are opened to settlement by proclamation no person shall bepermitted to enter upon or occupy the same, and any person violatingthis provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of saidlands or acquire any title thereto. The officers of the United Stateswill be required to enforce this provision. 

And further notice is hereby given that all of said lands lying north ofthe township line between townships 13 and 14 north are now attached tothe Eastern land district, the office of which is at Guthrie, OklahomaTerritory, and all of said lands lying south of the township linebetween townships 13 and 14 north are now attached to the Oklahoma landdistrict, the office of which is at Oklahoma, Oklahoma Territory. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of May, A. D. 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: EDWIN F. UHL, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

A PROCLAMATION

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Walter Q. Gresham, Secretary of State of the United States, is dead. 

The President in making this distressing announcement to hisfellow-countrymen speaks from the depths of a personal affliction toremind them that they too have lost a pure and able public servant, awise and patriotic guardian of all their rights and interests, a manlyand loyal American, and a generous and lovable man. 

As a suitable expression of national bereavement, I direct that thediplomatic representatives of the United States in all foreign countriesdisplay the flags over their embassies and legations at half-mast forten days; that for a like period the flag of the United States bedisplayed at half-mast at all forts and military posts and at all navalstations and on all vessels of the United States. 

I further order that on the day of the funeral the Executive Departmentsin the city of Washington be closed and that on all public buildingsthroughout the United States the national flag be displayed athalf-mast. 

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of May, A. D. 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States of America the one hundred andnineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: EDWIN F. UHL, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the island of Cuba is now the seat of serious civildisturbances, accompanied by armed resistance to the authority of theestablished Government of Spain, a power with which the United Statesare and desire to remain on terms of peace and amity; and

Whereas the laws of the United States prohibit their citizens, as well as all others being within and subject to their jurisdiction, from taking part in such disturbances adversely to such establishedGovernment, by accepting or exercising commissions for warlike serviceagainst it, by enlistment or procuring others to enlist for suchservice, by fitting out or arming or procuring to be fitted out andarmed ships of war for such service, by augmenting the force of any shipof war engaged in such service and arriving in a port of the UnitedStates, and by setting on foot or providing or preparing the means formilitary enterprises to be carried on from the United States against theterritory of such Government:

Now, therefore, in recognition of the laws aforesaid and in discharge ofthe obligations of the United States toward a friendly power, and as ameasure of precaution, and to the end that citizens of the United Statesand all others within their jurisdiction may be deterred from subjectingthemselves to legal forfeitures and penalties, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do hereby admonish all suchcitizens and other persons to abstain from every violation of the lawshereinbefore referred to, and do hereby warn them that all violations ofsuch laws will be rigorously prosecuted; and I do hereby enjoin upon allofficers of the United States charged with the execution of said lawsthe utmost diligence in preventing violations thereof and in bringing totrial and punishment any offenders against the same. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of June, A. D. 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States of America the one hundred andnineteenth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the RevisedStatutes of the United States, relating to copyrights, " that said act"shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nationwhen such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the UnitedStates of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is aparty to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity inthe granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the UnitedStates of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;"and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence ofeither of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the Presidentof the United States by proclamation made from time to time as thepurposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Spainand her provinces and colonial possessions the law permits to citizensof the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as to the subjects of Spain:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditionsspecified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and isfulfilled in respect to the subjects of Spain. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of July, 1895, and of theIndependence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: ALVEY A. ADEE, _Acting Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

The constant goodness and forbearance of Almighty God which have beenvouchsafed to the American people during the year which is just pastcall for their sincere acknowledgment and devout gratitude. 

To the end, therefore, that we may with thankful hearts unite inextolling the loving care of our Heavenly Father, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apartThursday, the 28th day of the present month of November, as a day ofthanksgiving and prayer to be kept and observed by all our people. 

On that day let us forego our usual occupations and in our accustomedplaces of worship join in rendering thanks to the Giver of Every Goodand Perfect Gift for the bounteous returns that have rewarded our laborsin the fields and in the busy marts of trade, for the peace and orderthat have prevailed throughout the land, for our protection frompestilence and dire calamity, and for the other blessings that have beenshowered upon us from an open hand. 

And with our thanksgiving let us humbly beseech the Lord to so inclinethe hearts of our people unto Him that He will not leave us nor forsakeus as a nation, but will continue to us His mercy and protecting care, guiding us in the path of national prosperity and happiness, enduing uswith rectitude and virtue, and keeping alive within us a patriotic lovefor the free institutions which have been given to us as our nationalheritage. 

And let us also on the day of our thanksgiving especially remember thepoor and needy, and by deeds of charity let us show the sincerity of ourgratitude. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of November, A. D. 1895, andin the one hundred and twentieth year of the Independence of the UnitedStates. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas section 17 of the act of August 28, 1894, entitled "An act toreduce taxation, to provide revenue for the Government, and for otherpurposes, " prohibits "the importation of neat cattle and the hides ofneat cattle from any foreign country into the United States;" and

Whereas it is provided by the act of Congress approved March 2, 1895, entitled "An act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculturefor the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896"--

 That whenever the Secretary of Agriculture shall certify to the President of the United States what countries or parts of countries are free from contagious or infectious diseases of domestic animals, and that neat cattle and hides can be imported from such countries without danger to the domestic animals of the United States, the President of the United States may suspend the prohibition of the importation of neat cattle and hides in the manner provided by law. 

And whereas the Secretary of Agriculture has now certified to me thatthe countries of Norway, Sweden, Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, theChannel Islands, and the countries of North, Central, and South America, including Mexico, are so far free from contagious or infectious diseasesof domestic animals that neat cattle may be imported from thosecountries into the United States, under the sanitary regulationsprescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, without danger to thedomestic animals of the United States, and that so far as the countriesabove named, as well as all other countries from which hides areimported into the United States, are concerned, they are so far freefrom contagious or infectious diseases of domestic animals that hides ofneat cattle can be imported from all parts of the world, under properregulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, without dangerto the domestic animals of the United States: Now, therefore, I, GroverCleveland, President of the United States, do hereby suspend theprohibition of the importation of neat cattle from the countries ofNorway, Sweden, Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the countries of North, Central, and South America, includingMexico, and of the hides of neat cattle from all parts of the world; butall importations of neat cattle shall be made under the sanitaryregulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and allimportations of hides shall be made under proper regulations prescribedby the Secretary of the Treasury. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, 1895, and ofthe Independence of the United States of America the one hundred andtwentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, pursuant to section 5 of the act of Congress approved February8, 1887 (24 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 388), entitled "An act to providefor the allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians on the variousreservations and to extend the protection of the laws of the UnitedStates and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes, "certain articles of cession and agreement were made and concluded atthe Nez Percé Agency, Idaho, on the 1st day of May, 1893, by and betweenthe United States of America and the Nez Percé Indians, whereby saidIndians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and conveyed tothe United States all their claim, right, title, and interest to all theunallotted lands set apart as a home for their use and occupation by thesecond article of the treaty between said Indians and the United Statesconcluded June 9, 1863 (14 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 647), and includedin the following boundaries, to wit:

 Commencing at the northeast corner of Lake Wa-ha and running thence northerly to a point on the north bank of the Clearwater River 3 miles below the mouth of the Lapwai; thence down the north bank of the Clearwater to the mouth of the Hatwai Creek; thence due north to a point 7 miles distant; thence eastwardly to a point on the North Fork of the Clearwater 7 miles distant from its mouth; thence to a point on Oro Fino Creek 5 miles above its mouth; thence to a point on the North Fork of the South Fork of the Clearwater 1 mile above the bridge on the road leading to Elk City (so as to include all the Indian farms now within the forks); thence in a straight line westwardly to the place of beginning. 

Saving and excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of eachCongressional township, which shall be reserved for common-schoolpurposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho, and excepting the tractsdescribed in articles 1 and 2 of the agreement, viz:

 The said Nez Percé Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of said reservation, saving and excepting the following-described tracts of lands, which are hereby retained by the said Indians, viz:

 In township 34, range 4 west: Northeast quarter, north half and southeast of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter, north half and east half of southwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section 13; 440 acres. 

 In township 34, range 3 west: Sections 10, 15, 36; 1, 920 acres. 

 In township 33, range 3 west: Section 1; northwest quarter of northeast quarter, north half of northwest quarter, section 12; 760 acres. 

 In township 35, range 2 west: South half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 3; east half, east half of northwest quarter, southwest quarter, section 10; section 11; north half, north half of south half, section 21; east half of northeast quarter, section 20; sections 22, 27, 35; 4, 200 acres. 

 In township 34, range 2 west: North half, southwest quarter, north half and southwest quarter and west half of southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section 13; section 14; north half, section 23; west half of east half and west half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half of southwest quarter, west half of east half and northwest quarter and east half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter, section 24; section 29; 2, 700 acres. 

 In township 33, range 2 west: West half and southeast quarter, section 6; sections 16, 22, 27; north half and north half of south half, section 34; 2, 880 acres. 

 In township 34, range 1 west: West half, section 2; sections 3, 4: north half and southwest quarter, section 8; north half, section 9; north half and north half of southwest quarter, section 18; northwest quarter, section 17; 2, 960 acres. 

 In township 37, range 1 east: Section 20; section 21, less south half of south half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter (10 acres); 1, 270 acres. 

 In township 36, range 1 east: South half of sections 3, 4; sections 1, 12; 1, 920 acres. 

 In township 36, range 2 east: Sections 16, 17, 18, 20; all of section 25 west of boundary line of reservation; sections 26, 27; 4, 240 acres. 

 In township 35, range 2 east: North half of sections 16, 17; section 27; north half of section 34; 1, 600 acres. 

 In township 34, range 2 east: East half and east half of west half of southeast quarter, section 24; 100 acres. 

 In township 34, range 3 east: South half of sections 19, 20; north half, north half of south half, southwest quarter and north half of southeast quarter of southwest quarter, north half of south half of southeast quarter, section 23; north half, north half and north half of southwest quarter and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 24; north half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter, north half of northwest quarter, section 25; south half of northeast quarter of northeast quarter, section 26; section 29; northeast quarter of northeast quarter and south half, section 30; northwest quarter and north half of southwest quarter, section 31, northeast quarter, north half and southeast quarter of northwest quarter, section 32; northwest quarter, north half of southwest quarter, section 33; 3, 700 acres. 

 In township 33, range 4 east: South half of southeast quarter, section 18; northeast quarter and fraction northeast of river in east half of northwest quarter, section 19; fraction west of boundary line of reservation in section 22; west half and southeast quarter of section 35; 1, 440 acres. 

 In township 32, range 4 east: Fraction in west half of northeast quarter of southwest quarter, fraction in northwest quarter of southeast quarter, section 1; section 2; south half of section 6; west half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section 9; 1, 410 acres. 

 In township 31, range 4 east: South half of northeast quarter, southeast quarter of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 17; northwest quarter, section 21; 480 acres. 

 Total, 32, 020 acres. 

 ART. II. It is also stipulated and agreed that the place known as "the boom" on the Clearwater River, near the mouth of Lapwai Creek, shall be excepted from this cession and reserved for the common use of the tribe, with full right of access thereto, and that the tract of land adjoining said boom now occupied by James Moses shall be allotted to him in such manner as not to interfere with such right; also that there shall be reserved from said cession the land described as follows: "Commencing at a point at the margin of Clearwater River, on the south side thereof, which is 300 yards below where the middle thread of Lapwai Creek empties into said river; run thence up the margin of said Clearwater River at low-water mark 900 yards to a point; run thence south 250 yards to a point; thence southwesterly in a line to the southeast corner of a stone building partly finished as a church; thence west 300 yards to a point; thence from said point northerly in a straight line to the point of beginning; and also the adjoining tract of land lying southerly of said tract, on the south end thereof, commencing at the said corner of said church, and at the point 300 yards west thereof and run a line from each of said points, one of said lines running on the east side and the other on the west of said Lapwai Creek, along the foothills of each side of said creek, up the same sufficiently far so that a line being drawn east and west to intersect the aforesaid lines shall embrace within its boundaries, together with the first above-described tract of land, a sufficient quantity of land as to include and comprise 640 acres. "

And excepting the land embraced in the William Craig donation claim, intownship 35 north, range 3 west. (See case of Caldwell _vs. _Robinson, Federal Reporter, vol. 59, p. 653); and

Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of theagreement that any religious society or other organization now occupyingunder proper authority, for religious or educational work among theIndians, any of the lands ceded shall have the right for two years fromthe date of the ratification of this agreement within which to purchasethe land so occupied, at the rate of $3 per acre, the same to be conveyedto such society or organization by patent in the usual form; and

Whereas it is further agreed by article 9 of the agreement that thelands by this agreement ceded, those retained, and those allotted to thesaid Nez Percé Indians shall be subject for a period of twenty-fiveyears to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the introductionof intoxicants into the Indian country, and that the Nez Percé Indianallottees, whether under the care of an Indian agent or not, shall for alike period be subject to all the laws of the United States prohibitingthe sale or other disposition of intoxicants to Indians; and

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, andconfirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (28 U. S. Statutes atLarge, pp. 286-338), section 16--

 That immediately after the issuance and receipt by the Indians of trust patents for the allotted lands, as provided for in said agreement, the lands so ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States shall be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead, town-site, stone and timber, and mining laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho: _Provided_, That each settler on said lands shall before making final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided bylaw, the sum of $3. 75 per acre for agricultural lands, one-half of which shall be paid within three years from the date of original entry, and the sum of $5 per acre for stone, timber, and mineral lands, subject to the regulations prescribed by existing laws; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid. 

And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required bysaid agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentionedand the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands tosettlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, andcomplied with:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentionedand by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of theunallotted and unreserved lands acquired from the Nez Percé Indians bysaid agreement will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacificstandard time) on the 18th day of November, 1895, and not before, beopened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all theconditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained insaid agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the UnitedStates applicable thereto. 

The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenienceparticularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Scheduleof lands within the Nez Percé Indian Reservation, Idaho, to be opened tosettlement by proclamation of the President, " and which schedule is madea part hereof. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, A. D. 1895, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

EXECUTIVE ORDERS. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended by striking outthe whole of the paragraph in section 3, Department of the Interior, relating to the Geological Survey and substituting in lieu thereof thefollowing:

 In the Geological Survey: Geologist, assistant geologist, paleontologist, assistant paleontologist, chief photographer, photographer, chief chemist, chemist, assistant chemist, chief engraver, engraver, assistant engraver, lithographic engraver, map printer, lithographic printer, assistant lithographic printer, map reviser, statistical experts temporarily employed. 

Approved, December 4, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Departmental Rule VII is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection, to be numbered 9:

 The Commission shall certify for transfer and reappointment to any classified non-excepted place in the departmental service, upon the requisition of the head of a Department, any person who at the time of making such requisition is holding an office outside the classified service in any Executive Department at Washington to which he was appointed from a classified place in the departmental service; and upon the requisition of any head of Department the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in the classified service of said Department any such officer who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition, by the abolition of his office or otherwise, has without delinquency or misconduct been separated from said office: _Provided_, That this section shall not authorize the reappointment to the classified service of any such officer or ex-officer who was appointed to his office from an excepted place, unless his appointment to such excepted place was by promotion from a nonexcepted place. 

Approved, December 15, 1894. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 3, 1895_. 

Postal Rule II, clause 5, is amended by striking out paragraph (_e_)and relettering paragraph (_f_) as (_e_), so that as amended the clausewill read:

 5. Exceptions from examination in the classified postal service are hereby made as follows:

 (_a_) Assistant postmaster, or the chief assistant to the postmaster, by whatever designation known. 

 (_b_) One secretary to the postmaster, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department. 

 (_c_) Cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title. 

 (_d_) Assistant cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title. 

 (_e_) Printers and pressmen, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department and employed as such. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 12, 1895_. 

Departmental Rule VII, clause 8, is hereby amended to read as follows:

 In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in any Department which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: _Provided_, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve longer than the period herein prescribed in any one year under such temporary appointment. 

 The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment. 

 Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Postal Rule IV, clause 4, is hereby amended to read as follows:

 4. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in a position within the classified service of any post-office which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, where there is no eligible remaining on the proper register, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: _Provided_, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. 

 The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment. 

 Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

GENERAL RULES. 

General Rule II: Strike out the word "five" in line 1 and insert in lieuthereof the word "six, " and add at the end of the rule a new clause, asfollows:

 6. The classified internal-revenue service. 

General Rule III, section 5: Insert after the word "may" in line 1 thewords "in its discretion, " and after the word "appointment" in line 2the following: "or an applicant who has been guilty of a crime or ofinfamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct. " As amended the sectionwill read:

 5. The Commission may, in its discretion, refuse to examine an applicant who would be physically unable to perform the duties of the place to which he desires appointment or an applicant who has been guilty of a crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct. The reason for any such action shall be entered on the minutes of the Commission. 

Section 9: In line 1 strike out the word "departmental, " and after theword "service" in the same line and in line 2 the words "and theclassified railway mail service. "

General Rule V: In line 2 change the order of words and insert otherwords so as to make the phrase amended read as follows: "and postmastersand customs and internal-revenue officers and custodians of publicbuildings. "

General Rule IV, section 2: Insert after the word "may" in line 1 thewords "in its discretion. "

DEPARTMENTAL RULES. 

Departmental Rule II: In section 1, line 2, after the word "such, "insert the word "other" and strike out the words "supplementary andspecial. " In section 2, line 2, strike out the words "supplementary andspecial" and insert in lieu thereof the word "other. "

Departmental Rule IV: In section 1, after the semicolon following theword "age" in line 4, insert the following: "or for the position ofmessenger or assistant messenger who is not under 18 years of age, orfor the position of page or messenger boy who is not under 14 nor over18 years of age. "

Departmental Rule V: In section 2, paragraph 6, line 1, after the word"postal, " insert the words "internal-revenue. "

Departmental Rule VI: In section 1, line 2, after the word "of, " strikeout the words "special and supplementary" and insert in lieu thereof theword "other. " In section 4, line 7, after the words "clerk-copyist, "insert the words "or the messenger and watchman. " In section 5, line 3, after the word "printing, " insert the words "or for page or messengerboy. "

Departmental Rule VII: In section 3, at the beginning of line 2, beforethe word "register, " insert the words "the messenger or the watchman. "In the second paragraph of the same section, in line 2, after the word"assistant, " insert the words "or page or messenger boy. "

Departmental Rule VIII: In section 1 insert a clause, to be lettered(_c_), as follows:

 (_c_) From a bureau of the Treasury Department in which business relating to the internal revenue is transacted to a classified internal-revenue district, and from such a district to such a bureau in the Treasury Department, upon requisition by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

The remaining clauses of the section to be relettered (_d_) and(_e_), respectively. In section 2, line 2, strike out the letter"_d_" in parentheses and insert in lieu thereof the letter"_e_, " and at the end of the section add the following proviso:

 _Provided_, That a person may be transferred from a place in one Department to a place requiring no higher examination in another Department without examination. 

Departmental Rule IX: Strike out the whole of section 1 and insert inlieu thereof the following:

 1. Until promotion regulations have been applied to a Department under the provisions of section 6 of General Rule III promotions therein may be made as follows:

 (_a_) Any person appointed from the appropriate register to the position of messenger, assistant messenger, watchman, or other subordinate position below the positions of clerk and copyist may at any time after absolute appointment, if not barred by age limitations, be transferred to any other of said subordinate positions, but shall not be promoted to the position of clerk or copyist or to any place the duties of which are clerical: _Provided_, That printers' assistants in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, shall only be eligible for transfer to the grade of operative in that Bureau. 

Strike out sections 2, 3, and 5 and renumber section 4 as 2. 

Approved, March 2, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 18, 1895_. 

Indian Rule IV is amended by adding at the end thereof a new section, toread as follows:

 7. Graduates of Indian normal schools and of normal classes in Indian schools may be employed in the Indian-school service as assistant teachers or day-school teachers without further examination: _Provided_, That certificates of satisfactory proficiency, of good moral character, and of physical soundness, signed by the proper officials, be transmitted at the time of appointment to the Civil Service Commission: _And provided further_, That until the 1st of July, 1896, graduates of the senior classes of Carlisle, Hampton, Lincoln Institute, Chilocco, Haskell Institute, and other Indian schools of equal grade may be included in the provisions of this rule. Such teachers shall become eligible for promotion to advanced positions on presentation to the Civil Service Commission of satisfactory certificates of efficiency and fidelity in their work and of a progressive spirit in their professional interests, signed by their immediate official superiors and by the superintendent of Indian schools, and forwarded with his approval by the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission reserving to itself the right to decide as to the satisfactoriness of such certificates. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 20, 1895_. 

The Executive order dated February 26, 1891, [19] establishing limitsof punishment for enlisted men of the Army, under an act of Congressapproved September 27, 1890, and which was published in General Orders, No. 21, 1891, Headquarters of the Army, is amended so as to prescribe asfollows:

ARTICLE I. 

In all cases of desertion the sentence may include dishonorabledischarge and forfeiture of pay and allowances. 

Subject to the modifications authorized in section 3 of this article, the limit of the term of confinement (at hard labor) for desertion shallbe as follows:

SECTION 1. In case of surrender--

(_a_) When the deserter surrenders himself after an absence of notmore than thirty days, one year. 

(_b_) When the surrender is made after an absence of more thanthirty days, eighteen months. 

SEC. 2. In case of apprehension--

(_a_) When at the time of desertion the deserter shall not havebeen more than six months in the service, eighteen months. 

(_b_) When he shall have been more than six months in the service, two and one-half years. 

SEC. 3. The foregoing limitations are subject to modification under thefollowing conditions:

(_a_) The punishment of a deserter may be increased by one year ofconfinement at hard labor in consideration of each previous convictionof desertion. 

(_b_) The punishment for desertion when joined in by two or moresoldiers in the execution of a conspiracy or for desertion in thepresence of an outbreak of Indians or of any unlawful assemblage whichthe troops may be opposing shall not exceed dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor forfive years. 

ARTICLE II. 

Except as herein otherwise indicated punishments shall not exceed thelimits prescribed in the following table:

Offenses. Limits of punishment. 

_Under seventeenth article of war_. 

Selling horse or arms, or both. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for 3 years. 

Selling accouterments. Four months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Selling clothing. Two months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Losing or spoiling horse or arms Four months' confinement at hard laborthrough neglect. And forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Losing or spoiling accouterments One month's confinement at hardor clothing through neglect. Labor and forfeiture of $10: for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

_Under twentieth article of war_. 

Behaving himself with disrespect Six months' confinement at hard laborto his commanding officer. And forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

_Under twenty-fourth article of war_. 

Refusal to obey or using violence Dishonorable discharge, withto officer or noncommissioned forfeiture of all pay and allowances, officer while quelling quarrels and confinement at hard labor foror disorders. 2 years. 

_Under thirty-first article of war_. 

Lying out of quarters. Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4. 

_Under thirty-second article of war_. 

Absence without leave--[20]

 Less than 1 hour. Forfeiture of $1; corporal, $2; sergeant, $3; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $4. 

 From 1 to 6 hours[21]. Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $5. 

 From 6 to 12 hours. Forfeiture of $3; corporal, $4; sergeant, $6; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $7. 

 From 12 to 24 hours. Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $6; sergeant, $7; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $10. 

 From 24 to 48 hours. Forfeiture of $6 and 5 days' confinement at hard labor; for corporal, forfeiture of $8; sergeant, $10; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $12, or, for all noncommissioned officers, reduction. 

 From 2 to 10 days. Forfeiture of $10 and 10 days' confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

 From 10 to 30 days. Forfeiture of $20 and 1 month's confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

 From 30 to 90 days. Three months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

 For 90 or more than 90 days. Dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances and 6 months' confinement at hard labor. 

_Under thirty-third article of war_. 

Failure to repair at the timefixed, etc. , to the place ofparade for--

 Reveille or retreat roll call Forfeiture of $1; corporal, $2; and 11 p. M. Inspection. Sergeant, $3; first sergeant, $4. 

 Guard detail. Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $8; sergeant, $10. 

 Fatigue detail. } } Dress parade. } } The weekly inspection. } } Target practice. } Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; } sergeant, $5. Drill. } } Guard mounting (by musician). } } Stable duty. }

_Under thirty-eighth article of war_. 

Drunkenness on--

 Guard. Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

 Duty as company cook. Forfeiture of $20. 

 Extra or special duty. } } At drill. } } At target practice. } } Forfeiture of $12; At parade. } for noncommissioned officer, } reduction and forfeiture of $20. At inspection. } } At inspection of company } guard detail. } } At stable duty. }

_Under fortieth article of war_. 

 Quitting guard. Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

_Under fifty-first article of war_. 

 Persuading soldiers to desert. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's confinement at hard labor. 

_Under sixtieth article of war_ Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. 

_Under sixty-second article of war_. 

 Manslaughter. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Assault with intent to kill. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Burglary. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 5 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Forgery. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Perjury. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 False swearing. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Robbery. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 Larceny or embezzlement of property of the value of--[22]

 More than $100. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 $100 or less and more than $50. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 3 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 $50 or less and more than $20. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' confinement at hard labor. 

 $20 or less. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's confinement at hard labor. 

Fraudulent enlistment procured Dishonorable discharge, forfeitureby false representation or of all pay and and allowances, andconcealment of a fact in regard confinement at hard labor for 1 year. To a prior enlistment or dischargeor in regard to conviction ofa civil or military crime. 

Fraudulent enlistment, other Dishonorable discharge, forfeiturecases of. Of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for 6 months. 

Disobedience of orders, involving Six months' confinement at hard laborwillful defiance of the authority and forfeiture of $10 per month forof a noncommissioned officer in the same period; for noncommissionedthe execution of his office. Officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Using threatening or insulting One month's confinement at hardlanguage or behaving in an labor and forfeiture of $10; forinsubordinate manner to a noncommissioned officer, reductionnoncommissioned officer while in addition thereto. In the execution of his office. 

Absence from fatigue duty. Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; sergeant, $6. 

Absence from extra or special duty. Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; sergeant, $6. 

Absence from duty as company or Forfeiture of $10. Hospital cook. 

Introducing liquor into post or Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissionedcamp in violation of standing officer reduction and forfeitureorders. Of $5. 

Drunkenness at post or in quarters. Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissioned officer, reduction and forfeiture of $5. 

Drunkenness and disorderly conduct Forfeiture of $10 and 7 days'causing the offender's arrest confinement at hard labor;and conviction by civil for noncommissioned officer, authorities at a place within reduction and forfeiture of $12. 10 miles of his station. 

Noisy or disorderly conduct in Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $7;quarters. Sergeant, $10. 

Abuse by noncommissioned officer Reduction, 3 months' confinement atof his authority over an inferior. Hard labor, and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. 

Noncommissioned officer Reduction and forfeiture of $5. Encouraging gambling. 

Noncommissioned officer making Reduction, forfeiture of $8, andfalse report. 10 days' confinement at hard labor. 

Sentinel allowing a prisoner Six months' confinement at hard laborunder his charge to escape and forfeiture of $10 per month forthrough neglect. The same period. 

Sentinel willfully suffering Dishonorable discharge, forfeitureprisoner under his charge of all pay and allowances, andto escape. 1 year's confinement at hard labor. 

Sentinel allowing a prisoner Two months' confinement at hard laborunder his charge to obtain and forfeiture of $10 per month forliquor. The same period. 

Sentinel or member of guard Two months' confinement at hard labordrinking liquor with prisoners. And forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. 

Disrespect or affront to a Two months' confinement at hard laborsentinel. And forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Resisting or disobeying sentinel Six months' confinement at hard laborin lawful execution of his duty. And forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

Lewd or indecent exposure of Three months' confinement at hardperson. Labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. 

ARTICLE III. 

SECTION 1. When a soldier shall be convicted of an offense thepunishment for which, as authorized by Article II of this orderor the custom of the service, does not exceed that which an inferiorcourt-martial may award, the punishment so authorized may be increasedby one-half for every previous conviction of one or more offenses withineighteen months preceding the trial and during the current enlistment:_Provided_, That the increase of punishment for five or moreprevious convictions shall not exceed that thus authorized when thereare four previous convictions, and that when one or more of such five ormore previous convictions shall have been by general court-martial orwhen such convictions shall have occurred within one year precedingthe trial the limit of punishment shall be dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor forthree months. 

When the conviction is of an offense punishable under Article II of thisorder or the custom of the service with a greater punishment than aninferior court-martial can award, but not punishable with dishonorabledischarge, the sentence may on proof of five or more previousconvictions within eighteen months and during the current enlistmentimpose dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowancesin addition to the authorized confinement, and when this confinement isless than three months it may be increased to three months. 

When a noncommissioned officer is convicted of an offense not punishablewith reduction, he may, if he shall have been convicted of a militaryoffense within a year and during the current enlistment, be sentenced toreduction in addition to the punishment already authorized. 

SEC. 2. In every case when an offense on trial before a court-martialis of a character admitting of the introduction of evidence of previousconvictions and the accused is convicted the court, after determiningits findings, will be opened for the purpose of ascertaining whetherthere is such evidence, and, if so, of hearing it. These convictionsmust be proved by the records of previous trials or by duly authenticatedorders promulgating the same, except in the cases of conviction bysummary court, when a duly authenticated copy of the record of saidcourt shall be deemed sufficient proof. Charges forwarded to theauthority ordering a general court-martial or submitted to a summary, garrison, or regimental court must be accompanied by the proper evidenceof such previous convictions as may have to be considered in determiningupon a sentence. 

ARTICLE IV. 

When a soldier shall on one arraignment be convicted of two or moreoffenses none of which is punishable under Article II of this order orthe custom of the service with dishonorable discharge, but the aggregateterm of confinement for which may exceed six months, dishonorabledischarge with forfeiture of pay and allowances may be awarded inaddition to the authorized confinement. 

ARTICLE V. 

This order prescribes the _maximum_ limit of punishment for theoffenses named, and this limit is intended for those cases in which theseverest punishment should be awarded. In other cases the punishmentshould be graded down according to the extenuating circumstances. Offenses not herein provided for remain punishable as authorized by theArticles of War and the custom of the service. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Summary courts are subject to the restrictions named in the eighty-thirdarticle of war. Soldiers against whom charges may be preferred for trialby summary court shall not be confined in the guardhouse, but shall beplaced in arrest in quarters before and during trial and while awaitingsentence, except when in particular cases restraint may be necessary. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The following substitutions for punishments named in Article II of thisorder are authorized at the discretion of the court:

Two days' confinement at hard labor for $1 forfeiture; one day'ssolitary confinement on bread and water diet for two days' confinementat hard labor or for $1 forfeiture: _Provided_, That a noncommissionedofficer not sentenced to reduction shall not be subject to confinement:_And provided_, That solitary confinement shall not exceed fourteendays at one time nor be repeated until fourteen days have elapsed, andshall not exceed eighty-four days in one year. Whenever the limit hereinprescribed for an offense or offenses may be brought within thepunishing power of inferior courts-martial, as defined by theeighty-third article of war, by substitution of punishment under theprovisions of this article, the said courts have jurisdiction of suchoffense or offenses. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Noncommissioned officers above the rank of corporal shall not, if theyobject thereto, be brought to trial before regimental, garrison, orsummary courts-martial without the authority of the officer competent toorder their trial by general court-martial, nor shall sergeants of thepost noncommissioned staff or hospital stewards be reduced, but they maybe dishonorably discharged whenever reduction is included in the limitof punishment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 19: See pp. 167-172. ]

[Footnote 20: Upon trial for desertion and conviction of absence withoutleave only, the court may, in addition to the limit prescribed for suchabsence, award a stoppage of the amount paid for apprehension. ]

[Footnote 21: Including first and excluding last. ]

[Footnote 22: In specifications to charges of larceny or embezzlement thevalue of the property shall be stated. ]

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 15, 1895_. 

Whereas on November 2, 1894, Departmental Rule II, section 4, CustomsRule II, section 6, Postal Rule II, section 6, Railway Mail Rule II, section 6, were amended to declare that no person appointed to a placeunder any exception to examination should be transferred from such placeto another place not also excepted from examination; and

Whereas it was not my intention that these several amendments should beretroactive in their effect:

I therefore direct that the word "hereafter" be inserted after the word"person" in the first line of each of said sections as of the date ofsaid amendments, viz, November 2, 1894. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --INTERNAL-REVENUE RULES. 

ADOPTING AND PROMULGATING ORDER. 

MAY 7, 1895. 

In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by theseventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, andthe act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service ofthe United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the President herebymakes and promulgates the following rules concerning the classifiedinternal-revenue service, to be known as the Internal-Revenue Rules:

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE I. 

 The classified internal-revenue service shall include all the clerks, storekeepers, storekeepers and gaugers, and gaugers classified under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE II. 

 1. To test fitness for admission to the classified internal-revenue service, examinations of a practical character shall be provided on such subjects as the Commission may direct. 

 2. The following age limitations shall apply to applicants for the classified internal-revenue service: For clerk, not under 18 years of age; for storekeepers, storekeepers and gaugers, and for gaugers, not under 21 years of age. 

 3. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the secretaries of the several internal-revenue boards of examiners to any person desiring to be examined who applies therefor in person or by letter in his own handwriting. 

 4. The date of reception of each application and also of its approval by the board shall be noted on the application paper. 

 5. Exceptions from examination in the classified internal-revenue service are hereby made as follows:

 6. No person appointed to a place excepted from examination by any internal-revenue rule shall be transferred from such place to another place not also excepted from examination. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE III. 

 1. The Commission shall appoint in each classified internal-revenue district a board of examiners, which shall--

 (_a_) Conduct all examinations for admission to or promotion in the classified service of the internal-revenue district in which the board is located. 

 (_b_) Conduct such other examinations as the Commission may direct. 

 (_c_) Mark the papers of such examinations as the Commission may direct. 

 2. The papers of every examination shall be marked under the direction of the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of 100, according to general average determined by the marks of the examiners. 

 3. Immediately after the general average shall have been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to pass. 

 4. No competitor who has failed to pass an examination and no eligible during the period of his eligibility shall be allowed reexamination unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was, because of illness or other good cause, incapable of doing himself justice; and his rating on such reexamination, if an eligible, shall cancel and be a substitute for his rating on his previous examination. 

 5. All competitors whose claim to preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, has been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined, and the names of all the eligibles shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles. 

 6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their application papers were filed. 

 7. The period of eligibility shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE IV. 

 1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, reduction, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner:

 (_a_) When a vacancy occurs in any district, the collector thereof shall report the fact to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, stating the class in which the vacancy occurs and whether in his judgment the place should be filled. If the Commissioner decides that the good of the public service requires that it be filled, he shall request the secretary of the board of examiners of that district to certify to him the names of persons eligible to the vacant place. 

 (_b_) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the names of the three eligibles highest in grade on the proper register who have not been three times certified shall be certified; but if the request indicates the sex of the eligibles desired the three highest in grade of that sex shall be certified: _Provided_, That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified, according to their grade, before all other eligibles thereon: _Provided further_, That no certification for an appointment shall be made under this clause while there are persons in the district in which any vacancy may exist, who have been removed from the service in that district on account of a reduction of the force or otherwise, who are eligible for reinstatement under Internal-Revenue Rule VII, and who are willing to reenter the service by reinstatement. Every collector of internal revenue shall keep a list of all such persons in his office, and said persons shall have preference for reinstatement to the service in the order of their separation therefrom. 

 (_c_) No eligible shall be certified more than three times. 

 2. Of the three names certified to him the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall select one, and may select more than one if more than one vacancy exists at the time the certification is made. If the vacancy is in the class of clerk, the Commissioner shall certify the name of the person selected by him to the collector of the district in which the vacancy occurs and the collector shall make the appointment. If the vacancy is in the storekeepers', gaugers', or storekeepers and gaugers' class, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall certify the name to the Secretary of the Treasury with his recommendation that the person whose name is thus certified be appointed: _Provided_, That if any objection is made under section 3 of General Rule IV to any eligible certified, and is sustained by the Commission, another eligible shall be certified in the place of the one objected to. 

 3. Each person thus selected for appointment shall be notified, and upon indicating his acceptance shall be appointed for a probationary period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the appointing officer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory to said officer he shall be so notified, and this notification shall be his discharge from the service: _Provided_, That any probationer may be discharged during probation for misconduct or evident unfitness or incapacity. 

 4. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall require the collector under whom a probationer is serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file in the office of the collector, and copies thereof shall be filed with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for such disposition as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. The Civil Service Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which these reports shall be made. 

 5. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in the classified service of any internal-revenue collection district which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and there is no eligible entitled to reinstatement under section 1, clause (_b_), of this rule or remaining on the proper register, such vacancy, if in the class of storekeeper, storekeeper and gauger, or clerk, may be filled without examination and certification by a temporary designation by the collector of the district of some suitable person to perform the duties of the position until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: _Provided_, That service under such temporary designation shall in no case continue longer than six months, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve more than six months in any one year under such temporary designation, the year limitation in regard to such designation to begin to run on the date thereof. 

 Every such temporary designation and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE V. 

 Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to a classified internal-revenue collection district promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Commission: _Provided_, That no employee shall be promoted to any grade he could not enter by appointment under the minimum age limitation applied thereto by section 2 of Internal-Revenue Rule II. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VI. 

 Transfers may be made as follows:

 From one classified internal-revenue collection district to another, from any classified internal-revenue collection district to a bureau in the Treasury Department in which business relating to the internal revenue is transacted, and from such a bureau in the Treasury Department to such a district, upon the requisition of the Secretary of the Treasury and the certification of the Commission, the appointment upon such transfer to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, if the place to be filled by such transfer is that of storekeeper, storekeeper and gauger, or gauger: _Provided_, That no person shall be transferred as herein authorized who is not within the age limitations prescribed by the civil-service rules for the place to which he is to be transferred and who has not been absolutely appointed, or, if appointed without civil-service examination, who has not served six months continuously in the district or bureau from which he is to be transferred. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VII. 

 Upon the requisition of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue the secretary of the board of examiners for his district shall certify for reinstatement in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified service of said district: _Provided_, That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service. 

 INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VIII. 

 Each collector in the classified internal-revenue service shall report to the board of examiners--

 (_a_) Every probational and every absolute appointment and every appointment to an excepted or to an unclassified place in the internal-revenue service under him. 

 (_b_) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every refusal to accept an appointment, (_c_) Every separation from the internal-revenue service under him and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal. 

 (_d_) Every restoration to the internal-revenue service under him. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CUSTOMS RULE IV. 

Customs Rule IV is hereby amended by adding thereto the followingsection, to be numbered 5:

 5. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in the classified service of any customs district which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and there is no eligible remaining on the proper register, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment without examination and certification until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: _Provided_, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment, the year limitation in regard to such appointment to begin to run on the date thereof. 

 Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Approved, May 18, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , May 16, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended as follows:

Include among the places excepted from examination therein thefollowing:

 6. In the Department of Agriculture: The chief of the dairy division. 

Approved, May 24, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND, _President_. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --EXECUTIVE ORDER REVOKED. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24. , 1895_. 

The Executive order heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_c_) that provides for the appointment of four clerks inthe division of accounts and disbursements in the Department ofAgriculture by noncompetitive examination is hereby revoked, andhereafter these positions will be filled through competitiveexamination. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1895_. 

In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph ofsection 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civilservice of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the Secretaryof Agriculture is hereby directed to amend the classification of theDepartment of Agriculture so as to include among the classes coveredthereby clerks, microscopists, assistant microscopists, stock examiners, taggers, agents, and all other employees, except temporary laborers, inthe Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture outsideof Washington, D. C. , all State statistical agents of the Department ofAgriculture outside of Washington, D. C. , and all messengers in theWeather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture outside of Washington, D. C. The classification when so amended shall take effect on July 1, 1895. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1, section 6, is hereby amended bystriking out the whole of said section and substituting therefor thefollowing:

 6. In the Department of Agriculture, in the office of the Secretary: Private secretary to the chief clerk, and wood engravers; scientific or professional experts employed for a period of not exceeding six months outside of Washington, D. C. , in investigations specially authorized by Congress, but no such expert shall be reappointed as an expert unless the United States Civil Service Commission shall certify that such person has passed a suitable examination and is eligible for such appointment. This exception does not include any person to be employed in that Department in Washington, D. C. , nor any person whose duties are not scientific or professional or who is not expert in the particular line of scientific or professional inquiry in which such person is to be employed. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule No. I, clause 3, is hereby amended by addingto the places excepted from examination in the Department of theInterior the following:

 In the Bureau of Education: Specialist in foreign educational systems and specialist in education as a preventive of pauperism and crime. 

Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1895_. 

Section 3 is hereby amended as follows: At the end of clause (_b_)add the following: "nor the cashier, nor the two clerks employed asassistant disbursing clerks in the division of accounts anddisbursements in the Department of Agriculture. "

At the end of clause (_c_) add the following: "but not includingthe disbursing clerk in the division of accounts and disbursements inthe Department of Agriculture. "

At the end of clause (_e_) add the following: "except those of theWeather Bureau and the Bureau of Animal Industry, in the Department ofAgriculture. "

At the end of clause (_f_) add the following: "except all chiefs ofdivision in the Department of Agriculture. "

The section as amended will read:

 3. Exceptions from examination in the classified departmental service are hereby made as follows:

 (_a_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of the head of each classified Department and of each Assistant Secretary thereof, and also of each head of bureau appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

 (_b_) Direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond; but this exception shall not include any officer below the grade of assistant cashier or assistant teller, nor the cashier, nor the two clerks employed as assistant disbursing clerks in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture. 

 (_c_) Disbursing officers who give bonds, but not including the disbursing clerk in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture. 

 (_d_) Persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the Government. 

 (_e_) Chief clerks, except those of the Weather Bureau and of the Bureau of Animal Industry, in the Department of Agriculture. 

 (_f_) Chiefs of division, except all chiefs of division in the Department of Agriculture. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1895_. 

_To the Heads of the Executive Departments_:

As a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Walter Q. Gresham, lateSecretary of State, the President directs that the several ExecutiveDepartments and the Government Printing Office, in the city ofWashington, be closed on Wednesday, the 29th day of May, 1895, the dayof the funeral. 

HENRY T. THURBER, _Private Secretary_. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1895_. 

_It is hereby ordered_, That the several Executive Departments andthe Government Printing Office be closed on Thursday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the gravesof the soldiers and sailors who fell in defense of the Union during theWar of the Rebellion. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE RULES. 

ADOPTING AND PROMULGATING ORDER. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 13, 1895_. 

In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by theseventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, andthe act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service ofthe United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the President herebymakes and promulgates the following rules concerning the classifiedservice of the Government Printing Office, to be known as the GovernmentPrinting Office Rules:

 RULE I. 

 1. The classified service of the Government Printing Office shall include all persons employed in that office. Except those appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and unskilled laborers or workmen, 2. The officers, clerks, and other employees of the Government Printing Office are hereby arranged in the following classes:

 _Class 1_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. 

 _Class 2_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 per annum. 

 _Class 3_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 per annum. 

 _Class 4_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1, 000 per annum. 

 _Class 5_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 000 or more, but less than $1, 200 per annum. 

 _Class 6_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 200 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 200 or more, but less than $1, 400 per annum. 

 _Class 7_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 400 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 400 or more, but less than $1, 600 per annum. 

 _Class 8_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 600 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 600 or more, but less than $1, 800 per annum. 

 _Class 9_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 800 or more or a compensation at the rate of $1, 800 or more, but less than $2, 000 per annum. 

 _Class 10_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $2, 000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $2, 000 or more per annum. 

 RULE II. 

 1. To test fitness for admission to the classified service of the Government Printing Office, examinations of a practical character shall be provided by the Commission. If the trade or occupation is such that a competitive test can not be made, the Commission shall provide regulations for the registration of applicants without competitive tests. 

 2. Any male citizen of the United States not under 21 or over 45 years of age and any female citizen not under 18 or over 35 years of age may be examined for positions in the Government Printing Office. 

 3. No application for a position in the Government Printing Office which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades shall be received from any applicant who has not served at least five years at the particular trade to which the position for which he applies belongs, one year of which service must have been rendered as a journeyman. 

 4. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the Commission, and the date of reception and also of approval by the Commission of each application shall be entered on the application paper. 

 RULE III. 

 1. The grade or standing of every competitor shall be determined under regulations made by the Commission, and each competitor shall be duly notified whether or not he is eligible for appointment. 

 2. No competitor who has failed to obtain an eligible standing shall be admitted to another test within six months from the date of failure unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause. 

 3. No eligible shall be admitted to a test during the period of his eligibility unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause. 

 4. All competitors whose claims of preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes have been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined. The names of all competitors thus rendered eligible shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles. 

 5. The Commission shall establish regulations for the order of certification of applicants who are registered without competitive examinations under the provisions of Rule II, paragraph I. 

 6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which the application papers are filed. 

 7. The period of eligibility to appointment shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register, unless otherwise determined by regulations by the Commission. 

 RULE IV. 

 1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner:

 (_a_) The Public Printer shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of either males or females, or both, eligible to the vacant place. 

 (_b_) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the Commission shall certify from the proper register the names of the three eligibles thereon, of the sex or sexes called for, having the highest averages, who have not been three times certified: _Provided_, That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified according to their grade before all other eligibles thereon: _And provided further_, That if the vacancy is in a position for which a competitive examination can not be provided certification shall be made of the names of the first three eligibles on the register, of the sex or sexes called for, who have not been three times certified. 

 2. Of the three names certified to him the Public Printer shall select one, and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies than one he may select more than one: _Provided_, That if the Public Printer shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certification, stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is good and well founded, direct the certification of another eligible in place of the eligible to whom objection is made. 

 3. When a person designated for appointment shall have reported in person to the Public Printer, he shall be appointed for a probational period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the Public Printer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory he shall be notified that he will not receive absolute appointment, and this notification shall discharge him from the service. The Public Printer shall require the officer under whom the probationer may be serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which they shall be made. 

 4. Any person appointed to a position which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades may upon reporting for appointment be subjected to a practical test under the supervision of a board designated by the Commission, and if he or she fails to attain a general average of 70 per cent on a maximum of 100 per cent he or she shall be rejected for appointment. 

 5. In case of public and pressing exigency, demanding the immediate employment of skilled and experienced workmen who can not be at once supplied in the manner provided for in section 2 of this rule, or by transfer under Rule VI, or reinstatement under Rule VII, there may be employed without examination or certification for a period not to exceed thirty days, which with the consent of the Commission may be extended in periods of thirty days each, any persons who have the requisite knowledge or experience who may be available: _Provided_, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. The year limitation in regard to appointment shall begin to run at the date of the original appointment. Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall be at once reported to the Commission. 

 RULE V. 

 1. Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to the classified service of the Government Printing Office promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the Public Printer if not disapproved by the Commission. 

 RULE VI. 

 1. Transfers may be made as follows:

 (_a_) From a position in the classified service of the Government Printing Office requiring a knowledge of some mechanical trade to a position in any one of the Executive Departments requiring a knowledge of the same mechanical trade, upon requisition from the head of the Department to which the transfer is to be made and the consent of the Public Printer: _Provided_, That a person so transferred shall not be transferred to another position in one of the Executive Departments unless such other position requires a knowledge of the same mechanical trade upon which the original transfer was based, nor until he has served one year in the position to which he was originally transferred. 

 (_b_) From any Executive Department to the classified service of the Government Printing Office upon requisition from the Public Printer and the consent of the head of the Department from which the transfer is to be made. 

 2. No person shall be transferred as herein authorized until after absolute appointment and until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he or she is to be transferred. No person shall be transferred to any place from which he or she may be barred by age limitations for original entrance or by the rules regulating the apportionment of appointments among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia. 

 RULE VII. 

 Upon requisition of the Public Printer the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in the Government Printing Office, in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified service of the Government Printing Office: _Provided_, That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service. 

 RULE VIII. 

 The Public Printer shall report to the Commission--

 (_a_) Every probational and every absolute appointment to the service of the Government Printing Office. 

 (_b_) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every declination of an appointment. 

 (_c_) Every separation from the service of the Government Printing Office and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --EXECUTIVE ORDER WITHDRAWING ENGINEERS AND ASSISTANTENGINEERS FROM THE LIST OF PLACES TO BE FILLED BY NONCOMPETITIVEEXAMINATION. 

So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_c_), as provides for the appointment ofengineers and assistant engineers by noncompetitive examination ishereby revoked, and hereafter engineers and assistant engineers willbe appointed by competitive examination. 

Approved, June 25, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by theseventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, andthe act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service ofthe United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the President herebymakes and promulgates the following rule to cancel and be in lieu ofCustoms Rule V of the Revised Civil-Service Rules:

 CUSTOMS RULE V. 

 1. Until promotion regulations have been applied to a classified customs district the following promotions may be made therein at any time after absolute appointment:

 (_a_) Any employee in any grade, upon any test of fitness determined upon by the nominating officer, to any vacant place in the class next above the one in which he may be serving, except to the positions of weigher and gauger. 

 (_b_) Any employee in any grade may be promoted or transferred to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of examiner after passing the examiner examination, to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of weigher after passing the weigher examination, to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of gauger after passing the gauger examination, or to a vacancy in the lowest class of any other grade than the one in which he may be serving upon passing the examination provided for that grade. 

Approved, July 11, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --CLASSIFICATION OF THE PENSION AGENCIES OF THE INTERIORDEPARTMENT. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1895_. 

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the thirdparagraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate andimprove the civil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to amend theclassification of the Department of the Interior so as to include amongthe employees classified thereunder the officers, clerks, and otheremployees of the pension agencies of said Department. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VIII. 

Section 1, clause (_a_), is hereby amended as follows: Strike outthe period after the word "made" in the second line, insert a semicolon, and add the following:

 But transfers from a pension agency of the Interior Department may be made only as follows: From a pension agency of the Interior Department to the office of the Secretary of the Interior, or of the Assistant Attorney-General for the Interior Department, or to the Pension Office, or from any of the above-named offices to a pension agency, or from one pension agency to another pension agency, upon requisition of the Secretary of the Interior: _Provided_, That a transfer from a pension agency to a position in the Interior Department shall not be made when the person to be transferred would not be eligible to original appointment in the departmental service under the law requiring an apportionment of appointments among the States, Territories, and the District of Columbia according to population. 

The section and clause as amended will read:

 1. Transfers may be made as follows:

 (_a_) From one Department to another, upon requisition by the head of the Department to which the transfer is to be made; but transfers from a pension agency of the Interior Department may be made only as follows: From a pension agency of the Interior Department to the office of the Secretary of the Interior, or of the Assistant Attorney-General for the Interior Department, or to the Pension Office, or from any of the above-named offices to a pension agency, or from one pension agency to another pension agency, upon requisition of the Secretary of the Interior: _Provided_, That a transfer from a pension agency to a position in the Interior Department shall not be made when the person to be transferred would not be eligible to original appointment in the departmental service under the law requiring an apportionment of appointments among the States, Territories, and the District of Columbia according to population. 

Approved, July 15, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE II. 

Section 3, providing for exceptions from examination in the classifieddepartmental service, is hereby amended as follows by the insertion ofclause (_g_):

 One designated clerk at each pension agency (designated to sign official checks for the pension agent). 

Section 4 is hereby amended as follows: In the third line, after theword "examination, " add the following proviso:

 _Provided_, That any person employed in an excepted place in any office or bureau at the time when said office or bureau is brought into the classified service, or any person transferred directly from a nonexcepted to an excepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving, may at any time be directly transferred from such excepted place to any nonexcepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving. 

The section as amended will read:

 4. No person hereafter appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination made by any departmental rule shall be transferred from such place to a place not also excepted from examination: _Provided_, That any person employed in an excepted place in any office or bureau at the time when said office or bureau is brought into the classified service, or any person transferred directly from a nonexcepted to an excepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving, may at any time be directly transferred from such excepted place to any nonexcepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving. 

Approved, July 15, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended by striking out the wholeof the paragraph in section 3, Department of the Interior, relating tothe Geological Survey and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

 In the Geological Survey: Professional experts and special agents employed for short periods at per diem salaries and paid only when actually employed. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

DEPARTMENTAL RULE VII. 

Section 2 is hereby amended as follows: At the end of the section, afterthe word "law, " add the following proviso:

 _Provided_, That appointments to positions at pension agencies shall not be charged to the apportionment. 

The section as amended will read as follows:

 2. Certifications hereunder shall be made in such a manner as to maintain as nearly as possible the apportionment of appointments among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia as required by law: _Provided_, That appointments to positions at pension agencies shall not be charged to the apportionment. 

Section 3, paragraph 2, is hereby amended as follows: In the secondline, after the word "register, " insert the following: "or whencertification is made from any register to fill a vacancy at any pensionagency. "

The paragraph as amended will read:

 When certification is made from a supplementary or special register or the printer's assistant or page and messenger-boy register, or when certification is made from any register to fill a vacancy at any pension agency, and there are more vacancies than one to be filled, the appointing officer may select from the three names certified more than one. 

Section 6 is hereby amended as follows: Strike out the word "and" at thebeginning of line 9, and in line 12, after the word "appointment, "insert the following proviso:

 _And provided further_, That at each pension agency at the time of the quarterly payment of pensions such temporary appointments may be made as the needs of the service may demand for a period not to exceed thirty days, which appointments shall not be extended or renewed until the date of the next quarterly payment of pensions. 

The section as amended will read:

 6. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in any Department which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: _Provided_, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _Provided further_, That no person shall serve longer than the period herein prescribed in any one year under such temporary appointment. The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment: _And provided further_, That at each pension agency at the time of the quarterly payment of pensions such temporary appointments may be made as the needs of the service may demand for a period not to exceed thirty days, which appointments shall not be extended or renewed until the date of the next quarterly payment of pensions. Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission. 

Approved, July 15, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --AMENDMENT OF CLASSIFICATION. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1895_. 

In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph ofsection 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civilservice of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, the heads ofthe several Executive Departments are hereby directed to amend theirseveral classifications so as to include firemen among the employeesclassified thereunder. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1895_. 

Executive orders heretofore issued designating the places to be filledby noncompetitive examination under clause (_c_) of General Rule IIIare hereby amended so as to include among those places in the Departmentof the Interior, in the Geological Survey, the editor and thephotographer. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended by adding to the list ofplaces excepted from examination in the Treasury Department--

 In the Bureau of Immigration: One statistician and stenographer, with power to act as immigrant inspector. 

Approved, July 30, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE RULES. 

Departmental Rule IX, clause 1, paragraph 2, is hereby amended bystriking out in line 1 the words "appointed from the appropriateregister to" and substituting therefor the word "occupying;" by addingbefore the word "messenger" in line 2 the following: "engineers, assistant engineers, firemen;" by striking out in line 3 the words"below the positions of clerk and copyist" and substituting therefor thewords "the educational test for appointment to which is below the gradeof the educational test required for the position of clerk or copyist;"and by adding in line 7, after the words "printers' assistants, " thewords "and skilled helpers. " As amended the paragraph will read asfollows:

 Any person occupying the position of engineer, assistant engineer, fireman, messenger, assistant messenger, watchman, or other subordinate position the educational test for appointment to which is below the grade of the educational test required for the position of clerk or copyist may at any time after absolute appointment, if not barred by age limitations, be transferred to any other of said subordinate positions, but shall not be promoted to the position of clerk or copyist or to any place the duties of which are clerical: _Provided_, That printers' assistants and skilled helpers in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, shall only be eligible for transfer to the grade of operator in that Bureau. 

Approved, August 5, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --EXECUTIVE ORDER WITHDRAWING COMPOSITORS AND PRESSMENFROM THE LIST OF PLACES TO BE FILLED BY NONCOMPETITIVE EXAMINATION. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 16, 1895_. 

So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_c_), as provides for the appointment ofcompositors and pressmen by noncompetitive examination is herebyrevoked, and hereafter compositors and pressmen will be appointed bycompetitive examination. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1895_. 

Government Printing Office Rule II, section 2, is hereby amended byomitting in line 1, after the words "under 21, " the words "or over 45, "and in line 2, after the words "under 18, " the words "or over 35. " Thesection as amended will read as follows:

 2. Any male citizen of the United States not under 21 years of age and any female citizen not under 18 years of age may be examined for positions in the Government Printing Office. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 5, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended by striking out from thelist of places excepted from examination in all the Departments"bookbinders. "

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended to except from examinationin the Department of the Treasury, in the Bureau of Printing andEngraving, forty-three compositors and eight pressmen now temporarilyemployed under authority of the sundry civil act of March 2, 1895, suchemployment to cease prior to March 14, 1896. Vacancies occurring in thisforce shall be filled only by competitive examination under thecivil-service rules. 

Approved, September 16, 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 20, 1895_. 

It being of great importance that the consuls and commercial agents ofthe United States shall possess the proper qualifications for theirrespective positions, to be ascertained either through a satisfactoryrecord of previous actual service under the Department of State orthrough an appropriate examination:

_It is hereby ordered_, That any vacancy in a consulate orcommercial agency now or hereafter existing the salary of which is notmore than $2, 500 nor less than $1, 000, or the compensation of which, ifderived from official fees, exclusive of notarial and other unofficialreceipts, does not exceed $2, 500 nor fall below $1, 000, shall be filled(_a_) by a transfer or promotion from some other position under theDepartment of State of a character tending to qualify the incumbent forthe position to be filled, or (_b_) by appointment of a person notunder the Department of State, but having previously served thereunderto its satisfaction in a capacity tending to qualify him for theposition to be filled, or (_c_) by the appointment of a person who, having furnished the customary evidence of character, responsibility, and capacity, and being thereupon selected by the President forexamination, is found upon such examination to be qualified for theposition. 

For the purposes of this order notarial and unofficial fees shall not beregarded, but the compensation of a consulate or commercial agency shallbe ascertained, if the office is salaried, by reference to the lastpreceding appropriation act, and if the office is not salaried byreference to the returns of official fees for the last preceding fiscalyear. 

The examination hereinbefore provided for shall be by a board of threepersons designated by the Secretary of State, who shall also prescribethe subjects to which such examinations shall relate and the generalmode of conducting the same by the board. 

A vacancy in a consulate will be filled at discretion only when asuitable appointment can not be made in any of the modes indicated inthe second paragraph of this order. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, September 30, 1895_. 

Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield having reached the age entitlinghim to relief from active military service, he is, in accordance withthe provisions of law, hereby placed upon the retired list of the Army, to date September 29, 1895, with all the pay and allowances belongingto his rank upon such retirement. 

It is with much regret that the President makes the announcementthat the country is thus to lose from the command of its Army thisdistinguished general, who has done so much for its honor andefficiency. His gallantry in war challenges the admiration of allhis countrymen, while they will not fail to gratefully remember andappreciate how faithfully he has served his country in times of peaceby his splendid and successful performance of civil as well as militaryduty. 

Lieutenant-General Schofield's career, exhibiting an unvaryinglove for his profession, a jealous care for its honor and good name, a just apprehension of the subordination it exacts, and a constantmanifestation of the best traits of true Americanism, furnishes to theArmy an example of inestimable value, and should teach all our peoplethat the highest soldierly qualities are built upon the keenest senseof the obligations belonging to good citizenship. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 6, 1895_. 

Section 2 of Postal Rule I is hereby amended by inserting after the word"thereto" in line 6 the following:

 And whenever, by order of the Postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the classification act which the Postmaster-General may direct. 

The section as amended shall read as follows:

 2. The classification of the postal service made by the Postmaster-General under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, is hereby extended to all free-delivery post-offices, and hereafter whenever any post-office becomes a free-delivery office the said classification or any then existing classification made by the Postmaster-General under said section and act shall apply thereto; and whenever, by order of the Postmaster-General, any post-office shall be consolidated with and made part of another post-office where free delivery is established, all the employees of the office thus consolidated whose names appear on the roster of said office approved by the Post-Office Department, and including the postmaster thereof, shall from the date of said order be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus consolidated with said free-delivery office may be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation under the classification act which the Postmaster-General may direct; and the Civil Service Commission shall provide examinations to test the fitness of persons to fill vacancies in all free-delivery post-offices, and these rules shall be in force therein; but this shall not include any post-office made an experimental free-delivery office under the authority contained in the appropriation act of March 3, 1891. Every revision of the classification of any post-office under section 6 of the act of January 16, 1883, and every inclusion of a post-office within the classified postal service shall be reported to the President. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 2, 1895_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

The present assemblage of the legislative branch of our Governmentoccurs at a time when the interests of our people and the needs ofthe country give especial prominence to the condition of our foreignrelations and the exigencies of our national finances. The reports ofthe heads of the several administrative Departments of the Governmentfully and plainly exhibit what has been accomplished within the scopeof their respective duties and present such recommendations for thebetterment of our country's condition as patriotic and intelligent laborand observation suggest. 

I therefore deem my executive duty adequately performed at this timeby presenting to the Congress the important phases of our situation asrelated to our intercourse with foreign nations and a statement of thefinancial problems which confront us, omitting, except as they arerelated to these topics, any reference to departmental operations. 

I earnestly invite, however, not only the careful consideration but theseverely critical scrutiny of the Congress and my fellow-countrymen tothe reports concerning these departmental operations. If justly andfairly examined, they will furnish proof of assiduous and painstakingcare for the public welfare. I press the recommendations they containupon the respectful attention of those charged with the duty oflegislation, because I believe their adoption would promote the people'sgood. 

By amendatory tariff legislation in January last the Argentine Republic, recognizing the value of the large market opened to the free importationof its wools under our last tariff act, has admitted certain productsof the United States to entry at reduced duties. It is pleasing to notethat the efforts we have made to enlarge the exchanges of trade on asound basis of mutual benefit are in this instance appreciated by thecountry from which our woolen factories draw their needful supply of rawmaterial. 

The Missions boundary dispute between the Argentine Republic and Brazil, referred to the President of the United States as arbitrator during theterm of my predecessor, and which was submitted to me for determination, resulted in an award in favor of Brazil upon the historical anddocumentary evidence presented, thus ending a long-protractedcontroversy and again demonstrating the wisdom and desirability ofsettling international boundary disputes by recourse to friendlyarbitration. 

Negotiations are progressing for a revival of the United States andChilean Claims Commission, whose work was abruptly terminated last yearby the expiration of the stipulated time within which awards could bemade. 

The resumption of specie payments by Chile is a step of great interestand importance both in its direct consequences upon her own welfare andas evincing the ascendency of sound financial principles in one of themost influential of the South American Republics. 

The close of the momentous struggle between China and Japan, whilerelieving the diplomatic agents of this Government from the delicateduty they undertook at the request of both countries of rendering suchservice to the subjects of either belligerent within the territoriallimits of the other as our neutral position permitted, developeda domestic condition in the Chinese Empire which has caused muchanxiety and called for prompt and careful attention. Either as aresult of a weak control by the central Government over the provincialadministrations, following a diminution of traditional governmentalauthority under the stress of an overwhelming national disaster, or asa manifestation upon good opportunity of the aversion of the Chinesepopulation to all foreign ways and undertakings, there have occurredin widely separated provinces of China serious outbreaks of the oldfanatical spirit against foreigners, which, unchecked by the localauthorities, if not actually connived at by them, have culminated inmob attacks on foreign missionary stations, causing much destruction ofproperty and attended with personal injuries as well as loss of life. 

Although but one American citizen was reported to have been actuallywounded, and although the destruction of property may have fallen moreheavily upon the missionaries of other nationalities than our own, itplainly behooved this Government to take the most prompt and decidedaction to guard against similar or perhaps more dreadful calamitiesbefalling the hundreds of American mission stations which have grown upthroughout the interior of China under the temperate rule of toleration, custom, and imperial edict. The demands of the United States and otherpowers for the degradation and punishment of the responsible officialsof the respective cities and provinces who by neglect or otherwise hadpermitted uprisings, and for the adoption of stern measures by theEmperor's Government for the protection of the life and property offoreigners, were followed by the disgrace and dismissal of certainprovincial officials found derelict in duty and the punishment by deathof a number of those adjudged guilty of actual participation in theoutrages. 

This Government also insisted that a special American commission shouldvisit the province where the first disturbances occurred for the purposeof investigation. The latter commission, formed after much opposition, has gone overland from Tientsin, accompanied by a suitable Chineseescort, and by its demonstration of the readiness and ability of ourGovernment to protect its citizens will act, it is believed, as a mostinfluential deterrent of any similar outbreaks. 

The energetic steps we have thus taken are all the more likely toresult in future safety to our citizens in China because the ImperialGovernment is, I am persuaded, entirely convinced that we desire onlythe liberty and protection of our own citizens and redress for anywrongs they may have suffered, and that we have no ulterior designs orobjects, political or otherwise. China will not forget either our kindlyservice to her citizens during her late war nor the further fact that, while furnishing all the facilities at our command to further thenegotiation of a peace between her and Japan, we sought no advantagesand interposed no counsel. 

The Governments of both China and Japan have, in special dispatchestransmitted through their respective diplomatic representatives, expressed in a most pleasing manner their grateful appreciation of ourassistance to their citizens during the unhappy struggle and of thevalue of our aid in paving the way to their resumption of peacefulrelations. 

The customary cordial relations between this country and France havebeen undisturbed, with the exception that a full explanation of thetreatment of John L. Waller by the expeditionary military authoritiesof France still remains to be given. Mr. Waller, formerly United Statesconsul at Tamatav, remained in Madagascar after his term of officeexpired, and was apparently successful in procuring business concessionsfrom the Hovas of greater or less value. After the occupation of Tamatavand the declaration of martial law by the French he was arrested uponvarious charges, among them that of communicating military informationto the enemies of France, was tried and convicted by a militarytribunal, and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. 

Following the course justified by abundant precedents, this Governmentrequested from that of France the record of the proceedings of theFrench tribunal which resulted in Mr. Waller's condemnation. Thisrequest has been complied with to the extent of supplying a copy of theofficial record, from which appear the constitution and organization ofthe court, the charges as formulated, and the general course and resultof the trial, and by which it is shown that the accused was tried inopen court and was defended by counsel; but the evidence adduced insupport of the charges, which was not received by the French ministerfor foreign affairs till the first week in October, has thus far beenwithheld, the French Government taking the ground that its production inresponse to our demand would establish a bad precedent. The efforts ofour ambassador to procure it, however, though impeded by recent changesin the French ministry, have not been relaxed, and it is confidentlyexpected that some satisfactory solution of the matter will shortly bereached. Meanwhile it appears that Mr. Waller's confinement has everyalleviation which the state of his health and all the othercircumstances of the case demand or permit. 

In agreeable contrast to the difference above noted respecting a matterof common concern, where nothing is sought except such a mutuallysatisfactory outcome as the true merits of the case require, is therecent resolution of a permanent treaty of arbitration between the twocountries. 

An invitation has been extended by France to the Government and peopleof the United States to participate in a great international expositionat Paris in 1900 as a suitable commemoration of the close of this theworld's marvelous century of progress. I heartily recommend itsacceptance, together with such legislation as will adequately providefor a due representation of this Government and its people on theoccasion. 

Our relations with the States of the German Empire are in some aspectstypical of a condition of things elsewhere found in countries whoseproductions and trade are similar to our own. The close rivalries ofcompeting industries; the influence of the delusive doctrine that theinternal development of a nation is promoted and its wealth increasedby a policy which, in undertaking to reserve its home markets for theexclusive use of its own producers, necessarily obstructs their salesin foreign markets and prevents free access to the products of theworld; the desire to retain trade in time-worn ruts, regardless ofthe inexorable laws of new needs and changed conditions of demand andsupply, and our own halting tardiness in inviting a freer exchange ofcommodities, and by this means imperiling our footing in the externalmarkets naturally open to us, have created a situation somewhatinjurious to American export interests, not only in Germany, where theyare perhaps most noticeable, but in adjacent countries. The exportsaffected are largely American cattle and other food products, the reasonassigned for unfavorable discrimination being that their consumption isdeleterious to the public health. This is all the more irritating inview of the fact that no European state is as jealous of the excellenceand wholesomeness of its exported food supplies as the United States, nor so easily able, on account of inherent soundness, to guarantee thosequalities. 

Nor are these difficulties confined to our food products designed forexportation. Our great insurance companies, for example, having builtup a vast business abroad and invested a large share of their gains inforeign countries in compliance with the local laws and regulations thenexisting, now find themselves within a narrowing circle of onerous andunforeseen conditions, and are confronted by the necessity of retirementfrom a field thus made unprofitable, if, indeed, they are not summarilyexpelled, as some of them have lately been from Prussia. 

It is not to be forgotten that international trade can not be one-sided. Its currents are alternating, and its movements should be honestlyreciprocal. Without this it almost necessarily degenerates into a deviceto gain advantage or a contrivance to secure benefits with only thesemblance of a return. In our dealings with other nations we oughtto be open-handed and scrupulously fair. This should be our policyas a producing nation, and it plainly becomes us as a people who lovegenerosity and the moral aspects of national good faith and reciprocalforbearance. 

These considerations should not, however, constrain us to submit tounfair discrimination nor to silently acquiesce in vexatious hindrancesto the enjoyment of our share of the legitimate advantages of propertrade relations. If an examination of the situation suggests suchmeasures on our part as would involve restrictions similar to those fromwhich we suffer, the way to such a course is easy. It should, however, by no means be lightly entered upon, since the necessity for theinauguration of such a policy would be regretted by the best sentimentof our people and because it naturally and logically might lead toconsequences of the gravest character. 

I take pleasure in calling to your attention the encomiums bestowed onthose vessels of our new Navy which took part in the notable ceremony ofthe opening of the Kiel Canal. It was fitting that this extraordinaryachievement of the newer German nationality should be celebrated in thepresence of America's exposition of the latest developments of theworld's naval energy. 

Our relations with Great Britain, always intimate and important, havedemanded during the past year even a greater share of consideration thanis usual. 

Several vexatious questions were left undetermined by the decision ofthe Bering Sea Arbitration Tribunal. The application of the principleslaid down by that august body has not been followed by the results theywere intended to accomplish, either because the principles themselveslacked in breadth and definiteness or because their execution has beenmore or less imperfect. Much correspondence has been exchanged betweenthe two Governments on the subject of preventing the exterminatingslaughter of seals. The insufficiency of the British patrol of BeringSea under the regulations agreed on by the two Governments has beenpointed out, and yet only two British ships have been on police dutyduring this season in those waters. 

The need of a more effective enforcement of existing regulations as wellas the adoption of such additional regulations as experience has shownto be absolutely necessary to carry out the intent of the award havebeen earnestly urged upon the British Government, but thus far withouteffective results. In the meantime the depletion of the seal herds bymeans of pelagic hunting has so alarmingly progressed that unless theirslaughter is at once effectively checked their extinction within a fewyears seems to be a matter of absolute certainty. 

The understanding by which the United States was to pay and GreatBritain to receive a lump sum of $425, 000 in full settlement ofall British claims for damages arising from our seizure of Britishsealing vessels unauthorized under the award of the Paris Tribunal ofArbitration was not confirmed by the last Congress, which declined tomake the necessary appropriation. I am still of the opinion that thisarrangement was a judicious and advantageous one for the Government, and I earnestly recommend that it be again considered and sanctioned. If, however, this does not meet with the favor of Congress, it certainlywill hardly dissent from the proposition that the Government is bound byevery consideration of honor and good faith to provide for the speedyadjustment of these claims by arbitration as the only other alternative. A treaty of arbitration has therefore been agreed upon, and will beimmediately laid before the Senate, so that in one of the modessuggested a final settlement may be reached. 

Notwithstanding that Great Britain originated the proposal to enforceinternational rules for the prevention of collisions at sea, based onthe recommendations of the Maritime Conference of Washington, andconcurred in, suggesting March 11, 1895, as the date to be set byproclamation for carrying these rules into general effect, Her Majesty'sGovernment, having encountered opposition on the part of Britishshipping interests, announced its inability to accept that date, whichwas consequently canceled. The entire matter is still in abeyance, without prospect of a better condition in the near future. 

The commissioners appointed to mark the international boundary inPassamaquoddy Bay according to the description of the treaty of Ghenthave not yet fully agreed. 

The completion of the preliminary survey of that Alaskan boundary whichfollows the contour of the coast from the southernmost point of Princeof Wales Island until it strikes the one hundred and forty-firstmeridian at or near the summit of Mount St. Elias awaits furthernecessary appropriation, which is urgently recommended. This survey wasundertaken under the provisions of the convention entered into by thiscountry and Great Britain July 22, 1892, and the supplementaryconvention of February 3, 1894. 

As to the remaining section of the Alaskan boundary, which follows theone hundred and forty-first meridian northwardly from Mount St. Eliasto the Frozen Ocean, the settlement of which involves the physicallocation of the meridian mentioned, no conventional agreement has yetbeen made. The ascertainment of a given meridian at a particular pointis a work requiring much time and careful observations and surveys. Such observations and surveys were undertaken by the United States Coastand Geodetic Survey in 1890 and 1891, while similar work in the samequarters, under British auspices, is believed to give nearly coincidentresults; but these surveys have been independently conducted, and nointernational agreement to mark those or any other parts of the onehundred and forty-first meridian by permanent monuments has yet beenmade. In the meantime the valley of the Yukon is becoming a highwaythrough the hitherto unexplored wilds of Alaska, and abundant mineralwealth has been discovered in that region, especially at or near thejunction of the boundary meridian with the Yukon and its tributaries. Inthese circumstances it is expedient, and, indeed, imperative, that thejurisdictional limits of the respective Governments in this new regionbe speedily determined. Her Britannic Majesty's Government has proposeda joint delimitation of the one hundred and forty-first meridian by aninternational commission of experts, which, if Congress will authorizeit and make due provision therefor, can be accomplished with nounreasonable delay. It is impossible to overlook the vital importance ofcontinuing the work already entered upon and supplementing it by furthereffective measures looking to the exact location of this entire boundaryline. 

I call attention to the unsatisfactory delimitation of the respectivejurisdictions of the United States and the Dominion of Canada in theGreat Lakes at the approaches to the narrow waters that connect them. The waters in question are frequented by fishermen of both nationalitiesand their nets are there used. Owing to the uncertainty and ignorance asto the true boundary, vexatious disputes and injurious seizures of boatsand nets by Canadian cruisers often occur, while any positive settlementthereof by an accepted standard is not easily to be reached. A jointcommission to determine the line in those quarters on a practical basis, by measured courses following range marks on shore, is a necessity forwhich immediate provision should be made. 

It being apparent that the boundary dispute between Great Britain andthe Republic of Venezuela concerning the limits of British Guiana wasapproaching an acute stage, a definite statement of the interest andpolicy of the United States as regards the controversy seemed to berequired both on its own account and in view of its relations with thefriendly powers directly concerned. In July last, therefore, a dispatchwas addressed to our ambassador at London for communication to theBritish Government in which the attitude of the United States was fullyand distinctly set forth. The general conclusions therein reached andformulated are in substance that the traditional and established policyof this Government is firmly opposed to a forcible increase by anyEuropean power of its territorial possessions on this continent; thatthis policy is as well founded in principle as it is strongly supportedby numerous precedents; that as a consequence the United States is boundto protest against the enlargement of the area of British Guiana inderogation of the rights and against the will of Venezuela; thatconsidering the disparity in strength of Great Britain and Venezuelathe territorial dispute between them can be reasonably settled onlyby friendly and impartial arbitration, and that the resort to sucharbitration should include the whole controversy, and is not satisfiedif one of the powers concerned is permitted to draw an arbitrary linethrough the territory in debate and to declare that it will submit toarbitration only the portion lying on one side of it. In view of theseconclusions, the dispatch in question called upon the British Governmentfor a definite answer to the question whether it would or would notsubmit the territorial controversy between itself and Venezuela in itsentirety to impartial arbitration. The answer of the British Governmenthas not yet been received, but is expected shortly, when furthercommunication on the subject will probably be made to the Congress. 

Early in January last an uprising against the Government of Hawaii waspromptly suppressed. Martial law was forthwith proclaimed and numerousarrests were made of persons suspected of being in sympathy with theRoyalist party. Among these were several citizens of the United States, who were either convicted by a military court and sentenced to death, imprisonment, or fine or were deported without trial. The United States, while denying protection to such as had taken the Hawaiian oath ofallegiance, insisted that martial law, though altering the forms ofjustice, could not supersede justice itself, and demanded stay ofexecution until the proceedings had been submitted to this Governmentand knowledge obtained therefrom that our citizens had received fairtrial. The death sentences were subsequently commuted or were remittedon condition of leaving the islands. The cases of certain Americansarrested and expelled by arbitrary order without formal charge or trialhave had attention, and in some instances have been found to justifyremonstrance and a claim for indemnity, which Hawaii has not thus farconceded. 

Mr. Thurston, the Hawaiian minister, having furnished this Governmentabundant reason for asking that he be recalled, that course was pursued, and his successor has lately been received. 

The deplorable lynching of several Italian laborers in Colorado wasnaturally followed by international representations, and I am happy tosay that the best efforts of the State in which the outrages occurredhave been put forth to discover and punish the authors of this atrociouscrime. The dependent families of some of the unfortunate victims inviteby their deplorable condition gracious provision for their needs. 

These manifestations against helpless aliens may be traced throughsuccessive stages to the vicious _padroni_ system, which, uncheckedby our immigration and contract-labor statutes, controls these workersfrom the moment of landing on our shores and farms them out in distantand often rude regions, where their cheapening competition in the fieldsof bread-winning toil brings them into collision with other laborinterests. While welcoming, as we should, those who seek our shores tomerge themselves in our body politic and win personal competence byhonest effort, we can not regard such assemblages of distinctively alienlaborers, hired out in the mass to the profit of alien speculators andshipped hither and thither as the prospect of gain may dictate, asotherwise than repugnant to the spirit of our civilization, deterrentto individual advancement, and hindrances to the building up of stablecommunities resting upon the wholesome ambitions of the citizen andconstituting the prime factor in the prosperity and progress of ournation. If legislation can reach this growing evil, it certainly shouldbe attempted. 

Japan has furnished abundant evidence of her vast gain in every traitand characteristic that constitutes a nation's greatness. We have reasonfor congratulation in the fact that the Government of the United States, by the exchange of liberal treaty stipulations with the new Japan, wasthe first to recognize her wonderful advance and to extend to her theconsideration and confidence due to her national enlightenment andprogressive character. 

The boundary dispute which lately threatened to embroil Guatemala andMexico has happily yielded to pacific counsels, and its determinationhas, by the joint agreement of the parties, been submitted to the solearbitration of the United States minister to Mexico. 

The commission appointed under the convention of February 18, 1889, toset new monuments along the boundary between the United States andMexico has completed its task. 

As a sequel to the failure of a scheme for the colonization in Mexicoof negroes, mostly immigrants from Alabama under contract, a greatnumber of these helpless and suffering people, starving and smittenwith contagious disease, made their way or were assisted to thefrontier, where, in wretched plight, they were quarantined by the Texasauthorities. Learning of their destitute condition, I directed rationsto be temporarily furnished them through the War Department. At theexpiration of their quarantine they were conveyed by the railwaycompanies at comparatively nominal rates to their homes in Alabama, uponmy assurance, in the absence of any fund available for the cost of theirtransportation, that I would recommend to Congress an appropriation forits payment. I now strongly urge upon Congress the propriety of makingsuch an appropriation. It should be remembered that the measures takenwere dictated not only by sympathy and humanity, but by a convictionthat it was not compatible with the dignity of this Government that solarge a body of our dependent citizens should be thrown for relief uponthe charity of a neighboring state. 

In last year's message I narrated at some length the jurisdictionalquestions then freshly arisen in the Mosquito Indian Strip of Nicaragua. Since that time, by the voluntary act of the Mosquito Nation, theterritory reserved to them has been incorporated with Nicaragua, theIndians formally subjecting themselves to be governed by the generallaws and regulations of the Republic instead of by their own customs andregulations, and thus availing themselves of a privilege secured to themby the treaty between Nicaragua and Great Britain of January 28, 1860. 

After this extension of uniform Nicaraguan administration to theMosquito Strip, the case of the British vice-consul, Hatch, and ofseveral of his countrymen who had been summarily expelled from Nicaraguaand treated with considerable indignity provoked a claim by GreatBritain upon Nicaragua for pecuniary indemnity, which, upon Nicaragua'srefusal to admit liability, was enforced by Great Britain. While thesovereignty and jurisdiction of Nicaragua was in no way questioned byGreat Britain, the former's arbitrary conduct in regard to Britishsubjects furnished the ground for this proceeding. 

A British naval force occupied without resistance the Pacific seaportof Corinto, but was soon after withdrawn upon the promise that the sumdemanded would be paid. Throughout this incident the kindly offices ofthe United States were invoked and were employed in favor of as peacefula settlement and as much consideration and indulgence toward Nicaraguaas were consistent with the nature of the case. Our efforts have sincebeen made the subject of appreciative and grateful recognition byNicaragua. 

The coronation of the Czar of Russia at Moscow in May next invites theceremonial participation of the United States, and in accordance withusage and diplomatic propriety our minister to the imperial court hasbeen directed to represent our Government on the occasion. 

Correspondence is on foot touching the practice of Russian consulswithin the jurisdiction of the United States to interrogate citizens asto their race and religious faith, and upon ascertainment thereof todeny to Jews authentication of passports or legal documents for use inRussia. Inasmuch as such a proceeding imposes a disability which in thecase of succession to property in Russia may be found to infringe thetreaty rights of our citizens, and which is an obnoxious invasion ofour territorial jurisdiction, it has elicited fitting remonstrance, theresult of which, it is hoped, will remove the cause of complaint. Thepending claims of sealing vessels of the United States seized in Russianwaters remain unadjusted. Our recent convention with Russia establishinga _modus vivendi_ as to imperial jurisdiction in such cases hasprevented further difficulty of this nature. 

The Russian Government has welcomed in principle our suggestion for a_modus vivendi_, to embrace Great Britain and Japan, looking to thebetter preservation of seal life in the North Pacific and Bering Sea andthe extension of the protected area defined by the Paris Tribunal to allPacific waters north of the thirty-fifth parallel. It is especiallynoticeable that Russia favors prohibition of the use of firearms in sealhunting throughout the proposed area and a longer closed season forpelagic sealing. 

In my last two annual messages I called the attention of the Congressto the position we occupied as one of the parties to a treaty oragreement by which we became jointly bound with England and Germanyto so interfere with the government and control of Samoa as in effectto assume the management of its affairs. [23] On the 9th day of May, 1894, I transmitted to the Senate a special message, [24] with accompanyingdocuments, giving information on the subject and emphasizing the opinionI have at all times entertained, that our situation in this matter wasinconsistent with the mission and traditions of our Government, inviolation of the principles we profess, and in all its phasesmischievous and vexatious. 

I again press this subject upon the attention of the Congress and askfor such legislative action or expression as will lead the way to ourrelief from obligations both irksome and unnatural. 

Cuba is again gravely disturbed. An insurrection in some respects moreactive than the last preceding revolt, which continued from 1868 to1878, now exists in a large part of the eastern interior of the island, menacing even some populations on the coast. Besides deranging thecommercial exchanges of the island, of which our country takes thepredominant share, this flagrant condition of hostilities, by arousingsentimental sympathy and inciting adventurous support among our people, has entailed earnest effort on the part of this Government to enforceobedience to our neutrality laws and to prevent the territory of theUnited States from being abused as a vantage ground from which to aidthose in arms against Spanish sovereignty. 

Whatever may be the traditional sympathy of our countrymen asindividuals with a people who seem to be struggling for larger autonomyand greater freedom, deepened, as such sympathy naturally must be, inbehalf of our neighbors, yet the plain duty of their Government is toobserve in good faith the recognized obligations of internationalrelationship. The performance of this duty should not be made moredifficult by a disregard on the part of our citizens of the obligationsgrowing out of their allegiance to their country, which should restrainthem from violating as individuals the neutrality which the nation ofwhich they are members is bound to observe in its relations to friendlysovereign states. Though neither the warmth of our people's sympathywith the Cuban insurgents, nor our loss and material damage consequentupon the futile endeavors thus far made to restore peace and order, norany shock our humane sensibilities may have received from the crueltieswhich appear to especially characterize this sanguinary and fiercelyconducted war, have in the least shaken the determination of theGovernment to honestly fulfill every international obligation, yet itis to be earnestly hoped on every ground that the devastation of armedconflict may speedily be stayed and order and quiet restored to thedistracted island, bringing in their train the activity and thrift ofpeaceful pursuits. 

One notable instance of interference by Spain with passing Americanships has occurred. On March 8 last the _Allianca_, while boundfrom Colon to New York, and following the customary track for vesselsnear the Cuban shore, but outside the 3-mile limit, was fired upon by aSpanish gunboat. Protest was promptly made by the United States againstthis act as not being justified by a state of war, nor permissible inrespect of vessels on the usual paths of commerce, nor tolerable inview of the wanton peril occasioned to innocent life and property. The act was disavowed, with full expression of regret and assuranceof nonrecurrence of such just cause of complaint, while the offendingofficer was relieved of his command. Military arrests of citizens of theUnited States in Cuba have occasioned frequent reclamations. Where heldon criminal charges their delivery to the ordinary civil jurisdictionfor trial has been demanded and obtained in conformity with treatyprovisions, and where merely detained by way of military precautionunder a proclaimed state of siege, without formulated accusation, theirrelease or trial has been insisted upon. The right of American consularofficers in the island to prefer protests and demands in such caseshaving been questioned by the insular authority, their enjoyment of theprivilege stipulated by treaty for the consuls of Germany was claimedunder the most-favored-nation provision of our own convention and waspromptly recognized. 

The long-standing demand of Antonio Maximo Mora against Spain has atlast been settled by the payment, on the 14th of September last, of thesum originally agreed upon in liquidation of the claim. Its distributionamong the parties entitled to receive it has proceeded as rapidly as therights of those claiming the fund could be safely determined. 

The enforcement of differential duties against products of this countryexported to Cuba and Puerto Rico prompted the immediate claim on ourpart to the benefit of the minimum tariff of Spain in return for themost favorable treatment permitted by our laws as regards the productionof Spanish territories. A commercial arrangement was concluded inJanuary last securing the treatment so claimed. 

Vigorous protests against excessive fines imposed on our ships andmerchandise by the customs officers of these islands for trivial errorshave resulted in the remission of such fines in instances where theequity of the complaint was apparent, though the vexatious practice hasnot been wholly discontinued. 

Occurrences in Turkey have continued to excite concern. The reportedmassacres of Christians in Armenia and the development there and inother districts of a spirit of fanatic hostility to Christian influencesnaturally excited apprehension for the safety of the devoted men andwomen who, as dependents of the foreign missionary societies in theUnited States, reside in Turkey under the guaranty of law and usageand in the legitimate performance of their educational and religiousmission. No efforts have been spared in their behalf, and theirprotection in person and property has been earnestly and vigorouslyenforced by every means within our power. 

I regret, however, that an attempt on our part to obtain betterinformation concerning the true condition of affairs in the disturbedquarter of the Ottoman Empire by sending thither the United Statesconsul at Sivas to make investigation and report was thwarted by theobjections of the Turkish Government. This movement on our part was inno sense meant as a gratuitous entanglement of the United States in theso-called Eastern question nor as an officious interference with theright and duty which belong by treaty to certain great European powerscalling for their intervention in political matters affecting the goodgovernment and religious freedom of the non-Mussulman subjects of theSultan, but it arose solely from our desire to have an accurateknowledge of the conditions in our efforts to care for those entitledto our protection. 

The presence of our naval vessels which are now in the vicinity of thedisturbed localities affords opportunities to acquire a measure offamiliarity with the condition of affairs and will enable us to takesuitable steps for the protection of any interests of our countrymenwithin reach of our ships that might be found imperiled. 

The Ottoman Government has lately issued an imperial _irade_exempting forever from taxation an American college for girls atScutari. Repeated assurances have also been obtained by our envoy atConstantinople that similar institutions maintained and administered byour countrymen shall be secured in the enjoyment of all rights and thatour citizens throughout the Empire shall be protected. 

The Government, however, in view of existing facts, is far from relyingupon such assurances as the limit of its duty. Our minister has beenvigilant and alert in affording all possible protection in individualcases where danger threatened or safety was imperiled. We have sentships as far toward the points of actual disturbance as it is possiblefor them to go, where they offer refuge to those obliged to flee, and wehave the promise of other powers which have ships in the neighborhoodthat our citizens as well as theirs will be received and protected onboard those ships. On the demand of our minister orders have been issuedby the Sultan that Turkish soldiers shall guard and escort to the coastAmerican refugees. 

These orders have been carried out, and our latest intelligencegives assurance of the present personal safety of our citizens andmissionaries. Though thus far no lives of American citizens have beensacrificed, there can be no doubt that serious loss and destruction ofmission property have resulted from riotous conflicts and outrageousattacks. 

By treaty several of the most powerful European powers have secured aright and have assumed a duty not only in behalf of their own citizensand in furtherance of their own interests, but as agents of theChristian world. Their right is to enforce such conduct of Turkishgovernment as will restrain fanatical brutality, and if this fails theirduty is to so interfere as to insure against such dreadful occurrencesin Turkey as have lately shocked civilization. The powers declare thisright and this duty to be theirs alone, and it is earnestly hoped thatprompt and effective action on their part will not be delayed. 

The new consulates at Erzerum and Harpoot, for which appropriation wasmade last session, have been provisionally filled by trusted employeesof the Department of State. These appointees, though now in Turkey, havenot yet received their exequaturs. 

The arbitration of the claim of the Venezuela Steam TransportationCompany under the treaty of January 19, 1892, between the United Statesand Venezuela, resulted in an award in favor of the claimant. 

The Government has used its good offices toward composing thedifferences between Venezuela on the one hand and France and Belgium onthe other growing out of the dismissal of the representatives of thosepowers on the ground of a publication deemed offensive to Venezuela. Although that dismissal was coupled with a cordial request that othermore personally agreeable envoys be sent in their stead, a rupture ofintercourse ensued and still continues. 

In view of the growth of our interests in foreign countries and theencouraging prospects for a general expansion of our commerce, thequestion of an improvement in the consular service has increased inimportance and urgency. Though there is no doubt that the great bodyof consular officers are rendering valuable services to the trade andindustries of the country, the need of some plan of appointment andcontrol which would tend to secure a higher average of efficiency cannot be denied. 

The importance of the subject has led the Executive to consider whatsteps might properly be taken without additional legislation to answerthe need of a better system of consular appointments. The matter havingbeen committed to the consideration of the Secretary of State, inpursuance of his recommendations an Executive order was issued on the20th of September, 1895, [25] by the terms of which it is provided thatafter that date any vacancy in a consulate or commercial agency with anannual salary or compensation from official fees of not more than $2, 500or less than $1, 000 should be filled either by transfer or promotionfrom some other position under the Department of State of a charactertending to qualify the incumbent for the position to be filled, or bythe appointment of a person not under the Department of State, buthaving previously served thereunder and shown his capacity and fitnessfor consular duty, or by the appointment of a person who, having beenselected by the President and sent to a board for examination, is foundupon such examination to be qualified for the position. Posts which payless than $1, 000 being usually, on account of their small compensation, filled by selection from residents of the locality, it was not deemedpracticable to put them under the new system. 

The compensation of $2, 500 was adopted as the maximum limit in theclassification for the reason that consular officers receiving more thanthat sum are often charged with functions and duties scarcely inferiorin dignity and importance to those of diplomatic agents, and it wastherefore thought best to continue their selection in the discretion ofthe Executive without subjecting them to examination before a board. Excluding 71 places with compensation at present less than $1, 000 and53 places above the maximum in compensation, the number of positionsremaining within the scope of the order is 196. This number willundoubtedly be increased by the inclusion of consular officers whoseremuneration in fees, now less than $1, 000, will be augmented with thegrowth of our foreign commerce and a return to more favorable businessconditions. 

In execution of the Executive order referred to the Secretary of Statehas designated as a board to conduct the prescribed examinations theThird Assistant Secretary of State, the Solicitor of the Departmentof State, and the Chief of the Consular Bureau, and has specified thesubjects to which such examinations shall relate. 

It is not assumed that this system will prove a full measure ofconsular reform. It is quite probable that actual experience willshow particulars in which the order already issued may be amendedand demonstrate that for the best results appropriate legislationby Congress is imperatively required. 

In any event, these efforts to improve the consular serviceought to be immediately supplemented by legislation providing forconsular inspection. This has frequently been a subject of Executiverecommendation, and I again urge such action by Congress as will permitthe frequent and thorough inspection of consulates by officers appointedfor that purpose or by persons already in the diplomatic or consularservice. The expense attending such a plan would be insignificantcompared with its usefulness, and I hope the legislation necessaryto set it on foot will be speedily forthcoming. 

I am thoroughly convinced that in addition to their salaries ourambassadors and ministers at foreign courts should be provided by theGovernment with official residences. The salaries of these officers arecomparatively small and in most cases insufficient to pay, with othernecessary expenses, the cost of maintaining household establishments inkeeping with their important and delicate functions. The usefulness ofa nation's diplomatic representative undeniably depends much upon theappropriateness of his surroundings, and a country like ours, whileavoiding unnecessary glitter and show, should be certain that it doesnot suffer in its relations with foreign nations through parsimony andshabbiness in its diplomatic outfit. These considerations and the otheradvantages of having fixed and somewhat permanent locations for ourembassies would abundantly justify the moderate expenditure necessaryto carry out this suggestion. 

As we turn from a review of our foreign relations to the contemplationof our national financial situation we are immediately aware that weapproach a subject of domestic concern more important than any otherthat can engage our attention, and one at present in such a perplexingand delicate predicament as to require prompt and wise treatment. 

We may well be encouraged to earnest effort in this direction whenwe recall the steps already taken toward improving our economic andfinancial situation and when we appreciate how well the way has beenprepared for further progress by an aroused and intelligent popularinterest in these subjects. 

By command of the people a customs-revenue system designed for theprotection and benefit of favored classes at the expense of the greatmass of our countrymen, and which, while inefficient for the purposeof revenue, curtailed our trade relations and impeded our entrance tothe markets of the world, has been superseded by a tariff policy whichin principle is based upon a denial of the right of the Governmentto obstruct the avenues to our people's cheap living or lessen theircomfort and contentment for the sake of according especial advantages tofavorites, and which, while encouraging our intercourse and trade withother nations, recognizes the fact that American self-reliance, thrift, and ingenuity can build up our country's industries and develop itsresources more surely than enervating paternalism. 

The compulsory purchase and coinage of silver by the Government, unchecked and unregulated by business conditions and heedless ofour currency needs, which for more than fifteen years diluted ourcirculating medium, undermined confidence abroad in our financialability, and at last culminated in distress and panic at home, has beenrecently stopped by the repeal of the laws which forced this recklessscheme upon the country. 

The things thus accomplished, notwithstanding their extreme importanceand beneficent effects, fall far short of curing the monetary evils fromwhich we suffer as a result of long indulgence in ill-advised financialexpedients. 

The currency denominated United States notes and commonly known asgreenbacks was issued in large volume during the late Civil War and wasintended originally to meet the exigencies of that period. It will beseen by a reference to the debates in Congress at the time the lawswere passed authorizing the issue of these notes that their advocatesdeclared they were intended for only temporary use and to meet theemergency of war. In almost if not all the laws relating to themsome provision was made contemplating their voluntary or compulsoryretirement. A large quantity of them, however, were kept on foot andmingled with the currency of the country, so that at the close of theyear 1874 they amounted to $381, 999, 073. 

Immediately after that date, and in January, 1875, a law was passedproviding for the resumption of specie payments, by which the Secretaryof the Treasury was required whenever additional circulation was issuedto national banks to retire United States notes equal in amount to 80per cent of such additional national-bank circulation until such noteswere reduced to $300, 000, 000. This law further provided that on andafter the 1st day of January, 1879, the United States notes thenoutstanding should be redeemed in coin, and in order to provide andprepare for such redemption the Secretary of the Treasury was authorizednot only to use any surplus revenues of the Government, but to issuebonds of the United States and dispose of them for coin and to use theproceeds for the purposes contemplated by the statute. 

In May, 1878, and before the date thus appointed for the redemptionand retirement of these notes, another statute was passed forbiddingtheir further cancellation and retirement. Some of them had, however, been previously redeemed and canceled upon the issue of additionalnational-bank circulation, as permitted by the law of 1875, so that theamount outstanding at the time of the passage of the act forbiddingtheir further retirement was $346, 681, 016. 

The law of 1878 did not stop at distinct prohibition, but contained inaddition the following express provision:

 And when any of said notes may be redeemed or be received into the Treasury under any law from any source whatever, and shall belong to the United States, they shall not be retired, canceled, or destroyed, but they shall be reissued and paid out again and kept in circulation. 

This was the condition of affairs on the 1st day of January, 1879, whichhad been fixed upon four years before as the date for entering upon theredemption and retirement of all these notes, and for which suchabundant means had been provided. 

The Government was put in the anomalous situation of owing to theholders of its notes debts payable in gold on demand which could neitherbe retired by receiving such notes in discharge of obligations due theGovernment nor canceled by actual payment in gold. It was forced toredeem without redemption and to pay without acquittance. 

There had been issued and sold $95, 500, 000 of the bonds authorized bythe resumption act of 1875, the proceeds of which, together with othergold in the Treasury, created a gold fund deemed sufficient to meetthe demands which might be made upon it for the redemption of theoutstanding United States notes. This fund, together with such othergold as might be from time to time in the Treasury available for thesame purpose, has been since called our gold reserve, and $100, 000, 000has been regarded as an adequate amount to accomplish its object. Thisfund amounted on the 1st day of January, 1879, to $114, 193, 360, andthough thereafter constantly fluctuating it did not fall below thatsum until July, 1892. In April, 1893, for the first time since itsestablishment, this reserve amounted to less than $100, 000, 000, containing at that date only $97, 011, 330. 

In the meantime, and in July, 1890, an act had been passed directinglarger governmental monthly purchases of silver than had been requiredunder previous laws, and providing that in payment for such silverTreasury notes of the United States should be issued payable on demandin gold or silver coin, at the discretion of the Secretary of theTreasury. It was, however, declared in the act to be "the establishedpolicy of the United States to maintain the two metals on a parity witheach other upon the present legal ratio or such ratio as may be providedby law. " In view of this declaration it was not deemed permissible forthe Secretary of the Treasury to exercise the discretion in termsconferred on him by refusing to pay gold on these notes when demanded, because by such discrimination in favor of the gold dollar the so-calledparity of the two metals would be destroyed and grave and dangerousconsequences would be precipitated by affirming or accentuating theconstantly widening disparity between their actual values under theexisting ratio. 

It thus resulted that the Treasury notes issued in payment of silverpurchases under the law of 1890 were necessarily treated as goldobligations at the option of the holder. These notes on the 1st day ofNovember, 1893, when the law compelling the monthly purchase of silverwas repealed, amounted to more than $155, 000, 000. The notes of thisdescription now outstanding added to the United States notes stillundiminished by redemption or cancellation constitute a volume of goldobligations amounting to nearly $500, 000, 000. 

These obligations are the instruments which ever since we had a goldreserve have been used to deplete it. 

This reserve, as has been stated, had fallen in April, 1893, to$97, 011, 330. It has from that time to the present, with very few andunimportant upward movements, steadily decreased, except as it has beentemporarily replenished by the sale of bonds. 

Among the causes for this constant and uniform shrinkage in this fundmay be mentioned the great falling off of exports under the operation ofthe tariff law until recently in force, which crippled our exchange ofcommodities with foreign nations and necessitated to some extent thepayment of our balances in gold; the unnatural infusion of silver intoour currency and the increasing agitation for its free and unlimitedcoinage, which have created apprehension as to our disposition orability to continue gold payments; the consequent hoarding of gold athome and the stoppage of investments of foreign capital, as well asthe return of our securities already sold abroad; and the high rate offoreign exchange, which induced the shipment of our gold to be drawnagainst as a matter of speculation. 

In consequence of these conditions the gold reserve on the 1st dayof February, 1894, was reduced to $65, 438, 377, having lost more than$31, 000, 000 during the preceding nine months, or since April, 1893. Itsreplenishment being necessary and no other manner of accomplishing itbeing possible, resort was had to the issue and sale of bonds providedfor by the resumption act of 1875. Fifty millions of these bonds weresold, yielding $58, 633, 295. 71, which was added to the reserve fund ofgold then on hand. As a result of this operation this reserve, which hadsuffered constant and large withdrawals in the meantime, stood on the6th day of March, 1894, at the sum of $107, 446, 802. Its depletion was, however, immediately thereafter so accelerated that on the 30th day ofJune, 1894, it had fallen to $64, 873, 025, thus losing by withdrawalsmore than $42, 000, 000 in five months and dropping slightly below itssituation when the sale of $50, 000, 000 in bonds was effected for itsreplenishment. 

This depressed condition grew worse, and on the 24th day of November, 1894, our gold reserve being reduced to $57, 669, 701, it became necessaryto again strengthen it. 

This was done by another sale of bonds amounting to $50, 000, 000, fromwhich there was realized $58, 538, 500, with which the fund was increasedto $111, 142, 021 on the 4th day of December, 1894. 

Again disappointment awaited the anxious hope for relief. There was noteven a lull in the exasperating withdrawals of gold. On the contrary, they grew larger and more persistent than ever. Between the 4th day ofDecember, 1894, and early in February, 1895, a period of scarcely morethan two months after the second reenforcement of our gold reserve bythe sale of bonds, it had lost by such withdrawals more than $69, 000, 000and had fallen to $41, 340, 181. Nearly $43, 000, 000 had been withdrawnwithin the month immediately preceding this situation. 

In anticipation of impending trouble I had on the 28th day of January, 1895, addressed a communication[26] to the Congress fully setting forthour difficulties and dangerous position and earnestly recommending thatauthority be given the Secretary of the Treasury to issue bonds bearinga low rate of interest, payable by their terms in gold, for the purposeof maintaining a sufficient gold reserve and also for the redemption andcancellation of outstanding United States notes and the Treasury notesissued for the purchase of silver under the law of 1890. Thisrecommendation did not, however, meet with legislative approval. 

In February, 1895, therefore, the situation was exceedingly critical. With a reserve perilously low and a refusal of Congressional aid, everything indicated that the end of gold payments by the Governmentwas imminent. The results of prior bond issues had been exceedinglyunsatisfactory, and the large withdrawals of gold immediately succeedingtheir public sale in open market gave rise to a reasonable suspicionthat a large part of the gold paid into the Treasury upon such sales waspromptly drawn out again by the presentation of United States notes orTreasury notes, and found its way to the hands of those who had onlytemporarily parted with it in the purchase of bonds. 

In this emergency, and in view of its surrounding perplexities, itbecame entirely apparent to those upon whom the struggle for safety wasdevolved not only that our gold reserve must, for the third time in lessthan thirteen months, be restored by another issue and sale of bondsbearing a high rate of interest and badly suited to the purpose, butthat a plan must be adopted for their disposition promising betterresults than those realized on previous sales. An agreement wastherefore made with a number of financiers and bankers whereby it wasstipulated that bonds described in the resumption act of 1875, payablein coin thirty years after their date, bearing interest at the rate of4 per cent per annum, and amounting to about $62, 000, 000, should beexchanged for gold, receivable by weight, amounting to a little morethan $65, 000, 000. 

This gold was to be delivered in such installments as would completeits delivery within about six months from the date of the contract, andat least one-half of the amount was to be furnished from abroad. It wasalso agreed by those supplying this gold that during the continuanceof the contract they would by every means in their power protect theGovernment against gold withdrawals. The contract also provided thatif Congress would authorize their issue bonds payable by their termsin gold and bearing interest at the rate of 3 per cent per annum mightwithin ten days be substituted at par for the 4 per cent bonds describedin the agreement. 

On the day this contract was made its terms were communicated toCongress by a special Executive message, [27] in which it was stated thatmore than $16, 000, 000 would be saved to the Government if gold bondsbearing 3 per cent interest were authorized to be substituted for thosementioned in the contract. 

The Congress having declined to grant the necessary authority to securethis saving, the contract, unmodified, was carried out, resulting in agold reserve amounting to $107, 571, 230 on the 8th day of July, 1895. The performance of this contract not only restored the reserve, butchecked for a time the withdrawals of gold and brought on a period ofrestored confidence and such peace and quiet in business circles aswere of the greatest possible value to every interest that affects ourpeople. I have never had the slightest misgiving concerning the wisdomor propriety of this arrangement, and am quite willing to answer formy full share of responsibility for its promotion. I believe it averteda disaster the imminence of which was, fortunately, not at the timegenerally understood by our people. 

Though the contract mentioned stayed for a time the tide of goldwithdrawal, its good results could not be permanent. Recent withdrawalshave reduced the reserve from $107, 571, 230 on the 8th day of July, 1895, to $79, 333, 966. How long it will remain large enough to render itsincrease unnecessary is only matter of conjecture, though quite largewithdrawals for shipment in the immediate future are predicted inwell-informed quarters. About $16, 000, 000 has been withdrawn during themonth of November. 

The foregoing statement of events and conditions develops the fact thatafter increasing our interest-bearing bonded indebtedness more than$162, 000, 000 to save our gold reserve we are nearly where we started, having now in such reserve $79, 333, 966, as against $65, 438, 377 inFebruary, 1894, when the first bonds were issued. 

Though the amount of gold drawn from the Treasury appears to be verylarge as gathered from the facts and figures herein presented, itactually was much larger, considerable sums having been acquired by theTreasury within the several periods stated without the issue of bonds. On the 28th of January, 1895, it was reported by the Secretary of theTreasury that more than $172, 000, 000 of gold had been withdrawn forhoarding or shipment during the year preceding. He now reports that fromJanuary 1, 1879, to July 14, 1890, a period of more than eleven years, only a little over $28, 000, 000 was withdrawn, and that between July 14, 1890, the date of the passage of the law for an increased purchase ofsilver, and the 1st day of December, 1895, or within less than five anda half years, there was withdrawn nearly $375, 000, 000, making a total ofmore than $403, 000, 000 drawn from the Treasury in gold since January 1, 1879, the date fixed in 1875 for the retirement of the United Statesnotes. 

Nearly $327, 000, 000 of the gold thus withdrawn has been paid out onthese United States notes, and yet every one of the $346, 000, 000 isstill uncanceled and ready to do service in future gold depletions. 

More than $76, 000, 000 in gold has since their creation in 1890 been paidout from the Treasury upon the notes given on the purchase of silver bythe Government, and yet the whole, amounting to $155, 000, 000, except alittle more than $16, 000, 000 which has been retired by exchanges forsilver at the request of the holders, remains outstanding and preparedto join their older and more experienced allies in future raids upon theTreasury's gold reserve. 

In other words, the Government has paid in gold more than nine-tenthsof its United States notes and still owes them all. It has paid ingold about one-half of its notes given for silver purchases withoutextinguishing by such payment one dollar of these notes. 

When, added to all this, we are reminded that to carry on thisastounding financial scheme the Government has incurred a bondedindebtedness of $95, 500, 000 in establishing a gold reserve and of$162, 315, 400 in efforts to maintain it; that the annual interest chargeon such bonded indebtedness is more than $11, 000, 000; that a continuanceof our present course may result in further bond issues, and that wehave suffered or are threatened with all this for the sake of supplyinggold for foreign shipment or facilitating its hoarding at home, asituation is exhibited which certainly ought to arrest attention andprovoke immediate legislative relief. 

I am convinced the only thorough and practicable remedy for our troublesis found in the retirement and cancellation of our United States notes, commonly called greenbacks, and the outstanding Treasury notes issued bythe Government in payment of silver purchases under the act of 1890. 

I believe this could be quite readily accomplished by the exchangeof these notes for United States bonds, of small as well as largedenominations, bearing a low rate of interest. They should be long-termbonds, thus increasing their desirability as investments, and becausetheir payment could be well postponed to a period far removed frompresent financial burdens and perplexities, when with increasedprosperity and resources they would be more easily met. 

To further insure the cancellation of these notes and also provide a wayby which gold may be added to our currency in lieu of them, a feature inthe plan should be an authority given to the Secretary of the Treasuryto dispose of the bonds abroad for gold if necessary to complete thecontemplated redemption and cancellation, permitting him to use theproceeds of such bonds to take up and cancel any of the notes that maybe in the Treasury or that may be received by the Government on anyaccount. 

The increase of our bonded debt involved in this plan would be amplycompensated by renewed activity and enterprise in all business circles, the restored confidence at home, the reinstated faith in our monetarystrength abroad, and the stimulation of every interest and industrythat would follow the cancellation of the gold-demand obligations nowafflicting us. In any event, the bonds proposed would stand for theextinguishment of a troublesome indebtedness, while in the path we nowfollow there lurks the menace of unending bonds, with our indebtednessstill undischarged and aggravated in every feature. The obligationsnecessary to fund this indebtedness would not equal in amount thosefrom which we have been relieved since 1884 by anticipation and paymentbeyond the requirements of the sinking fund out of our surplus revenues. 

The currency withdrawn by the retirement of the United States notes andTreasury notes, amounting to probably less than $486, 000, 000, might besupplied by such gold as would be used on their retirement or by anincrease in the circulation of our national banks. Though the aggregatecapital of those now in existence amounts to more than $664, 000, 000, their outstanding circulation based on bond security amounts to onlyabout $190, 000, 000. They are authorized to issue notes amounting to 90per cent of the bonds deposited to secure their circulation, but in noevent beyond the amount of their capital stock, and they are obliged topay 1 per cent tax on the circulation they issue. 

I think they should be allowed to issue circulation equal to the parvalue of the bonds they deposit to secure it, and that the tax on theircirculation should be reduced to one-fourth of 1 per cent, which wouldundoubtedly meet all the expense the Government incurs on their account. In addition they should be allowed to substitute or deposit in lieu ofthe bonds now required as security for their circulation those whichwould be issued for the purpose of retiring the United States notes andTreasury notes. 

The banks already existing, if they desired to avail themselves of theprovisions of law thus modified, could issue circulation, in addition tothat already outstanding, amounting to $478, 000, 000, which would nearlyor quite equal the currency proposed to be canceled. At any rate, Ishould confidently expect to see the existing national banks or othersto be organized avail themselves of the proposed encouragements to issuecirculation and promptly fill any vacuum and supply every currency need. 

It has always seemed to me that the provisions of law regarding thecapital of national banks, which operate as a limitation to theirlocation, fail to make proper compensation for the suppression of Statebanks, which came near to the people in all sections of the country andreadily furnished them with banking accommodations and facilities. Anyinconvenience or embarrassment arising from these restrictions on thelocation of national banks might well be remedied by better adaptingthe present system to the creation of banks in smaller communities orby permitting banks of large capital to establish branches in suchlocalities as would serve the people, so regulated and restrained asto secure their safe and conservative control and management. 

But there might not be the necessity for such an addition to thecurrency by new issues of bank circulation as at first glance isindicated. If we should be relieved from maintaining a gold reserveunder conditions that constitute it the barometer of our solvency, andif our Treasury should no longer be the foolish purveyor of gold fornations abroad or for speculation and hoarding by our citizens at home, I should expect to see gold resume its natural and normal functions inthe business affairs of the country and cease to be an object attractingthe timid watch of our people and exciting their sensitive imaginations. 

I do not overlook the fact that the cancellation of the Treasury notesissued under the silver-purchasing act of 1890 would leave the Treasuryin the actual ownership of sufficient silver, including seigniorage, to coin nearly $178, 000, 000 in standard dollars. It is worthy ofconsideration whether this might not from time to time be converted intodollars or fractional coin and slowly put into circulation, as in thejudgment of the Secretary of the Treasury the necessities of the countryshould require. 

Whatever is attempted should be entered upon fully appreciating the factthat by careless, easy descent we have reached a dangerous depth, andthat our ascent will not be accomplished without laborious toil andstruggle. We shall be wise if we realize that we are financially ill andthat our restoration to health may require heroic treatment andunpleasant remedies. 

In the present stage of our difficulty it is not easy to understand howthe amount of our revenue receipts directly affects it. The importantquestion is not the quantity of money received in revenue payments, butthe kind of money we maintain and our ability to continue in soundfinancial condition. We are considering the Government's holdings ofgold as related to the soundness of our money and as affecting ournational credit and monetary strength. 

If our gold reserve had never been impaired; if no bonds had everbeen issued to replenish it; if there had been no fear and timidityconcerning our ability to continue gold payments; if any part of ourrevenues were now paid in gold, and if we could look to our goldreceipts as a means of maintaining a safe reserve, the amount ofour revenues would be an influential factor in the problem. But, unfortunately, all the circumstances that might lend weight to thisconsideration are entirely lacking. 

In our present predicament no gold is received by the Governmentin payment of revenue charges, nor would there be if the revenueswere increased. The receipts of the Treasury, when not in silvercertificates, consist of United States notes and Treasury notes issuedfor silver purchases. These forms of money are only useful to theGovernment in paying its current ordinary expenses, and its quantity inGovernment possession does not in the least contribute toward giving usthat kind of safe financial standing or condition which is built on goldalone. 

If it is said that these notes if held by the Government can be used toobtain gold for our reserve, the answer is easy. The people draw goldfrom the Treasury on demand upon United States notes and Treasury notes, but the proposition that the Treasury can on demand draw gold from thepeople upon them would be regarded in these days with wonder andamusement; and even if this could be done there is nothing to preventthose thus parting with their gold from regaining it the next day or thenext hour by the presentation of the notes they received in exchange forit. 

The Secretary of the Treasury might use such notes taken from asurplus revenue to buy gold in the market. Of course he could not dothis without paying a premium. Private holders of gold, unlike theGovernment, having no parity to maintain, would not be restrainedfrom making the best bargain possible when they furnished gold to theTreasury; but the moment the Secretary of the Treasury bought gold onany terms above par he would establish a general and universal premiumupon it, thus breaking down the parity between gold and silver, whichthe Government is pledged to maintain, and opening the way to new andserious complications. In the meantime the premium would not remainstationary, and the absurd spectacle might be presented of a dealerselling gold to the Government and with United States notes or Treasurynotes in his hand immediately clamoring for its return and a resale ata higher premium. 

It may be claimed that a large revenue and redundant receipts mightfavorably affect the situation under discussion by affording anopportunity of retaining these notes in the Treasury when received, andthus preventing their presentation for gold. Such retention to be usefulought to be at least measurably permanent; and this is precisely what isprohibited, so far as United States notes are concerned, by the law of1878, forbidding their further retirement. That statute in so many wordsprovides that these notes when received into the Treasury and belongingto the United States shall be "paid out again and kept in circulation. "

It will, moreover, be readily seen that the Government could notrefuse to pay out United States notes and Treasury notes in currenttransactions when demanded, and insist on paying out silver alone, and still maintain the parity between that metal and the currencyrepresenting gold. Besides, the accumulation in the Treasury of currencyof any kind exacted from the people through taxation is justly regardedas an evil, and it can not proceed far without vigorous protest againstan unjustifiable retention of money from the business of the country anda denunciation of a scheme of taxation which proves itself to be unjustwhen it takes from the earnings and income of the citizen money so muchin excess of the needs of Government support that large sums can begathered and kept in the Treasury. Such a condition has heretofore intimes of surplus revenue led the Government to restore currency to thepeople by the purchase of its unmatured bonds at a large premium andby a large increase of its deposits in national banks, and we easilyremember that the abuse of Treasury accumulation has furnished a mostpersuasive argument in favor of legislation radically reducing ourtariff taxation. 

Perhaps it is supposed that sufficient revenue receipts would in asentimental way improve the situation by inspiring confidence in oursolvency and allaying the fear of pecuniary exhaustion. And yet throughall our struggles to maintain our gold reserve there never has been anyapprehension as to our ready ability to pay our way with such money aswe had, and the question whether or not our current receipts met ourcurrent expenses has not entered into the estimate of our solvency. Ofcourse the general state of our funds, exclusive of gold, was entirelyimmaterial to the foreign creditor and investor. His debt could only bepaid in gold, and his only concern was our ability to keep on hand thatkind of money. 

On July 1, 1892, more than a year and a half before the first bondswere issued to replenish the gold reserve, there was a net balance inthe Treasury, exclusive of such reserve, of less than $13, 000, 000, butthe gold reserve amounted to more than $114, 000, 000, which was thequieting feature of the situation. It was when the stock of gold beganrapidly to fall that fright supervened and our securities held abroadwere returned for sale and debts owed abroad were pressed for payment. In the meantime extensive shipments of gold and other unfavorableindications caused restlessness and fright among our people at home. Thereupon the general state of our funds, exclusive of gold, becamealso immaterial to them, and they too drew gold from the Treasury forhoarding against all contingencies. This is plainly shown by the largeincrease in the proportion of gold withdrawn which was retained byour own people as time and threatening incidents progressed. Duringthe fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, nearly $85, 000, 000 in gold waswithdrawn from the Treasury and about $77, 000, 000 was sent abroad, whileduring the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, over $117, 000, 000 was drawnout, of which only about $66, 000, 000 was shipped, leaving the largebalance of such withdrawals to be accounted for by domestic hoarding. 

Inasmuch as the withdrawal of our gold has resulted largely fromfright, there is nothing apparent that will prevent its continuance orrecurrence, with its natural consequences, except such a change in ourfinancial methods as will reassure the frightened and make the desirefor gold less intense. It is not clear how an increase in revenue, unless it be in gold, can satisfy those whose only anxiety is to gaingold from the Government's store. 

It can not, therefore, be safe to rely upon increased revenues as a curefor our present troubles. 

It is possible that the suggestion of increased revenue as a remedy forthe difficulties we are considering may have originated in an intimationor distinct allegation that the bonds which have been issued ostensiblyto replenish our gold reserve were really issued to supply insufficientrevenue. Nothing can be further from the truth. Bonds were issued toobtain gold for the maintenance of our national credit. As has beenshown, the gold thus obtained has been drawn again from the Treasuryupon United States notes and Treasury notes. This operation would havebeen promptly prevented if possible; but these notes having thus beenpassed to the Treasury, they became the money of the Government, likeany other ordinary Government funds, and there was nothing to do but touse them in paying Government expenses when needed. 

At no time when bonds have been issued has there been any considerationof the question of paying the expenses of Government with theirproceeds. There was no necessity to consider that question. At the timeof each bond issue we had a safe surplus in the Treasury for ordinaryoperations, exclusive of the gold in our reserve. In February, 1894, when the first issue of bonds was made, such surplus amounted to over$18, 000, 000; in November, when the second issue was made, it amounted tomore than $42, 000, 000, and in February, 1895, when bonds for the thirdtime were issued, such surplus amounted to more than $100, 000, 000. Itnow amounts to $98, 072, 420. 30. 

Besides all this, the Secretary of the Treasury had no authoritywhatever to issue bonds to increase the ordinary revenues or pay currentexpenses. 

I can not but think there has been some confusion of ideas regarding theeffects of the issue of bonds and the results of the withdrawal of gold. It was the latter process, and not the former, that, by substituting inthe Treasury United States notes and Treasury notes for gold, increasedby their amount the money which was in the first instance subject toordinary Government expenditure. 

Although the law compelling an increased purchase of silver by theGovernment was passed on the 14th day of July, 1890, withdrawals of goldfrom the Treasury upon the notes given in payment on such purchasesdid not begin until October, 1891. Immediately following that date thewithdrawals upon both these notes and United States notes increasedvery largely, and have continued to such an extent that since thepassage of that law there has been more than thirteen times as much goldtaken out of the Treasury upon United States notes and Treasury notesissued for silver purchases as was thus withdrawn during the eleven anda half years immediately prior thereto and after the 1st day of January, 1879, when specie payments were resumed. 

It is neither unfair nor unjust to charge a large share of our presentfinancial perplexities and dangers to the operation of the laws of 1878and 1890 compelling the purchase of silver by the Government, which notonly furnished a new Treasury obligation upon which its gold could bewithdrawn, but so increased the fear of an overwhelming flood of silverand a forced descent to silver payments that even the repeal of theselaws did not entirely cure the evils of their existence. 

While I have endeavored to make a plain statement of the disorderedcondition of our currency and the present dangers menacing ourprosperity and to suggest a way which leads to a safer financial system, I have constantly had in mind the fact that many of my countrymen, whosesincerity I do not doubt, insist that the cure for the ills nowthreatening us may be found in the single and simple remedy of the freecoinage of silver. They contend that our mints shall be at once thrownopen to the free, unlimited, and independent coinage of both gold andsilver dollars of full legal-tender quality, regardless of the action ofany other government and in full view of the fact that the ratio betweenthe metals which they suggest calls for 100 cents' worth of gold in thegold dollar at the present standard and only 50 cents in intrinsic worthof silver in the silver dollar. 

Were there infinitely stronger reasons than can be adduced for hopingthat such action would secure for us a bimetallic currency moving onlines of parity, an experiment so novel and hazardous as that proposedmight well stagger those who believe that stability is an imperativecondition of sound money. 

No government, no human contrivance or act of legislation, has everbeen able to hold the two metals together in free coinage at a ratioappreciably different from that which is established in the markets ofthe world. 

Those who believe that our independent free coinage of silver at anartificial ratio with gold of 16 to 1 would restore the parity betweenthe metals, and consequently between the coins, oppose an unsupportedand improbable theory to the general belief and practice of othernations and to the teaching of the wisest statesmen and economistsof the world, both in the past and present, and, what is far moreconclusive, they run counter to our own actual experiences. 

Twice in our earlier history our lawmakers, in attempting to establisha bimetallic currency, undertook free coinage upon a ratio whichaccidentally varied from the actual relative values of the two metalsnot more than 3 per cent. In both cases, notwithstanding greaterdifficulties and cost of transportation than now exist, the coins whoseintrinsic worth was undervalued in the ratio gradually and surelydisappeared from our circulation and went to other countries where theirreal value was better recognized. 

Acts of Congress were impotent to create equality where natural causesdecreed even a slight inequality. 

Twice in our recent history we have signally failed to raise bylegislation the value of silver. Under an act of Congress passed in1878 the Government was required for more than twelve years to expendannually at least $24, 000, 000 in the purchase of silver bullion forcoinage. The act of July 14, 1890, in a still bolder effort, increasedthe amount of silver the Government was compelled to purchase and forcedit to become the buyer annually of 54, 000, 000 ounces, or practically theentire product of our mines. Under both laws silver rapidly and steadilydeclined in value. The prophecy and the expressed hope and expectationof those in the Congress who led in the passage of the last-mentionedact that it would reestablish and maintain the former parity between thetwo metals are still fresh in our memory. 

In the light of these experiences, which accord with the experiences ofother nations, there is certainly no secure ground for the belief thatan act of Congress could now bridge an inequality of 50 per cent betweengold and silver at our present ratio, nor is there the least possibilitythat our country, which has less than one-seventh of the silver moneyin the world, could by its action alone raise not only our own but allsilver to its lost ratio with gold. Our attempt to accomplish this bythe free coinage of silver at a ratio differing widely from actualrelative values would be the signal for the complete departure ofgold from our circulation, the immediate and large contraction of ourcirculating medium, and a shrinkage in the real value and monetaryefficiency of all other forms of currency as they settled to the levelof silver monometallism. Everyone who receives a fixed salary and everyworker for wages would find the dollar in his hand ruthlessly scaleddown to the point of bitter disappointment, if not to pinchingprivation. 

A change in our standard to silver monometallism would also bring on acollapse of the entire system of credit, which, when based on a standardwhich is recognized and adopted by the world of business, is many timesmore potent and useful than the entire volume of currency and is safelycapable of almost indefinite expansion to meet the growth of trade andenterprise. In a self-invited struggle through darkness and uncertaintyour humiliation would be increased by the consciousness that we hadparted company with all the enlightened and progressive nations of theworld and were desperately and hopelessly striving to meet the stress ofmodern commerce and competition with a debased and unsuitable currencyand in association with the few weak and laggard nations which havesilver alone as their standard of value. 

All history warns us against rash experiments which threaten violentchanges in our monetary standard and the degradation of our currency. The past is full of lessons teaching not only the economic dangers butthe national immorality that follow in the train of such experiments. I will not believe that the American people can be persuaded after soberdeliberation to jeopardize their nation's prestige and proud standing byencouraging financial nostrums, nor that they will yield to the falseallurements of cheap money when they realize that it must result in theweakening of that financial integrity and rectitude which thus far inour history has been so devotedly cherished as one of the traits of trueAmericanism. 

Our country's indebtedness, whether owing by the Government or existingbetween individuals, has been contracted with reference to our presentstandard. To decree by act of Congress that these debts shall be payablein less valuable dollars than those within the contemplation andintention of the parties when contracted would operate to transfer bythe fiat of law and without compensation an amount of property and avolume of rights and interests almost incalculable. 

Those who advocate a blind and headlong plunge to free coinage inthe name of bimetallism, and professing the belief, contrary to allexperience, that we could thus establish a double standard and aconcurrent circulation of both metals in our coinage, are certainlyreckoning from a cloudy standpoint. Our present standard of value is thestandard of the civilized world and permits the only bimetallism nowpossible, or at least that is within the independent reach of any singlenation, however powerful that nation may be. While the value of gold asa standard is steadied by almost universal commercial and business use, it does not despise silver nor seek its banishment. Wherever thisstandard is maintained there is at its side in free and unquestionedcirculation a volume of silver currency sometimes equaling and sometimeseven exceeding it in amount, both maintained at a parity notwithstandinga depreciation or fluctuation in the intrinsic value of silver. 

There is a vast difference between a standard of value anda currency for monetary use. The standard must necessarily be fixedand certain. The currency may be in divers forms and of various kinds. No silver-standard country has a gold currency in circulation, but anenlightened and wise system of finance secures the benefits of both goldand silver as currency and circulating medium by keeping the standardstable and all other currency at par with it. Such a system and sucha standard also give free scope for the use and expansion of safe andconservative credit, so indispensable to broad and growing commercialtransactions and so well substituted for the actual use of money. Ifa fixed and stable standard is maintained, such as the magnitude andsafety of our commercial transactions and business require, the useof money itself is conveniently minimized. 

Every dollar of fixed and stable value has through the agency ofconfident credit an astonishing capacity of multiplying itself infinancial work. Every unstable and fluctuating dollar fails as a basisof credit, and in its use begets gambling speculation and undermines thefoundations of honest enterprise. 

I have ventured to express myself on this subject with earnestness andplainness of speech because I can not rid myself of the belief thatthere lurk in the proposition for the free coinage of silver, sostrongly approved and so enthusiastically advocated by a multitudeof my countrymen, a serious menace to our prosperity and an insidioustemptation of our people to wander from the allegiance they owe topublic and private integrity. It is because I do not distrust thegood faith and sincerity of those who press this scheme that I haveimperfectly but with zeal submitted my thoughts upon this momentoussubject. I can not refrain from begging them to reexamine their viewsand beliefs in the light of patriotic reason and familiar experience andto weigh again and again the consequences of such legislation as theirefforts have invited. Even the continued agitation of the subject addsgreatly to the difficulties of a dangerous financial situation alreadyforced upon us. 

In conclusion I especially entreat the people's representativesin the Congress, who are charged with the responsibility of inauguratingmeasures for the safety and prosperity of our common country, topromptly and effectively consider the ills of our critical financialplight. I have suggested a remedy which my judgment approves. I desire, however, to assure the Congress that I am prepared to cooperate withthem in perfecting any other measure promising thorough and practicalrelief, and that I will gladly labor with them in every patrioticendeavor to further the interests and guard the welfare of ourcountrymen, whom in our respective places of duty we have undertakento serve. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 23: See pp. 439, 531-532. ]

[Footnote 24: See p. 477. ]

[Footnote 25: See p. 624. ]

[Footnote 26: See pp. 561-565. ]

[Footnote 27: See pp. 567-568. ]

SPECIAL MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1895_. 

_To the Congress_:

In my annual message addressed to the Congress on the 3d instant Icalled attention to the pending boundary controversy between GreatBritain and the Republic of Venezuela and recited the substance of arepresentation made by this Government to Her Britannic Majesty'sGovernment suggesting reasons why such dispute should be submitted toarbitration for settlement and inquiring whether it would be sosubmitted. [28]

The answer of the British Government, which was then awaited, has sincebeen received, and, together with the dispatch to which it is a reply, is hereto appended. 

Such reply is embodied in two communications addressed by the Britishprime minister to Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British ambassador at thiscapital. It will be seen that one of these communications is devotedexclusively to observations upon the Monroe doctrine, and claims thatin the present instance a new and strange extension and developmentof this doctrine is insisted on by the United States; that the reasonsjustifying an appeal to the doctrine enunciated by President Monroe aregenerally inapplicable "to the state of things in which we live at thepresent day, " and especially inapplicable to a controversy involving theboundary line between Great Britain and Venezuela. 

Without attempting extended argument in reply to these positions, it maynot be amiss to suggest that the doctrine upon which we stand is strongand sound, because its enforcement is important to our peace and safetyas a nation and is essential to the integrity of our free institutionsand the tranquil maintenance of our distinctive form of government. Itwas intended to apply to every stage of our national life and can notbecome obsolete while our Republic endures. If the balance of power isjustly a cause for jealous anxiety among the Governments of the OldWorld and a subject for our absolute noninterference, none the less isan observance of the Monroe doctrine of vital concern to our people andtheir Government. 

Assuming, therefore, that we may properly insist upon this doctrinewithout regard to "the state of things in which we live" or any changedconditions here or elsewhere, it is not apparent why its application maynot be invoked in the present controversy. 

If a European power by an extension of its boundaries takes possessionof the territory of one of our neighboring Republics against its willand in derogation of its rights, it is difficult to see why to thatextent such European power does not thereby attempt to extend its systemof government to that portion of this continent which is thus taken. This is the precise action which President Monroe declared to be"dangerous to our peace and safety, " and it can make no differencewhether the European system is extended by an advance of frontier orotherwise. 

It is also suggested in the British reply that we should not seek toapply the Monroe doctrine to the pending dispute because it does notembody any principle of international law which "is founded on thegeneral consent of nations, " and that "no statesman, however eminent, and no nation, however powerful, are competent to insert into the codeof international law a novel principle which was never recognized beforeand which has not since been accepted by the government of any othercountry. "

Practically the principle for which we contend has peculiar, if notexclusive, relation to the United States. It may not have been admittedin so many words to the code of international law, but since ininternational councils every nation is entitled to the rights belongingto it, if the enforcement of the Monroe doctrine is something we mayjustly claim it has its place in the code of international law ascertainly and as securely as if it were specifically mentioned; and whenthe United States is a suitor before the high tribunal that administersinternational law the question to be determined is whether or not wepresent claims which the justice of that code of law can find to beright and valid. 

The Monroe doctrine finds its recognition in those principles ofinternational law which are based upon the theory that every nationshall have its rights protected and its just claims enforced. 

Of course this Government is entirely confident that under the sanctionof this doctrine we have clear rights and undoubted claims. Nor is thisignored in the British reply. The prime minister, while not admittingthat the Monroe doctrine is applicable to present conditions, states:

 In declaring that the United States would resist any such enterprise if it was contemplated, President Monroe adopted a policy which received the entire sympathy of the English Government of that date. 

He further declares:

 Though the language of President Monroe is directed to the attainment of objects which most Englishmen would agree to be salutary, it is impossible to admit that they have been inscribed by any adequate authority in the code of international law. 

Again he says:

 They [Her Majesty's Government] fully concur with the view which President Monroe apparently entertained, that any disturbance of the existing territorial distribution in that hemisphere by any fresh acquisitions on the part of any European State would be a highly inexpedient change. 

In the belief that the doctrine for which we contend was clear anddefinite, that it was founded upon substantial considerations andinvolved our safety and welfare, that it was fully applicable to ourpresent conditions and to the state of the world's progress, and thatit was directly related to the pending controversy, and without anyconviction as to the final merits of the dispute, but anxious to learnin a satisfactory and conclusive manner whether Great Britain soughtunder a claim of boundary to extend her possessions on this continentwithout right, or whether she merely sought possession of territoryfairly included within her lines of ownership, this Government proposedto the Government of Great Britain a resort to arbitration as the propermeans of settling the question, to the end that a vexatious boundarydispute between the two contestants might be determined and our exactstanding and relation in respect to the controversy might be made clear. 

It will be seen from the correspondence herewith submitted that thisproposition has been declined by the British Government upon groundswhich in the circumstances seem to me to be far from satisfactory. It isdeeply disappointing that such an appeal, actuated by the most friendlyfeelings toward both nations directly concerned, addressed to the senseof justice and to the magnanimity of one of the great powers of theworld, and touching its relations to one comparatively weak and small, should have produced no better results. 

The course to be pursued by this Government in view of the presentcondition does not appear to admit of serious doubt. Having laboredfaithfully for many years to induce Great Britain to submit this disputeto impartial arbitration, and having been now finally apprised of herrefusal to do so, nothing remains but to accept the situation, torecognize its plain requirements, and deal with it accordingly. GreatBritain's present proposition has never thus far been regarded asadmissible by Venezuela, though any adjustment of the boundary whichthat country may deem for her advantage and may enter into of her ownfree will can not of course be objected to by the United States. 

Assuming, however, that the attitude of Venezuela will remain unchanged, the dispute has reached such a stage as to make it now incumbent uponthe United States to take measures to determine with sufficientcertainty for its justification what is the true divisional line betweenthe Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana. The inquiry to that endshould of course be conducted carefully and judicially, and due weightshould be given to all available evidence, records, and facts in supportof the claims of both parties. 

In order that such an examination should be prosecuted in a thoroughand satisfactory manner, I suggest that the Congress make an adequateappropriation for the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by theExecutive, who shall make the necessary investigation and report uponthe matter with the least possible delay. When such report is made andaccepted it will, in my opinion, be the duty of the United States toresist by every means in its power, as a willful aggression upon itsrights and interests, the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands orthe exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory which afterinvestigation we have determined of right belongs to Venezuela. 

In making these recommendations I am fully alive to the responsibilityincurred and keenly realize all the consequences that may follow. 

I am, nevertheless, firm in my conviction that while it is a grievousthing to contemplate the two great English-speaking peoples of the worldas being otherwise than friendly competitors in the onward march ofcivilization and strenuous and worthy rivals in all the arts of peace, there is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals thatwhich follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and theconsequent loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which areshielded and defended a people's safety and greatness. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 28: See p. 632. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 19, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, requesting the President, "if in his judgment not incompatible with thepublic interest, to communicate to the Senate all information which hasbeen received by him or by the State Department in regard to injuriesinflicted upon the persons or property of American citizens in Turkeyand in regard to the condition of affairs there in reference to theoppression or cruelties practiced upon the Armenian subjects of theTurkish Government; also to inform the Senate whether all the Americanconsuls in the Turkish Empire are at their posts of duty, and, if not, to state any circumstances which have interfered with the performanceof the duties of such consuls, " I transmit herewith a report from theSecretary of State. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 20, 1895_. 

_To the Congress_:

In my last annual message the evils of our present financial systemwere plainly pointed out and the causes and means of the depletion ofGovernment gold were explained. It was therein stated that after all theefforts that had been made by the executive branch of the Governmentto protect our gold reserve by the issuance of bonds amounting to morethan $162, 000, 000, such reserve then amounted to but little more than$79, 000, 000; that about $16, 000, 000 had been withdrawn from such reserveduring the month next previous to the date of that message, and thatquite large withdrawals for shipment in the immediate future werepredicted. 

The contingency then feared has reached us, and the withdrawals of goldsince the communication referred to and others that appear inevitablethreaten such a depletion in our Government gold reserve as brings usface to face to the necessity of further action for its protection. Thiscondition is intensified by the prevalence in certain quarters of suddenand unusual apprehension and timidity in business circles. 

We are in the midst of another season of perplexity caused by ourdangerous and fatuous financial operations. These may be expected torecur with certainty as long as there is no amendment in our financialsystem. If in this particular instance our predicament is at allinfluenced by a recent insistence upon the position we should occupy inour relation to certain questions concerning our foreign policy, thisfurnishes a signal and impressive warning that even the patrioticsentiment of our people is not an adequate substitute for a soundfinancial policy. 

Of course there can be no doubt in any thoughtful mind as to thecomplete solvency of our nation, nor can there be any just apprehensionthat the American people will be satisfied with less than an honestpayment of our public obligations in the recognized money of theworld. We should not overlook the fact, however, that aroused fearis unreasoning and must be taken into account in all efforts to avertpossible loss and the sacrifice of our people's interests. 

The real and sensible cure for our recurring troubles can only beeffected by a complete change in our financial scheme. Pending thatthe executive branch of the Government will not relax its effortsnor abandon its determination to use every means within its reachto maintain before the world American credit, nor will there be anyhesitation in exhibiting its confidence in the resources of our countryand the constant patriotism of our people. 

In view, however, of the peculiar situation now confronting us, I have ventured to herein express the earnest hope that the Congress, in default of the inauguration of a better system of finance, will nottake a recess from its labors before it has by legislative enactment ordeclaration done something not only to remind those apprehensive amongour own people that the resources of their Government and a scrupulousregard for honest dealing afford a sure guaranty of unquestioned safetyand soundness, but to reassure the world that with these factors and thepatriotism of our citizens the ability and determination of our nationto meet in any circumstances every obligation it incurs do not admit ofquestion. 

I ask at the hands of the Congress such prompt aid as it alone hasthe power to give to prevent in a time of fear and apprehension anysacrifice of the people's interests and the public funds or theimpairment of our public credit in an effort by Executive action torelieve the dangers of the present emergency. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 30, 1895_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, relative to the refusal of the Turkish Government to grant exequaturs tothe vice-consuls of the United States at Erzerum and Harpoot, I transmitherewith a report from the Secretary of State. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 10, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate resolution of December18, 1895, addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officer, with the accompanying correspondence, in relation to the arrest andimprisonment of Victor Hugo McCord at Arequipa, Peru, requested by saidresolution. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1896_. 

_To the Congress_:

I desire to invite attention to the necessity for prompt legislationin order to remove the limitation of the time within which suits may bebrought by the Government to annul unlawful or unauthorized grants ofpublic lands. 

By the act of March 3, 1887 (24 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 556), theSecretary of the Interior is directed to adjust each of the railroadland grants which may be unadjusted, and it is provided, if it shallappear upon the completion of such adjustment or sooner that the landshave been from any cause erroneously certified or patented by the UnitedStates to or for the use of a company claiming under any of said grants, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to demand areconveyance of the title to all lands so erroneously certified orpatented, and on failure of the company to make such reconveyance withinninety days the Attorney-General is required to institute and prosecutein the proper courts necessary proceedings to restore title to saidlands to the United States. The demands made under this act have beennumerous, and in some cases have resulted in the reinvestment of titleto the lands in the United States upon demand, but in most cases thedemand has been refused and suits have been necessary. 

The work of adjustment has been unavoidably slow. The said act makesprovision for the reinstatement of entries erroneously canceled onaccount of railroad withdrawals, and, upon certain conditions, providesfor the confirmation of titles derived by purchase from the companiesof lands shown to be excepted from the grants. It contemplates adisposition of every tract, described by the granting act, situatedwithin the primary or granted limits; an inspection of each tractcertified or patented to the company within such limit, to determinewhether such certification or patenting was proper; the listing of thosetracts shown to be erroneously certified, and the determination for whattracts lost to the grant indemnity is to be allowed. 

It is necessary in making such an adjustment that all questions ofconflicting claims, either between settlers and the road or between tworoads the grants for which conflict or overlap, be finally disposed of, so that a proper disposition of the land can be shown in the adjustment. While adjustments have proceeded with the utmost rapidity consistentwith a due regard for the rights of the settlers, of the United States, and the railroad companies, and while to this end the force of adjustershas been largely augmented in the General Land Office, many of thegrants yet remain unadjusted. 

In some of the grants, notably the corporation grants, the lack ofsurveys up to the present time made the completion of the workimpossible. 

Decisions rendered by the Interior Department in numerous conflictshave been carried into the courts. The construction of the InteriorDepartment has generally been sustained when final determination hasbeen reached, but many of the cases are still pending in the courts, not yet having been decided. Some of these cases, while involvingimmediately the title to only one particular tract, will when decidedfurnish a rule of construction to control the disposition of the titleto thousands of acres of other lands in the same situation. Until thecourts pass upon these questions final adjustments can not be made. 

By section 8 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 1099), it is expressly enacted that suits by the United States to vacateand annul any patent theretofore issued "shall only be brought withinfive years from the passage of this act. " This period of five years willexpire on the 3d of March, 1896. Of course no suit by the United Statesto secure the cancellation of a patent in this class of cases afterthat date would be effective. Indeed, it is now too late to initiateproceedings looking to any such suit, inasmuch as demand has to be firstmade on the company, and thereafter ninety days must be allowed forcompliance or refusal, in accordance with the provisions of the act ofMarch 3, 1887. Before the expiration of this period the statute wouldbar the right of recovery by the Government, and the benefits ofanticipated favorable decisions of the courts would be lost so far asthey might determine the character and disposition of grants similarto those directly involved in pending cases. 

It will be readily seen that if this act of limitations is to remain onthe statute books the portion of the adjustment act referred to would berendered nugatory. Indeed, there would be but little use in continuingthe adjustment of many of the land grants, inasmuch as ascertainedrights of the United States or of settlers could not be enforced by law. 

Legislation establishing limitations against the right of the Governmentto sue is an innovation not entirely consistent with the general historyof the rights of the Government, for it has uniformly been held thattime did not bar the sovereign power from the assertion of a right. 

The early adjudications of the Land Department construed the grants witha degree of liberality toward the grantees which later decisions of thecourts and of the Department have not sustained. It seems clear that thefurther progress of adjustments will develop facts and transactions inconnection with these land grants which ought to be the subjects oflegal examination and scrutiny before they are allowed to become finaland conclusive. The Government should not be prevented from going intothe courts to right wrongs perpetrated by its agents or any otherparties, and by which much of the public domain may be diverted from thepeople at large to corporate uses. 

In these circumstances it seems to me that the act of 1891 should beso amended as not to apply to suits brought to recover title to landscertified or patented on account of railroad or other grants; andI respectfully urge upon Congress speedy action to the end suggested, so that the adjustment of these grants may proceed without theinterposition of a bar, through lapse of time, against the right ofrecovery by the Government in proper cases. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 20, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives ofDecember 28, 1895, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary ofState and accompanying papers, relating to certain speeches made byThomas F. Bayard, ambassador of the United States to Great Britain. 

In response to that part of said resolution which requests informationas to the action taken by the President concerning the speeches thereinreferred to, I reply that no action has been taken thereon by thePresident except such as is indicated in the report and correspondenceherewith submitted. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 22, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House ofRepresentatives of December 28, 1895, a report from the Secretary ofState, with copies of all the correspondence of record in the Departmentof State in relation to the schooner _Henry Crosby_, fired uponwhile at anchor at Azua, Santo Domingo, December 10, 1893. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 22, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution adopted by the Senate on December 16, 1895, respecting what action had been taken in regard to the payment ofthe appropriation for the bounty on sugar contained in the sundry civilbill approved March 2, 1895, I herewith transmit a communicationreceived from the Secretary of the Treasury, which contains all theinformation I have upon the subject. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 23, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to aresolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, requesting information inregard to the treatment of naturalized citizens of the United States ofArmenian origin, and their families, by the Turkish Government. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 27, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies ofall correspondence of record relating to the failure of the scheme forthe colonization of negroes in Mexico, necessitating their return totheir home in Alabama. 

I referred to this matter in my message to Congress at the beginning ofthe present session, and for the reasons then given[29] I again urge thepropriety of making an appropriation to cover the cost of transportationfurnished by the railroad companies. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 29: See p. 634. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 30, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying the reports of the consuls of the United States on tradeand commerce. In view of the evident value of this compilation to ourbusiness interests, I indorse the recommendation of the Secretary thatCongress authorize the printing of a special edition of 10, 000 copiesof the General Summary of the Commerce of the World for distributionby the Department of State, and of 2, 500 copies of Commercial Relations(including this summary) to enable the Department to meet the increasingdemand for commercial information. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 3, 1896_. 

_To the Congress_:

In my last annual message allusion was made to the lawless killing ofcertain Italian laborers in the State of Colorado, [30] and it was addedthat "the dependent families of some of the unfortunate victims inviteby their deplorable condition gracious provision for their needs. "

It now appears that in addition to three of these laborers who wereriotously killed two others, who escaped death by flight, incurredpitiable disabilities through exposure and privation. 

Without discussing the question of the liability of the United Statesfor these results, either by reason of treaty obligations or under thegeneral rules of international law, I venture to urge upon the Congressthe propriety of making from the public Treasury prompt and reasonablepecuniary provision for those injured and for the families of those whowere killed. 

To aid in the consideration of the subject I append hereto a report ofthe Secretary of State, accompanied by certain correspondence whichquite fully presents all the features of the several cases. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 30: See p. 633. ]

_To the House of Representatives_:

Pursuant to the request made in a House resolution passed on the 30thday of January, 1896, I herewith transmit the report, with accompanyingmaps and exhibits, of the board of engineers under the provisions ofchapter 189 of laws of 1895, for the purpose of ascertaining thefeasibility, permanence, and cost of the construction and completion ofthe Nicaragua Canal by the route contemplated and provided for by theact which passed the Senate January 28, 1895, entitled "An act to amendan act entitled 'An act to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company ofNicaragua, ' approved February 20, 1889. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

FEBRUARY 7, 1896. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 10, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate ofDecember 18, 1895, a report by the Secretary of State, accompanied bycopies of correspondence touching the establishment or attemptedestablishment of post routes by Great Britain or the Dominion of Canadaover or upon United States territory in Alaska; also as to theoccupation or attempted occupation by any means of any portion of thatterritory by the military or civil authorities of Great Britain or ofCanada. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 10, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a viewto its ratification, a convention signed at Washington the 8th instantbetween the Governments of the United States of America and of HerBritannic Majesty, providing for the settlement of the claims presentedby Great Britain against the United States in virtue of the conventionof February 29, 1892, and of the findings of the Paris Tribunal ofArbitration pursuant to article 8 of said convention, as well as ofthe additional claims specified in paragraph 5 of the preamble of thepresent convention. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate ofDecember 9, 1895, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied bycopies of correspondence and other papers in regard to the case of JohnL. Waller, a citizen of the United States, at present in the custody ofthe French Government. 

It will be seen upon examination, as would of course be expected, thatthere is a slight conflict of evidence upon some of the features of Mr. Waller's case. Nevertheless, upon a fair and just consideration of allthe facts and circumstances as presented, and especially in view of Mr. Waller's own letters, the conclusions set forth in the report of theSecretary of State do not appear to admit of any reasonable doubt nor toleave open to the Executive any other course of action than that adoptedand acted upon as therein stated. 

It is expected that Mr. Waller's release from imprisonment will beimmediately forthcoming. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[A similar message was sent to the House of Representatives in answer toa resolution of that body of December 28, 1895. ]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives ofDecember 28 last, as follows--

 _Resolved_, That the Secretary of State be directed to communicate to the House of Representatives, if not inconsistent with the public interests, copies of all correspondence relating to affairs in Cuba since February last--

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State and suchportions of the correspondence requested as I deem it not inconsistentwith the public interests to communicate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 7, 1896, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with anaccompanying report of the special agent of the United States sentto the Fiji Islands to investigate the claims of B. H. Henry and otherAmerican citizens for compensation for certain lands alleged to havebeen owned by them and claimed to have been appropriated by the BritishGovernment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, with the accompanying papers, a report from the Secretaryof State, answering the resolution of the Senate of January 16, 1896, addressed to him, calling for information concerning the claims againstPeru of Thomas W. Sparrow, N. B. Noland, and others, members of thecommission known as the Hydrographic Commission of the Amazon, employedby the Government of Peru, for compensation for their services on saidcommission. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communicationfrom the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of theBureau of the American Republics for the year 1895. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House ofRepresentatives of February 1, 1896, a report from the Secretary ofState, with copies of the correspondence of record in the Department ofState in relation to the exclusion of life-insurance companies of theUnited States from transacting business in Germany. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 18, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, theSenate concurring, I return herewith Senate bill 879, entitled "An actto amend an act entitled 'An act to grant to the Gainesville, McAlesterand St. Louis Railroad Company a right of way through the IndianTerritory. '"

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1896_. 

_To the Senate:_

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolutions of the Senate of the18th and 19th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, in regard tothe claim of A. H. Lazare against the Government of Hayti. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 9, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the24th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, in relation to theclaim of the legal representatives of Lieutenant George C. Foulkeagainst the Government of the United States. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 9, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate's resolution of February6, 1896, addressed to the Secretary of State, copies, in translation, ofthe decrees or orders of the Governments of Germany, France, Belgium, and Denmark placing restrictions upon the importation of certainAmerican products. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 13, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate ofMarch 2, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies ofcorrespondence touching the arrest in Havana of Marcus E. Rodriguez, Luis Someillau y Azpeitia, and Luis Someillau y Vidal, citizens of theUnited States. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 13, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives ofFebruary 13, 1896, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State andaccompanying papers, relating to the claim of Bernard Campbell againstthe Government of Hayti. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 14, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, the House ofRepresentatives concurring, I return herewith the enrolled jointresolution (S. R. 116) authorizing the Public Printer to print the AnnualReport of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in quarto form andto bind it in one volume. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 15, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of March 24, 1896, requesting that theSenate be furnished with the correspondence of the Department of Statebetween November 5, 1875, and the date of the pacification of Cuba in1878 relating to the subject of mediation or intervention by the UnitedStates in the affairs of that island, I transmit a report from theSecretary of State, forwarding such papers as seem to be called for bythe resolution in question. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 30, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the House ofRepresentatives of the 9th instant, addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officer, accompanied by copies of the correspondence inregard to the imprisonment of Mrs. Florence E. Maybrick. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 16, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate datedthe 9th instant and addressed to the Secretary of State, a report ofthat officer, accompanied by copies of printed documents containing theinformation desired respecting the historical archives deposited in theDepartment of State. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 23, 1896_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the16th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, to which are attachedcopies in English and Spanish of the original text of a protocolexecuted January 12, 1877, between the minister plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Court of Spain and the minister of stateof His Majesty the King of Spain. 

It being, in my judgment, incompatible with the public service, I amconstrained to refrain from communicating to the Senate at this timecopies of the correspondence described in the third paragraph of saidresolution. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the27th instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill (H. R. 5731) entitled "An act to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery, to license physicians and surgeons, and to punish persons violating theprovisions thereof in the District of Columbia. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 3, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the2d instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill (H. R. 3279) entitled "An act to authorize the reassessment of water-main taxesor assessments in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 8, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in answer to theresolution of the Senate of May 9, 1896, directing that "the Secretaryof State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, theSecretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary ofAgriculture, the Postmaster-General, and the Attorney-General cause acareful and thorough inquiry to be made regarding the number of aliensemployed in their respective Departments, and to communicate the resultof said inquiry to the Senate at the earliest practicable day. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

VETO MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 2769, entitled"An act to authorize the leasing of lands for educational purposesin Arizona. "

This bill provides for the leasing of all the public lands reserved tothe Territory of Arizona for the benefit of its universities andschools, "under such laws and regulations as may be hereafter prescribedby the legislature of said Territory. "

If the proposed legislation granted no further authority than this, it would, in terms at least, recognize the safety and propriety ofleaving the desirability of leasing these lands and the limitationsand safeguards regulating such leasing to be determined by the locallegislature chosen by the people to make their laws and protect theirinterests. 

Instead of stopping here, however, the bill further provides that untilsuch legislative action the governor, the secretary of the Territory, and the superintendent of public instruction shall constitute a boardfor the leasing of said lands under the rules and regulations heretoforeprescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. It is specifically declaredthat it shall not be necessary to submit said leases to the Secretary ofthe Interior for approval, and that no leases shall be made for a longerterm than five years nor for a term extending beyond the date of theadmission of the Territory to statehood. 

Under these provisions the lands reserved for university and schoolpurposes, whose value largely depends upon their standing timber, and inwhich every citizen of the Territory has a deep interest, may be leasedand denuded of their timber by officers none of whom have been chosen bythe people, and without the sanction of any law or regulation made bytheir representatives in the local legislature. Even the measure ofprotection which would be afforded the citizens of the Territory by asubmission to the Secretary of the Interior of the leases proposed, andthus giving him an opportunity to ascertain whether or not they complywith his regulations, is especially withheld. 

It was hardly necessary to provide in this bill that these landsmight be leased "under such laws and regulations as may be hereafterprescribed by the legislature of said Territory" if the action of thelegislature was to be forestalled and rendered nugatory by the immediateand unrestrained action of the officers constituted "a board for theleasing of said lands" pending such legislative consideration. Theseare inconsistencies which are not satisfactorily accounted for by thesuggestion that the time that would elapse before the legislature couldconsider the subject would be important. 

The protests I have received from numerous and influential citizens ofthe Territory indicate considerable opposition to this bill among thoseinterested in the preservation and proper management of these schoollands. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith return without my approval Senate bill No. 894, entitled"An act granting a pension to Nancy G. Allabach. "

This bill provides for the payment of a pension of $30 a month to thebeneficiary named as the widow of Peter H. Allabach. 

This soldier served for nine months in the Army during the War of theRebellion, having also served in the war with Mexico. 

He was mustered out of his last service on the 23d day of May, 1863, and died on the 11th of February, 1892. 

During his life he made no application for pension on account ofdisabilities. It is not now claimed that he was in the least disabled asan incident of his military service, nor is it alleged that his death, which occurred nearly twenty-nine years after his discharge from theArmy, was in any degree related to such service. 

His widow was pensioned after his death under the statute allowingpensions to widows of soldiers of the Mexican War without reference tothe cause of the death of their husbands. Her case is also, indirectly, one of those provided for by the general act passed in 1890, commonlycalled the dependent-pension law. 

It is proposed, however, by the special act under consideration to givethis widow a pension of $30 a month without the least suggestion of thedeath or disability of her husband having been caused by his militaryservice, and solely, as far as is discoverable, upon the ground that sheis poor and needs the money. 

This condition is precisely covered by existing general laws; and if aprecedent is to be established by the special legislation proposed, I donot see how the same relief as is contained in this bill can be deniedto the many thousand widows who in a similar situation are now on thepension rolls under general laws. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 249, entitled"An act granting a pension to Charles E. Jones. "

The beneficiary named in this bill was a photographer who accompaniedone of the regiments of the Union Army in the War of the Rebellion. Hewas injured, apparently not very seriously, while taking photographs andwhen no battle was in actual progress. He was not enlisted, and was inno manner in the military service of the United States. 

Aside from the question as to whether his present sad condition isattributable to the injury mentioned, it seems to me the extension ofpension relief to such cases would open the door to legislation hard tojustify and impossible to restrain from abuse. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 25, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 1094, entitled"An act granting a pension to Francis E. Hoover. "

It is proposed by this bill to grant a pension of $50 a month to thebeneficiary named, who served as a private for about one year and ninemonths in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion. 

I do not understand it is claimed in any quarter that the presenthelpless condition of this soldier is at all attributable to his armyservice. 

He himself never applied for a pension until after the passage of thelaw of 1890, providing for a pension for those who had served in theArmy and are unable to maintain themselves by manual labor on account ofdisability not chargeable to army service. The committee of the House ofRepresentatives in reporting this bill declare: "The testimony does notshow the disease of the soldier to be of service origin. "

The beneficiary is now receiving the largest pension permitted under thelaw of 1890. 

His condition may well excite our sympathy, but to grant him a pensionof $50 a month without the least suggestion that his pitiable disabilityis related to his army service, and in view of the fact that he is nowreceiving the highest pension allowed by a general law enacted toexpressly meet such cases, it seems to me would result in an unfairdiscrimination as against many thousand worthy soldiers similarlysituated, and would invite applications which, while difficult to refusein the face of such a precedent, must certainly lead to the breakingdown of all the limitations and restrictions provided by our lawsregulating pensions. 

The value of pension legislation depends as much upon fairness andjustice in its administration as it does upon its liberality andgenerosity. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 1139, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Caroline D. Mowatt. "

The beneficiary mentioned in this bill was married in 1858 to Alfred B. Soule, who served as major of a Maine regiment of volunteers in the Warof the Rebellion from September 10, 1862, to July 15, 1863, when he wasmustered out of the service. He died in February, 1864, and in 1866 apension was granted to the beneficiary as his widow at the rate of $25 amonth, dating from the time of her husband's death, two years before. 

The widow continued to receive the pension allowed her until June 17, 1869, when She was married to Henry T. Mowatt, which under the lawterminated her pensionable right. It appears, however, that a smallpension was allowed two minor children of the soldier at the time oftheir mother's remarriage, which continued until 1876, more than sevenyears after such remarriage, when the youngest of said children became16 years of age. 

In 1878, nine years after he became the second husband of thebeneficiary, Henry T. Mowatt died. 

Though twenty-seven years have passed since the beneficiary ceased tobe the widow of the deceased soldier, and though she has been the widowof Henry T. Mowatt for eighteen years, it is proposed by the bill underconsideration to again place her name upon the pension roll "as widowof Alfred B. Soule, late major of the Twenty-third Regiment MaineVolunteers. "

Of course the propriety of the law which terminates the pension of asoldier's widow upon her remarriage will not be questioned. I suppose noone would suggest the renewal of such pension during the lifetime of hersecond husband. Her pensionable relation to the Government as the widowof her deceased soldier husband, under any reasonable pension theory, absolutely terminated with her remarriage. 

If she is to be again pensioned because her second husband does notsurvive her, the transaction has more the complexion of an adjustmentof a governmental insurance on the life of the second husband than theallowance of a pension on just and reasonable grounds. 

Legislation of this description is sure to establish a precedent whichit will be difficult to disclaim, and which if followed can not fail tolead to abuse. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 20, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 577, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Lydia A. Taft. "

In 1858 the beneficiary named in this bill became the wife of LowellTaft, who afterwards enlisted in the Union Army as a private in aConnecticut regiment and served from August, 1862, until June, 1865. The records of the War Department show that he was captured by theenemy June 15, 1863, and paroled July 14, 1863. 

No application for a pension was ever made by him, though he lived until1891, when he died at a soldiers' home in Connecticut. 

No suggestion is made that he incurred any disability in the service orthat his death was in any manner related to such service. 

In 1882, nearly twenty-four years after her marriage to the soldierand seventeen years after his discharge from the Army, the beneficiaryobtained a divorce from him upon the grounds of habitual drunkennessand failure to afford her a support. 

It is now proposed, five years after the soldier's death, to pension ashis widow the wife who was divorced from him at her own instancefourteen years ago. 

A government's generous care for widows deprived of a husband's supportand companionship by the casualties or disabilities of war rests upongrounds which all must cheerfully approve; but it is difficult to placeupon these grounds the case of this proposed beneficiary, who hasrenounced a wife's relation, with all its duties and all its rights, andwho by her own act placed herself beyond the possibility of becoming thewidow of her soldier husband. 

If, as stated in the report of the House committee on this bill, thebeneficiary for some reason contributed something toward the soldier'ssupport after her divorce and paid the expense of his burial, the factstill remains that this soldier died in a soldiers' home wifeless andleaving no one surviving who, claiming to be his widow, should beallowed to profit by his death. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 21, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1185, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Rachel Patton. "

John H. Patton, the husband of the beneficiary, was a captain in anIllinois regiment, and was killed in action June 25, 1863. 

In December, 1863, the beneficiary was pensioned as his widow at therate of $20 a month. 

She received this pension for thirteen years and until 1876, when shemarried one William G. Culbertson. Thereupon, because of such marriage, her name was dropped from the pension rolls, pursuant to law. 

In 1889, thirteen years after her remarriage and the termination of herpension, she procured a decree of divorce against her second husband onthe ground of desertion. 

She has a small income, but it does not appear that alimony was allowedher in the divorce proceedings. 

It is proposed by this bill to pension her at the same rate which wasallowed her while she remained the widow of the deceased soldier. 

It can not be denied that the remarriage of this beneficiary terminatedher pensionable relation to the Government as completely as if it neverexisted. The statute which so provides simply declares what is approvedby a fair and sensible consideration of pension principles. As a legalproposition, the pensionable status of a soldier's widow, lost by herremarriage, can not be recovered by the dissolution of the secondmarriage. Waiving, however, the application of strictly legal principlesto the subject, there does not appear to be any sentiment which shouldrestore to the pension rolls as the widow of a deceased soldier adivorced wife who has relinquished the title of soldier's widow to againbecome a wife, and who to secure the expected advantages and comforts ofa second marriage has been quite willing to forego the provision whichwas made for her by the Government solely on the grounds of her soldierwidowhood. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 23, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4804, entitled "An actto amend subdivision 10 of section 2238 of the Revised Statutes of theUnited States. "

The subdivision of the section of the law proposed to be amended bythis bill has reference to the fees allowed receivers and registers atpublic-land offices. This subdivision now reads as follows:

 Tenth. Registers and receivers are allowed jointly at the rate of 15 cents per hundred words for testimony reduced by them to writing for claimants in establishing preemption and homestead rights. 

The bill under consideration so amends this subdivision that in thefirst clause a compensation of 10 cents per hundred words is allowedto the registers and receivers for reducing to writing the testimonyof claimants "in all cases, " instead of 15 cents per hundred words forreducing to writing testimony "in establishing preemption and homesteadrights, " as provided in the old law. 

Whether this reduction of fees preserves an adequate and justcompensation to the officers affected I suppose has been duly consideredby the Congress. 

The bill, however, after providing for this change in compensation, contains the following words:

 And in all cases where they [the registers and receivers] can secure a competent person to reduce the testimony to writing for a sum less per folio than the sum herein prescribed it shall be their duty to do so. 

By the addition of these words the bill seems to give certain fees byway of official compensation to the officers named for certain servicesto be performed by them and at the same time to provide that if they cansecure other persons willing to perform these services for a less sumthan the amount allowed to them they shall forego their fees in favor ofsuch persons. 

It is very important that the fees and perquisites of public officersshould be definitely and clearly fixed, so that the official may knowprecisely the items of his lawful compensation and the people beprotected from extortion and imposition. 

A public officer ought not to be expected to search very industriouslyfor a person to underbid him for official work, and if such a personappeared the temptation to combination and conspiracy would in manycases lead to abuse. 

It will be observed that the officers are not given by this amendmentthe option to do this work themselves at 10 cents per folio or secure acompetent person to do it at a less rate, nor, if they desire, are theyallowed to compete with those willing to accept a less compensation. They may charge a fixed rate for the service if performed by them, butin any event if they can procure another party to perform the servicesfor a less sum they must do so. 

I am convinced that this bill in its present form, perhaps throughunfortunate phraseology, if it became a law would lead to confusion anduncertainty and would invite practices against which the public serviceought to be carefully guarded. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7161, entitled "An actfor the relief of Benjamin F. Jones. "

This bill directs the payment to the beneficiary, late postmasterat Beauregard, Miss. , or to his order, of the sum of $50, in fullcompensation for services and expenses in carrying and distributingthe mails between Wesson and Beauregard, in the State of Mississippi, in 1883. 

It appears from the report of the House committee recommending thepassage of this bill that on April 22, 1883, while Mr. Jones waspostmaster at Beauregard, a cyclone destroyed every building in theplace, including that in which the post-office was kept; that inconsequence of this disaster the mails for Beauregard were for a periodof thirty-five days, and until May 27, 1883, deposited at Wesson, 1 miledistant; that during that time it became necessary to transport suchmails from Wesson to Beauregard, and that the postmaster caused this tobe done, at an expense of $97. 

A report from the Postmaster-General discloses the fact that this claimwas presented to the Department in 1884 and was rejected on the groundthat if the service was performed as alleged it was not authorized ordirected by the Department. 

In 1885 a suit was instituted against this postmaster and his suretiesfor a balance due the Government from him on his official accounts forthe quarter ending June 30, 1883. 

It will be observed that this quarter covered the period within whichthe alleged services were performed. 

In the suit referred to a judgment was recovered by the Governmentagainst the postmaster for $190. 45, being the balance found due fromhim. This judgment still remains unpaid. 

In this condition of affairs it is quite plain that in fairness andjustice no appropriation should be made in favor of the claimant. 

It is the opinion of the Auditor of the Post-Office Department that evenif this bill becomes a law payment of the money appropriated should bewithheld under a section of the Revised Statutes which provides:

 No money shall be paid to any person for his compensation who is in arrears to the United States until he has accounted for and paid into the Treasury all sums for which he may be liable. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 7977, entitled "An actmaking appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation ofcertain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes. "

There are 417 items of appropriation contained in this bill, and everypart of the country is represented in the distribution of its favors. 

It directly appropriates or provides for the immediate expenditure ofnearly $14, 000, 000 for river and harbor work. This sum is in addition toappropriations contained in another bill for similar purposes amountingto a little more than $3, 000, 000, which have already been favorablyconsidered at the present session of Congress. 

The result is that the contemplated immediate expenditures for theobjects mentioned amount to about $17, 000, 000. 

A more startling feature of this bill is its authorization of contractsfor river and harbor work amounting to more than $62, 000, 000. Though thepayments on these contracts are in most cases so distributed that theyare to be met by future appropriations, more than $3, 000, 000 on theiraccount are included in the direct appropriations above mentioned. Ofthe remainder, nearly $20, 000, 000 will fall due during the fiscal yearending June 30, 1898, and amounts somewhat less in the years immediatelysucceeding. A few contracts of a like character authorized underprevious statutes are still outstanding, and to meet payments on thesemore than $4, 000, 000 must be appropriated in the immediate future. 

If, therefore, this bill becomes a law, the obligations which will beimposed on the Government, together with the appropriations made forimmediate expenditure on account of rivers and harbors, will amount toabout $80, 000, 000. Nor is this all. The bill directs numerous surveysand examinations which contemplate new work and further contracts andwhich portend largely increased expenditures and obligations. 

There is no ground to hope that in the face of persistent and growingdemands the aggregate of appropriations for the smaller schemes, notcovered by contracts, will be reduced or even remain stationary. For thefiscal year ending June 30, 1898, such appropriations, together with theinstallments on contracts which will fall due in that year, can hardlybe less than $30, 000, 000; and it may reasonably be apprehended that theprevalent tendency toward increased expenditures of this sort and theconcealment which postponed payments afford for extravagance willincrease the burdens chargeable to this account in succeeding years. 

In view of the obligation imposed upon me by the Constitution, itseems to me quite clear that I only discharge a duty to our people whenI interpose my disapproval of the legislation proposed. 

Many of the objects for which it appropriates public money are notrelated to the public welfare, and many of them are palpably for thebenefit of limited localities or in aid of individual interests. 

On the face of the bill it appears that not a few of these allegedimprovements have been so improvidently planned and prosecuted thatafter an unwise expenditure of millions of dollars new experiments fortheir accomplishment have been entered upon. 

While those intrusted with the management of public funds in theinterest of all the people can hardly justify questionable expendituresfor public work by pleading the opinions of engineers or others as tothe practicability of such work, it appears that some of the projectsfor which appropriations are proposed in this bill have been enteredupon without the approval or against the objections of the examiningengineers. 

I learn from official sources that there are appropriations contained inthe bill to pay for work which private parties have actually agreed withthe Government to do in consideration of their occupancy of publicproperty. 

Whatever items of doubtful propriety may have escaped observation or mayhave been tolerated in previous Executive approvals of similar bills, I am convinced that the bill now under consideration opens the way toinsidious and increasing abuses and is in itself so extravagant as to beespecially unsuited to these times of depressed business and resultingdisappointment in Government revenue. This consideration is emphasizedby the prospect that the public Treasury will be confronted with otherappropriations made at the present session of Congress amounting to morethan $500, 000, 000. 

Individual economy and careful expenditure are sterling virtueswhich lead to thrift and comfort. Economy and the exaction of clearjustification for the appropriation of public moneys by the servantsof the people are not only virtues, but solemn obligations. 

To the extent that the appropriations contained in this bill areinstigated by private interests and promote local or individual projectstheir allowance can not fail to stimulate a vicious paternalism andencourage a sentiment among our people, already too prevalent, thattheir attachment to our Government may properly rest upon the hope andexpectation of direct and especial favors and that the extent to whichthey are realized may furnish an estimate of the value of governmentalcare. 

I believe no greater danger confronts us as a nation than the unhappydecadence among our people of genuine and trustworthy love and affectionfor our Government as the embodiment of the highest and best aspirationsof humanity, and not as the giver of gifts, and because its mission isthe enforcement of exact justice and equality, and not the allowance ofunfair favoritism. 

I hope I may be permitted to suggest, at a time when the issue ofGovernment bonds to maintain the credit and financial standing of thecountry is a subject of criticism, that the contracts provided for inthis bill would create obligations of the United States amounting to$62, 000, 000 no less binding than its bonds for that sum. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 147, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Elvira Bachelder. "

This bill provides for a pension to the beneficiary as dependent motherof "J. K. P. Bachelder, late a private in Company D, Seventh New HampshireVolunteer Infantry. "

On the merits of the case I am satisfied this mother deserves a pension. I withhold my approval of the bill intended to grant her this reliefsolely because I am advised that the law would be inoperative for thereason that the deceased soldier never served in the Seventh NewHampshire Infantry, and should have been described in the bill as amember of Company D, First New Hampshire Heavy Artillery. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 900, entitled "An actto provide for the payment of the claim of William H. Mahoney. "

This bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to receive and pay toW. H. Mahoney, without the indorsement of N. A. Rogers, a certain bondissued by the United States in 1861 for the sum of $500, such payment tobe made upon the giving by said Mahoney of a bond to hold harmless theUnited States against repayment of said bond. 

The bond mentioned is one of a large issue which was authorized under anact passed March 2, 1861, and known as Oregon war-debt bonds. They weremade payable in 1881. 

In 1864 an act was passed directing the Secretary of the Treasury toissue or cause to be issued to E. F. And Samuel A. Ward duplicates ofnineteen of these bonds, particularly described by their numbers andotherwise. Among others are mentioned "Nos. 1352 to 1359, inclusive. "This of course includes the bond numbered 1358, which is directed to bepaid in the bill under consideration. Nothing can now be discovered toindicate the occasion for the issuance of these duplicates, but from thefact that a bond of indemnity was required it is inferred that they wereissued because of the loss or destruction of the original bonds. 

Pursuant to this act a duplicate of the bond in question, among others, was issued and made payable to the order of Thomas Pritchard, attorney, who was the payee in the original bond. 

In 1881 this duplicate was paid by the Treasury Department and is now inpossession of the Government. The indorsement of the payee, "ThomasPritchard, attorney, " appears thereon and all other proper indorsementsto show title in the party to whom the payment was made. 

The Government has therefore once paid the amount of this bond to theparty apparently entitled to it. If the beneficiary named in this billhas a better right to the money, the Government, not being in default, should be protected against double payment. I suppose to sustain aclaim upon the indemnity bond given when the duplicate was issued in1864 we should be prepared to show that the second payment on theoriginal bond was made upon such a state of facts as compelled or atleast justified it. The passage of an act simply directing such paymentwould alone not be sufficient. The bond directed to be given by thisbill would afford the Government no protection, since it only providesagainst repayment of the bond in the future, whereas the payment weshould suffer from has already been made. 

I suggest that an act be passed directing the Secretary of the Treasuryto investigate the entire subject with a view of determining to whomthis money should be paid, in a manner to bind, if possible, by theresults of the examination the party to whom it has already been paid, and who should refund if another has a better right. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 30, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without approval House bill No. 6037, entitled "An act grantinga pension to Mrs. Amanda Woodcock. "

The bill provides for the granting of a pension to the beneficiarytherein named, describing her as the "widow of Robert Woodcock, deceased, late a private in the Fourth United States Volunteer Infantryin the Mexican War. "

My action in this case is based upon the following statement concerningthe bill from the Pension Bureau:

 The bill, if approved, would be inoperative, inasmuch as there was no such organization in the Mexican War as named in the bill (Fourth United States Volunteer Infantry), and the service alleged by the soldier having been in the Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 30, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 4526, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Jonathan Scott. "

This bill directs that the Secretary of the Interior place upon thepension roll, at the rate of $72 per month, subject to the provisionsand limitations of the pension laws, the name of Jonathan Scott, lateof Company M, Sixth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry. 

The beneficiary was dropped from the pension roll in October, 1895, after a very thorough examination, for fraud, it appearing to thesatisfaction of the Pension Bureau that the disability for which he waspensioned was not due to his army service. There certainly ought to bea strong presumption that the case was fairly and justly determined bythe Bureau, and the evidence strongly tends to support the conclusionreached. If restored to the rolls, such restoration would still be"subject to the provisions and limitations of the pension laws, " and hewould not be exempt from further investigation if circumstances or newlydeveloped facts justified such a course. 

Whatever may be the merits of the case, however, I am advised by thePension Bureau that the bill, if it becomes a law in its present form, would be inoperative for the reason that the beneficiary is thereindescribed as having been a member of the Sixth Regiment of IowaVolunteer Cavalry, whereas he actually served in the Fifth Regiment ofthe Volunteer Cavalry of that State. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 1, 1896_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 149, entitled "An actgranting a pension to Helen M. Jacob. "

The purpose of this bill is to grant a pension of $12 per month to"Helen M. Jacob, of Rochester, Ind. , widow of Benjamin Oden West. "

It appears from the records of the War Department that Benjamin O. Westserved in the Mexican War from January to November in the year 1847. Thebeneficiary named in this bill was married to him in 1850, and he diedin 1856. She was pensioned as his widow, and received such pension fromthe date of her husband's death until April 17, 1861. On that date shewas married to William W. Jacob, whereupon her pension ceased, but twominor children were awarded pensions and continued in receipt of thesame until January, 1873, when the youngest child became 16 years ofage. 

The entire absence of any fixed or reasonable principle or ruleregulating private pension legislation at this time suggests the dangerof its near approach in many cases to caprice and favoritism. 

Though I have in a number of instances deferred to the judgment ofCongress and refrained from interposing objections to bills of thischaracter which seemed to me to be of doubtful merit, I am unwilling tofollow such a wide departure from a palpably just pension theory andassent to the establishment of such an unfortunate precedent as thisbill involves. 

There is no duty or obligation due from the Government to a soldier'swidow except it be worked out through the deceased soldier. She ispensioned only because he served his country and because through hisdeath she as his wife has lost his support. In other words, she becomesa beneficiary of the Government because she is a soldier's widow. Whenshe marries again, and thus displaces the memory of her soldier husbandand surrenders all that belongs to soldier widowhood, she certainlyought not on the death of her second husband to be allowed to claim thatshe is again the soldier's widow. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 6, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I hereby return without my approval House bill No. 8293, entitled "Anact making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriationsfor the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, and for prior years, and forother purposes. "

To the extent that the Constitution has devolved upon the President aparticipation in legislation I suppose his action on bills presented tohim for approval involves a duty to be performed, like others pertainingto his office, with care and circumspection and in full view of hisresponsibility to the people and his obligation to subserve the publicwelfare. It is difficult to understand why under the Constitution itshould be necessary to submit proposed legislation to Executive scrutinyand approval except to invoke the exercise of Executive judgment andinvite independent Executive action. 

The unpleasant incidents which accompany the use of the veto power wouldtempt its avoidance if such a course did not involve an abandonment ofconstitutional duty and an assent to legislation for which the Executiveis not willing to share the responsibility. 

I regret that I am constrained to disapprove an important appropriationbill so near the close of the present session of Congress. I have, however, by immediate action after the receipt of the bill, endeavoredto delay as little as possible a reconsideration of this proposedlegislation, though I am thus obliged to content myself with a lesscomplete explanation of my objections than would otherwise be submitted. 

This bill is in many of its features far removed from a legitimatedeficiency bill, and it contains a number of appropriations which seemto me to be exceedingly questionable. Without noticing in detail many ofthese items, I shall refer to two of them which, in my judgment, justifymy action in the premises. 

The bill appropriates $1, 027, 314. 09 for a partial payment upon claimswhich originated in depredations upon our commerce by French cruisersand vessels during the closing years of the last century. They havebecome quite familiar to those having Congressional experience, as theyhave been pressed for recognition and payment, with occasional intervalsof repose, for nearly one hundred years. 

These claims are based upon the allegations that France, being at warwith England, seized and condemned many American vessels and cargoes inviolation of the rules of international law and treaty provisions andcontrary to the duty she owed to our country as a neutral power and toour citizens; that by reason of these acts claims arose in favor of suchof our citizens as were demnified against the French nation, whichclaims our Government attempted to enforce, and that in concluding atreaty with France in the year 1800 these claims were abandoned orrelinquished in consideration of the relinquishment of certain claimswhich France charged against us. 

Upon these statements it is insisted by those interested that we as anation having reaped a benefit in our escape from these French demandsagainst us through the abandonment of the claims of our citizens againstFrance, the Government became equitably bound as between itself and itscitizens to pay the claims thus relinquished. 

I do not understand it to be asserted that there exists any legalliability against the Government on account of its relation to theseclaims. At the term of the Supreme Court just finished the ChiefJustice, in an opinion concerning them and the action of Congress inappropriating for their payment, said:

 We think that payments thus prescribed to be made were purposely brought within the category of payments by way of gratuity--payments of grace and not of right. 

From the time the plan was conceived to charge the Government withthe payment of these claims they have abided in the atmosphere ofcontroversy. Every proposition presented in their support has beenstoutly disputed and every inference suggested in their favor hasbeen promptly challenged. 

Thus, inasmuch as it must, I think, be conceded that if a state of warexisted between our country and France at the time these depredationswere committed our Government was not justified in claiming indemnityfor our citizens, it is asserted that we were at the time actuallyengaged in war with the French nation. This position seems to besustained by an opinion of the Attorney-General of the United Stateswritten in 1798 and by a number of decisions of the Supreme Courtdelivered soon after that time. 

We had certainly abrogated treaties with France, and our cruisers andarmed ships were roaming the seas capturing her vessels and property. 

So, also, when it is asserted that the validity of these claims wasacknowledged in the treaty negotiations by the representatives ofFrance, their declarations to a contrary purport are exhibited. 

And when it is alleged that the abandonment of these claims againstFrance was in consideration of great benefits to the Government, it isas confidently alleged that they were in point of fact abandoned becausetheir enforcement was hopeless and that even if any benefit reallyaccrued to us by insistence upon their settlement in the course ofdiplomatic negotiation such result gave no pretext for taxing theGovernment with liability to the claimants. 

Without noticing other considerations and contentions arising from thealleged origin of these claims, a brief reference to their treatment inthe past and the development of their presentation may be useful andpertinent. 

It is, I believe, somewhat the fashion in interested quarters to speakof the failure by the Government to pay these claims as such neglectas amounts to repudiation and a denial of justice to citizens who havesuffered. Of course the original claimants have for years been beyondthe reach of relief; but as their descendants in each generation becomemore numerous the volume of advocacy, importunity, and accusationcorrespondingly increases. If injustice has been done in the refusal ofthese claims, it began early in the present century and may be chargedagainst men then in public life more conversant than we can be with thefacts involved and whose honesty and sense of right ought to be securefrom suspicion. 

As early as 1802 a committee of the House of Representatives reportedthe facts connected with these claims, but apparently withoutrecommendation. No action was taken on the report. In 1803 a resolutiondeclaring that indemnity ought to be paid was negatived by a vote of thesame body. A favorable committee report was made in 1807, but it seemsthat no legislative action resulted. In 1818 an adverse report was madeto the Senate, followed by the passage of a resolution declaring "thatthe relief asked by the memorialists and petitioners ought not to begranted. " In 1822 and again in 1824 adverse committee reports on thesubject were made to the House, concluding with similar resolutions. 

The presumption against these claims arising from such unfavorablereports and resolutions and from the failure of Congress to provide fortheir payment at a time so near the events upon which they are based cannot be destroyed by the interested cry of injustice and neglect of therights of our citizens. 

Until 1846 these claims were from time to time pressed upon theattention of Congress with varying fortunes, but never with favorablelegislative action. In that year, however, a bill was passed for theirascertainment and satisfaction, and $5, 000, 000 were appropriated fortheir payment. This bill was vetoed by President Polk, [31] who declaredthat he could "perceive no legal or equitable ground upon which thislarge appropriation can rest. " This veto was sustained by the House ofRepresentatives. 

Nine years afterwards, and in 1855, another bill was passed similar tothe one last mentioned, and appropriating for the settlement of theseclaims a like sum of money. This bill was also vetoed, [32] PresidentPierce concluding a thorough discussion of its demerits with thesewords:

 In view of what has been said there would seem to be no ground on which to raise a liability of the United States, unless it be the assumption that the United States are to be considered the insurer and the guarantor of all claims, of whatever nature, which any individual citizen may have against a foreign nation. 

This veto was also sustained by the House of Representatives. 

I think it will be found that in all bills proposed in former times forthe payment of these claims the sum to be appropriated for that purposedid not exceed $5, 000, 000. It is now estimated that those already passedupon, with those still pending for examination in the Court of Claims, may amount to $25, 000, 000. This indicates either that the actualsufferers or those nearer to them in time and blood than the presentclaimants underestimated their losses or that there has been a greatdevelopment in the manner of their presentation. 

Notwithstanding persistent efforts to secure payment from theGovernment and the importunity of those interested, no appropriation hasever been made for that purpose except a little more than $1, 300, 000, which was placed in the general deficiency bill in the very last hoursof the session of Congress on March 3, 1891. 

In the long list of beneficiaries who are provided for in the bill nowbefore me on account of these claims 152 represent the owners of shipsand their cargoes and 186 those who lost as insurers of such vessels orcargoes. 

These insurers by the terms of their policies undertook and agreed"to bear and take upon themselves all risks and perils of the sea, men-of-war, fire, enemies, rovers, thieves, jettison, letters of martand counter mart, surprisals, takings at sea, arrests, restraints, anddetainments of all kings, princes, or people of what nation, condition, or quality whatsoever. "

The premiums received on these policies were large, and the losseswere precisely those within the contemplation of the insurers. It iswell known that the business of insurance is entered upon with theexpectation that the premiums received will pay all losses and yield aprofit to the insurance in addition; and yet, without any showing thatthe business did not result in a profit to these insurance claimants, it is proposed that the Government shall indemnify them against theprecise risks they undertook, notwithstanding the fact that the moneyappropriated is not to be paid except "by way of gratuity--paymentsas of grace and not of right. "

The appropriations to indemnify against insurance losses rest uponweaker grounds, it seems to me, than those of owners; but in the lightof all the facts and circumstances surrounding these spoliation claims, as they are called, none of them, in my opinion, should be paid by theGovernment. 

Another item in this bill which seems to me especially objectionable isan appropriation in favor of Charles P. Chouteau, survivor, etc. , of$174, 445. 75, in full satisfaction of all claims arising out of theconstruction of the ironclad steam battery _Etlah_. 

The contract for the construction of this battery was made by theGovernment with Charles W. McCord during the war, and he was to be paidtherefor the sum of $386, 000. He was paid this sum and $210, 991 forextras, and in May, 1866, gave his receipt in full. The assignee ofMcCord in bankruptcy assigned to Chouteau and his associates in 1868all claims of McCord against the United States for the precise extrasfor which he had receipted in full two years before. Chouteau broughtsuit in the Court of Claims for such extras and was defeated. I can notgather from the facts I have been able to collect concerning thisappropriation that it is justified on any ground. 

In 1890 my immediate predecessor vetoed a bill allowing the matter to beexamined again by the Court of Claims. [33]

If the additional payment proposed in this bill was made, the cost ofthe battery in question would be almost double that of the contractprice. 

I have determined to submit this incomplete presentation of myobjections to this bill at once in order that the Congress may actthereon without embarrassment or the interruption of plans for an earlyadjournment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 31: See Vol. IV, pp. 466-469. ]

[Footnote 32: See Vol. V, pp. 307-322. ]

[Footnote 33: See p. 93]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 10, 1896_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 225, entitled "Anact to provide for the lease of Fort Omaha Military Reservation to theState of Nebraska. "

This bill authorizes and directs the Secretary of War, when Fort Crook, near the city of Omaha, is ready for occupancy, to lease for a nominalrent to the State of Nebraska the possession of Fort Omaha MilitaryReservation, containing about 80 acres, with all the buildings, appurtenances, and improvements thereof. It is declared that the leaseshall be conditional upon the use of said reservation by the State ofNebraska as a place of rendezvous and school of instruction for theNational Guard of said State; that the State of Nebraska shall while itis in possession of said reservation keep the buildings and improvementsthereon in as good condition and repair as at the date it shall enterinto possession thereof, and that at any time when, in the judgment ofthe Secretary of War, the interests of the United States shall requiresuch action he shall take possession of said military reservation forthe use of the Government, together with all the buildings, appurtenances, and improvements thereon. 

On the 23d day of July, 1888, an act was passed authorizing theSecretary of War to purchase suitable grounds, of not less than 640acres in extent, to be situate within 10 miles of the city of Omaha, andto construct the necessary buildings thereon for a ten-company militarypost, to be known as Fort Omaha, and a necessary sum, not exceeding$200, 000, was appropriated to enable the Secretary of War to carry outthe provisions of said act. 

The said act also authorized the Secretary of War, when the purchase ofthe new site should be effected, to sell the military reservation knownas Fort Omaha and such of the buildings and improvements thereon ascould not be economically removed to the new site, and to cause the saidreservation, for the purposes of said sale, to be platted in blocks, streets, and alleys, if in his judgment it would inure to the benefit ofthe Government in making a sale of such site. 

The new site provided for by this act has been purchased, a large sum ofmoney has been spent by the Government in preparing it for use, and Iunderstand it will soon be ready for occupancy. The authority to sellthe old site has not been exercised. This may be accounted for by thefact that the Government has not thus far been able to dispense with itsuse or because the depression in land values at Omaha has rendered itunadvisable. 

The authority to sell and to remove any of the buildings from the oldreservation to the new site still remains, however, unimpaired. In thiscondition of affairs it is now proposed to lease this land and thesebuildings to the State of Nebraska at a nominal rent, allowing theGovernment to repossess it only "when the interests of the United Statesshall require such action. "

Of course it would be claimed that this language, in view of thestatute of 1888, should not be construed as permitting the Government toretake the property for the purpose of selling it, because that is notstipulated in the bill. For that reason it would be plausibly urged thatthe lease was paramount to the power of sale contained in the law of1888 and that the omission of any provision that possession might beresumed for the purpose of sale plainly indicated that "the interests ofthe United States" which allow such resumption contemplate some otherand different emergency. 

As a practical question, we all know that transactions of this characterrelating to Government property amount to a permanent alienation, orcertainly pave the way for an absolute grant. 

I do not think there should be anything done with this valuable propertywhich will in the least embarrass the Government in its sale, and tothat extent reimbursing itself for the cost of the new military post, which was plainly contemplated in the law of 1888. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas the Congress of the United States passed an act, which wasapproved on the 16th day of July, 1894, entitled "An act to enable thepeople of Utah to form a constitution and State government and to beadmitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, "which act provided for the election of delegates to a constitutionalconvention to meet at the seat of government of the Territory of Utahon the first Monday in March, 1895, for the purpose of declaring theadoption of the Constitution of the United States by the people of theproposed State and forming a constitution and State government for suchState; and

Whereas delegates were accordingly elected, who met, organized, anddeclared on behalf of the people of said proposed State their adoptionof the Constitution of the United States, all as provided in said act;and

Whereas said convention, so organized, did, by ordinance irrevocablewithout the consent of the United States and the people of said State, as required by said act, provide that perfect toleration of religioussentiment shall be secured and that no inhabitant of said State shallever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode ofreligious worship, but that polygamous or plural marriages are foreverprohibited, and did also by said ordinance make the other variousstipulations recited in section 3 of said act; and

Whereas said convention thereupon formed a constitution and Stategovernment for said proposed State, which constitution, including saidordinance, was duly submitted to the people thereof at an election heldon the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November, 1895, asdirected by said act; and

Whereas the return of said election has been made and canvassed and theresult thereof certified to me, together with a statement of the votescast and a copy of said constitution and ordinance, all as provided insaid act, showing that a majority of the votes lawfully cast at suchelection was for the ratification and adoption of said constitution andordinance; and

Whereas the constitution and government of said proposed State arerepublican in form, said constitution is not repugnant to theConstitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence, and all the provisions of said act have been complied with in theformation of said constitution and government:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United Statesof America, in accordance with the act of Congress aforesaid and byauthority thereof, announce the result of said election to be as socertified and do hereby declare and proclaim that the terms andconditions prescribed by the Congress of the United States to entitlethe State of Utah to admission into the Union have been duly compliedwith and that the creation of said State and its admission into theUnion on an equal footing with the original States is now accomplished. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of January, A. D. 1896, andof the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred andtwentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the RevisedStatutes of the United States, relating to copyrights, " that said act"shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nationwhen such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the UnitedStates of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is aparty to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity inthe granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the UnitedStates of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;"and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence ofeither of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the Presidentof the United States by proclamation made from time to time as thepurposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in theUnited States of Mexico the law permits to citizens of the United Statesof America the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis asto the citizens of that Republic:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditionsspecified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and isfulfilled in respect to the citizens of the United States of Mexico. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of February, 1896, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas in a suit between the United States and the State of Texasinvolving the title to and jurisdiction over all that territory lyingbetween the North and South forks of the Red River and the one hundredthdegree of longitude, known and styled as "Greer County, Tex. , " theSupreme Court of the United States has decided that the title to andjurisdiction over said territory is vested in the United States; and

Whereas the Choctaw Nation claims that the title to these lands passedto said nation by virtue of treaties with the United States and that thetitle of said nation to said lands has not been extinguished, but thatsaid Choctaw Nation has a right and interest therein; and

Whereas it is claimed that divers persons settled upon said lands priorto the 30th day of December, 1887, acting in good faith upon the beliefthat the same belonged to and were subject to the jurisdiction of theState of Texas and that Congress will be asked to extend to all suchsettlers suitable relief:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the authority in me vested, not admitting in any wise thevalidity of such claim on behalf of the Choctaw Nation, but for thepurpose of preserving the status of said lands intact until such timeas said claim of the Choctaw Nation thereto may be duly determined, andthat the settlers herein before referred to shall not be disturbed untilCongress shall have fully considered their claims for relief, do herebywithdraw said lands from disposition under the public-land laws of theUnited States and declare the same to be in a state of reservation untilsuch time as this order of withdrawal may be revoked; and I do furtherwarn and admonish all persons against entering upon said lands with aview to occupying the same or settling thereon under the public-landlaws during the existence of this order. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of March, A. D. 1896, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

The following provisions of the laws of the United States are publishedhereby for the information of all concerned:

Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, Title XXIII, enacts that--

 No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall for each offense be fined not less than $200 nor more than $1, 000, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section. 

Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection ofthe salmon fisheries of Alaska, " approved March 2, 1889, provides--

 Sec. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of the United States in the waters of Bering Sea; and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section; and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein. 

The act entitled "An act to extend to the North Pacific Ocean theprovisions of the statutes for the protection of the fur seals and otherfur-bearing animals, " approved February 21, 1893, provides--

 That whenever the Government of the United States shall conclude an effective international arrangement for the protection of fur seals in the North Pacific Ocean by agreement with any power or as a result of the decision of the Tribunal of Arbitration under the convention concluded between the United States and Great Britain February 29, 1892, and so long as such arrangement shall continue, the provisions of section 1956 of the Revised Statutes and all other provisions of the statutes of the United States, so far as the same may be applicable, relative to the protection of fur seals and other fur-bearing animals within the limits of Alaska or in the waters thereof shall be extended to and over all that portion of the Pacific Ocean included in such international arrangement. Whenever an effective international arrangement is concluded as aforesaid it shall be the duty of the President to declare that fact by proclamation and to designate the portion of the Pacific Ocean to which it is applicable and that this act has become operative, and likewise when such arrangement ceases to declare that fact and that this act has become inoperative; and his proclamation in respect thereto shall be conclusive. During the extension as aforesaid of said laws for the protection of fur seals or other fur-bearing animals all violations thereof in said designated portion of the Pacific Ocean shall be held to be the same as if committed within the limits of Alaska or in the waters thereof, but they may be prosecuted either in the district court of Alaska or in any district court of the United States in California, Oregon, or Washington. 

An arrangement having been made for the protection of fur seals asa result of the decision of the Tribunal of Arbitration under theconvention concluded as aforesaid February 29, 1892, which prohibitsthe killing of seals at any time within a radius of 60 miles around thePribilof Islands or during May, June, and July of each year in thatportion of the Pacific Ocean, inclusive of Bering Sea, situated to thenorth of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and eastward of theone hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich until itstrikes the water boundary described in Article I of the treaty of 1867between the United States and Russia, and following that line up toBering Strait:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Grover Cleveland, President of theUnited States of America, hereby declare that the said act of Congressof February 21, 1893, has become operative; that in accordance therewithsection 1956 of the Revised Statutes is applicable to the waters abovementioned, included in the award of the tribunal at Paris given underthe said convention of February 29, 1892, and that I have caused theforegoing laws specially to be proclaimed to the end that theirprovisions may be known and observed. 

I hereby proclaim that every person guilty of a violation of theprovisions of said laws and of any other provisions of the statutes ofthe United States, so far as the same may be applicable, relative to theprotection of fur-bearing animals within the limits of Alaska or in thewaters thereof will be arrested and punished as therein provided, andall vessels so engaged, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, will be seized and forfeited. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of April, A. D. 1896, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the RevisedStatutes of the United States, relating to copyrights, " that said act"shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nationwhen such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the UnitedStates of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the samebasis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is aparty to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity inthe granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the UnitedStates of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;"and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence ofeither of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the Presidentof the United States by proclamation made from time to time as thepurposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in theRepublic of Chile the law permits to citizens of the United States ofAmerica the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as tothe citizens of that Republic:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United Statesof America, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditionsspecified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists andis fulfilled in respect to the citizens of the Republic of Chile. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of May, 1896, and of theIndependence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas by a proclamation dated the 12th day of June, A. D. 1895, [34]attention was called to the serious civil disturbances, accompanied byarmed resistance to the established Government of Spain, then prevailingin the island of Cuba, and citizens of the United States and all otherpersons were admonished to abstain from taking part in such disturbancesin contravention of the neutrality laws of the United States; and

Whereas said civil disturbances and armed resistance to the authorityof Spain, a power with which the United States are on terms of peaceand amity, continue to prevail in said island of Cuba; and

Whereas since the date of said proclamation said neutrality laws of theUnited States have been the subject of authoritative exposition by thejudicial tribunal of last resort, and it has thus been declared that anycombination of persons organized in the United States for the purposeof proceeding to and making war upon a foreign country with which theUnited States are at peace, and provided with arms to be used for suchpurpose, constitutes a "military expedition or enterprise" within themeaning of said neutrality laws, and that the providing or preparingof the means for such "military expedition or enterprise, " which isexpressly prohibited by said laws, includes furnishing or aiding intransportation for such "military expedition or enterprise;" and

Whereas, by express enactment, if two or more persons conspire to commitan offense against the United States any act of one conspirator toeffect the object of such conspiracy renders all the conspirators liableto fine and imprisonment; and

Whereas there is reason to believe that citizens of the United Statesand others within their jurisdiction fail to apprehend the meaning andoperation of the neutrality laws of the United States as authoritativelyinterpreted as aforesaid, and may be misled into participation intransactions which are violations of said laws and will render themliable to the severe penalties provided for such violations:

Now, therefore, that the laws above referred to, as judiciallyconstrued, may be duly executed, that the international obligations ofthe United States may be fully satisfied, and that their citizens andall others within their jurisdiction, being seasonably apprised of theirlegal duty in the premises, may abstain from disobedience to the lawsof the United States and thereby escape the forfeitures and penaltieslegally consequent thereon, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the UnitedStates, do hereby solemnly warn all citizens of the United States andall others within their jurisdiction against violations of the saidlaws, interpreted as hereinbefore explained, and give notice that allsuch violations will be vigorously prosecuted; and I do hereby invokethe cooperation of all good citizens in the enforcement of said laws andin the detection and apprehension of any offenders against the same, anddo hereby enjoin upon all the executive officers of the United Statesthe utmost diligence in preventing, prosecuting, and punishing anyinfractions thereof. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal ofthe United States to be affixed, [SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of July, A. D. 1896, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 34: See pp. 591-592. ]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. 

The United States should never be unmindful of the gratitude they owethe God of Nations for His watchful care, which has shielded them fromdire disaster and pointed out to them the way of peace and happiness. Nor should they ever refuse to acknowledge with contrite hearts theirproneness to turn away from God's teachings and to follow with sinfulpride after their own devices. 

To the end that these thoughts may be quickened it is fitting that ona day especially appointed we should join together in approaching theThrone of Grace with praise and supplication. 

Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, dohereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 26th day of the presentmonth of November, to be kept and observed as a day of thanksgiving andprayer throughout our land. 

On that day let all our people forego their usual work and occupation, and, assembled in their accustomed places of worship, let them with oneaccord render thanks to the Ruler of the Universe for our preservationas a nation and our deliverance from every threatened danger, for thepeace that has dwelt within our boundaries, for our defense againstdisease and pestilence during the year that has passed, for theplenteous rewards that have followed the labors of our husbandmen, and for all the other blessings that have been vouchsafed to us. 

And let us, through the mediation of Him who has taught us how to pray, implore the forgiveness of our sins and a continuation of heavenlyfavor. 

Let us not forget on this day of thanksgiving the poor and needy, and bydeeds of charity let our offerings of praise be made more acceptable inthe sight of the Lord. 

Witness my hand and the seal of the United States, which I have causedto be hereto affixed. 

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of November, A. D. 1896, andof the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas on June 21, 1890, the President of the United States byproclamation reserved certain lands in Juneau and Douglas City, FortWrangell and Sitka, in the Territory of Alaska, for public buildings, barracks, parade grounds, parks, wharves, coaling stations, etc. , whichare fully set forth and particularly described in said proclamation; and

Whereas a treaty of cession was exchanged and proclaimed on June 20, 1867, whereby the Russian Empire ceded to the United States theTerritory of Alaska; and

Whereas said treaty, by Article II, provided, _inter alia_, that--

 It is, however, understood and agreed that the churches which have been built in the ceded territory by the Russian Government shall remain the property of such members of the Greek Oriental Church resident in the territory as may choose to worship therein. 

And whereas there were included among the lands hereinbefore referredto as reserved on June 21, 1890, certain lands in and about the townof Sitka, in said Territory of Alaska, which are claimed by the HolyOrthodox Catholic Apostolic Oriental Church, commonly styled theGreco-Russian Church, and described in the said treaty as the GreekOriental Church:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the authority in me vested, do hereby declare, proclaim, and make known that the Executive order of June 21, 1890, making saidreservations of lands in the Territory of Alaska, therein particularlydescribed, is hereby modified, and said reservations are diminished sothat the following property, described in Inventory B attached to andreferred to in the protocol of transfer signed by the representatives ofRussia and the United States on October 26, 1867, and being in and aboutthe town of Sitka aforesaid, be excluded therefrom, to wit:

The Cathedral Church of St. Michael, built of timber, situated in thecenter of the city. 

The Church of Resurrection, of timber, commonly called the KalochianChurch, situated near the battery number at the palisade separating thecity from the Indian village. 

102. A double-storied timber building for bishop house, withoutbuildings, appurtenances, and grounds. 

35. A timber house for church warden. 

98. A timber house for the deacon. 

104, 105, 114. Three timber houses, with their appurtenances andoutbuildings, for lodging of priests. 

F, G, H, I. Four lots of ground belonging to the parsonages. 

_a_ The place commemorative of the old church. 

_b_ A tomb. 

Three cemeteries, two outside palisades and one by the Church of theResurrection. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of November, in the year1896, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas by a proclamation of the President of the United States datedJanuary 26, 1888, [35] upon proof then appearing satisfactory that notonnage or light-house dues or any equivalent tax or taxes whateverwere imposed upon American vessels entering the ports of the Empire ofGermany, either by the Imperial Government or by the governments of theGerman maritime States, and that vessels belonging to the United Statesof America and their cargoes were not required in German ports to payany fee or due of any kind or nature or any import due higher or otherthan was payable by German vessels or their cargoes in the UnitedStates, the President did thereby declare and proclaim, from and afterthe date of his said proclamation of January 26, 1888, the suspensionof the collection of the whole of the duty of 6 cents per ton, not toexceed 30 cents per ton per annum, imposed upon vessels entered inthe ports of the United States from any of the ports of the Empireof Germany by section 11 of the act of Congress approved June 19, 1886, entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official servicesto American vessels and to amend the laws relating to shippingcommissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes;"and

Whereas the President did further declare and proclaim in hisproclamation of January 26, 1888, that the said suspension shouldcontinue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging tocitizens of the United States and their cargoes should be continued inthe said ports of the Empire of Germany, and no longer; and

Whereas it now appears upon satisfactory proof that tonnage orlighthouse dues or a tax or taxes equivalent thereto are in fact imposedupon American vessels and their cargoes entered in German ports higherand other than those imposed upon German vessels or their cargoesentered in ports of the United States, so that said proclamation ofJanuary 26, 1888, in its operation and effect contravenes the meaningand intent of said section 11 of the act of Congress approved June 19, 1886:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, by virtue of the aforesaid section II of the act aforesaid, as well as in pursuance of the terms of said proclamation itself, dohereby revoke my said proclamation of January 26, 1888, suspending thecollection of the whole of the duty of 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30cents per ton per annum, which is imposed by the aforesaid section ofsaid act upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from anyof the ports of the German Empire, this revocation of said proclamationto take effect on and after the 2d day of January, 1897. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of December, A. D. 1896, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 35: See Vol. VIII, pp. 741-742. ]

EXECUTIVE ORDERS. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 2, 1895_. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1, clause 8, is hereby amended by strikingfrom the list of places excepted from examination in the Department ofLabor statistical experts and temporary experts. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 2, 1895_. 

So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (_c_), as provides for the appointment of specialagents in the Department of Labor by noncompetitive examination ishereby revoked. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1896_. 

Section 5 of Internal-Revenue Rule IV is hereby amended by adding at theend of the first paragraph thereof the following:

 _And provided further_, That whenever an emergency shall arise requiring that a vacant position in any internal-revenue district shall be filled before a certificate can be issued by the Commission and an appointment made thereto in the manner provided in these rules, such position may be filled without regard to the provisions of these rules by temporary appointment for a period not to exceed fifteen days, and only for such period as may be required for the execution of the necessary details of an appointment thereto in accordance with said provisions; but no person shall receive such emergency appointment who within the sixty days next previous thereto has been separated from a position in said district to which he was temporarily appointed under the provisions of this section. 

The section as amended shall read as follows:

 5. In the case of the occurrence of a vacancy in the classified service of any internal-revenue collection district which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled and there is no eligible entitled to reinstatement under section 1, clause (_b_), of this rule or remaining on the proper register, such vacancy in the class of storekeeper, storekeeper and gauger, or clerk may be filled without examination and certification by a temporary designation by the collector of the district of some suitable person to perform the duties of the position until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: _Provided_, That service under such temporary designation shall in no case continue longer than six months, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: _And provided further_, That no person shall serve more than six months in any one year under such temporary designation, the year limitation in regard to such designation to begin to run on the date thereof: _And provided further_, That whenever an emergency shall arise requiring that a vacant position in any internal-revenue district shall be filled before a certificate can be issued by the Commission and an appointment made thereto in the manner provided in these rules, such position may be filled without regard to the provisions of these rules by temporary appointment for a period not to exceed fifteen days, and only for such period as may be required for the execution of the necessary details of an appointment thereto in accordance with said provisions; but no person shall receive such emergency appointment who within the sixty days next previous thereto has been separated from a position in said district to which he was temporarily appointed under the provisions of this section. 

 Every such temporary designation, and also the discontinuance of the same, shall be at once reported to the Commission. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 1896_. 

Section 5 of Customs Rule II is hereby amended by adding thereto thefollowing:

 (_i_) Any person appointed to a position which requires only a portion of his time and attention for the performance of its duties, pays him a compensation not exceeding $300 per annum, and permits of his pursuing other regular business or occupation, such person being conveniently located for the performance of said duties. 

The section as amended shall read as follows:

 5. Exceptions from examination in the classified customs service are hereby made as follows:

 (_a_) Deputy collectors who do not also act as inspectors, examiners, or clerks. 

 (_b_) Cashier of the collector. 

 (_c_) Assistant cashier of the collector. 

 (_d_) Auditor of the collector. 

 (_e_) Chief acting disbursing officer. 

 (_f_) Deputy naval officers. 

 (_g_) Deputy surveyors. 

 (_h_) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of each nominating officer. 

 (_i_) Any person appointed to a position which requires only a portion of his time and attention for the performance of its duties, pays him a compensation not exceeding $300 per annum, and permits of his pursuing other regular business or occupation, such person being conveniently located for the performance of said duties. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --EXTENSION OF THE CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENTAL AND INDIANSERVICES. 

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the thirdparagraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate andimprove the civil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to amend theclassification of the Interior Department so as to include among thepositions classified thereunder and subject to competitive examinationclerk, assistant clerk, issue clerk, property clerk, storekeeper, andall other clerical positions at Indian agencies and Indian schools;likewise to amend the classification of the Indian service so as toinclude among the positions classified thereunder supervisor of Indianschools, day-school inspector, disciplinarian, industrial teacher, teacher of industries, kindergarten teacher, farmer, nurse, assistantmatron, and seamstress. 

But Indians shall be eligible to appointment to any of said positionson such test of fitness as may be required by the Secretary of theInterior and without examination or certification by the Civil ServiceCommission; but they shall not be transferred from said positions tothe departmental service. 

Approved, March 20, 1896. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 28, 1896_. 

So much of the Executive orders heretofore issued under General RuleIII, section 2, clause (_c_) as provides for the appointment ofmembers of the board of pension appeals in the Department of theInterior by non-competitive examination is hereby revoked, and theseplaces will hereafter be treated as subject to competitive examination. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 28, 1896_. 

Special Departmental Rule No. 1, clause 3, is hereby amended by strikingfrom the list of places excepted from examination in the Department ofthe Interior assistant attorneys and law clerks, and these places willhereafter be treated as subject to competitive examination. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

In the exercise of power vested in him by the Constitution and ofauthority given to him by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third sectionof the Revised Statutes and by an act to regulate and improve the civilservice of the United States, approved January 16, 1883, the Presidenthereby makes and promulgates the following rules and revokes all others:

 RULE I. 

 1. The United States Civil Service Commission shall have authority to prescribe regulations in pursuance of and for the execution of the provisions of these rules and of the civil-service act. 

 2. The several terms hereinafter mentioned, wherever used in these rules or the regulations of the Commission, shall be construed as follows:

 (_a_) The term "civil-service act" refers to "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, " approved January 16, 1883. 

 (_b_) The term "classified service" refers to all that part of the executive civil service of the United States included within the provisions of the civil-service act. 

 (_c_) The term "grade" in connection with employees or positions refers to a group of employees or positions in the classified service arranged upon the basis of duties performed, without regard to salaries received. 

 (_d_) The term "class" in connection with employees or positions refers to a group of employees or positions in any grade arranged upon the basis of salaries received, in pursuance of the provisions of section 163 of the Revised Statutes and of section 6 of the civil-service act. 

 (_e_) The term "excepted position" refers to any position within the provisions of the civil-service act, but excepted from the requirement of competitive examination or registration for appointment thereto. 

 RULE II. 

 1. Any person in the executive civil service of the United States who shall willfully violate any of the provisions of the civil-service act or of these rules shall be dismissed from office. 

 2. No person in the executive civil service shall use his official authority or official influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or controlling the result thereof. 

 3. No person in the executive civil service shall dismiss, or cause to be dismissed, or make any attempt to procure the dismissal of, or in any manner change the official rank or compensation of, any other person therein because of his political or religious opinions or affiliations. 

 4. No question in any examination or form of application shall be so framed as to elicit information concerning, nor shall any inquiry be made concerning, nor any other attempt be made to ascertain, the political or religious opinions or affiliations of any applicant, competitor, or eligible; and all disclosures thereof shall be discountenanced, and no discrimination shall be exercised, threatened, or promised against or in favor of any applicant, competitor, or eligible because of his political or religious opinions or affiliations. 

 5. No recommendation of an applicant, competitor, or eligible involving any disclosure of his political or religious opinions or affiliations shall be received, filed, or considered by the Commission, by any board of examiners, or by any nominating or appointing officer. 

 6. In making removals or reductions or in imposing punishment for delinquency or misconduct penalties like in character shall be imposed for like offenses, and action thereupon shall be taken irrespective of the political or religious opinions or affiliations of the offenders. 

 7. A person holding a position on the date said position is classified under the civil-service act shall be entitled to all the rights and benefits possessed by persons of the same class or grade appointed upon examination under the provisions of said act. 

 RULE III. 

 1. All that part of the executive civil service of the United States which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act shall be arranged in branches as follows: The departmental service, the custom-house service, the post-office service, the Government printing service, and the internal-revenue service. 

 2. The departmental service shall include officers and employees as follows, except those in the service of the Government Printing Office and in the service of the several custom-houses, post-offices, and internal-revenue districts:

 (_a_) All officers and employees, of whatever designation, except persons merely employed as laborers or workmen and persons who have been nominated for confirmation by the Senate, however or for whatever purpose employed, whether compensated by a fixed salary or otherwise, who are serving in or on detail from--

 The several Executive Departments, the commissions, and offices in the District of Columbia. 

 The railway mail service. 

 The Indian service. 

 The several pension agencies. 

 The steamboat-inspection service. 

 The marine-hospital service. 

 The light-house service. 

 The life-saving service. 

 The several mints and assay offices. 

 The revenue-cutter service. 

 The force employed under custodians of public buildings. 

 The several subtreasuries. 

 The engineer department at large. 

 (_b_) All executive officers and employees outside of the District of Columbia not covered in (_a_), of whatever designation, whether compensated by a fixed salary or otherwise--

 Who are serving in a clerical capacity or whose duties are in whole or in part of a clerical nature. 

 Who are serving in the capacity of watchman or messenger. 

 Who are serving in the capacity of physician, hospital steward, nurse, or whose duties are of a medical nature. 

 Who are serving in the capacity of draftsman, civil engineer, steam engineer, electrical engineer, computer, or fireman. 

 Who are in the service of the Supervising Architect's Office in the capacity of superintendent of construction, superintendent of repair, or foreman. 

 Who are in the service of the Treasury Department in any capacity except those in the life-saving service. 

 3. The custom-house service shall include the officers and employees serving in any customs district whose employees number as many as five who have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act; and whenever in any customs district whose officers and employees number less than five the number of officers and employees shall be increased to as many as five the Secretary of the Treasury shall at once notify the Commission of such increase and the officers and employees in said district shall be included within the classified service from the date of said increase. 

 4. The post-office service shall include the officers and employees in any free-delivery post-office who have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act; and whenever the free-delivery system shall be established in any post-office the Postmaster-General shall at once notify the Commission of such establishment and the officers or employees of said office shall be included within the classified service from the date of such establishment; and whenever by order of the Postmaster-General any post-office shall be consolidated with and made a part of a free-delivery post-office the Postmaster-General shall at once notify the Commission of such consolidation and from the date of said order the employees of the office thus made a part of the free-delivery office whose names appear on the roster of the Post-Office Department shall be employees of said free-delivery office, and the person holding on the date of said order the position of postmaster at the office thus made a part of said free-delivery office may be made an employee in said free-delivery office and may at the time of classification be assigned to any position therein and given any appropriate designation which the Postmaster-General may direct. 

 5. The Government printing service shall include the officers and employees in the Government Printing Office who have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act. 

 6. The internal-revenue service shall include the officers and employees who have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act in any internal-revenue district. 

 7. All officers and employees who have heretofore been classified under the civil-service act shall be considered as still classified and subject to the provisions of these rules. 

 8. The following-mentioned positions or employees shall not be subject to the provisions of these rules:

 (_a_) Any position filled by a person whose place of private business is conveniently located for the performance of the duties of said position, or any position filled by a person remunerated in one sum both for services rendered therein and for necessary rent, fuel, and lights furnished for the performance of the duties thereof: _Provided_, That in either case the performance of the duties of said position requires only a portion of the time and attention of the occupant, paying him a compensation not exceeding, for his personal salary only, $300 per annum, and permitting of his pursuing other regular business or occupation. 

 (_b_) Any person in the military or naval service of the United States who is detailed for the performance of civil duties. 

 (_c_) Any person employed in a foreign country under the State Department or temporarily employed in a confidential capacity in a foreign country. 

 (_d_) Any position whose duties are of a quasi military or quasi naval character and for the performance of whose duties a person is enlisted for a term of years. 

 RULE IV. 

 1. In pursuance of the provisions of section 2 of the civil-service act, there shall be provided, to test fitness for admission to positions which have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act, examinations of a practical and suitable character involving such subjects and tests as the Commission may direct. 

 2. No person shall be appointed to or be employed in any position which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act until he shall have passed the examination provided therefor or unless he is especially exempt from examination by the provisions of said act or the rules made in pursuance thereof. 

 3. In pursuance of the provisions of section 2 of the civil-service act, wherever competent persons can be found who are willing to compete, no noncompetitive examination shall be given except as follows:

 (_a_) To test fitness for transfer or for promotion in a part of the service to which promotion regulations have not been applied. 

 (_b_) To test fitness for appointment of Indians as superintendents, teachers, teachers of industries, kindergartners, and physicians in the Indian service at large. 

 The noncompetitive examinations of Indians for the positions mentioned shall consist of such tests of fitness, not disapproved by the Commission, as may be determined upon by the Secretary of the Interior. A statement of the result of every noncompetitive test and all appointments, transfers, or promotions based thereon shall be immediately forwarded to the Commission. 

 4. In pursuance of the provisions of section 3 of the civil-service act, examinations shall be provided at such places and upon such dates as the Commission shall deem most practicable to subserve the convenience of applicants and the needs of the service. 

 5. In pursuance of the provisions of section 3 of the civil-service act, the Commission shall appoint from persons in the Government service such boards of examiners as it may deem necessary. The members of said boards shall perform such duties as the Commission may direct in connection with examinations, appointments, and promotions in any part of the service which has been or may hereafter be classified. The members of any board of examiners in the performance of their duties as such shall be under the direct and sole control and authority of the Commission. The duties performed by the members of any board of examiners in their capacity as such shall be considered part of the duties of the office in which they are serving, and time shall be allowed for the performance of said duties during the office hours of said office. The members of any board of examiners shall not all be adherents of one political party when persons of other political parties are available and competent to serve upon said board. 

 6. In pursuance of the provisions of section 3 of the civil-service act, all executive officers of the United States shall facilitate civil-service examinations, and postmasters, customs officers, internal-revenue officers, and custodians of public buildings at places where such examinations are to be held shall for the purpose of such examinations permit and arrange for the use of suitable rooms under their charge and for heating, lighting, and furnishing the same. 

 RULE V. 

 1. Every applicant for examination must be a citizen of the United States, must be of proper age, and must make an application under oath upon a form prescribed by the Commission and accompanied by such certificates as may be prescribed. 

 2. No application for examination shall be accepted from any person serving in the Army, the Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States unless the written consent of the head of the department under which said person is enlisted is filed with his application. 

 3. The Commission may, in its discretion, refuse to examine an applicant or to certify an eligible who is physically so disabled as to be rendered unfit for the performance of the duties of the position to which he seeks appointment, or who has been guilty of a crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or who has been dismissed from the service for delinquency or misconduct within one year next preceding the date of his application, or who has intentionally made a false statement in any material fact or practiced or attempted to practice any deception or fraud in securing his registration or appointment. Any of the foregoing disqualifications shall be good cause for the removal of an eligible from the service after his appointment. 

 4. No application for examination shall be accepted unless the applicant is within the age limitations fixed herein for entrance to the position to which he seeks to be appointed: _Provided_, That, subject to the other conditions of these rules, the application of any person whose claim of preference under the provisions of section 1754 of the Revised Statutes has been allowed by the Commission may be accepted without regard to his age. The age limitations for entrance to positions in the different branches of the service shall be as follows:

 Minimum. Maximum. 

 Departmental service:

 Page or messenger boy 14 18 Apprentice (or student) 16 20 Printer's assistant and messenger 18 No limit. Positions in railway mail service 18 35 Superintendent, physician, supervisor, day-school inspector, Indian service 25 55 All other positions in the Indian service 21 45 All other positions 20 No limit. 

 (These limitations shall not apply in the cases of wives of superintendents of Indian schools who apply for examination for the position of teacher or matron. )

 Custom-house service:

 Clerk and messenger 20 No limit. Other positions 21 No limit. 

 Post-office service:

 Letter carrier 21 40 Other positions 18 No limit. Government printing service: All positions (male) 21 No limit. All positions (female) 18 No limit. Internal-revenue service: Clerk 18 No limit. Other positions 21 No limit. 

 5. No application shall be accepted for examination for a position which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades unless it shall be shown that the applicant has served as apprentice or as journeyman or as apprentice and journeyman at said trade for such periods as the Commission may prescribe. 

 RULE VI. 

 The following-named employees or positions which have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act shall be excepted from the requirement of examination or registration:

 _Departmental service_. --(_a_) Private secretaries or confidential clerks (not exceeding two) to the President or to the head of each of the eight Executive Departments; (_b_) Indians employed in the Indian service at large, except those employed as superintendents, teachers, teachers of industries, kindergartners, and physicians. 

 _Custom-house service_. --(_a_) One cashier in each customs district; (_b_) one chief or principal deputy or assistant collector in each customs district whose employees number as many as 150. 

 _Post-office service_. --(_a_) One assistant postmaster, or chief assistant to the postmaster, of whatever designation, at each post-office; (_b_) one cashier of each first-class post-office when employed under the roster title of cashier only. 

 _Internal-revenue service_. --One cashier in each internal-revenue district. 

 RULE VII. 

 1. Examination papers shall be rated on a scale of 100, and the subjects therein shall be given such relative weights as the Commission may prescribe. After a competitor's papers have been rated he shall be duly notified of the result thereof. 

 2. Every competitor who attains an average percentage of 70 or over shall be eligible for appointment to the position for which he was examined, and the names of eligibles shall be entered in the order of their average percentages on the proper register of eligibles: _Provided_, That the names of all competitors whose claims to preference under the provisions of section 1754 of the Revised Statutes have been allowed by the Commission, and who attain an average percentage of 65 or over, shall be placed in the order of their average percentages at the head of the proper register of eligibles. 

 3. For filling vacancies in positions for which competitive tests are not practicable the registration of applicants shall be in the order in which they fulfill the requirements prescribed therefor by regulation of the Commission: _Provided_, That persons who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and were honorably discharged therefrom, and persons who have been separated from such positions above mentioned through no delinquency or misconduct, shall be placed at the head of the proper register in the order of their fulfillment of said requirements. 

 4. The term of eligibility shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered upon the register. 

 RULE VIII. 

 In pursuance of the provisions of section 2 of the civil-service act, whenever a vacancy occurs in any position which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act, and which is not an excepted position, the filling of said vacancy, unless filled through noncompetitive examination or by reinstatement, transfer, promotion, or reduction, shall be governed as follows:

 1. The appointing or nominating officer shall request certification to him of the names of eligibles for the position vacant, and the Commission shall certify to said officer from the proper register the three names at the head thereof which have not been three times certified to the Department or office in which the vacancy exists: _Provided_, That certification for temporary appointment shall not be counted as one of the three certifications to which an eligible is entitled: _And provided further_, That whenever the sex of those whose names are to be certified is fixed by any law, rule, or regulation or is specified in the request for certification the names of those of the sex so fixed or specified shall be certified, but in other cases certification shall be made without regard to sex. 

 2. Of the three names certified the nominating or appointing officer shall select one, and if at the time of selection there are more vacancies than one he may select more than one name, unless otherwise directed by the Commission. 

 3. If an eligible who is not entitled to certification is certified and appointed, his appointment shall be immediately revoked by the appointing officer upon notification from the Commission. 

 4. A person selected for appointment shall be notified of his selection by the appointing or nominating officer, and upon his acceptance shall receive from the appointing officer a certificate of appointment for a probationary period of six months, at the end of which period, if the conduct and capacity of the probationer are satisfactory to the appointing officer, his retention in the service shall be equivalent to his absolute appointment; but if his conduct or capacity be not satisfactory he shall be notified by the appointing officer that he will not receive absolute appointment because of such unsatisfactory conduct or want of capacity, and such notification shall discharge him from the service: _Provided_, That the probation of an employee in the Indian-school service shall terminate at the end of the school year in which he is appointed: _And provided further_, That the time which an employee has actually served as substitute in parts of the service where substitutes are authorized shall be counted as part of the probationary period of his regular appointment, but that time served under a temporary appointment shall not be so counted. 

 5. If the appointing or nominating officer shall object to an eligible named in the certificate, stating that because of some physical defect, mental unsoundness, or moral disqualification, particularly specified, said eligible would be incompetent or unfit for the performance of the duties of the vacant position, and if said officer shall sustain such objection with evidence satisfactory to the Commission, the Commission may certify the eligible on the register who is in average percentage next below those already certified in place of the one to whom objection is made and sustained. 

 6. Certifications for appointment of persons for service in or on direct detail from any Department or office in Washington, D. C. , shall be so made as to maintain as nearly as possible the apportionment of such appointments among the several States and Territories and District of Columbia upon the basis of population, except to appointments in the Government Printing Office, to the position of printer's assistant, skilled helper, and operative in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, to positions in the post quartermaster's office, in the pension agency, and other local offices in the District of Columbia, and to the positions of page and messenger boy and apprentice or student. 

 7. Within any part of the service to which promotion regulations have been or may hereafter be applied certification of those eligible to original appointment shall not be made for filling a vacancy in a position above the lowest class in any grade whenever there is any person eligible and willing to be promoted to said vacancy: _Provided_, That a vacancy in any position requiring the exercise of technical or professional knowledge may be filled by original appointment. 

 8. When two or more eligibles on a register have the same average percentage, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their applications were filed. 

 9. For filling vacancies in positions outside of the District of Columbia and in positions in the pension agency, the depot quartermaster's office, and other local offices in the District of Columbia the territory of the United States shall be arranged in such sections or districts as the Commission may determine, and an eligible shall be certified in his order to vacancies in the section or district in which he resides, and, upon his written request, to vacancies in any one or more of the other sections or districts: _Provided_, That in the custom-house service, post-office service, or internal-revenue service an eligible shall be certified only to vacancies in the customs district, post-office, or internal-revenue district where he was examined. 

 10. In any part of the service in which the employment of substitutes is not prohibited by law there may be certified and appointed in the manner provided for in this rule only such number of substitutes as are actually needed for the performance of substitute duty. 

 11. In any part of the service in which substitutes are employed certifications of those eligible to original appointment shall be made for filling vacancies in substitute positions only, and vacancies in regular positions shall be filled by the appointment or promotion thereto of substitutes in the order of their original appointment as substitutes whenever there are substitutes of the required sex who are eligible and willing to be so appointed or promoted. Substitutes so appointed or promoted shall, however, be subject to the provisions of these rules relating to probation and permanent appointment. 

 12. Upon request of the appointing or nominating officer preference in certification may be given to the wife of the superintendent of an Indian school for filling a vacancy in the position of teacher or matron in said school. 

 13. Whenever there shall occur a vacancy which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled and which can not be so filled in time to meet the emergency by certification from the eligible registers, such vacancy may, subject to the approval of the Commission, be filled by temporary appointment without examination until a regular appointment can be made. Such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time. No person shall serve longer than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment or appointments, and in any event only until a regular appointment can be made through examination and certification. Said year limitation shall begin to run in the case of any person on the date of his first such appointment: _Provided_, That whenever an emergency shall arise requiring that a vacant position in any internal-revenue district shall be filled before a certificate can be issued by the Commission and an appointment made thereto in the manner provided in these rules such position may be filled without regard to the provisions of these rules by temporary appointment for a period not to exceed thirty days, and only for such period as may be required for the execution of the necessary details of an appointment thereto in accordance with said provisions; but no person shall receive such temporary appointment who within the ninety days next previous thereto has been separated from a position in said district to which he was temporarily appointed under the provisions of this section. 

 14. Whenever a temporary appointment shall be made through certification from the eligible registers of the Commission in the manner provided in these rules, such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than six months, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that period. 

 RULE IX. 

 A vacancy in any position which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil service act may, upon requisition of the proper officer and the certificate of the Commission, be filled by the reinstatement without examination of any person who within one year next preceding the date of said requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from a classified position at the date of said requisition and in that Department or office and that branch of the service in which said vacancy exists: _Provided_, That for original entrance to the position proposed to be filled by reinstatement there is not required by these rules, in the opinion of the Commission, an examination involving essential tests different from or higher than those involved in the examination for original entrance to the position formerly held by the person proposed to be reinstated: _And provided further_, That, subject to the other conditions of these rules, any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, may be reinstated without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service. 

 RULE X. 

 Within that part of the civil service of the United States which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act transfers shall be governed as follows:

 1. A person in any Department or office may be transferred within the same Department or office and the same branch of the service upon any test of fitness, not disapproved by the Commission, which may be determined upon by the appointing officer, subject to the limitations of the provisos of section 2 of this rule. 

 2. A person who has received absolute appointment may be transferred without examination from any Department, office, or branch of the service upon requisition and consent of the proper officers and the certificate of the Commission: _Provided_, That no transfer shall be made of a person to a position within the same Department or office and the same branch of the service, or to a position in another Department, office, or branch of the service, if from original entrance to such position said person is barred by the age limitations prescribed therefor or by the provisions regulating apportionment, or if in said position there is not required, in the judgment of the Commission, the performance of the same class of work or the practice of the same mechanical trade performed or practiced in the position from which transfer is proposed: _And provided further_, That transfer shall not be made without examination, provided by the Commission, to a position for original entrance to which, in the judgment of the Commission, there is required by these rules an examination involving essential tests different from or higher than those involved in the examination required for original entrance to the position from which transfer is proposed; but a person employed in any grade shall not because of such employment be barred from the open competitive examination provided for original entrance to any other grade. 

 3. Upon requisition of the proper officer and the certificate of the Commission transfer may be made without examination from the office of the President of the United States, after continuous service therein for the two years next preceding the date of said requisition, to any position classified under the civil-service act, if in said position there is required, in the judgment of the Commission, the performance of the same class of work that is required to be performed in the position from which transfer is proposed. 

 4. Transfer shall not be made from an excepted position to a position not excepted: _Provided_, That a person holding an excepted position at the time said position is classified under the civil-service act, or a person holding an excepted position which he entered prior to the President's order of November 2, 1894, may, subject to the other conditions and provisions of this rule, be transferred to a position not excepted. 

 5. Transfer shall not be made from a position not classified under the civil-service act to a classified position: _Provided_, That a person who by promotion or transfer from a classified position has entered a position appointment to which is made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and has served continuously therein from the date of said promotion or transfer, may be transferred from said Presidential appointment to the position from which he was so transferred or to any position to which transfer could be made therefrom. 

 6. Transfer shall not be made from a position outside the District of Columbia to a position within the District of Columbia except upon the certificate of the Commission, subject to the other conditions and provisions of this rule. 

 7. Any person who has been transferred from a classified position to another classified position may be retransferred to the position in which he was formerly employed or to any position to which transfer could be made therefrom without regard to the limitations of this rule. 

 8. All transfers herein authorized shall be made only after the issuance by the Commission of the certificates therefor, except those which may be specifically exempted from such condition by regulation of the Commission. 

 9. Whenever a person is proposed for transfer from one branch of the service to another branch of the service and from a part of the service not within the provisions regulating apportionment to a part of the service within said provisions, and the transfer is one which under the provisions of this rule may be allowed without examination, such person shall be required precedent to his transfer to file a statement under oath setting forth the same facts, accompanied by the same certificates or vouchers relating to residence, as may be required in an application for examination. 

 RULE XI. 

 1. In pursuance of the requirements of section 7 of the civil-service act, competitive tests or examinations shall, as far as practicable and useful, be established to test fitness for promotion in any part of the civil service of the United States which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act. 

 2. The details regulating promotions shall be formulated by the Commission after consultation with the heads of the several Departments, bureaus, or offices. It shall be the duty of the head of each Department, bureau, or office when such regulations have been formulated to promulgate the same, and any amendments or revocations thereof shall be approved by the Commission before going into effect. 

 3. The Commission shall, upon the nomination of the head of each Department, bureau, or office, designate and select a suitable number of persons, not less than three, in said Department, bureau, or office to be members of a board of promotion. In the Departments, bureaus, or offices in Washington and in all other offices the members of any board of examiners shall not all be adherents of one political party when persons of other political parties are available and competent to serve upon said board. 

 4. Until the regulations herein authorized have been approved for any Department, bureau, or office in which promotion regulations approved by the Commission are not in force promotions therein may be made from one class to another class which is in the same grade and from one grade to another grade upon any test of fitness, not disapproved by the Commission, which may be determined upon by the promoting officer: _Provided_, That no promotion of a person shall be made, except upon examination provided by the Commission, from one class to another class or from one grade to another grade if for original entrance to said class or grade to which promotion is proposed there is required by these rules an examination involving essential tests different from or higher than those involved in the examination required for original entrance to the class or grade from which promotion is proposed: _And provided further_, That no promotion of a person shall be made, except upon examination provided by the Commission, to a position in which, in the judgment of the Commission, there is not required the performance of the same class of work or the practice of the same mechanical trade which is required to be performed or practiced in the position from which promotion is proposed; but a person employed in any grade shall not because of such employment be barred from the open competitive examination provided for original entrance to any other grade: _And provided further_, That no promotion of a person shall be made to a class or grade from original entrance to which such person is barred by the age limitations prescribed therefor or by the provisions regulating apportionment. 

 RULE XII. 

 1. In pursuance of the provisions of section 2 of the civil-service act every nominating or appointing officer in the executive civil service of the United States shall furnish to the Commission a list of all the positions and employments under his control and authority, together with the names, designations, compensations, and dates of appointment or employment of all persons serving in said positions or employments, said list to be arranged as follows: (_a_) Classified positions not excepted from examination; (_b_) classified positions excepted from examination; (_c_) unclassified positions. 

 2. Every nominating or appointing officer in the executive civil service shall report in detail to the Commission, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, all changes as soon as made, and the dates thereof, in the service under his control and authority, setting forth among other things the following: The position to which an appointment or reinstatement is made; the position from which a separation is made, whether the same was caused by dismissal, resignation, or death, and the position from which and the position to which a transfer or promotion is made; the compensation of every position from which or to which a change is made; the name of every person appointed, reinstated, promoted, transferred, or separated from the service, and every failure to accept an appointment and the reasons therefor. 

Approved, May 6, 1896. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D. C. , May 7, 1896_. 

In the exercise of the authority vested in the President by theseventeen hundred and fifty-third (1753d) section of the RevisedStatutes--

_It is ordered_, That the office of the Interstate CommerceCommission be, and the same is hereby, classified as a part of theclassified departmental service, and for the purpose of applying thecivil-service rules thereto the officers, clerks, and other employees ofsaid Commission are hereby arranged in the following classes, viz:

_Class A_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of less than$720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. 

_Class B_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 perannum. 

_Class C_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 perannum. 

_Class D_. --All persons receiving a salary of $900 or more, or acompensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1, 000 perannum. 

_Class E_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 000 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 000 or more, but less than$1, 200 per annum. 

_Class 1_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 200 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 200 or more, but less than$1, 400 per annum. 

_Class 2_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 400 ormore per annum, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 400 or more, butless than $1, 600 per annum. 

_Class 3_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 600 ormore per annum, or an annual compensation at the rate of $1, 600 or more, but less than $1, 800 per annum. 

_Class 4_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 800 ormore per annum, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 800 or more, butless than $2, 000 per annum. 

_Class 5_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $2, 000 ormore or a compensation at the rate of $2, 000 or more per annum. 

_Provided_, That no person who may be appointed to an office by andwith the advice and consent of the Senate and that no person who may beemployed merely as a workman or laborer shall be considered as withinthis classification, and no person so employed shall be assigned to theduties of a classified place. 

_Provided further_, That no person shall be admitted to any placenot excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of theclasses above designated until he or she shall have passed anappropriate examination under the United States Civil Service Commissionand his or her eligibility has been certified to by said Commission. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 13, 1896_. 

The civil-service rules are hereby amended as follows:

Rule III, clause 2 (_a_), is amended by adding after the words "thelight-house service" the words "the life-saving service. "

Paragraph (_b_) of the same rule and clause is amended by strikingout after the words "who are in the service of the Treasury Departmentin any capacity" the words "except those in the life-saving service. "

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

The civil-service rules as revised May 6, 1896, are hereby amended asfollows:

Rule I, section 2, clause (_b_): In the third line, after the word"act, " insert "and these rules;" so that as amended the clause willread:

 (_b_) The term "classified service" refers to all that part of the executive civil service of the United States included within the provisions of the civil-service act and these rules. 

Rule III, section 2, clause (_a_), is amended by adding thereto thefollowing clause:

 The Ordnance Department at large. 

Rule III, section 2, clause (_a_), is amended by striking out after"persons" in the third line the words "who have been nominated for" andinserting in lieu thereof the words "whose appointments are subject to. "

Rule III, section 2 clause (_b_), is amended by inserting in thesecond line, after the word "designation, " the words "except personsmerely employed as laborers or workmen and persons whose appointmentsare subject to confirmation by the Senate. "

Rule III, section 2, clause (_b_), is amended by adding thereto thefollowing words:

 Who are employed in the Department of Justice under the annual appropriation for the investigation of official acts, records, and accounts of officers of the courts. 

Rule III, section 3, is amended to read as follows:

 3. The custom-house service shall include such officers and employees as have been or may hereafter he classified under the civil-service act who are serving in any customs district whose officers and employees number as many as five; and whenever in any customs district whose officers and employees number less than five the number of officers and employees shall be increased to as many as five the Secretary of the Treasury shall at once notify the Commission of such increase, and the officers and employees of said district shall be included within the classified service from the date of said increase. 

Rule III, section 6, is amended by inserting in the second line, afterthe word "employees, " the following: "in any internal-revenue district;"and in the third line, after the word "act, " by striking out thefollowing: "in any internal-revenue district;" so that as amended thesection will read:

 6. The internal-revenue service shall include the officers and employees in any internal-revenue district who have been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act. 

Rule VI is amended by adding in the departmental service an additionalclause, making exceptions from examination, to read as follows:

 (_c_) Attorneys or assistant attorneys in any Department whose main duties are connected with the management of cases in court. 

Amend Rule VI by striking out after "internal-revenue service" the words"one cashier in each internal-revenue district" and inserting in lieuthereof--

 One employee in each internal-revenue district who shall act as cashier or chief deputy or assistant collector, as may be determined by the Treasury Department. 

Amend Rule VIII by striking out section 3. 

Rule IX is amended by striking out in the seventh line the word"classified" and inserting in lieu thereof after the word "position" inthe same line the following: "included within the classified service;"so that as amended the line will read: "misconduct, been separated froma position included within the classified service at the. "

Rule XI, section 2, is amended by striking out in line 1 the words "Thedetails regulating" and inserting in their stead the words "Regulationsto govern;" so that as amended the section will read:

 2. Regulations to govern promotions shall be formulated by the Commission after consultation with the heads of the several Departments, bureaus, and offices. It shall be the duty of the head of each Department, bureau, or office when such regulations have been formulated to promulgate the same, and any amendments or revocations thereof shall be approved by the Commission before going into effect. 

Rule XI, section 3: The word "examiners" in line 7 is changed to"promotion, " making the section read:

 3. The Commission shall, upon the nomination of the head of each Department, bureau, or office, designate and select a suitable number of persons, not less than three, in said Department, bureau, or office to be members of a board of promotion. In the Departments, bureaus, or offices in Washington and in all other offices the members of any board of promotion shall not all be adherents of one political party when persons of other political parties are available and competent to serve upon said board. 

Approved, November 2, 1896. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE--EXECUTIVE ORDER. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _November 2, 1896_. 

The regulations of the Navy Department governing the employment of laborat navy-yards having been adopted by the Civil Service Commission asa regulation of the Commission July 29, 1896, under the authorityconferred by clause 1, Rule 1, of the revised civil-service rules ofMay 6, 1896, it is hereby ordered that no modification of the existingregulations shall be made without the approval of the Civil ServiceCommission. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 7, 1896_. 

_To the Congress of the United States_:

As representatives of the people in the legislative branch oftheir Government, you have assembled at a time when the strength andexcellence of our free institutions and the fitness of our citizens toenjoy popular rule have been again made manifest. A political contestinvolving momentous consequences, fraught with feverish apprehension, and creating aggressiveness so intense as to approach bitterness andpassion has been waged throughout our land and determined by the decreeof free and independent suffrage without disturbance of our tranquillityor the least sign of weakness in our national structure. 

When we consider these incidents and contemplate the peaceful obedienceand manly submission which have succeeded a heated clash of politicalopinions, we discover abundant evidence of a determination on the partof our countrymen to abide by every verdict of the popular will andto be controlled at all times by an abiding faith in the agenciesestablished for the direction of the affairs of their Government. 

Thus our people exhibit a patriotic disposition which entitles themto demand of those who undertake to make and execute their laws suchfaithful and unselfish service in their behalf as can only be promptedby a serious appreciation of the trust and confidence which theacceptance of public duty invites. 

In obedience to a constitutional requirement I herein submit to theCongress certain information concerning national affairs, with thesuggestion of such legislation as in my judgment is necessary andexpedient. To secure brevity and avoid tiresome narration I shall omitmany details concerning matters within Federal control which, thoughby no means unimportant, are more profitably discussed in departmentalreports. I shall also further curtail this communication by omittinga minute recital of many minor incidents connected with our foreignrelations which have heretofore found a place in Executive messages, but are now contained in a report of the Secretary of State, which isherewith submitted. 

At the outset of a reference to the more important matters affecting ourrelations with foreign powers it would afford me satisfaction if I couldassure the Congress that the disturbed condition in Asiatic Turkey hadduring the past year assumed a less hideous and bloody aspect and that, either as a consequence of the awakening of the Turkish Government tothe demands of humane civilization or as the result of decisive actionon the part of the great nations having the right by treaty to interferefor the protection of those exposed to the rage of mad bigotry and cruelfanaticism, the shocking features of the situation had been mitigated. Instead, however, of welcoming a softened disposition or protectiveintervention, we have been afflicted by continued and not infrequentreports of the wanton destruction of homes and the bloody butchery ofmen, women, and children, made martyrs to their profession of Christianfaith. 

While none of our citizens in Turkey have thus far been killed orwounded, though often in the midst of dreadful scenes of danger, theirsafety in the future is by no means assured. Our Government at homeand our minister at Constantinople have left nothing undone to protectour missionaries in Ottoman territory, who constitute nearly all theindividuals residing there who have a right to claim our protection onthe score of American citizenship. Our efforts in this direction willnot be relaxed; but the deep feeling and sympathy that have been arousedamong our people ought not to so far blind their reason and judgment asto lead them to demand impossible things. The outbreaks of blind furywhich lead to murder and pillage in Turkey occur suddenly and withoutnotice, and an attempt on our part to force such a hostile presencethere as might be effective for prevention or protection would not onlybe resisted by the Ottoman Government, but would be regarded as aninterruption of their plans by the great nations who assert theirexclusive right to intervene in their own time and method for thesecurity of life and property in Turkey. 

Several naval vessels are stationed in the Mediterranean as a measureof caution and to furnish all possible relief and refuge in case ofemergency. 

We have made claims against the Turkish Government for the pillageand destruction of missionary property at Harpoot and Marash duringuprisings at those places. Thus far the validity of these demands hasnot been admitted, though our minister, prior to such outrages andin anticipation of danger, demanded protection for the persons andproperty of our missionary citizens in the localities mentioned andnotwithstanding that strong evidence exists of actual complicity ofTurkish soldiers in the work of destruction and robbery. 

The facts as they now appear do not permit us to doubt the justice ofthese claims, and nothing will be omitted to bring about their promptsettlement. 

A number of Armenian refugees having arrived at our ports, an order haslately been obtained from the Turkish Government permitting the wivesand children of such refugees to join them here. It is hoped thathereafter no obstacle will be interposed to prevent the escape of allthose who seek to avoid the perils which threaten them in Turkishdominions. 

Our recently appointed consul to Erzerum is at his post and dischargingthe duties of his office, though for some unaccountable reason hisformal exequatur from the Sultan has not been issued. 

I do not believe that the present somber prospect in Turkey will be longpermitted to offend the sight of Christendom. It so mars the humane andenlightened civilization that belongs to the close of the nineteenthcentury that it seems hardly possible that the earnest demand of goodpeople throughout the Christian world for its corrective treatment willremain unanswered. 

The insurrection in Cuba still continues with all its perplexities. Itis difficult to perceive that any progress has thus far been made towardthe pacification of the island or that the situation of affairs asdepicted in my last annual message has in the least improved. If Spainstill holds Havana and the seaports and all the considerable towns, theinsurgents still roam at will over at least two-thirds of the inlandcountry. If the determination of Spain to put down the insurrectionseems but to strengthen with the lapse of time and is evinced by herunhesitating devotion of largely increased military and naval forcesto the task, there is much reason to believe that the insurgents havegained in point of numbers and character and resources and are nonethe less inflexible in their resolve not to succumb without practicallysecuring the great objects for which they took up arms. If Spain has notyet reestablished her authority, neither have the insurgents yet madegood their title, to be regarded as an independent state. Indeed, asthe contest has gone on the pretense that civil government exists onthe island, except so far as Spain is able to maintain it, has beenpractically abandoned. Spain does keep on foot such a government, moreor less imperfectly, in the large towns and their immediate suburbs;but that exception being made, the entire country is either given overto anarchy or is subject to the military occupation of one or the otherparty. It is reported, indeed, on reliable authority that at the demandof the commander in chief of the insurgent army the putative Cubangovernment has now given up all attempt to exercise its functions, leaving that government confessedly (what there is the best reason forsupposing it always to have been in fact) a government merely on paper. 

Were the Spanish armies able to meet their antagonists in the open or inpitched battle, prompt and decisive results might be looked for, and theimmense superiority of the Spanish forces in numbers, discipline, andequipment could hardly fail to tell greatly to their advantage. But theyare called upon to face a foe that shuns general engagements, that canchoose and does choose its own ground, that from the nature of thecountry is visible or invisible at pleasure, and that fights only fromambuscade and when all the advantages of position and numbers are on itsside. In a country where all that is indispensable to life in the way offood, clothing, and shelter is so easily obtainable, especially by thoseborn and bred on the soil, it is obvious that there is hardly a limitto the time during which hostilities of this sort may be prolonged. Meanwhile, as in all cases of protracted civil strife, the passions ofthe combatants grow more and more inflamed and excesses on both sidesbecome more frequent and more deplorable. They are also participated inby bands of marauders, who, now in the name of one party and now in thename of the other, as may best suit the occasion, harry the country atwill and plunder its wretched inhabitants for their own advantage. Sucha condition of things would inevitably entail immense destruction ofproperty, even if it were the policy of both parties to prevent it asfar as practicable; but while such seemed to be the original policy ofthe Spanish Government, it has now apparently abandoned it and is actingupon the same theory as the insurgents, namely, that the exigencies ofthe contest require the wholesale annihilation of property that it maynot prove of use and advantage to the enemy. 

It is to the same end that, in pursuance of general orders, Spanishgarrisons are now being withdrawn from plantations and the ruralpopulation required to concentrate itself in the towns. The sureresult would seem to be that the industrial value of the island isfast diminishing and that unless there is a speedy and radical changein existing conditions it will soon disappear altogether. That valueconsists very largely, of course, in its capacity to produce sugar--acapacity already much reduced by the interruptions to tillage whichhave taken place during the last two years. It is reliably assertedthat should these interruptions continue during the current year, andpractically extend, as is now threatened, to the entire sugar-producingterritory of the island, so much time and so much money will be requiredto restore the land to its normal productiveness that it is extremelydoubtful if capital can be induced to even make the attempt. 

The spectacle of the utter ruin of an adjoining country, by natureone of the most fertile and charming on the globe, would engage theserious attention of the Government and people of the United States inany circumstances. In point of fact, they have a concern with it whichis by no means of a wholly sentimental or philanthropic character. Itlies so near to us as to be hardly separated from our territory. Ouractual pecuniary interest in it is second only to that of the peopleand Government of Spain. It is reasonably estimated that at leastfrom $30, 000, 000 to $50, 000, 000 of American capital are invested inplantations and in railroad, mining, and other business enterpriseson the island. The volume of trade between the United States and Cuba, which in 1889 amounted to about $64, 000, 000, rose in 1893 to about$103, 000, 000, and in 1894, the year before the present insurrectionbroke out, amounted to nearly $96, 000, 000. Besides this large pecuniarystake in the fortunes of Cuba, the United States finds itselfinextricably involved in the present contest in other ways, bothvexatious and costly. 

Many Cubans reside in this country, and indirectly promote theinsurrection through the press, by public meetings, by the purchase andshipment of arms, by the raising of funds, and by other means which thespirit of our institutions and the tenor of our laws do not permit to bemade the subject of criminal prosecutions. Some of them, though Cubansat heart and in all their feelings and interests, have taken out papersas naturalized citizens of the United States--a proceeding resortedto with a view to possible protection by this Government, and notunnaturally regarded with much indignation by the country of theirorigin. The insurgents are undoubtedly encouraged and supported by thewidespread sympathy the people of this country always and instinctivelyfeel for every struggle for better and freer government, and which, in the case of the more adventurous and restless elements of ourpopulation, leads in only too many instances to active and personalparticipation in the contest. The result is that this Government isconstantly called upon to protect American citizens, to claim damagesfor injuries to persons and property, now estimated at many millions ofdollars, and to ask explanations and apologies for the acts of Spanishofficials whose zeal for the repression of rebellion sometimes blindsthem to the immunities belonging to the unoffending citizens of afriendly power. It follows from the same causes that the United Statesis compelled to actively police a long line of seacoast against unlawfulexpeditions, the escape of which the utmost vigilance will not alwayssuffice to prevent. 

These inevitable entanglements of the United States with therebellion in Cuba, the large American property interests affected, and considerations of philanthropy and humanity in general have ledto a vehement demand in various quarters for some sort of positiveintervention on the part of the United States. It was at first proposedthat belligerent rights should be accorded to the insurgents--aproposition no longer urged because untimely and in practical operationclearly perilous and injurious to our own interests. It has since beenand is now sometimes contended that the independence of the insurgentsshould be recognized; but imperfect and restricted as the Spanishgovernment of the island may be, no other exists there, unless the willof the military officer in temporary command of a particular districtcan be dignified as a species of government. It is now also suggestedthat the United States should buy the island--a suggestion possiblyworthy of consideration if there were any evidence of a desire orwillingness on the part of Spain to entertain such a proposal. It isurged finally that, all other methods failing, the existing internecinestrife in Cuba should be terminated by our intervention, even at thecost of a war between the United States and Spain--a war which itsadvocates confidently prophesy could neither be large in its proportionsnor doubtful in its issue. 

The correctness of this forecast need be neither affirmed nor denied. The United States has, nevertheless, a character to maintain as anation, which plainly dictates that right and not might should be therule of its conduct. Further, though the United States is not a nationto which peace is a necessity, it is in truth the most pacific of powersand desires nothing so much as to live in amity with all the world. Its own ample and diversified domains satisfy all possible longings forterritory, preclude all dreams of conquest, and prevent any casting ofcovetous eyes upon neighboring regions, however attractive. That ourconduct toward Spain and her dominions has constituted no exceptionto this national disposition is made manifest by the course of ourGovernment, not only thus far during the present insurrection, butduring the ten years that followed the rising at Yara in 1868. No othergreat power, it may safely be said, under circumstances of similarperplexity, would have manifested the same restraint and the samepatient endurance. It may also be said that this persistent attitude ofthe United States toward Spain in connection with Cuba unquestionablyevinces no slight respect and regard for Spain on the part of theAmerican people. They in truth do not forget her connection with thediscovery of the Western Hemisphere, nor do they underestimate thegreat qualities of the Spanish people nor fail to fully recognize theirsplendid patriotism and their chivalrous devotion to the national honor. 

They view with wonder and admiration the cheerful resolution with whichvast bodies of men are sent across thousands of miles of ocean and anenormous debt accumulated that the costly possession of the gem of theAntilles may still hold its place in the Spanish crown. And yet neitherthe Government nor the people of the United States have shut their eyesto the course of events in Cuba or have failed to realize the existenceof conceded grievances which have led to the present revolt from theauthority of Spain--grievances recognized by the Queen Regent and bythe Cortes, voiced by the most patriotic and enlightened of Spanishstatesmen, without regard to party, and demonstrated by reforms proposedby the executive and approved by the legislative branch of the SpanishGovernment. It is in the assumed temper and disposition of the SpanishGovernment to remedy these grievances, fortified by indications ofinfluential public opinion in Spain, that this Government has hoped todiscover the most promising and effective means of composing the presentstrife with honor and advantage to Spain and with the achievement of allthe reasonable objects of the insurrection. 

It would seem that if Spain should offer to Cuba genuine autonomy--ameasure of home rule which, while preserving the sovereignty of Spain, would satisfy all rational requirements of her Spanish subjects--thereshould be no just reason why the pacification of the island might notbe effected on that basis. Such a result would appear to be in the trueinterest of all concerned. It would at once stop the conflict whichis now consuming the resources of the island and making it worthlessfor whichever party may ultimately prevail. It would keep intact thepossessions of Spain without touching her honor, which will be consultedrather than impugned by the adequate redress of admitted grievances. It would put the prosperity of the island and the fortunes of itsinhabitants within their own control without severing the natural andancient ties which bind them to the mother country, and would yet enablethem to test their capacity for self-government under the most favorableconditions. It has been objected on the one side that Spain should notpromise autonomy until her insurgent subjects lay down their arms;on the other side, that promised autonomy, however liberal, isinsufficient, because without assurance of the promise being fulfilled. 

But the reasonableness of a requirement by Spain of unconditionalsurrender on the part of the insurgent Cubans before their autonomyis conceded is not altogether apparent. It ignores important featuresof the situation--the stability two years' duration has given to theinsurrection; the feasibility of its indefinite prolongation in thenature of things, and, as shown by past experience, the utter andimminent ruin of the island unless the present strife is speedilycomposed; above all, the rank abuses which all parties in Spain, allbranches of her Government, and all her leading public men concede toexist and profess a desire to remove. Facing such circumstances, towithhold the proffer of needed reforms until the parties demanding themput themselves at mercy by throwing down their arms has the appearanceof neglecting the gravest of perils and inviting suspicion as to thesincerity of any professed willingness to grant reforms. The objectionon behalf of the insurgents that promised reforms can not be relied uponmust of course be considered, though we have no right to assume and noreason for assuming that anything Spain undertakes to do for the reliefof Cuba will not be done according to both the spirit and the letter ofthe undertaking. 

Nevertheless, realizing that suspicions and precautions on the partof the weaker of two combatants are always natural and not alwaysunjustifiable, being sincerely desirous in the interest of both aswell as on its own account that the Cuban problem should be solved withthe least possible delay, it was intimated by this Government to theGovernment of Spain some months ago that if a satisfactory measure ofhome rule were tendered the Cuban insurgents and would be accepted bythem upon a guaranty of its execution the United States would endeavorto find a way not objectionable to Spain of furnishing such guaranty. While no definite response to this intimation has yet been received fromthe Spanish Government, it is believed to be not altogether unwelcome, while, as already suggested, no reason is perceived why it should not beapproved by the insurgents. Neither party can fail to see the importanceof early action, and both must realize that to prolong the presentstate of things for even a short period will add enormously to thetime and labor and expenditure necessary to bring about the industrialrecuperation of the island. It is therefore fervently hoped on allgrounds that earnest efforts for healing the breach between Spain andthe insurgent Cubans upon the lines above indicated may be at onceinaugurated and pushed to an immediate and successful issue. Thefriendly offices of the United States, either in the manner aboveoutlined or in any other way consistent with our Constitution and laws, will always be at the disposal of either party. 

Whatever circumstances may arise, our policy and our interests wouldconstrain us to object to the acquisition of the island or aninterference with its control by any other power. 

It should be added that it can not be reasonably assumed that thehitherto expectant attitude of the United States will be indefinitelymaintained. While we are anxious to accord all due respect to thesovereignty of Spain, we can not view the pending conflict in all itsfeatures and properly apprehend our inevitably close relations to it andits possible results without considering that by the course of events wemay be drawn into such an unusual and unprecedented condition as willfix a limit to our patient waiting for Spain to end the contest, eitheralone and in her own way or with our friendly cooperation. 

When the inability of Spain to deal successfully with the insurrectionhas become manifest and it is demonstrated that her sovereignty isextinct in Cuba for all purposes of its rightful existence, and when ahopeless struggle for its reestablishment has degenerated into a strifewhich means nothing more than the useless sacrifice of human life andthe utter destruction of the very subject-matter of the conflict, asituation will be presented in which our obligations to the sovereigntyof Spain will be superseded by higher obligations, which we can hardlyhesitate to recognize and discharge. Deferring the choice of ways andmethods until the time for action arrives, we should make them dependupon the precise conditions then existing; and they should not bedetermined upon without giving careful heed to every considerationinvolving our honor and interest or the international duty we owe toSpain. Until we face the contingencies suggested or the situation is byother incidents imperatively changed we should continue in the line ofconduct heretofore pursued, thus in all circumstances exhibiting ourobedience to the requirements of public law and our regard for the dutyenjoined upon us by the position we occupy in the family of nations. 

A contemplation of emergencies that may arise should plainly lead us toavoid their creation, either through a careless disregard of presentduty or even an undue stimulation and ill-timed expression of feeling. But I have deemed it not amiss to remind the Congress that a time mayarrive when a correct policy and care for our interests, as well as aregard for the interests of other nations and their citizens, joined byconsiderations of humanity and a desire to see a rich and fertilecountry intimately related to us saved from complete devastation, willconstrain our Government to such action as will subserve the intereststhus involved and at the same time promise to Cuba and its inhabitantsan opportunity to enjoy the blessings of peace. 

The Venezuelan boundary question has ceased to be a matter ofdifference between Great Britain and the United States, their respectiveGovernments having agreed upon the substantial provisions of a treatybetween Great Britain and Venezuela submitting the whole controversy toarbitration. The provisions of the treaty are so eminently just and fairthat the assent of Venezuela thereto may confidently be anticipated. 

Negotiations for a treaty of general arbitration for all differencesbetween Great Britain and the United States are far advanced and promiseto reach a successful consummation at an early date. 

The scheme of examining applicants for certain consular positions totest their competency and fitness, adopted under an Executive orderissued on the 20th of September, 1895, [36] has fully demonstrated theusefulness of this innovation. In connection with this plan ofexamination promotions and transfers of deserving incumbents have beenquite extensively made, with excellent results. 

During the past year 35 appointments have been made in the consularservice, 27 of which were made to fill vacancies caused by death orresignation or to supply newly created posts, 2 to succeed incumbentsremoved for cause, 2 for the purpose of displacing alien consularofficials by American citizens, and 4 merely changing the officialtitle of incumbent from commercial agent to consul. Twelve of theseappointments were transfers or promotions from other positions under theDepartment of State, 4 of those appointed had rendered previous serviceunder the Department, 8 were made of persons who passed a satisfactoryexamination, 7 were appointed to places not included in the order ofSeptember 20, 1895, and 4 appointments, as above stated, involved nochange of incumbency. 

The inspection of consular offices provided for by an appropriation forthat purpose at the last session of the Congress has been productiveof such wholesome effects that I hope this important work will in thefuture be continued. I know of nothing that can be done with the sameslight expense so improving to the service. 

I desire to repeat the recommendation contained in my last annualmessage in favor of providing at public expense official residencesfor our ambassadors and ministers at foreign capitals. The reasonssupporting this recommendation are strongly stated in the report of theSecretary of State, and the subject seems of such importance that I hopeit may receive the early attention of the Congress. 

We have during the last year labored faithfully and against unfavorableconditions to secure better preservation of seal life in the Bering Sea. Both the United States and Great Britain have lately dispatchedcommissioners to these waters to study the habits and condition of theseal herd and the causes of their rapid decrease. Upon the reports ofthese commissioners, soon to be submitted, and with the exercise ofpatience and good sense on the part of all interested parties, it isearnestly hoped that hearty cooperation may be secured for theprotection against threatened extinction of seal life in the NorthernPacific and Bering Sea. 

The Secretary of the Treasury reports that during the fiscal year endedJune 30, 1896, the receipts of the Government from all sources amountedto $409, 475, 408. 78. During the same period its expenditures were$434, 678, 654. 48, the excess of expenditures over receipts thus amountingto $25, 203, 245. 70. The ordinary expenditures during the year were$4, 015, 852. 21 less than during the preceding fiscal year. Of thereceipts mentioned there was derived from customs the sum of$160, 021, 751. 67 and from internal revenue $146, 830, 615. 66. The receiptsfrom customs show an increase of $7, 863, 134. 22 over those from the samesource for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1895, and the receipts frominternal revenue an increase of $3, 584, 537. 91. 

The value of our imported dutiable merchandise during the last fiscalyear was $369, 757, 470 and the value of free goods imported $409, 967, 470, being an increase of $6, 523, 675 in the value of dutiable goods and$41, 231, 034 in the value of free goods over the preceding year. Ourexports of merchandise, foreign and domestic, amounted in value to$882, 606, 938, being an increase over the preceding year of $75, 068, 773. The average _ad valorem_ duty paid on dutiable goods importedduring the year was 39. 94 per cent and on free and dutiable goods takentogether 20. 55 per cent. 

The cost of collecting our internal revenue was 2. 78 percent, asagainst 2. 81 per cent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895. Thetotal production of distilled spirits, exclusive of fruit brandies, was86, 588, 703 taxable gallons, being an increase of 6, 639, 108 gallons overthe preceding year. There was also an increase of 1, 443, 676 gallons ofspirits produced from fruit as compared with the preceding year. Thenumber of barrels of beer produced was 35, 859, 250, as against 33, 589, 784produced in the preceding fiscal year, being an increase of 2, 269, 466barrels. 

The total amount of gold exported during the last fiscal year was$112, 409, 947 and of silver $60, 541, 670, being an increase of $45, 941, 466of gold and $13, 246, 384 of silver over the exportations of the precedingfiscal year. The imports of gold were $33, 525, 065 and of silver$28, 777, 186, being $2, 859, 695 less of gold and $8, 566, 007 more of silverthan during the preceding year. 

The total stock of metallic money in the United States at the closeof the last fiscal year, ended on the 30th day of June, 1896, was$1, 228, 326, 035, of which $599, 597, 964 was in gold and $628, 728, 071in silver. 

On the 1st day of November, 1896, the total stock of money of all kindsin the country was $2, 285, 410, 590, and the amount in circulation, notincluding that in the Treasury holdings, was $1, 627, 055, 641, being$22. 63 Per capita upon an estimated population of 71, 902, 000. 

The production of the precious metals in the United States during thecalendar year 1895 is estimated to have been 2, 254, 760 fine ounces ofgold, of the value of $46, 610, 000, and 55, 727, 000 fine ounces of silver, of the commercial value of $36, 445, 000 and the coinage value of$72, 051, 000. The estimated production of these metals throughout theworld during the same period was 9, 688, 821 fine ounces of gold, amounting to $200, 285, 700 in value, and 169, 189, 249 fine ounces ofsilver, of the commercial value of $110, 654, 000 and of the coinage valueof $218, 738, 100 according to our ratio. 

The coinage of these metals in the various countries of the world duringthe same calendar year amounted to $232, 701, 438 in gold and $121, 996, 219in silver. 

The total coinage at the mints of the United States during the fiscalyear ended June 30, 1896, amounted to $71, 188, 468. 52, of which$58, 878, 490 was in gold coins and $12, 309, 978. 52 in standard silverdollars, subsidiary coins, and minor coins. 

The number of national banks organized from the time the law authorizingtheir creation was passed up to October 31, 1896, was 5, 051, and ofthis number 3, 679 were at the date last mentioned in active operation, having authorized capital stock of $650, 014, 895, held by 288, 902shareholders, and circulating notes amounting to $211, 412, 620. 

The total outstanding circulating notes of all national banks onthe 31st day of October, 1896, amounted to $234, 553, 807, includingunredeemed but fully secured notes of banks insolvent and in processof liquidation. The increase in national-bank circulation during theyear ending on that day was $21, 099, 429. On October 6, 1896, when thecondition of national banks was last reported, the total resources ofthe 3, 679 active institutions were $3, 263, 685, 313. 83, which included$1, 893, 268, 839. 31 in loans and discounts and $362, 165, 733. 85 in moneyof all kinds on hand. Of their liabilities $1, 597, 891, 058. 03 was dueto individual depositors and $209, 944, 019 consisted of outstandingcirculating notes. 

There were organized during the year preceding the date last mentioned28 national banks, located in 15 States, of which 12 were organized inthe Eastern States, with a capital of $1, 180, 000, 6 in the WesternStates, with a capital of $875, 000, and 10 in the Southern States, witha capital of $1, 190, 000. During the year, however, 37 banks voluntarilyabandoned their franchises under the national law, and in the case of27 others it was found necessary to appoint receivers. Therefore, ascompared with the year preceding, there was a decrease of 36 in thenumber of active banks. 

The number of existing banks organized under State laws is 5, 708. 

The number of immigrants arriving in the United States during the fiscalyear was 343, 267, of whom 340, 468 were permitted to land and 2, 799 weredebarred on various grounds prescribed by law and returned to thecountries whence they came at the expense of the steamship companiesby which they were brought in. The increase in immigration over thepreceding year amounted to 84, 731. It is reported that with someexceptions the immigrants of the past year were of a hardy laboringclass, accustomed and able to earn a support for themselves, and itis estimated that the money brought with them amounted to at least$5, 000, 000, though it was probably much in excess of that sum, sinceonly those having less than $30 are required to disclose the exactamount, and it is known that many brought considerable sums of money tobuy land and build homes. Including all the immigrants arriving who wereover 14 years of age, 28. 63 Per cent were illiterate, as against 20. 37Per cent of those of that age arriving during the preceding fiscal year. The number of immigrants over 14 years old, the countries from whichthey came, and the percentage of illiterates among them were as follows:Italy, 57, 515, with 54. 59 per cent; Ireland, 37, 496, with 7 per cent;Russia, 35, 188, with 41. 14 per cent; Austria-Hungary and provinces, 57, 053, with 38. 92 per cent; Germany, 25, 334, with 2. 96 per cent;Sweden, 18, 821, with 1. 16 per cent; while from Portugal there came2, 067, of whom 77. 69 per cent were illiterate. There arrived from Japanduring the year only 1, 100 immigrants, and it is the opinion of theimmigration authorities that the apprehension heretofore existing tosome extent of a large immigration from Japan to the United States iswithout any substantial foundation. 

From the Life-Saving Service it is reported that the number of disastersto documented vessels within the limits of its operations during theyear was 437. These vessels had on board 4, 608 persons, of whom 4, 595were saved and 13 lost. The value of such vessels is estimated at$8, 880, 140 and of their cargoes $3, 846, 380, making the total value ofproperty imperiled $12, 726, 520. Of this amount $11, 292, 707 was saved and$1, 432, 750 was lost. Sixty-seven of the vessels were totally wrecked. There were besides 243 casualties to small undocumented craft, on boardof which there were 594 persons, of whom 587 were saved and 7 were lost. The value of the property involved in these latter casualties isestimated at $119, 265, of which $114, 915 was saved and $4, 350 was lost. The life-saving crews during the year also rescued or assisted numerousother vessels and warned many from danger by signals, both by day andnight. The number of disasters during the year exceeded that of anyprevious year in the history of the service, but the saving of both lifeand property was greater than ever before in proportion to the value ofthe property involved and to the number of persons imperiled. 

The operations of the Marine-Hospital Service, the Revenue CutterService, the Steamboat-Inspection Service, the Light-House Service, theBureau of Navigation, and other branches of public work attached to theTreasury Department, together with various recommendations concerningtheir support and improvement, are fully stated in the report of theSecretary of the Treasury, to which the attention of the Congress isespecially invited. 

The report of the Secretary of War exhibits satisfactory conditions inthe several branches of the public service intrusted to his charge. 

The limit of our military force as fixed by law is constantly andreadily maintained. The present discipline and morale of our Army areexcellent, and marked progress and efficiency are apparent throughoutits entire organization. 

With the exception of delicate duties in the suppression of slightIndian disturbances along our southwestern boundary, in which theMexican troops cooperated, and the compulsory but peaceful return, withthe consent of Great Britain, of a band of Cree Indians from Montana tothe British possessions, no active operations have been required of theArmy during the year past. 

Changes in methods of administration, the abandonment of unnecessaryposts and consequent concentration of troops, and the exercise of careand vigilance by the various officers charged with the responsibilityin the expenditure of the appropriations have resulted in reducing toa minimum the cost of maintenance of our military establishment. 

During the past year the work of constructing permanent infantry andcavalry posts has been continued at the places heretofore designated. The Secretary of War repeats his recommendation that appropriations forbarracks and quarters should more strictly conform to the needs of theservice as judged by the Department rather than respond to the wishesand importunities of localities. It is imperative that much of the moneyprovided for such construction should now be allotted to the erectionof necessary quarters for the garrisons assigned to the coast defenses, where many men will be needed to properly care for and operate modernguns. It is essential, too, that early provision be made to supply thenecessary force of artillery to meet the demands of this service. 

The entire Army has now been equipped with the new magazine arms, andwise policy demands that all available public and private resourcesshould be so employed as to provide within a reasonable time asufficient number to supply the State militia with these modern weaponsand provide an ample reserve for any emergency. 

The organized militia numbers 112, 879 men. The appropriations for itssupport by the several States approximate $2, 800, 000 annually, and$400, 000 is contributed by the General Government. Investigation showsthese troops to be usually well drilled and inspired with much militaryinterest, but in many instances they are so deficient in proper arms andequipment that a sudden call to active duty would find them inadequatelyprepared for field service. I therefore recommend that prompt measuresbe taken to remedy this condition and that every encouragement be givento this deserving body of unpaid and voluntary citizen soldiers, uponwhose assistance we must largely rely in time of trouble. 

During the past year rapid progress has been made toward the completionof the scheme adopted for the erection and armament of fortificationsalong our seacoast, while equal progress has been made in providing thematerial for submarine defense in connection with these works. 

It is peculiarly gratifying at this time to note the great advance thathas been made in this important undertaking since the date of my annualmessage to the Fifty-third Congress at the opening of its secondsession, in December, 1893. At that time I informed the Congress of theapproaching completion of nine 12-inch, twenty 10-inch, and thirty-four8-inch high-power steel guns and seventy-five 12-inch rifled mortars. 

This total then seemed insignificant when compared with the great workremaining to be done. Yet it was none the less a source of satisfactionto every citizen when he reflected that it represented the firstinstallment of the new ordnance of American design and Americanmanufacture and demonstrated our ability to supply from our ownresources guns of unexcelled power and accuracy. 

At that date, however, there were practically no carriages upon whichto mount these guns and only thirty-one emplacements for guns andsixty-four for mortars. Nor were all these emplacements in conditionto receive their armament. Only one high-power gun was at that time inposition for the defense of the entire coast. 

Since that time the number of guns actually completed has been increasedto a total of twenty-one 12-inch, fifty-six 10-inch, sixty-one 8-inchhigh-power breech-loading steel guns, ten rapid-fire guns, and eighty12-inch rifled mortars. In addition there are in process of constructionone 16-inch-type gun, fifty 12-inch, fifty-six l0-inch, twenty-seven8-inch high-power guns, and sixty-six 12-inch rifled mortars; in all, four hundred and twenty-eight guns and mortars. 

During the same year, immediately preceding the message referred to, thefirst modern gun carriage had been completed and eleven more were inprocess of construction. All but one were of the nondisappearing type. These, however, were not such as to secure necessary cover for theartillery gunners against the intense fire of modern machine rapid-fireand high-power guns. 

The inventive genius of ordnance and civilian experts has been taxedin designing carriages that would obviate this fault, resulting, it isbelieved, in the solution of this difficult problem. Since 1893 thenumber of gun carriages constructed or building has been raised to atotal of 129, of which 90 are on the disappearing principle, and thenumber of mortar carriages to 152, while the 95 emplacements which wereprovided for prior to that time have been increased to 280 built andbuilding. 

This improved situation is largely due to the recent generous responseof Congress to the recommendations of the War Department. 

Thus we shall soon have complete about one-fifth of the comprehensivesystem the first step in which was noted in my message to the Congressof December 4, 1893. [37]

When it is understood that a masonry emplacement not only furnishesa platform for the heavy modern high power gun, but also in everyparticular serves the purpose and takes the place of the fort of formerdays, the importance of the work accomplished is better comprehended. 

In the hope that the work will be prosecuted with no less vigor in thefuture, the Secretary of War has submitted an estimate by which, ifallowed, there will be provided and either built or building by the endof the next fiscal year such additional guns, mortars, gun carriages, and emplacements as will represent not far from one-third of the totalwork to be done under the plan adopted for our coast defenses, thusaffording a prospect that the entire work will be substantiallycompleted within six years. In less time than that, however, we shallhave attained a marked degree of security. 

The experience and results of the past year demonstrate that with acontinuation of present careful methods the cost of the remaining workwill be much less than the original estimate. 

We should always keep in mind that of all forms of military preparationcoast defense alone is essentially pacific in its nature. While it givesthe sense of security due to a consciousness of strength, it is neitherthe purpose nor the effect of such permanent fortifications to involveus in foreign complications, but rather to guarantee us against them. They are not temptation to war, but security against it. Thus they arethoroughly in accord with all the traditions of our national diplomacy. 

The Attorney-General presents a detailed and interesting statement ofthe important work done under his supervision during the last fiscalyear. 

The ownership and management by the Government of penitentiaries forthe confinement of those convicted in United States courts of violationsof Federal laws, which for many years has been a subject of Executiverecommendation, have at last to a slight extent been realized by theutilization of the abandoned military prison at Fort Leavenworth as aUnited States penitentiary. 

This is certainly a movement in the right direction, but it ought to beat once supplemented by the rebuilding or extensive enlargement of thisimprovised prison and the construction of at least one more, to belocated in the Southern States. The capacity of the LeavenworthPenitentiary is so limited that the expense of its maintenance, calculated at a per capita rate upon the number of prisoners it canaccommodate, does not make as economical an exhibit as it would if itwere larger and better adapted to prison purposes; but I am thoroughlyconvinced that economy, humanity, and a proper sense of responsibilityand duty toward those whom we punish for violations of Federal lawdictate that the Federal Government should have the entire control andmanagement of the penitentiaries where convicted violators are confined. 

It appears that since the transfer of the Fort Leavenworth MilitaryPrison to its new uses the work previously done by prisoners confinedthere, and for which expensive machinery has been provided, has beendiscontinued. This work consisted of the manufacture of articles forarmy use, now done elsewhere. On all grounds it is exceedingly desirablethat the convicts confined in this penitentiary be allowed to resumework of this description. 

It is most gratifying to note the satisfactory results that havefollowed the inauguration of the new system provided for by the act ofMay 28, 1896, under which certain Federal officials are compensated bysalaries instead of fees. The new plan was put in operation on the 1stday of July, 1896, and already the great economy it enforces, itsprevention of abuses, and its tendency to a better enforcement of thelaws are strikingly apparent. Detailed evidence of the usefulness ofthis long-delayed but now happily accomplished reform will be foundclearly set forth in the Attorney-General's report. 

Our Post-Office Department is in good condition, and the exhibitmade of its operations during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, if allowance is made for imperfections in the laws applicable toit, is very satisfactory. The total receipts during the year were$82, 499, 208. 40. The total expenditures were $90, 626, 296. 84, exclusiveof the $1, 559, 898. 27 which was earned by the Pacific Railroad fortransportation and credited on their debt to the Government. There wasan increase of receipts over the previous year of $5, 516, 080. 21, or 7. 1per cent, and an increase of expenditures of $3, 836, 124. 02, or 4. 42percent. The deficit was $1, 679, 956. 19 less than that of the precedingyear. The chief expenditures of the postal service are regulated by lawand are not in the control of the Postmaster-General. All that he canaccomplish by the most watchful administration and economy is to enforceprompt and thorough collection and accounting for public moneys and suchminor savings in small expenditures and in letting those contracts, forpost-office supplies and star service, which are not regulated bystatute. 

An effective cooperation between the Auditor's Office and thePost-Office Department and the making and enforcement of orders bythe Department requiring immediate notification to their suretiesof all delinquencies on the part of postmasters, and compelling suchpostmasters to make more frequent deposits of postal funds, haveresulted in a prompter auditing of their accounts and much less defaultto the Government than heretofore. 

The year's report shows large extensions of both star-route service andrailway mail service, with increased postal facilities. Much higheraccuracy in handling mails has also been reached, as appears by thedecrease of errors in the railway mail service and the reduction of mailmatter returned to the Dead-Letter Office. 

The deficit for the last year, although much less than that of the lastand preceding years, emphasizes the necessity for legislation to correctthe growing abuse of second-class rates, to which the deficiency ismainly attributable. The transmission at the rate of 1 cent a pound ofserial libraries, advertising sheets, "house organs" (periodicalsadvertising some particular "house" or institution), sample copies, andthe like ought certainly to be discontinued. A glance at the revenuesreceived for the work done last year will show more plainly than anyother statement the gross abuse of the postal service and the growingwaste of its earnings. 

The free matter carried in the mails for the Departments, offices, etc. , of the Government and for Congress, in pounds, amounted to 94, 480, 189. 

If this is offset against buildings for post-offices and stations, therental of which would more than compensate for such free postal service, we have this exhibit:

_Weight of mail matter (other than above) transmitted through themails for the year ending June 30, 1896_. 

 ---------------------------------------+--------------+---------------+ Class. | Weight. | Revenue. | ---------------------------------------+--------------+---------------+ |_Pounds. _| | 1. Domestic and foreign letters and | | | postal cards, etc. | 65, 337, 343 | $60, 624, 464 | 2. Newspapers and periodicals, | | | 1 cent per pound. | 348, 988, 648 | 2, 996, 403 | 3. Books, seeds, etc. , 8 cents a pound. | 78, 701, 148 | 10, 324, 069 | 4. Parcels, etc. , 16 cents a pound. | 19, 950, 187 | 3, 129, 321 | +--------------+---------------+ Total | 512, 977, 326 | 77, 044, 257 | ---------------------------------------+--------------+---------------+

The remainder of our postal revenue, amounting to something more than$5, 000, 000, was derived from box rents, registry fees, money-orderbusiness, and other similar items. 

The entire expenditures of the Department, including pay fortransportation credited to the Pacific railroads, were $92, 186, 195. 11, which may be considered as the cost of receiving, carrying, anddelivering the above mail matter. It thus appears that though thesecond-class matter constituted more than two-thirds of the total thatwas carried, the revenue derived from it was less than one-thirtieth ofthe total expense. 

 The average revenue was--

 From each pound of first-class matter cents 93. 0 From each pound of second class[38] mills 8. 5 From each pound of third class cents 13. 1 From each pound of fourth class do 15. 6

The growth in weight of second-class matter has been from 299, 000, 000pounds in 1894 to 312, 000, 000 in 1895 and to almost 349, 000, 000 in 1896, and it is quite evident this increasing drawback is far outstripping anypossible growth of postal revenues. 

Our mail service should of course be such as to meet the wants and eventhe conveniences of our people at a direct charge upon them so lightas perhaps to exclude the idea of our Post-Office Department beinga money-making concern; but in the face of a constantly recurringdeficiency in its revenues and in view of the fact that we supply thebest mail service in the world it seems to me it is quite time tocorrect the abuses that swell enormously our annual deficit. If weconcede the public policy of carrying weekly newspapers free in thecounty of publication, and even the policy of carrying at less thanone-tenth of their cost other _bona fide_ newspapers and periodicals, there can be no excuse for subjecting the service to the further immenseand increasing loss involved in carrying at the nominal rate of 1 cent apound the serial libraries, sometimes including trashy and even harmfulliterature, and other matter which under the loose interpretation ofa loose statute have been gradually given second-class rates, thusabsorbing all profitable returns derived from first-class matter, whichpays three or four times more than its cost, and producing a largeannual loss to be paid by general taxation. If such second-class matterpaid merely the cost of its handling, our deficit would disappear anda surplus result which might be used to give the people still bettermail facilities or cheaper rates of letter postage. I recommend thatlegislation be at once enacted to correct these abuses and introducebetter business ideas in the regulation of our postal rates. 

Experience and observation have demonstrated that certain improvementsin the organization of the Post-Office Department must be secured beforewe can gain the full benefit of the immense sums expended in itsadministration. This involves the following reforms, which I earnestlyrecommend:

There should be a small addition to the existing inspector service, to be employed in the supervision of the carrier force, which nownumbers 13, 000 men and performs its service practically without thesurveillance exercised over all other branches of the postal or publicservice. Of course such a lack of supervision and freedom from wholesomedisciplinary restraints must inevitably lead to imperfect service. Thereshould also be appointed a few inspectors who could assist the centraloffice in necessary investigation concerning matters of post-officeleases, post-office sites, allowances for rent, fuel, and lights, andin organizing and securing the best results from the work of the 14, 000clerks now employed in first and second class offices. 

I am convinced that the small expense attending the inauguration ofthese reforms would actually be a profitable investment. 

I especially recommend such a recasting of the appropriationsby Congress for the Post-Office Department as will permit thePostmaster-General to proceed with the work of consolidatingpost-offices. This work has already been entered upon sufficiently tofully demonstrate by experiment and experience that such consolidationis productive of better service, larger revenues, and less expenditures, to say nothing of the further advantage of gradually withdrawingpost-offices from the spoils system. 

The Universal Postal Union, which now embraces all the civilized worldand whose delegates will represent 1, 000, 000, 000 people, will hold itsfifth congress in the city of Washington in May, 1897. The United Statesmay be said to have taken the initiative which led to the first meetingof this congress, at Berne in 1874, and the formation of the UniversalPostal Union, which brings the postal service of all countries to everyman's neighborhood and has wrought marvels in cheapening postal ratesand securing absolutely safe mail communication throughout the world. Previous congresses have met in Berne, Paris, Lisbon, and Vienna, andthe respective countries in which they have assembled have made generousprovision for their accommodation and for the reception andentertainment of the delegates. 

In view of the importance of this assemblage and of its deliberationsand of the honors and hospitalities accorded to our representatives byother countries on similar occasions, I earnestly hope that such anappropriation will be made for the expenses necessarily attendant uponthe coming meeting in our capital city as will be worthy of our nationalhospitality and indicative of our appreciation of the event. 

The work of the Navy Department and its present condition are fullyexhibited in the report of the Secretary. 

The construction of vessels for our new Navy has been energetically, prosecuted by the present Administration upon the general linespreviously adopted, the Department having seen no necessity for radicalchanges in prior methods, under which the work was found to beprogressing in a manner highly satisfactory. It has been decided, however, to provide in every shipbuilding contract that the buildershould pay all trial expenses, and it has also been determined to pay nospeed premiums in future contracts. The premiums recently earned andsome yet to be decided are features of the contracts made before thisconclusion was reached. 

On March 4, 1893, there were in commission but two armored vessels--thedouble-turreted monitors _Miantonomoh_ and _Monterey_. Sincethat date, of vessels theretofore authorized, there have been placed intheir first commission 3 first-class and 2 second-class battle ships, 2armored cruisers, 1 harbor-defense ram, and 5 double-turreted monitors, including the _Maine_ and the _Puritan_, just completed. Eightnew unarmored cruisers and 2 new gunboats have also been commissioned. The _Iowa_, another battle ship, will be completed about March 1, and at least 4 more gunboats will be ready for sea in the early spring. 

It is gratifying to state that our ships and their outfits are believedto be equal to the best that can be manufactured elsewhere, and thatsuch notable reductions have been made in their cost as to justify thestatement that quite a number of vessels are now being constructed atrates as low as those that prevail in European shipyards. 

Our manufacturing facilities are at this time ample for all possiblenaval contingencies. Three of our Government navy-yards--those atMare Island, Cal. , Norfolk, Va. , and Brooklyn, N. Y. --are equipped forshipbuilding, our ordnance plant in Washington is equal to any inthe world, and at the torpedo station we are successfully making thehighest grades of smokeless powder. The first-class private shipyardsat Newport News, Philadelphia, and San Francisco are building battleships; eleven contractors, situated in the States of Maine, RhodeIsland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and the Stateof Washington, are constructing gunboats or torpedo boats; two plantsare manufacturing large quantities of first-class armor, and Americanfactories are producing automobile torpedoes, powder, projectiles, rapid-fire guns, and everything else necessary for the complete outfitof naval vessels. 

There have been authorized by Congress since March, 1893, 5 battleships, 6 light-draft gunboats, 16 torpedo boats, and 1 submarine torpedoboat. Contracts for the building of all of them have been let. TheSecretary expresses the opinion that we have for the present asufficient supply of cruisers and gunboats, and that hereafter theconstruction of battle ships and torpedo boats will supply our needs. 

Much attention has been given to the methods of carrying on departmentalbusiness. Important modifications in the regulations have been made, tending to unify the control of shipbuilding as far as may be under theBureau of Construction and Repair, and also to improve the mode ofpurchasing supplies for the Navy by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. The establishment under recent acts of Congress of a supply fund withwhich to purchase these supplies in large quantities and othermodifications of methods have tended materially to their cheapening andbetter quality. 

The War College has developed into an institution which it is believedwill be of great value to the Navy in teaching the science of war, aswell as in stimulating professional zeal in the Navy, and it will beespecially useful in the devising of plans for the utilization in caseof necessity of all the naval resources of the United States. 

The Secretary has persistently adhered to the plan he found in operationfor securing labor at navy-yards through boards of labor employment, andhas done much to make it more complete and efficient. The naval officerswho are familiar with this system and its operation express the decidedopinion that its results have been to vastly improve the character ofthe work done at our yards and greatly reduce its cost. 

Discipline among the officers and men of the Navy has been maintainedto a high standard and the percentage of American citizens enlisted hasbeen very much increased. 

The Secretary is considering and will formulate during the coming wintera plan for laying up ships in reserve, thereby largely reducing the costof maintaining our vessels afloat. This plan contemplates that battleships, torpedo boats, and such of the cruisers as are not needed foractive service at sea shall be kept in reserve with skeleton crews onboard to keep them in condition, cruising only enough to insure theefficiency of the ships and their crews in time of activity. 

The economy to result from this system is too obvious to need comment. 

The Naval Militia, which was authorized a few years ago as anexperiment, has now developed into a body of enterprising young men, active and energetic in the discharge of their duties and promisinggreat usefulness. This establishment has nearly the same relation to ourNavy as the National Guard in the different States bears to our Army, and it constitutes a source of supply for our naval forces theimportance of which is immediately apparent. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior presents a comprehensive andinteresting exhibit of the numerous and important affairs committed tohis supervision. It is impossible in this communication to do more thanbriefly refer to a few of the subjects concerning which the Secretarygives full and instructive information. 

The money appropriated on account of this Department and for itsdisbursement for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, amounted to morethan $157, 000, 000, or a greater sum than was appropriated for the entiremaintenance of the Government for the two fiscal years ended June 30, 1861. 

Our public lands, originally amounting to 1, 840, 000, 000 acres, have beenso reduced that only about 600, 000, 000 acres still remain in Governmentcontrol, excluding Alaska. The balance, being by far the most valuableportion, has been given away to settlers, to new States, and torailroads or sold at a comparatively nominal sum. The patenting of landin execution of railroad grants has progressed rapidly during theyear, and since the 4th day of March, 1893, about 25, 000, 000 acres havethus been conveyed to these corporations. 

I agree with the Secretary that the remainder of our public lands shouldbe more carefully dealt with and their alienation guarded by bettereconomy and greater prudence. 

The commission appointed from the membership of the National Academy ofSciences, provided for by an act of Congress, to formulate plans for anational forestry system will, it is hoped, soon be prepared to presentthe result of thorough and intelligent examination of this importantsubject. 

The total Indian population of the United States is 177, 235, accordingto a census made in 1895, exclusive of those within the State of NewYork and those comprising the Five Civilized Tribes. Of this numberthere are approximately 38, 000 children of school age. During the year23, 393 of these were enrolled in schools. The progress which hasattended recent efforts to extend Indian-school facilities and theanticipation of continued liberal appropriations to that end can notfail to afford the utmost satisfaction to those who believe that theeducation of Indian children is a prime factor in the accomplishment ofIndian civilization. 

It may be said in general terms that in every particular the improvementof the Indians under Government care has been most marked andencouraging. 

The Secretary, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the agents havingcharge of Indians to whom allotments have been made strongly urge thepassage of a law prohibiting the sale of liquor to allottees who havetaken their lands in severalty. I earnestly join in this recommendationand venture to express the hope that the Indian may be speedilyprotected against this greatest of all obstacles to his well-being andadvancement. 

The condition of affairs among the Five Civilized Tribes, who occupylarge tracts of land in the Indian Territory and who have governmentsof their own, has assumed such an aspect as to render it almostindispensable that there should be an entire change in the relations ofthese Indians to the General Government. This seems to be necessary infurtherance of their own interests, as well as for the protection ofnon-Indian residents in their territory. A commission organized andempowered under several recent laws is now negotiating with theseIndians for the relinquishment of their courts and the division of theircommon lands in severalty and are aiding in the settlement of thetroublesome question of tribal membership. The reception of their firstproffers of negotiation was not encouraging, but through patience andsuch conduct on their part as demonstrated that their intentions werefriendly and in the interest of the tribes the prospect of success hasbecome more promising. The effort should be to save these Indians fromthe consequences of their own mistakes and improvidence and to secure tothe real Indian his rights as against intruders and professed friendswho profit by his retrogression. A change is also needed to protect lifeand property through the operation of courts conducted according tostrict justice and strong enough to enforce their mandates. 

As a sincere friend of the Indian, I am exceedingly anxious thatthese reforms should be accomplished with the consent and aid of thetribes and that no necessity may be presented for radical or drasticlegislation. I hope, therefore, that the commission now conductingnegotiations will soon be able to report that progress has been madetoward a friendly adjustment of existing difficulties. 

It appears that a very valuable deposit of gilsonite or asphaltum hasbeen found on the reservation in Utah occupied by the Uncompahgre UteIndians. Every consideration of care for the public interest and everysensible business reason dictate such management or disposal of thisimportant source of public revenue as will except it from the generalrules and incidents attending the ordinary disposition of public landsand secure to the Government a fair share at least of its advantages inplace of its transfer for a nominal sum to interested individuals. 

I indorse the recommendation made by the present Secretary of theInterior, as well as his predecessor, that a permanent commission, consisting of three members, one of whom shall be an army officer, becreated to perform the duties now devolving upon the Commissioner andAssistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The management of the Bureauinvolves such numerous and diverse details and the advantages of anuninterrupted policy are so apparent that I hope the change suggestedwill meet the approval of the Congress. 

The diminution of our enormous pension roll and the decrease of pensionexpenditure, which have been so often confidently foretold, still failin material realization. The number of pensioners on the rolls at theclose of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, was 970, 678. This is thelargest number ever reported. The amount paid exclusively for pensionsduring the year was $138, 214, 761. 94, a slight decrease from that of thepreceding year, while the total expenditures on account of pensions, including the cost of maintaining the Department and expenses attendingpension distribution, amounted to $142, 206, 550. 59, or within a verysmall fraction of one third of the entire expense of supporting theGovernment during the same year. The number of new pension certificatesissued was 90, 640. Of these, 40, 374 represent original allowances ofclaims and 15, 878 increases of existing pensions. 

The number of persons receiving pensions from the United States, butresiding in foreign countries, at the close of the last fiscal year was3, 781, and the amount paid to them during the year was $582, 735. 38. 

The sum appropriated for the payment of pensions for the current fiscalyear, ending June 30, 1897, is $140, 000, 000, and for the succeeding yearit is estimated that the same amount will be necessary. 

The Commissioner of Pensions reports that during the last fiscal year339 indictments were found against violators of the pension laws. Uponthese indictments 167 convictions resulted. 

In my opinion, based upon such statements as these and much otherinformation and observation, the abuses which have been allowed to creepinto our pension system have done incalculable harm in demoralizing ourpeople and undermining good citizenship. I have endeavored within mysphere of official duty to protect our pension roll and make it what itshould be, a roll of honor, containing the names of those disabled intheir country's service and worthy of their country's affectionateremembrance. When I have seen those who pose as the soldiers' friendsactive and alert in urging greater laxity and more reckless pensionexpenditure, while nursing selfish schemes, I have deprecated theapproach of a situation when necessary retrenchment and enforced economymay lead to an attack upon pension abuses so determined as to overlookthe discrimination due to those who, worthy of a nation's care, ought tolive and die under the protection of a nation's gratitude. 

The Secretary calls attention to the public interests involved in anadjustment of the obligations of the Pacific railroads to theGovernment. I deem it to be an important duty to especially present thissubject to the consideration of the Congress. 

On January 1, 1897, with the amount already matured, more than$13, 000, 000 of the principal of the subsidy bonds issued by the UnitedStates in aid of the construction of the Union Pacific Railway, including its Kansas line, and more than $6, 000, 000 of like bonds issuedin aid of the Central Pacific Railroad, including those issued to theWestern Pacific Railroad Company, will have fallen due and been paid ormust on that day be paid by the Government. Without any reference to theapplication of the sinking fund now in the Treasury, this will createsuch a default on the part of these companies to the Government as willgive it the right to at once institute proceedings to foreclose itsmortgage lien. In addition to this indebtedness, which will be dueJanuary 1, 1897, there will mature between that date and January 1, 1899, the remaining principal of such subsidy bonds, which must also bemet by the Government. These amount to more than $20, 000, 000 on accountof the Union Pacific lines and exceed $21, 000, 000 on account of theCentral Pacific lines. 

The situation of these roads and the condition of their indebtedness tothe Government' have been fully set forth in the reports of variouscommittees to the present and prior Congresses, and as early as 1887they were thoroughly examined by a special commission appointed pursuantto an act of Congress. The considerations requiring an adjustment of theGovernment's relations to the companies have been clearly presented andthe conclusion reached with practical uniformity that if these relationsare not terminated they should be revised upon a basis securing theirsafe continuance. 

Under section 4 of the act of Congress passed March 3, 1887, thePresident is charged with the duty, in the event that any mortgage orother incumbrance paramount to the interest of the United States in theproperty of the Pacific railroads should exist and be lawfully liableto be enforced, to direct the action of the Departments of Treasury andof Justice in the protection of the interest of the United States byredemption or through judicial proceedings, including foreclosures ofthe Government liens. 

In view of the fact that the Congress has for a number of years almostconstantly had under consideration various plans for dealing with theconditions existing between these roads and the Government, I have thusfar felt justified in withholding action under the statute abovementioned. 

In the case of the Union Pacific Company, however, the situationhas become especially and immediately urgent. Proceedings have beeninstituted to foreclose a first mortgage upon those aided parts of themain lines upon which the Government holds a second and subordinatemortgage lien. In consequence of those proceedings and increasingcomplications, added to the default occurring on the 1st day of January, 1897, a condition will be presented at that date, so far as this companyis concerned, that must emphasize the mandate of the act of 1887 andgive to Executive duty under its provisions a more imperative aspect. Therefore, unless Congress shall otherwise direct or shall havepreviously determined upon a different solution of the problem, therewill hardly appear to exist any reason for delaying beyond the date ofthe default above mentioned such Executive action as will promise tosubserve the public interests and save the Government from the lossthreatened by further inaction. 

The Department of Agriculture is so intimately related to the welfare ofour people and the prosperity of our nation that it should constantlyreceive the care and encouragement of the Government. From smallbeginnings it has grown to be the center of agricultural intelligenceand the source of aid and encouragement to agricultural efforts. Largesums of money are annually appropriated for the maintenance of thisDepartment, and it must be confessed that the legislation relating to ithas not always been directly in the interest of practical farming orproperly guarded against waste and extravagance. So far, however, aspublic money has been appropriated fairly and sensibly to help those whoactually till the soil, no expenditure has been more profitably made ormore generally approved by the people. 

Under the present management of the Department its usefulness has beenenhanced in every direction, and at the same time strict economy hasbeen enforced to the utmost extent permitted by Congressional action. From the report of the Secretary it appears that through careful andprudent financial management he has annually saved a large sum from hisappropriations, aggregating during his incumbency and up to the closeof the present fiscal year nearly one-fifth of the entire amountappropriated. These results have been accomplished by a conscientiousstudy of the real needs of the farmer and such a regard for economyas the genuine farmer ought to appreciate, supplemented by a rigidadherence to civil-service methods in a Department which should beconducted in the interest of agriculture instead of partisan politics. 

The Secretary reports that the value of our exports of farm productsduring the last fiscal year amounted to $570, 000, 000, an increase of$17, 000, 000 over those of the year immediately preceding. This statementis not the less welcome because of the fact that, notwithstanding suchincrease, the proportion of exported agricultural products to our totalexports of all descriptions fell off during the year. The benefits ofan increase in agricultural exports being assured, the decrease in itsproportion to our total exports is the more gratifying when we considerthat it is owing to the fact that such total exports for the yearincreased more than $75, 000, 000. 

The large and increasing exportation of our agricultural productssuggests the great usefulness of the organization lately established inthe Department for the purpose of giving to those engaged in farmingpursuits reliable information concerning the condition, needs, andadvantages of different foreign markets. Inasmuch as the success of thefarmer depends upon the advantageous sale of his products, and inasmuchas foreign markets must largely be the destination of such products, it is quite apparent that a knowledge of the conditions and wants thataffect those markets ought to result in sowing more intelligently andreaping with a better promise of profit. Such information points out theway to a prudent foresight in the selection and cultivation of crops andto a release from the bondage of unreasoning monotony of production, aglutted and depressed market, and constantly recurring unprofitable toil. 

In my opinion the gratuitous distribution of seeds by the Departmentas at present conducted ought to be discontinued. No one can read thestatement of the Secretary on this subject and doubt the extravaganceand questionable results of this practice. The professed friends of thefarmer, and certainly the farmers themselves, are naturally expectedto be willing to rid a Department devoted to the promotion of farminginterests of a feature which tends so much to its discredit. 

The Weather Bureau, now attached to the Department of Agriculture, hascontinued to extend its sphere of usefulness, and by an uninterruptedimprovement in the accuracy of its forecasts has greatly increased itsefficiency as an aid and protection to all whose occupations are relatedto weather conditions. 

Omitting further reference to the operations of the Department, Icommend the Secretary's report and the suggestions it contains to thecareful consideration of the Congress. 

The progress made in civil-service reform furnishes a cause for theutmost congratulation. It has survived the doubts of its friends as wellas the rancor of its enemies and has gained a permanent place among theagencies destined to cleanse our politics and to improve, economize, andelevate the public service. 

There are now in the competitive classified service upward of 84, 000places, more than half of these having been included from time to timesince March 4, 1893. A most radical and sweeping extension was made byExecutive order dated the 6th day of May, 1896, [39] and if fourth-classpostmasterships are not included in the statement it may be said thatpractically all positions contemplated by the civil-service law are nowclassified. Abundant reasons exist for including these postmasterships, based upon economy, improved service, and the peace and quiet ofneighborhoods. If, however, obstacles prevent such action at present, I earnestly hope that Congress will, without increasing post-officeappropriations, so adjust them as to permit in proper cases aconsolidation of these post-offices, to the end that through thisprocess the result desired may to a limited extent be accomplished. 

The civil-service rules as amended during the last year provide for asensible and uniform method of promotion, basing eligibility to betterpositions upon demonstrated efficiency and faithfulness. The absence offixed rules on this subject has been an infirmity in the system more andmore apparent as its other benefits have been better appreciated. 

The advantages of civil-service methods in their business aspects aretoo well understood to require argument. Their application has become anecessity to the executive work of the Government. But those who gainpositions through the operation of these methods should be made tounderstand that the nonpartisan scheme through which they receive theirappointments demands from them by way of reciprocity nonpartisan andfaithful performance of duty under every Administration and cheerfulfidelity to every chief. While they should be encouraged to decentlyexercise their rights of citizenship and to support through theirsuffrages the political beliefs they honestly profess, the noisy, pestilent, and partisan employee, who loves political turmoil andcontention or who renders lax and grudging service to an Administrationnot representing his political views, should be promptly and fearlesslydealt with in such a way as to furnish a warning to others who may belikewise disposed. 

The annual report of the Commissioners will be duly transmitted, andI commend the important matter they have in charge to the carefulconsideration of the Congress. 

The Interstate Commerce Commission has during the last year suppliedabundant evidence of its usefulness and the importance of the workcommitted to its charge. 

Public transportation is a universal necessity, and the question of justand reasonable charges therefor has become of vital importance not onlyto shippers and carriers, but also to the vast multitude of producersand consumers. The justice and equity of the principles embodied in theexisting law passed for the purpose of regulating these charges areeverywhere conceded, and there appears to be no question that the policythus entered upon has a permanent place in our legislation. 

As the present statute when enacted was in the nature of the case moreor less tentative and experimental, it was hardly expected to supply acomplete and adequate system. While its wholesome effects are manifestand have amply justified its enactment, it is evident that all desiredreforms in transportation methods have not been fully accomplished. In view of the judicial interpretation which some provisions of thisstatute have received and the defects disclosed by the efforts made forits enforcement, its revision and amendment appear to be essential, tothe end that it may more effectually reach the evils designed to becorrected. I hope the recommendations of the Commission upon thissubject will be promptly and favorably considered by the Congress. 

I desire to recur to the statements elsewhere made concerning theGovernment's receipts and expenditures for the purpose of venturing uponsome suggestions touching our present tariff law and its operation. 

This statute took effect on the 28th day of August, 1894. Whatever maybe its shortcomings as a complete measure of tariff reform, it must beconceded that it has opened the way to a freer and greater exchange ofcommodities between us and other countries, and thus furnished a widermarket for our products and manufactures. 

The only entire fiscal year during which this law has been in forceended on the 30th day of June, 1896. In that year our imports increasedover those of the previous year more than $6, 500, 000, while the valueof the domestic products we exported and which found markets abroad wasnearly $70, 000, 000 more than during the preceding year. 

Those who insist that the cost to our people of articles coming tothem from abroad for their needful use should only be increased throughtariff charges to an extent necessary to meet the expenses of theGovernment, as well as those who claim that tariff charges may be laidupon such articles beyond the necessities of Government revenue and withthe additional purpose of so increasing their price in our markets asto give American manufacturers and producers better and more profitableopportunities, must agree that our tariff laws are only primarilyjustified as sources of revenue to enable the Government to meet thenecessary expenses of its maintenance. Considered as to its efficiencyin this aspect, the present law can by no means fall under justcondemnation. During the only complete fiscal year of its operation ithas yielded nearly $8, 000, 000 more revenue than was received from tariffduties in the preceding year. There was, nevertheless, a deficit betweenour receipts and expenditures of a little more than $25, 000, 000. This, however, was not unexpected. 

The situation was such in December last, seven months before the closeof the fiscal year, that the Secretary of the Treasury foretold adeficiency of $17, 000, 000. The great and increasing apprehension andtimidity in business circles and the depression in all activitiesintervening since that time, resulting from causes perfectly wellunderstood and entirely disconnected with our tariff law or itsoperation, seriously checked the imports we would have otherwisereceived and readily account for the difference between this estimateof the Secretary and the actual deficiency, as well as for a continueddeficit. Indeed, it must be confessed that we could hardly have had amore unfavorable period than the last two years for the collection oftariff revenue. We can not reasonably hope that our recuperation fromthis business depression will be sudden, but it has already set in witha promise of acceleration and continuance. 

I believe our present tariff law, if allowed a fair opportunity, willin the near future yield a revenue which, with reasonably economicalexpenditures, will overcome all deficiencies. In the meantime no deficitthat has occurred or may occur need excite or disturb us. To meet anysuch deficit we have in the Treasury in addition to a gold reserve ofone hundred millions a surplus of more than $128, 000, 000 applicableto the payment of the expenses of the Government, and which must, unless expended for that purpose, remain a useless hoard, or, if notextravagantly wasted, must in any event be perverted from the purpose ofits exaction from our people. The payment, therefore, of any deficiencyin the revenue from this fund is nothing more than its proper andlegitimate use. The Government thus applying a surplus fortunately inits Treasury to the payment of expenses not met by its current revenuesis not at all to be likened to a man living beyond his income and thusincurring debt or encroaching on his principal. 

It is not one of the functions of our Government to accumulateand make additions to a fund not needed for immediate expenditure. With individuals it is the chief object of struggle and effort. Theapplication of an accumulated fund by the Government to the payment ofits running expenses is a duty. An individual living beyond his incomeand embarrassing himself with debt or drawing upon his accumulated fundof principal is either unfortunate or improvident. The distinction isbetween a government charged with the duty of expending for the benefitof the people and for proper purposes all the money it receives from anysource, and the individual, who is expected to manifest a natural desireto avoid debt or to accumulate as much as possible and to live withinthe income derived from such accumulations, to the end that they may beincreased or at least remain unimpaired for the future use and enjoymentof himself or the objects of his love and affection who may survive him. 

It is immeasurably better to appropriate our surplus to the paymentof justifiable expenses than to allow it to become an invitation toreckless appropriations and extravagant expenditures. 

I suppose it will not be denied that under the present law our peopleobtain the necessaries of a comfortable existence at a cheaper ratethan formerly. This is a matter of supreme importance, since it is thepalpable duty of every just government to make the burdens of taxationas light as possible. The people should not be required to relinquishthis privilege of cheaper living except under the stress of theirGovernment's necessity made plainly manifest. 

This reference to the condition and prospects of our revenues naturallysuggests an allusion to the weakness and vices of our financial methods. They have been frequently pressed upon the attention of Congress inprevious Executive communications and the inevitable danger of theircontinued toleration pointed out. Without now repeating these details, I can not refrain from again earnestly presenting the necessity of theprompt reform of a system opposed to every rule of sound finance andshown by experience to be fraught with the gravest peril and perplexity. The terrible Civil War, which shook the foundations of our Governmentmore than thirty years ago, brought in its train the destruction ofproperty, the wasting of our country's substance, and the estrangementof brethren. These are now past and forgotten. Even the distressingloss of life the conflict entailed is but a sacred memory which fosterspatriotic sentiment and keeps alive a tender regard for those whonobly died. And yet there remains with us to-day in full strength andactivity, as an incident of that tremendous struggle, a feature of itsfinancial necessities not only unsuited to our present circumstances, but manifestly a disturbing menace to business security and anever-present agent of monetary distress. 

Because we may be enjoying a temporary relief from its depressinginfluence, this should not lull us into a false security nor lead us toforget the suddenness of past visitations. 

I am more convinced than ever that we can have no assured financialpeace and safety until the Government currency obligations upon whichgold may be demanded from the Treasury are withdrawn from circulationand canceled. This might be done, as has been heretofore recommended, by their exchange for long-term bonds bearing a low rate of interest orby their redemption with the proceeds of such bonds. Even if only theUnited States notes known as greenbacks were thus retired it is probablethat the Treasury notes issued in payment of silver purchases under theact of July 14, 1890, now paid in gold when demanded, would not createmuch disturbance, as they might from time to time, when received in theTreasury by redemption in gold or otherwise, be gradually and prudentlyreplaced by silver coin. 

This plan of issuing bonds for the purpose of redemption certainlyappears to be the most effective and direct path to the needed reform. In default of this, however, it would be a step in the right directionif currency obligations redeemable in gold whenever so redeemed shouldbe canceled instead of being reissued. This operation would be a slowremedy, but it would improve present conditions. 

National banks should redeem their own notes. They should be allowed toissue circulation to the par value of bonds deposited as security forits redemption and the tax on their circulation should be reduced toone-fourth of 1 per cent. 

In considering projects for the retirement of United States notes andTreasury notes issued under the law of 1890, I am of the opinion that wehave placed too much stress upon the danger of contracting the currencyand have calculated too little upon the gold that would be added to ourcirculation if invited to us by better and safer financial methods. Itis not so much a contraction of our currency that should be avoided asits unequal distribution. 

This might be obviated and any fear of harmful contraction at the sametime removed by allowing the organization of smaller banks and in lesspopulous communities than are now permitted, and also authorizingexisting banks to establish branches in small communities under properrestrictions. 

The entire case may be presented by the statement that the day ofsensible and sound financial methods will not dawn upon us until ourGovernment abandons the banking business and the accumulation of fundsand confines its monetary operations to the receipt of the moneycontributed by the people for its support and to the expenditure of suchmoney for the people's benefit. 

Our business interests and all good citizens long for rest from feverishagitation and the inauguration by the Government of a reformed financialpolicy which will encourage enterprise and make certain the rewards oflabor and industry. 

Another topic in which our people rightfully take a deep interestmay be here briefly considered. I refer to the existence of trusts andother huge aggregations of capital the object of which is to secure themonopoly of some particular branch of trade, industry, or commerce andto stifle wholesome competition. When these are defended, it is usuallyon the ground that though they increase profits they also reduce prices, and thus may benefit the public. It must be remembered, however, thata reduction of prices to the people is not one of the real objectsof these organizations, nor is their tendency necessarily in thatdirection. If it occurs in a particular case it is only because itaccords with the purposes or interests of those managing the scheme. 

Such occasional results fall far short of compensating the palpableevils charged to the account of trusts and monopolies. Their tendencyis to crush out individual independence and to hinder or prevent thefree use of human faculties and the full development of human character. Through them the farmer, the artisan, and the small trader is in dangerof dislodgment from the proud position of being his own master, watchfulof all that touches his country's prosperity, in which he has anindividual lot, and interested in all that affects the advantages ofbusiness of which he is a factor, to be relegated to the level of a mereappurtenance to a great machine, with little free will, with no duty butthat of passive obedience, and with little hope or opportunity of risingin the scale of responsible and helpful citizenship. 

To the instinctive belief that such is the inevitable trend of trustsand monopolies is due the widespread and deep-seated popular aversion inwhich they are held and the not unreasonable insistence that, whatevermay be their incidental economic advantages, their general effect uponpersonal character, prospects, and usefulness can not be otherwise thaninjurious. 

Though Congress has attempted to deal with this matter by legislation, the laws passed for that purpose thus far have proved ineffective, notbecause of any lack of disposition or attempt to enforce them, butsimply because the laws themselves as interpreted by the courts do notreach the difficulty. If the insufficiencies of existing laws can beremedied by further legislation, it should be done. The fact must berecognized, however, that all Federal legislation on this subject mayfall short of its purpose because of inherent obstacles and also becauseof the complex character of our governmental system, which, while makingthe Federal authority supreme within its sphere, has carefully limitedthat sphere by metes and bounds that can not be transgressed. Thedecision of our highest court on this precise question renders it quitedoubtful whether the evils of trusts and monopolies can be adequatelytreated through Federal action unless they seek directly and purposelyto include in their objects transportation or intercourse between Statesor between the United States and foreign countries. 

It does not follow, however, that this is the limit of the remedy thatmay be applied. Even though it may be found that Federal authority isnot broad enough to fully reach the case, there can be no doubt of thepower of the several States to act effectively in the premises, andthere should be no reason to doubt their willingness to judiciouslyexercise such power. 

In concluding this communication its last words shall be an appeal tothe Congress for the most rigid economy in the expenditure of the moneyit holds in trust for the people. The way to perplexing extravaganceis easy, but a return to frugality is difficult. When, however, it isconsidered that those who bear the burdens of taxation have no guarantyof honest care save in the fidelity of their public servants, the dutyof all possible retrenchment is plainly manifest. 

When our differences are forgotten and our contests of politicalopinion are no longer remembered, nothing in the retrospect of ourpublic service will be as fortunate and comforting as the recollectionof official duty well performed and the memory of a constant devotion tothe interests of our confiding fellow-countrymen. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

[Footnote 36: See p. 624. ]

[Footnote 37: See pp. 450-451. ]

[Footnote 38: Of the second class 52, 348, 297 was county-free matter. ]

[Footnote 39: See pp. 701-711. ]

SPECIAL MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 5, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the22d ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copiesof correspondence concerning the death of Charles Govin, a citizen ofthe United States, in the island of Cuba. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 8, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the House ofRepresentatives of May 8, 1896, requesting information as to what hadbeen done by the Department of State to carry out the provision in theact of March 2, 1895, making appropriations for the Department ofAgriculture for the year 1896, as to negotiations with Great Britain tosecure the abrogation or modification of the regulations requiring theslaughter of cattle from the United States at the port of entry, areport from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 8, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State in response tothe resolution of the House of Representatives of June 5, 1896, callingfor information concerning the changes made in the force of hisDepartment since the 4th day of March, 1893. 

This report has been in my hands since the 9th day of December, 1896, and its transmission to the House of Representatives has been delayed bymy inadvertence. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 11, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a treaty for the arbitration of all matters indifference between the United States and Great Britain. 

The provisions of the treaty are the result of long and patientdeliberation and represent concessions made by each party for the sakeof agreement upon the general scheme. 

Though the result reached may not meet the views of the advocates ofimmediate, unlimited, and irrevocable arbitration of all internationalcontroversies, it is nevertheless confidently believed that the treatycan not fail to be everywhere recognized as making a long step in theright direction and as embodying a practical working plan by whichdisputes between the two countries will reach a peaceful adjustment asmatter of course and in ordinary routine. 

In the initiation of such an important movement it must be expected thatsome of its features will assume a tentative character looking to afurther advance, and yet it is apparent that the treaty which has beenformulated not only makes war between the parties to it a remotepossibility, but precludes those fears and rumors of war which ofthemselves too often assume the proportions of national disaster. 

It is eminently fitting as well as fortunate that the attempts toaccomplish results so beneficent should be initiated by kindred peoples, speaking the same tongue and joined together by all the ties of commontraditions, common institutions, and common aspirations. The experimentof substituting civilized methods for brute force as the means ofsettling international questions of right will thus be tried under thehappiest auspices. Its success ought not to be doubtful, and the factthat its ultimate ensuing benefits are not likely to be limited to thetwo countries immediately concerned should cause it to be promoted allthe more eagerly. The examples set and the lesson furnished by thesuccessful operation of this treaty are sure to be felt and taken toheart sooner or later by other nations, and will thus mark the beginningof a new epoch in civilization. 

Profoundly impressed as I am, therefore, by the promise of transcendentgood which this treaty affords, I do not hesitate to accompany itstransmission with an expression of my earnest hope that it may commenditself to the favorable consideration of the Senate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 18, 1897_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the report of Messrs. James B. Angell, of Michigan, John E. Russell, of Massachusetts, and Lyman E. Cooley, of Illinois, whowere appointed commissioners under the authority of a law passed March2, 1895, to make inquiry and report, after conference with such similarcommissioners as might be appointed on behalf of Great Britain or theDominion of Canada, concerning the feasibility of the construction ofsuch canals as will enable vessels engaged in ocean commerce to passbetween the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, and the most convenientlocation and probable cost of such canals, together with other facts andinformation in said act specified relating to their construction anduse. 

The commissioners have prosecuted the work assigned them with great zealand intelligence, resulting in the collection of a mass of informationembodied in their report and its accompanying exhibits which is of greatimportance and interest as related to the project subjected to theirexamination. 

The advantages of direct and unbroken water transportation of theproducts of our Western States and Territories from convenient points ofshipment to our seaboard ports are plainly palpable. The report of thecommissioners contains, in my opinion, demonstration of the feasibilityof securing such transportation, and gives ground for the anticipationthat better and more uninterrupted commerce, through the plan suggested, between the great West and foreign ports, with the increase of nationalprosperity which must follow in its train, will not long escape Americanenterprise and activity. 

It will be observed that the report of the commissioners, though ascomprehensive as the time and facilities at their disposal permitted, does not definitely deal with the cost of the work they were called uponto consider and omits some of the other details related to it. Thus farthey have labored without compensation, and a part of the small sumappropriated for the payment of their expenses still remains unexpended. 

I suggest to the Congress the propriety of making economical provisionfor such further prosecution of their work as will more fully developthe information necessary to an exact and complete understanding of thisinteresting and important subject. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 22, 1897_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of December 15, 1896, relating to Cuban affairs, I transmit a report from the Secretary ofState, submitting a list of the claims filed in the Department of Stateby citizens of the United States against Spain arising out of theinsurrection existing in the island of Cuba, and the accompanyingcorrespondence relating to the vessel called the _Competitor_ andthe persons claiming American citizenship captured thereon, which I deemit not incompatible with the public interests to communicate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 25, 1897_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate resolution of December21, 1896, addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officercovering a list of persons claiming to be citizens of the United Stateswho have been arrested on the island of Cuba since February 24, 1895, tothe present time. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 1, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the6th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copiesof correspondence concerning the arrest, imprisonment, trial, andcondemnation to perpetual imprisonment in chains of Jules Sanguily, acitizen of the United States, by the authorities of Spain in Cuba. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 5, 1897_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The World's Columbian Commission has delivered to me certain documentsand exhibits which they desire should constitute the final reportrequired by section 12 of the act of Congress passed April 25, 1890, providing for the celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of thediscovery of America and the holding of an international exhibition inthe city of Chicago. 

The documents referred to embrace the reports of the president andsecretary of the commission and a report of the executive committee onawards, with exhibits relating to the same. They are contained in fiveboxes of considerable size, which, instead of actually transmitting withthis communication, I have deposited in the State Department subject tothe action and direction of the Congress. 

I am informed that the director-general of the exposition has made areport directly to the Congress, and that no report of the lady managershas yet been made. 

The selection of such part of the material mentioned as may beconsidered necessary to constitute a final exhibit of the action ofthe commission and the results of the exposition is submitted to thediscretion of Congress. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 8, 1897_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State andaccompanying reports from diplomatic and consular officers of the UnitedStates on the passport regulations of foreign countries. In view of theevident value of the information contained in these reports, especiallyto American citizens going abroad and sojourning or traveling in foreignlands, I approve the recommendation of the Secretary that Congressauthorize the printing of a special edition of 3, 000 copies of the work, to be distributed by the Department of State as indicated in theSecretary's report. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1897_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith submit the thirteenth annual report of the Civil ServiceCommission, containing a detailed statement of its important work andexhibiting the present condition of the classified service of theGovernment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 10, 1897_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, theHouse of Representatives concurring, I return herewith Senate bill No. 3328, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to repeal thetimber-culture laws, and for other purposes. '"

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1897_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1897, Itransmit a report from the Secretary of State, submitting copies ofcorrespondence relative to the arrest and detention of Gaspar A. Betancourt, a citizen of the United States, by the Spanish authoritiesin Cuba. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1897_. 

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of February 2, 1897, Itransmit a report from the Secretary of State, relative to the killingof Segundo N. Lopez, son of M. F. Lopez, at Sagua la Grande, in Cuba. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 20, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the17th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, touching the replyof the British Government in regard to the failure of the negotiationsof the Paris Tribunal to protect the fur-seal herd of Alaska. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 20, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the15th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied bycopies of correspondence with the German Government in reference toAmerican insurance companies. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 23, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate ofFebruary 6, 1897, a report from the Secretary of State, in regard to thepersons claiming American citizenship captured on board of the_Competitor_. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 24, 1897_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of the joint commission on behalf of the UnitedStates and Great Britain, dated December 31, 1896, relative to thepreservation of the fisheries in waters contiguous to the United Statesand Canada, as provided by the joint agreement between the United Statesand Great Britain dated December 6, 1892. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 25, 1897_. 

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, acommunication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of theDirector of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1896. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 26, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying the annual reports of the consuls of the United Statesupon foreign industries and commerce. In view of the value of thesereports to the business interests throughout the country, I indorse therecommendation of the Secretary of State that Congress authorize theprinting of a special edition of 10, 000 copies of the general summaryentitled Review of the World's Commerce, and of 5, 000 copies ofCommercial Relations (including this summary), to enable the Departmentof State to meet the demand for such information. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 1, 1897_. 

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith the report of the board of lady managers of theWorld's Columbian Commission. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 1, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 24th ultimo, Itransmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, covering copiesof the correspondence and reports of the consul-general of the UnitedStates at Havana relating to all American citizens now in prison in theisland of Cuba not previously reported on. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 2, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate ofFebruary 24, 1897, a report from the Secretary of State, in relation tothe claim of M. A. Cheek against the Siamese Government, withaccompanying papers. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 2, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State upon a resolutionof the Senate relating to the arrest, imprisonment, and death of Dr. Ricardo Ruiz in the jail of Guanabacoa, on the island of Cuba. Agreeingwith the suggestion of the Secretary, I have not thought it compatiblewith the public interest that the correspondence referred to in theresolution should be communicated pending the public and exhaustiveinvestigation about to be instituted. 

Though it seems to be clear that the consul-general should haveprofessional aid in such investigation, that matter, together with theselection of the particular persons to act with him, properly devolvesupon my successor in office. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 3, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in reply to the resolution of the Senate of January23, 1897, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies ofthe correspondence therein requested, relating to the Nicaraguan Canalor the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua, since 1887. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

VETO MESSAGES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 9469, entitled"An act to constitute a new division of the eastern judicial districtof Texas, and to provide for the holding of terms of court at Beaumont, Tex. , and for the appointment of a clerk for said court. "

It appears that terms of court are now held at four different placeswithin the eastern judicial district of Texas and that parties havingbusiness in the courts are not seriously inconvenienced under presentarrangements. 

Both the Federal judge and district attorney in this district expressthemselves in opposition to the bill as unnecessary and an interruptionto the transaction of the large volume of business now pending andconstantly coming before the court. 

I have before me certificates of the clerks of the present divisions ofthe courts showing that during the last five years the counties whichit is proposed shall constitute the new division have contributed butforty-two cases to the calendars of the court. 

Conclusive proof is also before me that the additional terms of courtprovided for in this bill would so interfere with the terms alreadyappointed in the existing divisions that the proper administration ofthe civil as well as the criminal law would be impracticable. 

The criminal docket of the terms held at Paris is so large that underpresent arrangements and with the utmost industry trials can not now beas promptly disposed of as the ends of justice require. This conditionwould be further aggravated if terms of the court should be held atBeaumont on the dates proposed in this bill, since they are fixed atsuch times as to necessarily curtail the period now devoted to theParis terms. 

On the grounds stated and because I am unable to discover how the publicinterests can possibly be promoted by the proposed legislation I amconstrained to withhold my approval of the bill under consideration. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 22, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 2189, entitled"An act granting a pension to Mrs. Mary A. Freeman. "

A former husband of the beneficiary, named Andrew V. Pritchard, didservice in the Mexican War, and on July 22, 1847, died of diseasecontracted in such service. Thereupon the beneficiary named in this billwas pensioned as his widow. She continued to receive this pension until1852, when she married John Freeman, through which she of course losther pensionable status. Two minor children of the soldier were, however, placed on the pension roll in her stead, and their pension was paid tothem until the youngest became 16 years of age, in 1863. 

John Freeman died in December, 1871, the beneficiary having been hiswife for almost twenty years. It is now proposed to restore her to thepension roll as the widow of her former husband, the Mexican soldier, who died nearly fifty years ago, and notwithstanding the fact that lessthan five years after his death she relinquished her right to a pensionand surrendered her widowhood to become the wife of another husband, with whom she lived for many years. 

I am not willing, even by inaction, to be charged with acquiescence inwhat appears to be such an entire departure from the principle, as wellas sentiment, connected with reasonable pension legislation. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 22, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 1323, entitled "Anact granting a pension to Maria Somerlat, widow of Valentine Somerlat. "

This beneficiary, under the name of Maria Somerlat, was pensioned in1867 as the widow of Valentine Somerlat, a volunteer soldier, datingfrom his death, in 1864. She continued to draw the pension allowedher as such widow until 1881, when she married one Hiram Smith. Subsequently, but at what time does not appear, she was divorced fromSmith in a suit that seems to have been begun by him, but in whichshe interposed a cross bill and obtained judgment in her favor. Notwithstanding her remarriage, through which she ceased to be the widowof the dead soldier, it is proposed to pension her again on account ofhis death. 

The rule governing the operation of general pension laws which forfeitsa widow's pension on her remarriage seems so reasonable and just andits relaxation must necessarily lead to such a departure from justprinciples and to such vexatious pension administration that I amconvinced it ought to be strictly maintained. 

I hope I may be permitted to call the attention of the Senate to theincreasing latitude clearly discernible in special pension legislation. It has seemed to me so useless to attempt to stem the tide of thislegislation by Executive interference that I have contented myself withnonacquiescence in numerous cases where I could not approve. 

There have been already presented to me for Executive action during thepresent session of the Congress 206 special pension bills, of which Ihave actually examined 115. The entire number of such bills that havebecome laws during the four sessions of the Congress since March 4, 1893, is 391. Some of those presented at the present session are notbased upon the least pretext that the death or disability involved isrelated to army service, while in numerous other cases it is extremelydifficult to satisfactorily discover such relationship. 

There is one feature of this legislation which I am sure deservesattention. I refer to the great number of special bills passed forthe purpose of increasing the pensions of those already on the rolls. Of the 115 special pension bills which I have examined since thebeginning of the present session of the Congress, 58 granted or restoredpensions and 57 increased those already existing, and the appropriationof money necessary to meet these increases exceeds considerably theamount required to pay the original pensions granted or restored by theremaining 58 bills. 

I can not discover that these increases are regulated by any ruleor principle, and when we remember that there are nearly a millionpensioners on our rolls and consider the importunity for such increasethat must follow the precedents already made, the relation of thesubject to a justifiable increase of our national revenues can notescape attention. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 22, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 6902, entitled"An act granting a pension to Mrs. Mary A. Viel. "

This beneficiary was married in 1862 to Major W. D. Sanger, then in thevolunteer military service. He died in 1872, never having made anyapplication for pension. His widow made no application for pension, butwithin three years after her husband's death, and in 1875, became thewife of Paul Viel. Eight years thereafter he died, leaving her hiswidow, and it is now proposed to pension her as the widow of thesoldier, Major Sanger, though she long ago by her own deliberate actsurrendered that title and all its incidents. 

There is a further objection to granting this pension. I do not findthat any claim is made that the death of the soldier, who was thebeneficiary's first husband, was at all attributable to his armyservice. Neither he nor his widow, while she remained such, presentedany such claim, nor is it found in reports of the committees in theSenate or House to whom the bill under consideration was referred. On the contrary, the Senate Committee on Pensions in their reportdistinctly state that "there is no proof that soldier contracted diseasewhile in the service or that he died of pensionable disabilities. "

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March i, 1897_. 

_To the Senate_:

I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 719, entitled "An actto restore a pension to Harriet M. Knowlton. "

Major William Knowlton, a most worthy volunteer soldier, died of woundsreceived in battle on the 20th day of September, 1864. 

In 1865 his widow, the beneficiary named in this bill, was pensioned atthe rate of $25 a month, commencing on the day of her husband's death, with an additional allowance for four minor children dating from July, 1866. 

She continued to receive this pension and allowance until November, 1867, when she married Albin P. Stinchfield. 

Thereupon her name was dropped from the pension roll, she having byher remarriage lost her pensionable condition, and her children werepensioned at a small monthly rate from the date of their mother'sremarriage until June 1, 1880, when the youngest became 16 years of age. 

The beneficiary, after living with her second husband about twenty-twoyears, secured a divorce from him in the year 1889, and it is nowproposed to pension the divorced wife as the widow of her deceasedsoldier husband at the rate she received while she was actually hiswidow, thirty years ago. 

Her pensionable relation to the Government terminated with herremarriage, and her divorce from her second husband could not upon anyground of principle restore it. A departure from this rule, even in aidof cases of hardship, can not fail to establish precedents inviting theabandonment of reasonable and justifiable pension theories. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 1, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 1299, entitled "An actto pension Harriet Woodbury, of Windsor, Vt. "

The beneficiary named in this bill was the wife of Aaron G. Firman atthe time of his enlistment in 1863. He died October 2, 1864, and thebeneficiary, as his widow, was pensioned in 1865, from the day of hersoldier husband's death. 

She continued to receive the pension allowed to her as such widow untilJuly 14, 1866, when she married Samuel H. Woodbury. She was thereupondropped from the pension roll pursuant to law, and in 1868 the minor sonof the soldier was allowed a pension of $8 a month, commencing at thedate of the remarriage of his mother. This pension was increased to $10a month in 1873, from July 25, 1866, and was continued until 1880, whenthe minor child reached the age of 16 years. 

On July 26, 1886, twenty years after the beneficiary ceased to be thewidow of the soldier Aaron G. Firman and became the wife of the civilianSamuel H. Woodbury, he died and she became his widow. 

It is now proposed by this bill to pension her again as the widow of thedeceased soldier, notwithstanding her voluntary abandonment of thatrelation to become the wife of another more than thirty years ago. 

No feature of our pension laws is so satisfactory and just as a fairallowance to the widows of our soldiers who have died from causesattributable to their army service. When, however, such a beneficiaryby remarriage surrenders her soldier widowhood and turns away from itstender and patriotic associations to assume again the relation andallegiance of wife to another husband, when she discards the soldier'sname and in every way terminates her pensionable relationship to theGovernment, I am unable to discover any principle which justifies herrestoration to that relationship upon the death of her second husband. 

No one can be insensible to the sad plight of a widow in needycondition, but our pension laws should deal with soldiers' widows. Iunderstand that only the existence of this relationship to a deceasedsoldier creates through him the Government's duty and justifies theapplication of public money to the relief of such widows. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1897_. 

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return without approval House bill No. 7864, entitled "An actto amend the immigration laws of the United States. "

By the first section of this bill it is proposed to amend section 1 ofthe act of March 3, 1891, relating to immigration by adding to theclasses of aliens thereby excluded from admission to the United Statesthe following:

 All persons physically capable and over 16 years of age who can not read and write the English language or some other language; but a person not so able to read and write who is over 50 years of age and is the parent or grandparent of a qualified immigrant over 21 years of age and capable of supporting such parent or grandparent may accompany such immigrant, or such a parent or grandparent may be sent for and come to join the family of a child or grandchild over 21 years of age similarly qualified and capable, and a wife or minor child not so able to read and write may accompany or be sent for and come and join the husband or parent similarly qualified and capable. 

A radical departure from our national policy relating to immigration ishere presented. Heretofore we have welcomed all who came to us fromother lands except those whose moral or physical condition or historythreatened danger to our national welfare and safety. Relying upon thezealous watchfulness of our people to prevent injury to our politicaland social fabric, we have encouraged those coming from foreigncountries to cast their lot with us and join in the development of ourvast domain, securing in return a share in the blessings of Americancitizenship. 

A century's stupendous growth, largely due to the assimilation andthrift of millions of sturdy and patriotic adopted citizens, attests thesuccess of this generous and free-handed policy which, while guardingthe people's interests, exacts from our immigrants only physical andmoral soundness and a willingness and ability to work. 

A contemplation of the grand results of this policy can not fail toarouse a sentiment in its defense, for however it might have beenregarded as an original proposition and viewed as an experiment itsaccomplishments are such that if it is to be uprooted at this late dayits disadvantages should be plainly apparent and the substitute adoptedshould be just and adequate, free from uncertainties, and guardedagainst difficult or oppressive administration. 

It is not claimed, I believe, that the time has come for the furtherrestriction of immigration on the ground that an excess of populationovercrowds our land. 

It is said, however, that the quality of recent immigration isundesirable. The time is quite within recent memory when the same thingwas said of immigrants who, with their descendants, are now numberedamong our best citizens. 

It is said that too many immigrants settle in our cities, thusdangerously increasing their idle and vicious population. This iscertainly a disadvantage. It can not be shown, however, that it affectsall our cities, nor that it is permanent; nor does it appear that thiscondition where it exists demands as its remedy the reversal of ourpresent immigration policy. 

The claim is also made that the influx of foreign laborers deprives ofthe opportunity to work those who are better entitled than they to theprivilege of earning their livelihood by daily toil. An unfortunatecondition is certainly presented when any who are willing to labor areunemployed, but so far as this condition now exists among our people itmust be conceded to be a result of phenomenal business depression andthe stagnation of all enterprises in which labor is a factor. With theadvent of settled and wholesome financial and economic governmentalpolicies and consequent encouragement to the activity of capital themisfortunes of unemployed labor should, to a great extent at least, beremedied. If it continues, its natural consequences must be to check thefurther immigration to our cities of foreign laborers and to deplete theranks of those already there. In the meantime those most willing andbest entitled ought to be able to secure the advantages of such work asthere is to do. 

It is proposed by the bill under consideration to meet the allegeddifficulties of the situation by establishing an educational test bywhich the right of a foreigner to make his home with us shall bedetermined. Its general scheme is to prohibit from admission to ourcountry all immigrants "physically capable and over 16 years of age whocan not read and write the English language or some other language, " andit is provided that this test shall be applied by requiring immigrantsseeking admission to read and afterwards to write not less than twentynor more than twenty-five words of the Constitution of the United Statesin some language, and that any immigrant failing in this shall not beadmitted, but shall be returned to the country from whence he came atthe expense of the steamship or railroad company which brought him. 

The best reason that could be given for this radical restriction ofimmigration is the necessity of protecting our population againstdegeneration and saving our national peace and quiet from importedturbulence and disorder. 

I can not believe that we would be protected against these evils bylimiting immigration to those who can read and write in any languagetwenty-five words of our Constitution. In my opinion, it is infinitelymore safe to admit a hundred thousand immigrants who, though unable toread and write, seek among us only a home and opportunity to work thanto admit one of those unruly agitators and enemies of governmentalcontrol who can not only read and write, but delights in arousing byinflammatory speech the illiterate and peacefully inclined to discontentand tumult. Violence and disorder do not originate with illiteratelaborers. They are, rather, the victims of the educated agitator. Theability to read and write, as required in this bill, in and of itselfaffords, in my opinion, a misleading test of contented industry andsupplies unsatisfactory evidence of desirable citizenship or a properapprehension of the benefits of our institutions. If any particularelement of our illiterate immigration is to be feared for other causesthan illiteracy, these causes should be dealt with directly, instead ofmaking illiteracy the pretext for exclusion, to the detriment of otherilliterate immigrants against whom the real cause of complaint can notbe alleged. 

The provisions intended to rid that part of the proposed legislationalready referred to from obvious hardship appears to me to be indefiniteand inadequate. 

A parent, grandparent, wife, or minor child of a qualified immigrant, though unable to read and write, may accompany the immigrant or be sentfor to join his family, provided the immigrant is capable of supportingsuch relative. These exceptions to the general rule of exclusioncontained in the bill were made to prevent the separation of families, and yet neither brothers nor sisters are provided for. In order thatrelatives who are provided for may be reunited, those still in foreignlands must be sent for to join the immigrant here. What formality isnecessary to constitute this prerequisite, and how are the facts ofrelationship and that the relative is sent for to be established?Are the illiterate relatives of immigrants who have come here underprior laws entitled to the advantage of these exceptions? A husband whocan read and write and who determines to abandon his illiterate wifeabroad will find here under this law an absolutely safe retreat. Theilliterate relatives mentioned must not only be sent for, but suchimmigrant must be capable of supporting them when they arrive. Thisrequirement proceeds upon the assumption that the foreign relativescoming here are in every case, by reason of poverty, liable to becomea public charge unless the immigrant is capable of their support. Thecontrary is very often true. And yet if unable to read and write, thoughquite able and willing to support themselves and their relatives herebesides, they could not be admitted under the provisions of this billif the immigrant was impoverished, though the aid of his fortunate butilliterate relative might be the means of saving him from pauperism. 

The fourth section of this bill provides--

 That it shall be unlawful for any male alien who has not in good faith made his declaration before the proper court of his intention to become a citizen of the United States to be employed on any public works of the United States or to come regularly or habitually into the United States by land or water for the purpose of engaging in any mechanical trade or manual labor for wages or salary, returning from time to time to a foreign country. 

The fifth section provides--

 That it shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, company, or corporation knowingly to employ any alien coming into the United States in violation of the next preceding section of this act. 

The prohibition against the employment of aliens upon any public worksof the United States is in line with other legislation of a likecharacter. It is quite a different thing, however, to declare it a crimefor an alien to come regularly and habitually into the United States forthe purpose of obtaining work from private parties, if such alienreturns from time to time to a foreign country, and to constitute anyemployment of such alien a criminal offense. 

When we consider these provisions of the bill in connection with ourlong northern frontier and the boundaries of our States and Territories, often but an imaginary line separating them from the British dominions, and recall the friendly intercourse between the people who are neighborson either side, the provisions of this bill affecting them must beregarded as illiberal, narrow, and un-American. 

The residents of these States and Territories have separate and especialinterests which in many cases make an interchange of labor between theirpeople and their alien neighbors most important, frequently with theadvantage largely in favor of our citizens. This suggests theinexpediency of Federal interference with these conditions when notnecessary to the correction of a substantial evil, affecting the generalwelfare. Such unfriendly legislation as is proposed could hardly fail toprovoke retaliatory measures, to the injury of many of our citizens whonow find employment on adjoining foreign soil. 

The uncertainty of construction to which the language of theseprovisions is subject is a serious objection to a statute whichdescribes a crime. An important element in the offense sought to becreated by these sections is the coming "regularly or habitually intothe United States. " These words are impossible of definite and certainconstruction. The same may be said of the equally important words"returning from time to time to a foreign country. "

A careful examination of this bill has convinced me that for the reasonsgiven and others not specifically stated its provisions areunnecessarily harsh and oppressive, and that its defects in constructionwould cause vexation and its operation would result in harm to ourcitizens. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

POCKET VETOES. 

["An act granting a pension to Mrs. Mary Gould Carr, widow of the lateBrigadier and Brevet Major General Joseph B. Carr, United StatesVolunteers, deceased. "]

DECEMBER 30, 1896. 

This bill was presented to me on the 16th day of December, 1896. Congress, pursuant to a concurrent resolution adopted by both Houses ofCongress, adjourned from the 22d day of December, 1896, to January 5, 1897. I have not approved the bill. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

"An act to increase the pension of Caroline A. Hough, widow ofBrigadier-General John Hough. "

DECEMBER 31, 1896. 

This bill was presented to me on the 16th day of December, 1896. Congress, pursuant to a concurrent resolution adopted by both Houses ofCongress, adjourned from the 22d day of December, 1896, to January 5, 1897. I have not approved the bill. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

PROCLAMATIONS. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to adopt regulations forpreventing collisions at sea" was approved August 19, 1890, the said actbeing in the following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the following regulations for preventing collisions at sea shall be followed by all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels:

 PRELIMINARY. 

 In the following rules every steam vessel which is under sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing vessel, and every vessel under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a steam vessel. 

 The words "steam vessel" shall include any vessel propelled by machinery. 

 A vessel is "under way" within the meaning of these rules when she is not at anchor or made fast to the shore or aground. 

 RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS, ETC. 

 The word "visible" in these rules when applied to lights shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear atmosphere. 

 ARTICLE 1. The rules concerning lights shall be complied with in all weathers from sunset to sunrise, and during such time no other lights which may be mistaken for the prescribed lights shall be exhibited. 

 ART. 2. A steam vessel when under way shall carry--

 (_a_) On or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without a foremast, then in the fore part of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than 20 feet, and if the breadth of the vessel exceeds 20 feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such breadth, so, however, that the light need not be carried at a greater height above the hull than 40 feet, a bright white light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 20 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 10 points on each side of the vessel--namely, from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on either side--and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 5 miles. 

 (_b_) On the starboard side a green light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_c_) On the port side a red light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_d_) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least 3 feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow. 

 (_e_) A steam vessel when under way may carry an additional white light similar in construction to the light mentioned in subdivision (_a_). These two lights shall be so placed in line with the keel that one shall be at least 15 feet higher than the other, and in such a position with reference to each other that the lower light shall be forward of the upper one. The vertical distance between these lights shall be less than the horizontal distance. 

 ART. 3. A steam vessel when towing another vessel shall, in addition to her side lights, carry two bright white lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and when towing more than one vessel shall carry an additional bright white light 6 feet above or below such light, if the length of the tow measuring from the stern of the towing vessel to the stern of the last vessel towed exceeds 600 feet. Each of these lights shall be of the same construction and character and shall be carried in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_), excepting the additional light, which may be carried at a height of not less than 14 feet above the hull. 

 Such steam vessel may carry a small white light abaft the funnel or aftermast for the vessel towed to steer by, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam. 

 ART. 4. (_a_) A vessel which from any accident is not under command shall carry at the same height as a white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_), where they can best be seen, and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, two red lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles, and shall by day carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, two black balls or shapes each 2 feet in diameter. 

 (_b_) A vessel employed in laying or in picking up a telegraph cable shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in articles (_a_), and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, three lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart. The highest and lowest of these lights shall be red and the middle light shall be white, and they shall be of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles. By day she shall carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, three shapes not less than 2 feet in diameter, of which the highest and lowest shall be globular in shape and red in color and the middle one diamond in shape and white. 

 (_c_) The vessels referred to in this article when not making way through the water shall not carry the side lights, but when making way shall carry them. 

 (_d_) The lights and shapes required to be shown by this article are to be taken by other vessels as signals that the vessel showing them is not under command and can not, therefore, get out of the way. 

 These signals are not signals of vessels in distress and requiring assistance. Such signals are contained in article 31. 

 ART. 5. A sailing vessel under way and any vessel being towed shall carry the same lights as are prescribed by article 2 for a steam vessel under way, with the exception of the white lights mentioned therein, which they shall never carry. 

 ART. 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels under way during bad weather, the green and red side lights can not be fixed, these lights shall be kept at hand, lighted and ready for use, and shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited on their respective sides, in sufficient time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible and so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side, nor, if practicable, more than 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. 

 To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy the lanterns containing them shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain and shall be provided with proper screens. 

 ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, when under way shall not be obliged to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (_a_), (_b_), and (_c_), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:

 First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry--

 (_a_) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_a_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 (_b_) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_b_) and (_c_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light. 

 Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (_b_). 

 Third. Vessels under oars or sails of leas than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_) and article 11 last paragraph. 

 ART. 8. Pilot vessels when engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall not show the lights required for other vessels, but shall carry a white light at the masthead, visible all around the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare-up light or flare-up lights at short intervals, which shall never exceed fifteen minutes. 

 On the near approach of or to other vessels they shall have their side lights lighted ready for use and shall flash or show them at short intervals to indicate the direction in which they are heading; but the green light shall not be shown on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 A pilot vessel of such a class as to be obliged to go alongside of a vessel to put a pilot on board may show the white light instead of carrying it at the masthead, and may instead of the colored lights above mentioned have at hand ready for use a lantern with a green glass on the one side and a red glass on the other, to be used as prescribed above. 

 Pilot vessels when not engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall carry lights similar to those of other vessels of their tonnage. 

 ART. 9. Fishing vessels and fishing boats when under way and when not required by this article to carry or show the lights therein named shall carry or show the lights prescribed for vessels of their tonnage under way. 

 (_a_) Vessels and boats when fishing with drift nets shall exhibit two white lights from any part of the vessel where they can best be seen. Such lights shall be placed so that the vertical distance between them shall be not less than 6 feet and not more than 10 feet, and so that the horizontal distance between them measured in a line with the keel shall be not less than 5 feet and not more than 10 feet. The lower of these two lights shall be the more forward, and both of them shall be of such a character as to show all around the horizon and to be visible at a distance of not less than 3 miles. 

 (_b_) Vessels when engaged in trawling, by which is meant the dragging of an apparatus along the bottom of the sea--

 First. If steam vessels, shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (_a_) tricolored lantern so constructed and fixed as to show a white light from right ahead to 2 points on each bow and a green light and a red light over an arc of the horizon from 2 points on either bow to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard and port sides, respectively, and not less than 6 nor more than 12 feet below the tricolored lantern a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon. 

 Second. If sailing vessels of 7 tons gross tonnage and upward, shall carry a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon, and shall also be provided with a sufficient supply of red pyrotechnic lights, which shall each burn for at least thirty seconds and shall be shown on the approach of or to other vessels in sufficient time to prevent collision. 

 In the Mediterranean Sea the vessels referred to in subdivision (_b_) 2 may use a flare-up light in lieu of a pyrotechnic light. 

 All lights mentioned in subdivision (_b_) 1 and 2 shall be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 Third. If sailing vessels of less than 7 tons gross tonnage, shall not be obliged to carry the white light mentioned in subdivision (_b_) 2 of this article, but if they do not carry such light they shall have at hand, ready for use, a lantern showing a bright white light, which shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited where it can best be seen in sufficient time to prevent collision; and they shall also show a red pyrotechnic light, as prescribed in subdivision (_b_) 2, or in lieu thereof a flare-up light. 

 (_c_) Vessels and boats when line fishing with their lines out and attached to their lines, and when not at anchor or stationary, shall carry the same lights as vessels fishing with drift nets. 

 (_d_) Fishing vessels and fishing boats may at any time use a flare-up light in addition to the lights which they are by this article required to carry and show. All flare-up lights exhibited by a vessel when trawling or fishing with any kind of drag net shall be shown at the after part of the vessel, excepting that if the vessel is hanging by the stern to her fishing gear they shall be exhibited from the bow. 

 (_e_) Every fishing vessel and every boat when at anchor shall exhibit a white light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile. 

 (_f_) If a vessel or boat when fishing becomes stationary in consequence of her gear getting fast to a rock or other obstruction, she shall show the light and make the fog signal prescribed for a vessel at anchor, respectively. (See article 15 (_d_), (_e_), and last paragraph. )

 (_g_) In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms drift-net vessels attached to their nets, and vessels when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnet, and vessels line fishing with their lines out shall, if of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward, respectively, at intervals of not more than one minute make a blast--if steam vessels, with the whistle or siren, and if sailing vessels, with the fog horn--each blast to be followed by ringing the bell. 

 (_h_) Sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls when under way shall in daytime indicate their occupation to an approaching vessel by displaying a basket or other efficient signal where it can best be seen. 

 The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the light prescribed by article 4 (_a_) and article 11, last paragraph. 

 ART. 10. A vessel which is being overtaken by another shall show from her stern to such last-mentioned vessel a white light or a flare-up light. 

 The white light required to be shown by this article may be fixed and carried in a lantern, but in such case the lantern shall be so constructed, fitted, and screened that it shall throw an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 12 points of the compass--namely, for 6 points from right aft on each side of the vessel--so as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile. Such light shall be carried as nearly as practicable on the same level as the side lights. 

 ART. 11. A vessel under 150 feet in length when at anchor shall carry forward, where it can best be seen, but at a height not exceeding 20 feet above the hull, a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile. 

 A vessel of 150 feet or upward in length when at anchor shall carry in the forward part of the vessel, at a height of not less than 20 and not exceeding 40 feet above the hull, one such light, and at or near the stern of the vessel, and at such a height that it shall be not less than 15 feet lower than the forward light, another such light. 

 The length of a vessel shall be deemed to be the length appearing in her certificate of registry. 

 A vessel aground in or near a fairway shall carry the above light or lights and the two red lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_). 

 ART. 12. Every vessel may, if necessary in order to attract attention, in addition to the lights which she is by these rules required to carry, show a flare-up light or use any detonating signal that can not be mistaken for a distress signal. 

 ART. 13. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of any special rules made by the government of any nation with respect to additional station and signal lights for two or more ships of war or for vessels sailing under convoy, or with the exhibition of recognition signals adopted by ship owners, which have been authorized by their respective governments and duly registered and published. 

 ART. 14. A steam vessel proceeding under sail only, but having her funnel up, shall carry in daytime forward, where it can best be seen, one black ball or shape 2 feet in diameter. 

 SOUND SIGNALS FOR FOG, ETC. 

 ART. 15. All signals prescribed by this article for vessels under way shall be given--

 1. By "steam vessels, " on the whistle or siren. 

 2. By "sailing vessels" and "vessels towed, " on the fog horn. 

 The words "prolonged blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of from four to six seconds' duration. 

 A steam vessel shall be provided with an efficient whistle or siren, sounded by steam or by some substitute for steam, so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any obstruction, and with an efficient fog horn, to be sounded by mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. (In all cases where the rules require a bell to be used a drum may be substituted on board Turkish vessels or a gong where such articles are used on board small seagoing vessels. ) A sailing vessel of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward shall be provided with a similar fog horn and bell. 

 In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms, whether by day or night, the signals described in this article shall be used as follows, viz:

 (_a_) A steam vessel having way upon her shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes a prolonged blast. 

 (_b_) A steam vessel under way, but stopped and having no way upon her, shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes two prolonged blasts, with an interval of about one second between them. 

 (_c_) A sailing vessel under way shall sound at intervals of not more than one minute, when on the starboard tack one blast, when on the port tack two blasts in succession, and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in succession. 

 (_d_) A vessel when at anchor shall at intervals of not more than one minute ring the bell rapidly for about five seconds. 

 (_e_) A vessel at anchor at sea, when not in ordinary anchorage ground and when in such a position as to be an obstruction to vessels under way, shall sound, if a steam vessel, at intervals of not more than two minutes, two prolonged blasts with her whistle or siren, followed by ringing her bell, or if a sailing vessel, at intervals of not more than one minute, two blasts with her fog horn, followed by ringing her bell. 

 (_f_) A vessel when towing shall, instead of the signals prescribed in subdivisions (_a_) and (_c_) of this article, at intervals of not more than two minutes sound three blasts in succession, namely, one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts. A vessel towed may give this signal, and she shall not give any other. 

 (_g_) A steam vessel wishing to indicate to another "The way is off my vessel; you may feel your way past me" may sound three blasts in succession--namely, short, long, short--with intervals of about one second between them. 

 (_h_) A vessel employed in laying or picking up a telegraph cable shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer three prolonged blasts in succession. 

 (_i_) A vessel under way which is unable to get out of the way of an approaching vessel through being not under command or unable to maneuver as required by these rules shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer four short blasts in succession. 

 Sailing vessels and boats of less than 20 tons gross tonnage shall not be obliged to give the above-mentioned signals, but if they do not they shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than one minute. 

 SPEED OF SHIPS TO BE MODERATE IN FOG, ETC. 

 ART. 16. Every vessel shall in a fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms go at a moderate speed, having careful regard to the existing circumstances and conditions. 

 A steam vessel hearing, apparently forward of her beam, the fog signal of a vessel the position of which is not ascertained shall, so far as the circumstances of the case admit, stop her engines and then navigate with caution until danger of collision is over. 

 STEERING AND SAILING RULES. 

 PRELIMINARY. --RISK OF COLLISION. 

 Risk of collision can, when circumstances permit, be ascertained by carefully watching the compass bearing of an approaching vessel. If the bearing does not appreciably change, such risk should be deemed to exist. 

 ART. 17. When two sailing vessels are approaching one another so as to involve risk of collision, one of them shall keep out of the way of the other as follows, namely:

 (_a_) A vessel which is running free shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled. 

 (_b_) A vessel which is closehauled on the port tack shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled on the starboard tack. 

 (_c_) When both are running free with the wind on different sides, the vessel which has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the other. 

 (_d_) When both are running free with the wind on the same side, the vessel which is to the windward shall keep out of the way of the vessel which is to leeward. 

 (_e_) A vessel which has the wind aft shall keep out of the way of the other vessel. 

 ART. 18. When two steam vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, each shall alter her course to starboard, so that each may pass on the port side of the other. 

 This article only applies to cases where vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on in such a manner as to involve risk of collision, and does not apply to two vessels which must, if both keep on their respective courses, pass clear of each other. 

 The only cases to which it does apply are when each of the two vessels is end on or nearly end on to the other; in other words, to cases in which by day each vessel sees the masts of the other in a line or nearly in a line with her own, and by night to cases in which each vessel is in such a position as to see both the side lights of the other. 

 It does not apply by day to cases in which a vessel sees another ahead crossing her own course, or by night to cases where the red light of one vessel is opposed to the red light of the other, or where the green light of one vessel is opposed to the green light of the other, or where a red light without a green light or a green light without a red light is seen ahead, or where both green and red lights are seen anywhere but ahead. 

 ART. 19. When two steam vessels are crossing, so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the other. 

 ART. 20. When a steam vessel and a sailing vessel are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steam vessel shall keep out of the way of the sailing vessel. 

 ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course and speed. 

 ART. 22. Every vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other. 

 ART. 23. Every steam vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall on approaching her, if necessary, slacken her speed or stop or reverse. 

 ART. 24. Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules every vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the overtaken vessel. 

 Every vessel coming up with another vessel from any direction more than 2 points abaft her beam--that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel which she is overtaking that at night she would be unable to see either of that vessel's side lights--shall be deemed to be an overtaking vessel, and no subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear. 

 As by day the overtaking vessel can not always know with certainty whether she is forward of or abaft this direction from the other vessel, she should if in doubt assume that she is an overtaking vessel and keep out of the way. 

 ART. 25. In narrow channels every steam vessel shall, when it is safe and practicable, keep to that side of the fairway or mid-channel which lies on the starboard side of such vessel. 

 ART. 26. Sailing vessels under way shall keep out of the way of sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls. This rule shall not give to any vessel or boat engaged in fishing the right of obstructing a fairway used by vessels other than fishing vessels or boats. 

 ART. 27. In obeying and construing these rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances which may render a departure from the above rules necessary in order to avoid immediate danger. 

 SOUND SIGNALS FOR VESSELS IN SIGHT OF ONE ANOTHER. 

 ART. 28. The words "short blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of about one second's duration. 

 When vessels are in sight of one another, a steam vessel under way in taking any course authorized or required by these rules shall indicate that course by the following signals on her whistle or siren, namely:

 One short blast to mean, "I am directing my course to starboard. "

 Two short blasts to mean, "I am directing my course to port. "

 Three short blasts to mean, "My engines are going at full speed astern. "

 NO VESSEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO NEGLECT PROPER PRECAUTIONS. 

 ART. 29. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any vessel or the owner or master or crew thereof from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper lookout, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen or by the special circumstances of the case. 

 RESERVATION OF RULES FOR HARBORS AND INLAND NAVIGATION. 

 ART. 30. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of a special rule duly made by local authority relative to the navigation of any harbor, river, or inland waters. 

 DISTRESS SIGNALS. 

 ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore, the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her either together or separately, namely:

 In the daytime--

 First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 Second. The international code signal of distress indicated by N. C. 

 Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball. 

 Fourth. Rockets or shells as prescribed below for use at night. 

 Fifth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 At night--

 First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc. ). 

 Third. Rockets or shells bursting in the air with a loud report and throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals. 

 Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 SEC. 2. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing regulations for preventing collisions at sea, for the navigation of all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels, are hereby repealed. 

 SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect at a time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose. 

And whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to amend an act approvedAugust 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventingcollisions at sea, '" was approved May 28, 1894, the said act being inthe following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_. That article 7 of the act approved August 19, 1890, entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea, " be amended to read as follows:

 "ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, and rowing boats, when under way, shall not be required to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (_a_), (_b_), and (_c_), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:

 "First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry--

 "(_a_) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_a_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles. 

 "(_b_) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (_b_) and (_c_) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light. 

 "Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (_b_). 

 "Third. Vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 "Fourth. Rowing boats, whether under oars or sail, shall have ready at hand a lantern showing a white light, which shall be temporarily exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision. 

 "The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (_a_) and article 11, last paragraph. "

 That article 9 be hereby repealed. 

 That article 21 be amended to read as follows:

 "ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way the other shall keep her course and speed. 

 "NOTE. --When in consequence of thick weather or other causes such vessel finds herself so close that collision can not be avoided by the action of the giving-way vessel alone, she also shall take such action as will best aid to avert collision. " (See articles 27 and 29. )

 That article 31 be amended to read as follows:

 "DISTRESS SIGNALS. 

 "ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore, the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:

 "In the daytime--

 "First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 "Second. The international code signal of distress indicated by N. C. 

 "Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball. 

 "Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. 

 "At night--

 "First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. 

 "Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc. ). 

 "Third. Rockets or shells throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals. 

 "Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. "

And whereas it was provided by section 3 of the said act of August 19, 1890, that it should take effect at a time to be fixed by the Presidentby proclamation issued for that purpose; and

Whereas the President did, in virtue of the authority vested in him bythe said section 3 of the act of August 19, 1890, issue a proclamationon the 13th day of July, 1894, [40] declaring the 1st day of March, 1895, as the day on which the said act approved August 19, 1890, as amended bythe act approved May 28, 1894, should take effect; and

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act relating to lights onfishing vessels" was approved August 13, 1894, the said act being in thefollowing words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That article 10 of the act approved March 3, 1885, entitled "An act to adopt the 'Revised international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, '" so far as said article relates to lights for fishing vessels, is hereby reenacted and continued in force, anything in the act approved May 28, 1894, entitled "An act to amend an act approved August 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea, '" to the contrary notwithstanding. 

And whereas the said article of the act approved March 3, 1885, entitled"An act to adopt the 'Revised international regulations for preventingcollisions at sea, '" reenacted by the said act of August 13, 1894, is asfollows:

 ART. 10. Open boats and fishing vessels of less than 20 tons net registered tonnage when under way and when not having their nets, trawls, dredges, or lines in the water shall not be obliged to carry the colored side lights; but every such boat and vessel shall in lieu thereof have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on the one side and a red glass on the other side, and on approaching to or being approached by another vessel such lantern shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side. 

 The following portion of this article applies only to fishing vessels and boats when in the sea off the coast of Europe lying north of Cape Finisterre:

 (_a_) All fishing vessels and fishing boats of 20 tons net registered tonnage or upward when under way and when not having their nets, trawls, dredges, or lines in the water shall carry and show the same lights as other vessels under way. 

 (_b_) All vessels when engaged in fishing with drift nets shall exhibit two white lights from any part of the vessel where they can be best seen. Such lights shall be placed so that the vertical distance between them shall be not less than 6 feet and not more than 10 feet and so that the horizontal distance between them measured in a line with the keel of the vessel shall be not less than 5 feet and not more than 10 feet. The lower of these two lights shall be the more forward, and both of them shall be of such a character and contained in lanterns of such construction as to show all round the horizon on a dark night with a clear atmosphere for a distance of not less than 3 miles. 

 (_c_) All vessels when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnets shall exhibit from some part of the vessel where they can be best seen two lights. One of these lights shall be red and the other shall be white. The red light shall be above the white light and shall be at a vertical distance from it of not less than 6 feet and not more than 12 feet, and the horizontal distance between them, if any, shall not be more than 10 feet. These two lights shall be of such a character and contained in lanterns of such construction as to be visible all round the horizon on a dark night with a clear atmosphere, the white light to a distance of not less than 3 miles and the red light of not less than 2 miles. 

 (_d_) A vessel employed in line fishing with her lines out shall carry the same lights as a vessel when engaged in fishing with drift nets. 

 (_e_) If a vessel when fishing with a trawl, dredge, or any kind of dragnet becomes stationary in consequence of her gear getting fast to a rock or other obstruction, she shall show the light and make the fog signal for a vessel at anchor. 

 (_f_) Fishing vessels and open boats may at any time use a flare-up in addition to the lights which they are by this article required to carry and show. All flare-up lights exhibited by a vessel when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnet shall be shown at the after part of the vessel, excepting that if the vessel is hanging by the stern to her trawl, dredge, or dragnet they shall be exhibited from the bow. 

 (_g_) Every fishing vessel and every open boat when at anchor between sunset and sunrise shall exhibit a white light visible all round the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile. 

 (_h_) In a fog a drift-net vessel attached to her nets, and a vessel when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnet, and a vessel employed in line fishing with her lines out shall at intervals of not more than two minutes make a blast with her fog horn and ring her bell alternately. 

And whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to postpone theenforcement of the act of August 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adoptregulations for preventing collisions at sea, '" was approved February23, 1895, the said act being in the following words:

 Whereas the President, in accordance with the proposition of Great Britain to enforce on March 1, 1895, the "Revised international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, " and on the representations of that Government that those regulations had received the general approval of the several foreign maritime powers, pursuant to section 3 of the act of August 19, 1890, entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea, " issued on July 13, 1894, his proclamation[41] fixing March 1, 1895, as the time when the provisions of said act, as amended, embodying said revised international regulations, shall take effect; and

 Whereas the Government of Great Britain has withdrawn from the position communicated to this Government on April 25, 1894, that no time should be lost in carrying those regulations into effect, and on January 16, 1895, announced to this Government that the Government of Great Britain now finds it impossible until Parliament has been consulted to fix a date for bringing the regulations into force, and earnestly requests this Government to consent to a temporary postponement of the enforcement of said regulations; and

 Whereas it is desirable that the "Revised international regulations for preventing collisions at sea" shall be put into force simultaneously by the maritime powers: Therefore, _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That said act of August 19, 1890, take effect not on March 1, 1895, but at a subsequent time, to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose. 

And whereas the President did, in virtue of the authority vested in himby the said act of February 23, 1895, issue a proclamation on the 25thday of February, 1895, [42] giving notice that the said act of August 19, 1890, as amended by the act of May 28, 1894, would not go into force onMarch 1, 1895, the date fixed in his said proclamation of July 13, 1894, [43] but on such future date as might be designated in aproclamation of the President to be issued for that purpose; and

Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to amend an act approvedAugust 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventingcollisions at sea, '" was approved June 10, 1896, the said act being inthe following words:

 _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That article 15 of the act approved August 19, 1890, entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea, " be amended to read as follows:

 "ART. 15. All signals prescribed by this article for vessels under way shall be given--

 "First. By 'steam vessels, ' on the whistle or siren. 

 "Second. By 'sailing vessels' and 'vessels towed, ' on the fog horn. 

 "The words 'prolonged blast' used in this article shall mean a blast of from four to six seconds' duration. 

 "A steam vessel shall be provided with an efficient whistle or siren, sounded by steam or some substitute for steam, so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any obstruction, and with an efficient fog horn to be sounded by mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. (In all cases where the rules require a bell to be used a drum may be substituted on board Turkish vessels or a gong where such articles are used on board small seagoing vessels. ) A sailing vessel of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward shall be provided with a similar fog horn and bell. 

 "In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms, whether by day or night, the signals described in this article shall be used as follows, namely:

 "(_a_) A steam vessel having way upon her shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes a prolonged blast. 

 "(_b_) A steam vessel under way, but stopped and having no way upon her, shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes two prolonged blasts with an interval of about one second between. 

 "(_c_) A sailing vessel under way shall sound at intervals of not more than one minute, when on the starboard tack one blast, when on the port tack two blasts in succession, and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in succession. 

 "(_d_) A vessel when at anchor shall at intervals of not more than one minute ring the bell rapidly for about five seconds. 

 "(_e_) A vessel when towing, a vessel employed in laying or in picking up a telegraph cable, and a vessel under way which is unable to get out of the way of an approaching vessel through being not under command or unable to maneuver as required by the rules shall, instead of the signals prescribed in subdivisions (_a_) and (_c_) of this article, at intervals of not more than two minutes sound three blasts in succession, namely, one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts. A vessel towed may give this signal, and she shall not give any other. 

 "Sailing vessels and boats of less than 20 tons gross tonnage shall not be obliged to give the above-mentioned signals, but if they do not they shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than one minute. "

 SEC. 2. That said act of August 19, 1890, as amended, shall take effect at a subsequent time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose. 

And whereas it was provided by section 2 of the act approved June 10, 1896, that the said act of August 19, 1890, as amended should takeeffect at a subsequent time to be fixed by the President by proclamationissued for that purpose:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do hereby, in virtue of the authority vested in me by section 3of the act of August 19, 1890, and by section 2 of the act of June 10, 1896, proclaim the 1st day of July, 1897, as the day on which the saidact approved August 19, 1890, as amended by the act approved May 28, 1894, by the act approved August 13, 1894, and by the act approved June10, 1896, shall take effect. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 31st day of December, 1896, and ofthe Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 40: See pp. 501-510. ]

[Footnote 41: See pp. 501-510]

[Footnote 42: See p. 584]

[Footnote 43: See pp. 501-510]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Utah within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Utah and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the northwest corner of township one (1) south, range seven(7) east, Salt Lake meridian, Utah; thence easterly along the base lineto the southeast corner of township one (1) north, range eight (8) east;thence northerly along the range line to the northeast corner of saidtownship; thence easterly along the township line between townships one(1) and two (2) north to the southeast corner of township two (2) north, range thirteen (13) east; thence northerly along the range line to thenortheast corner of said township; thence easterly along the surveyedand unsurveyed township line between townships two (2) and three (3)north to its point of intersection with the Green River; thence in asoutheasterly direction along the middle of the channel of said river tothe point for the unsurveyed range line between ranges twenty-two (22)and twenty-three (23) east; thence southerly along the unsurveyed andsurveyed range line between said ranges to the point for the southeastcorner of township two (2) south, range twenty-two (22) east; thencewesterly along the unsurveyed and surveyed township line betweentownships two (2) and three (3) south to the northwest corner oftownship three (3) south, range nineteen (19) east; thence southerlyalong the west boundary of said township to its intersection with theeast boundary of the Uintah Indian Reservation; thence northwesterlyalong said Indian-reservation boundary to the northeast corner of saidreservation; thence southwesterly along the north boundary of saidIndian reservation to the intersection therewith by the range linebetween ranges six (6) and seven (7) east; thence northerly along saidrange line, surveyed and unsurveyed, to the northwest corner of townshipone (1) south, range seven (7) east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filingof record has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of California within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of California and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township eight (8) south, rangeeight (8) east, San Bernardino base and meridian, California; thencenortherly along the range line to the northeast corner of said township;thence westerly along the township line to the southwest corner oftownship seven (7) south, range eight (8) east; thence northerly alongthe range line to the northwest corner of said township; thence westerlyalong the township line to the southwest corner of township six (6)south, range seven (7) east; thence northerly along the range lineto the northwest corner of said township; thence westerly along theunsurveyed and surveyed township line to the southwest corner oftownship five (5) south, range six (6) east; thence northerly along therange line to the northwest corner of said township; thence westerlyalong the first (1st) standard parallel south to the southwest corner oftownship four (4) south, range four (4) east; thence northerly along therange line to the northwest corner of said township; thence westerlyalong the unsurveyed and surveyed township line between townships three(3) and four (4) south to its intersection with the east boundary lineof the "Rancho San Jacinto Neuvo y Potrero;" thence southeasterly alongthe boundary line of said rancho and the boundary line of "Rancho SanJacinto Viejo" to the most southeasterly point of said last-namedrancho; thence westerly along the south boundary of said "Rancho SanJacinto Viejo" to the point of intersection by the section line betweensections fifteen (15) and sixteen (16), township five (5) south, rangeone (1) east; thence southerly along the section line to the southwestcorner of section thirty-four (34), township six (6) south, range one(1) east; thence easterly along the township line to the northwestcorner of township seven (7) south, range two (2) east; thence southerlyalong the range line between ranges one (1) and two (2) east to thesouthwest corner of township eight (8) south, range two (2) east; thencealong the second (2d) standard parallel south to the northwest corner oftownship nine (9) south, range two (2) east; thence southerly along therange line to the southwest corner of said township; thence easterlyalong the township line between townships nine (9) and ten (10) south tothe southeast corner of township nine (9) south, range four (4) east;thence northerly along the range line to the northeast corner of saidtownship; thence easterly along the second (2d) standard parallel southto the north west corner of township nine (9) south, range seven (7)east; thence southerly along the range line to the southwest corner ofsection eighteen (18), said township; thence easterly along the sectionline to the southeast corner of section thirteen (13), said township;thence southerly along the range line between ranges seven (7) and eight(8) east to the southwest corner of township ten (10) south, range eight(8) east; thence easterly along the township line to the southeastcorner of said township; thence northerly along the range line betweenranges eight (8) and nine (9) east to the northeast corner of townshipnine (9) south, range eight (8) east; thence westerly along the second(2d) standard parallel south to the southeast corner of township eight(8) south, range eight (8) east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all irrigationrights and lands lawfully acquired therefor and all lands which may havebeen prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry or coveredby any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United States landoffice, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuant to lawand the statutory period within which to make entry or filing of recordhas not expired, and all mining claims duly located and held accordingto the laws of the United States and rules and regulations not inconflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Washington within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Washington and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township four (4) north, rangenine (9) east, Willamette base and meridian, Washington; thencenortherly along the range line between ranges nine (9) and (10) east, subject to the proper offset on the first (1st) standard parallel northto the northwest corner of township six (6) north, range ten (10) east;thence easterly along the township line to the northeast corner of saidtownship; thence northerly along the range line to the northwest cornerof township seven (7) north, range eleven (11) east; thence easterlyalong the township line between townships seven (7) and eight (8) northto the northeast corner of township seven (7) north, range twelve (12)east; thence northerly along the surveyed and unsurveyed range linebetween ranges twelve (12) and thirteen (13) east, subject to the properoffset on the second (2d) standard parallel north, to the northwestcorner of township (11) north, range thirteen (13) east; thence easterlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed township line between townships eleven(11) and twelve (12) north to the southwest corner of township twelve(12) north, range (15) east; thence northerly along the surveyed andunsurveyed range line between ranges fourteen (14) and fifteen (15)east, subject to the proper offsets on the third (3d) and fourth (4th)standard parallels north to the point for the northeast corner oftownship eighteen (18) north, range fourteen (14) east; thence westerlyalong the unsurveyed and surveyed township line between townshipseighteen (18) and nineteen (19) north to the southwest corner oftownship nineteen (19) north, range seven (7) east; thence southerlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed range line between ranges six (6) andseven (7) east, subject to the proper offsets on the township linebetween townships seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) north and on thefourth (4th), third (3d), and second (2d) standard parallels north, tothe point for the northeast corner of township five (5) north, range six(6) east; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line betweentownships five (5) and (6) north to the southeast corner of township six(6) north, range four (4) east; thence southerly along the unsurveyedrange line between ranges four (4) and five (5) east, subject to theproper offset on the first (1st) standard parallel north, to the pointfor the southwest corner of township four (4) north, range five (5)east; thence easterly along the unsurveyed and surveyed township linebetween townships three (3) and four (4) north to the southeast cornerof township four (4) north, range nine (9) east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entry man, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

Whereas a portion of the land embraced within the limits above describedwas reserved by proclamation of February 20, 1893, and designated as"The Pacific Forest Reserve, " and whereas it appearing proper that theentire area herein described should be distinguished by the name of themost notable landmark within its boundaries, the title "The PacificForest Reserve" is hereby abolished, and the reservation established bythis proclamation shall be known as "The Mount Rainier Forest Reserve. "

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of California within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of California and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township three (3) north, rangetwenty-four (24) east, Mount Diablo base and meridian, California;thence northerly along the range line to the northeast corner of saidtownship; thence westerly along the township line to the northwestcorner of said township; thence northerly along the range line to thetownship line between townships four (4) and five (5) north, rangetwenty-three (23) east; thence easterly along the township line to thesoutheast corner of township five (5) north, range twenty-three (23)east; thence northerly along the range line to the northeast corner ofsaid township; thence westerly along the first (1st) standard parallelnorth to the southwest corner of township six (6) north, rangetwenty-two (22) east; thence northerly along the range line betweenranges twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22) east to the northeast cornerof township seven (7) north, range twenty-one (21) east; thence westerlyalong the township line to the northwest corner of said township; thencenortherly along the range line to the northeast corner of township eight(8) north, range twenty (20) east; thence westerly along the surveyedand unsurveyed township line between townships eight (8) and nine (9)north to the northwest corner of township eight (8) north, rangeseventeen (17) east; thence southerly along the range line to thesoutheast corner of township eight (8) north, range sixteen (16) east;thence easterly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for thesoutheast corner of township eight (8) north, range seventeen (17) east;thence southerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed range line betweenranges seventeen (17) and eighteen (18) east, subject to the easterlyoffset on the first (1st) standard parallel north, to the southeastcorner of township four (4) north, range seventeen (17) east; thenceeasterly along the township line to the northeast corner of townshipthree (3) north, range eighteen (18) east; thence southerly along therange line to the southeast corner of said township; thence easterlyalong the township line between townships two (2) and three (3) north tothe southeast corner of township three (3) north, range twenty-four (24)east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the States of Idaho and Montana withinthe limits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the States of Idaho and Montana and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the northeast corner of township thirty-six (36) north, range five (5) east, Boise meridian, Idaho; thence southerly along thesurveyed and unsurveyed range line between ranges five (5) and six (6)east to the point of intersection with the Salmon River; thence in aneasterly direction along the middle of the channel of said river to thepoint of intersection for the unsurveyed range line between rangeseighteen (18) and nineteen (19) east; thence northerly along saidunsurveyed range line to the point of intersection with the boundaryline between the States of Idaho and Montana; thence in an easterlydirection along said State boundary line to the point for the unsurveyedrange line between ranges nineteen (19) and twenty (20) west, principalmeridian, Montana; thence northerly along said range line to the baseline; thence westerly along said base line to the southeast corner oftownship one (1) north, range twenty (20) west; thence northerly alongthe range line to the northeast corner of said township; thence westerlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed township line between townships one(1) and two (2) north to the point for the southeast corner of townshiptwo (2) north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence northerly along theunsurveyed range line between ranges twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22)west, allowing for the proper offsets on the first (1st) and second (2d)standard parallels north, to the point for the northeast corner oftownship ten (10) north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence westerlyalong the unsurveyed township line between townships ten (10) and eleven(11) north to the point of intersection with the boundary line betweenthe States of Montana and Idaho; thence along said State boundaryline to the point for the unsurveyed township line between townshipsthirty-eight (38) and thirty-nine (39) north, Idaho; thence westerlyalong said township line to the point for the northwest corner oftownship thirty-eight (38) north, range ten (10) east; thence southerlyalong the unsurveyed range line between ranges nine (9) and ten (10)east to the point for the southwest corner of township thirty-seven (37)north, range ten (10) east; thence westerly along the unsurveyed seventh(7th) standard parallel north to the northeast corner of townshipthirty-six (36) north, range five (5) east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Washington within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Washington and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township twenty-one (21) north, range five (5) west, Willamette base and meridian, Washington; thencenortherly along the surveyed and unsurveyed range line between rangesfour (4) and five (5) west to the point for the northeast corner oftownship twenty-three (23) north, range five (5) west; thence easterlyalong the unsurveyed and surveyed township line to the point for thesoutheast corner of township twenty-four (24) north, range four (4)west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line to the pointfor the northeast corner of said township; thence easterly along theunsurveyed and surveyed sixth (6th) standard parallel north to thesoutheast corner of township twenty-five (25) north, range three (3)west; thence northerly along the surveyed and unsurveyed range linebetween ranges two (2) and three (3) west to the northeast corner oftownship twenty-nine (29) north, range three (3) west; thence westerlyalong the surveyed and unsurveyed seventh (7th) standard parallel northto the point for the southeast corner of township thirty (30) north, range nine (9) west; thence northerly along the unsurveyed and surveyedrange line to the northeast corner of said township; thence westerlyalong the township line between townships thirty (30) and thirty-one(31) north to the northeast corner of township thirty (30) north, rangefourteen (14) west; thence northerly along the range line to itsintersection with the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca; thencenorthwesterly along said shore line to the east boundary of the MakahIndian Reservation; thence southerly along the east boundary to thesoutheast corner of said reservation and westerly along the southboundary thereof to the high-water mark on the Pacific coast; thencesoutherly along said coast line to the north boundary of the QuinaieltIndian Reservation; thence southeasterly along the north boundary tothe eastern point of said reservation and southwesterly along the southboundary thereof to the point of intersection with the fifth (5th)standard parallel north; thence easterly along said parallel to thesoutheast corner of township twenty-one (21) north, range five (5) west, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land Unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of South Dakota within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of South Dakota and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the northwest corner of township one (1) south, range seven(7) east, Black Hills meridian, South Dakota; thence westerly along theBlack Hills base line to the southwest corner of township one (1) north, range six (6) east; thence northerly along the range line between rangesfive (5) and six (6) east to the northwest corner of township two (2)north, range six (6) east; thence westerly along the unsurveyed townshipline between townships two (2) and three (3) north to the point ofintersection with the boundary line between the States of South Dakotaand Wyoming; thence southerly along said State boundary line to thepoint of intersection by the township line between townships six (6) andseven (7) south, Black Hills base line; thence easterly along saidtownship line to the southwest corner of township six (6) south, rangefour (4) east; thence northerly along the range line to the northwestcorner of said township; thence easterly along the township line betweentownships five (5) and six (6) south to the southwest corner of townshipfive (5) south, range (6) east; thence northerly along the range line tothe northwest corner of said township; thence easterly along the first(1st) standard parallel south to the southwest corner of township four(4) south, range seven (7) east; thence northerly along the range linebetween ranges six (6) and seven (7) east to the northwest corner oftownship one (1) south, range seven (7) east, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entry man, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the States of Idaho and Washingtonwithin the limits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appears that the public good would be promoted by setting apartand reserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall that tract of land situate in the States of Idaho and Washingtonembraced within the following boundaries, to wit:

Bounded on the east by the summit of the ridges dividing the waterstributary to the Kootenai River and Priest Lake and River; on the westby the summit of the ridges dividing the waters tributary to the PendOreille River or Clark Fork of the Columbia River and Priest Lake andRiver; on the north by the international boundary line between theStates of Idaho and Washington and the British possessions, connectingthe east and west boundaries above described; on the south by thetownship line between townships fifty-six (56) and fifty-seven (57)north of the base line, Idaho, projected to connect the east and westboundaries above described. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filingof record has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Washington within thelimits hereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and itappears that the public good would be promoted by setting apart andreserving said lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Washington and within the boundariesparticularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the point for the southwest corner of township twenty-nine(29) north, range eight (8) east, Willamette meridian, Washington;thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges seven(7) and eight (8) east to the point for the northwest corner of townshipthirty-two (32) north, range eight (8) east; thence easterly along theunsurveyed eighth (8th) standard parallel north to the point for thesouthwest corner of township thirty-three (33) north, range twelve (12)east; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line between rangeseleven (11) and twelve (12) east to the point for the northwest cornerof township thirty-six (36) north, range twelve (12) east; thencewesterly along the unsurveyed ninth (9th) standard parallel north to thepoint for the southwest corner of township thirty-seven (37) north, range seven (7) east; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range linebetween ranges six (6) and seven (7) east to its point of intersectionwith the international boundary line between the State of Washingtonand the British possessions; thence easterly along said internationalboundary line to the point for the unsurveyed range line between rangestwenty-two (22) and twenty-three (23) east; thence southerly along saidunsurveyed range line, subject to the proper easterly or westerlyoffsets on the ninth (9th) and eighth (8th) standard parallels north, tothe point for the southeast corner of township twenty-nine (29) north, range twenty-two (22) east; thence westerly along the unsurveyed andsurveyed seventh (7th) standard parallel north to the point for thesouthwest corner of township twenty-nine (29) north, range (8) east, theplace of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entry man, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Wyoming within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, byvirtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid act ofCongress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Wyoming and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township forty-three (43) north, range one hundred and ten (110) west sixth (6th) principal meridian, Wyoming; thence northerly along the surveyed and unsurveyed range linebetween ranges one hundred and nine (109) and one hundred and ten(110) west to the point of intersection with the south boundary ofthe Yellowstone National Park Timber Land Reserve as established byproclamation of September 10, 1891;[44] thence westerly along saidboundary to its intersection with the boundary line between the Statesof Wyoming and Idaho; thence southerly along said State boundary line tothe point for the unsurveyed township line between townships forty-two(42) and forty-three (43) north; thence easterly along the unsurveyedand surveyed township line between townships forty-two (42) andforty-three (43) north to the southeast corner of township forty-three(43) north, range one hundred and ten (110) west, the place ofbeginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry of filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, andof the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

[Footnote 44: See pp. 155-156. ]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Montana within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Montana and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the point on the south boundary of the Blackfeet IndianReservation where said boundary line is intersected by the range linebetween ranges eight (8) and nine (9) west, principal meridian, Montana;thence southwesterly along the south boundary to the southwest corner ofsaid reservation and northwesterly along the west boundary thereof asdefined and described in the act of Congress approved June 10, 1896, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingentexpenses of the Indian Department and fulfilling treaty stipulationswith various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for other purposes, " to the point where the unsurveyed range linebetween ranges twelve (12) and thirteen (13) west will intersect saidboundary line; thence southerly along said unsurveyed range line to thepoint for the northeast corner of township twenty-nine (29) north, rangethirteen (13) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed township lineto the point for the northwest corner of said township; thence southerlyalong the unsurveyed range line to the point for the southwest cornerof section eighteen (18), said township; thence westerly along theunsurveyed section line to the point for the northwest corner of sectionnineteen (19), township twenty-nine (29) north, range fourteen (14)west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point forthe southwest corner of said township twenty-nine (29) north, rangefourteen (14) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyed seventh (7th)standard parallel north to the point for the southeast corner oftownship twenty-nine (29) north, range seventeen (17) west; thencenortherly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for the northeastcorner of said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyed townshipline to the point for the northwest corner of section three (3), saidtownship; thence northerly along the unsurveyed section line to thepoint for the northeast corner of section four (4), township thirty (30)north, range seventeen (17) west; thence westerly along the unsurveyedtownship line to the point for the northwest corner of section three(3), township thirty (30) north, range nineteen (19) west; thencesoutherly along the unsurveyed and surveyed section line, subject tothe proper offset on the seventh (7th) standard parallel north, to thesoutheast corner of section twenty-one (21), township twenty-eight (28)north, range nineteen (19) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyedsection line to the point for the southeast corner of sectiontwenty-four (24), said township; thence southerly along the unsurveyedand surveyed range line to the southeast corner of township twenty-seven(27) north, range nineteen (19) west; thence easterly along the surveyedand unsurveyed township line to the point for the northwest corner ofsection three (3), township twenty-six (26) north, range eighteen (18)west; thence southerly along the unsurveyed section line to the pointfor the southwest corner of section thirty-four (34), said township;thence westerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed township line to itsintersection with the east shore of Flathead Lake; thence southerlyalong the shore of said lake to the north boundary of the FlatheadIndian Reservation; thence easterly along the north boundary to thenortheast corner of said reservation and southerly along the eastboundary thereof to the point where said boundary line will beintersected by the unsurveyed fourth (4th) standard parallel north;thence easterly along said unsurveyed parallel to the point for thesoutheast corner of township seventeen (17) north, range seven (7) west;thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for thenortheast corner of said township; thence westerly along the unsurveyedtownship line to the point for the northwest corner of said township;thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line to the point for thenortheast corner of township eighteen (18) north, range eight (8) west;thence westerly along the unsurveyed township line to the point for thesoutheast corner of township nineteen (19) north, range nine (9) west;thence northerly along the unsurveyed and surveyed range line betweenranges eight (8) and nine (9) west, subject to the proper offsets on thefifth (5th), sixth (6th), and seventh (7th) standard parallels north, to the point of intersection with the south boundary of the BlackfeetIndian Reservation, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

The rights and privileges reserved to the Indians of the BlackfeetIndian Reservation by Article I of the agreement set forth in andaccepted, ratified, and confirmed by the act of Congress approved June10, 1896, hereinbefore referred to, respecting that portion of theirreservation relinquished to the United States by said Article I shall bein no way infringed or modified by reason of the fact that a part of thearea so relinquished is embraced within the limits of the boundariesherein described and set apart as a forest reservation, nor shall theright of occupation, location, and purchase of said relinquished landsunder the provisions of the mineral-land laws accorded by said act ofCongress be abridged. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Wyoming within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Wyoming and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southeast corner of township forty-eight (48) north, range eighty-four (84) west, sixth (6th) principal meridian, Wyoming;thence northerly along the range line to the northeast corner of saidtownship; thence westerly along the twelfth (12th) standard parallelnorth to the southeast corner of township forty-nine (49) north, rangeeighty-four (84) west; thence northerly along the range line to thenortheast corner of section thirteen (13), township fifty (50) north, range eighty-four (84) west; thence westerly along the section line tothe northeast corner of section seventeen (17), said township; thencenortherly along the section line to the southeast corner of sectiontwenty-nine (29), township fifty-one (51) north, range eighty-four (84)west; thence easterly along the section line to the southeast corner ofsection twenty-six (26), said township; thence northerly along thesection line to the northeast corner of section two (2), townshipfifty-two (52) north, range eighty-four (84) west; thence westerly alongthe thirteenth (13th) standard parallel north to the southeast corner ofsection thirty-five (35), township fifty-three (53) north, rangeeighty-four (84) west; thence northerly along the section line to thenortheast corner of section fourteen (14), said township; thencewesterly along the section line to the northeast corner of sectionfourteen (14), township fifty-three (53) north, range eighty-five (85)west; thence northerly along the section line to the northeast corner ofsection two (2), said township; thence westerly along the township lineto the northeast corner of section two (2), township fifty-three (53)north, range eighty-six (86) west; thence northerly along the sectionline to the northeast corner of section two (2), township fifty-four(54) north, range eighty-six (86) west; thence westerly along thetownship line to the southeast corner of township fifty-five (55) north, range eighty-seven (87) west; thence northerly along the range line tothe northeast corner of said township; thence westerly along thetownship line to the northwest corner of said township; thence southerlyalong the range line to the southwest corner of said township; thencewesterly along the township line to the northwest corner of townshipfifty-four (54) north, range eighty-eight (88) west; thence northerlyalong the range line between ranges eighty-eight (88) and eighty-nine(89) west to the northwest corner of township fifty-six (56) north, range eighty-eight (88) west; thence westerly along the fourteenth(14th) standard parallel north to the southwest corner of townshipfifty-seven (57) north, range eighty-eight (88) west; thence northerlyalong the range line between ranges eighty-eight (88) and eighty-nine(89) west to the point of intersection with the boundary line betweenthe States of Wyoming and Montana; thence westerly along said Stateboundary line to the point for the unsurveyed range line between rangesninety-two (92) and ninety-three (93) west; thence southerly along saidunsurveyed range line to the fourteenth (14th) standard parallel north;thence easterly along said standard parallel to the northeast corner oftownship fifty-six (56) north, range ninety-three (93) west; thencesoutherly along the range line between ranges ninety-two (92) andninety-three (93) west to the northwest corner of township fifty-four(54) north, range ninety-two (92) west; thence easterly along thetownship line to the northeast corner of said township; thence southerlyalong the range line to the southeast corner of said township; thenceeasterly along the township line to the northeast corner of townshipfifty-three (53) north, range ninety-one (91) west; thence southerlyalong the range line to the southeast corner of said township; thenceeasterly along the thirteenth (13th) standard parallel north to thenorthwest corner of township fifty-two (52) north, range eighty-eight(88) west; thence southerly along the range line between rangeseighty-eight (88) and eighty-nine (89) west to the southwest corner oftownship fifty-one (51) north, range eighty-eight (88) west; thenceeasterly along the township line to the southeast corner of saidtownship; thence southerly along the range line between rangeseighty-seven (87) and eighty-eight (88) west to the southwest corner oftownship forty-nine (49) north, range eighty-seven (87) west; thenceeasterly along the twelfth (12th) standard parallel north to thenorthwest corner of township forty-eight (48) north, range eighty-seven(87) west; thence southerly along the range line to the southwest cornerof said township; thence easterly along the township line betweentownships forty-seven (47) and forty-eight (48) north to the southeastcorner of township forty-eight (48) north, range eighty-four (84) west, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided by section 24 of the act of Congress approvedMarch 3, 1891, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and forother purposes"--

 That the President of the United States may from time to time set apart and reserve in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as public reservations; and the President shall by public proclamation declare the establishment of such reservations and the limits thereof. 

And whereas the public lands in the State of Montana within the limitshereinafter described are in part covered with timber, and it appearsthat the public good would be promoted by setting apart and reservingsaid lands as a public reservation:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by section 24 of the aforesaid actof Congress, do hereby make known and proclaim that there is herebyreserved from entry or settlement and set apart as a public reservationall those certain tracts, pieces, or parcels of land lying and beingsituate in the State of Montana and within the boundaries particularlydescribed as follows, to wit:

Beginning at the southwest corner of township thirty-three (33) north, range twenty-five (25) west, principal meridian, Montana; thenceeasterly along the surveyed and unsurveyed eighth (8th) standardparallel north to the northeast corner of township thirty-two (32)north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence southerly along the range linebetween ranges twenty-one (21) and twenty-two (22) west to the southeastcorner of section thirteen (13) of said township thirty-two (32) north, range twenty-two (22) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyed sectionline to the point for the southeast corner of section thirteen (13), township thirty-two (32) north, range eighteen (18) west; thencesoutherly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges seventeen (17)and eighteen (18) west to the northwest corner of township thirty-one(31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence easterly along thetownship line between townships thirty-one (31) and thirty-two (32)north to the northwest corner of section two (2), township thirty-one(31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence along the section linessoutherly to the southwest corner of section twenty-three (23) andeasterly to the northeast corner of section twenty-five (25), saidtownship; thence southerly along the range line between ranges sixteen(16) and seventeen (17) west to the southeast corner of said townshipthirty-one (31) north, range seventeen (17) west; thence easterly alongthe unsurveyed township line between townships thirty (30) andthirty-one (31) north to the point for the southeast corner of townshipthirty-one (31) north, range sixteen (16) west; thence southerly alongthe unsurveyed range line between ranges fifteen (15) and sixteen (16)west to the point for the southwest corner of township thirty (30)north, range fifteen (15) west; thence easterly along the unsurveyedtownship line between townships twenty-nine (29) and thirty (30) northto the point for the southeast corner of said township thirty (30)north; thence northerly along the unsurveyed range line between rangesfourteen (14) and fifteen (15) west to the point for the southeastcorner of section thirteen (13), said township thirty (30) north, rangefifteen (15) west; thence along the unsurveyed section lines easterly tothe point for the southeast corner of section sixteen (16) and northerlyto the point for the northeast corner of section four (4), townshipthirty (30) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence easterly along theunsurveyed township line between townships thirty (30) and thirty-one(31) north to the point for the southeast corner of township thirty-one(31) north, range fourteen (14) west; thence northerly along theunsurveyed range line between ranges thirteen (13) and fourteen (14)west to the point where it will intersect the west boundary of theBlackfeet Indian Reservation as said boundary is defined and describedin the act of Congress approved June 10, 1896, entitled "An act makingappropriations for current and contingent expenses of the IndianDepartment and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribesfor the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for other purposes;"thence northwesterly along the boundary of said Indian reservation toits point of intersection with the international boundary line betweenthe State of Montana and the British possessions; thence westerly alongsaid international boundary line to the point for the unsurveyed rangeline between ranges twenty-five (25) and twenty-six (26) west; thencesoutherly along the unsurveyed range line between ranges twenty-five(25) and twenty-six (26) west to the ninth (9th) standard parallelnorth; thence easterly along said parallel to the northeast corner oftownship thirty-six (36) north, range twenty-six (26) west; thencesoutherly along the range line between ranges twenty-five (25) andtwenty-six (26) west to the southwest corner of township thirty-three(33) north, range twenty-five (25) west, the place of beginning. 

Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands whichmay have been prior to the date hereof embraced in any legal entry orcovered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper United Statesland office, or upon which any valid settlement has been made pursuantto law and the statutory period within which to make entry or filing ofrecord has not expired, and all mining claims duly located and heldaccording to the laws of the United States and rules and regulations notin conflict therewith. 

_Provided_, That this exception shall not continue to apply to anyparticular tract of land unless the entryman, settler, or claimantcontinues to comply with the law under which the entry, filing, settlement, or location was made. 

Warning is hereby expressly given to all persons not to enter or makesettlement upon the tract of land reserved by this proclamation. 

The rights and privileges reserved to the Indians of the BlackfeetIndian Reservation by Article I of the agreement set forth in andaccepted, ratified, and confirmed by the act of Congress approved June10, 1896, hereinbefore referred to, respecting that portion of theirreservation relinquished to the United States by said Article I shall bein no way infringed or modified by reason of the fact that a part of thearea so relinquished is embraced within the limits of the boundariesherein described and set apart as a forest reservation, nor shall theright of occupation, location, and purchase of said relinquished landsunder the provisions of the mineral-land laws accorded by said act ofCongress be abridged. 

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

[SEAL. ]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of February, A. D. 1897, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred andtwenty-first. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas public interests require that the Senate should be convened at12 o'clock on the 4th day of March next to receive such communicationsas may be made by the Executive:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States ofAmerica, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasionrequires the Senate of the United States to convene at the Capitol, inthe city of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at 12 o'clocknoon, of which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act asmembers of that body are hereby required to take notice. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the 24th day of February, A. D. 1897, and of the Independence of theUnited States the one hundred and twenty-first. 

[SEAL. ]

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

By the President: RICHARD OLNEY, _Secretary of State_. 

EXECUTIVE ORDERS. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 23, 1896_. 

Amend clause 2 (_b_) of Rule III by adding at the end thereof thefollowing:

 And all officers and employees in the penitentiary service who are by law subject to classification. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 2, 1897_. 

Amend Rule VIII by striking out section 12 and substituting therefor thefollowing:

 Whenever there are no names of eligibles upon a register for any grade in which a vacancy exists, and the public interest requires that it must be filled before eligibles can be provided by the Commission, such vacancy may, subject to the approval of the Commission, be filled by appointment without examination and certification for such part of three months as will enable the Commission to provide eligibles. Such temporary appointment shall expire by limitation as soon as an eligible shall be provided, and no person shall serve longer than three months in any one year under such temporary appointment or appointments unless by special authority of the Commission previously obtained. Said year limitation shall commence from the date of such first appointment: _Provided_, That whenever an emergency shall arise requiring that a vacancy shall be filled before a certification can be issued and an appointment made thereto in the manner provided in these rules, such vacancy may be filled without regard to the provisions of these rules for such part of thirty days as may be required for the issuance of a certificate and the execution of the necessary details of an appointment thereto in accordance with said provisions. Such appointment shall in no case continue longer than thirty days. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 2, 1897_. 

Amend Rule V, section 4, prescribing age limitations for the classifiedservice, by striking out the table after the tenth line and substitutingtherefor the following:

 Minimum. Maximum. Departmental Service: Page, messenger boy, apprentice, or student. 14 20 Printer's assistant and messenger. 18 No limit. Positions in the railway mail service. 18 35 Internes and hospital stewards in the marine-hospital service and acting second assistant engineer in the revenue-cutter service. 21 30 Cadet in the revenue-cutter service and aid in the Coast and the Geodetic Survey. 18 25 Surfmen in the life-saving service. 18 45 Superintendent, physician, supervisor, day-school inspector, and disciplinarian in the Indian service; inspector and assistant inspector of hulls, an inspector and an assistant inspector of boilers, in the steamboat-inspection service. 25 55 All other positions. 20 No limit. 

 (The age limitation shall not apply in the case of the wife of the superintendent of an Indian school who applies for examination for the position of teacher or matron. )

 Custom-house service: All positions 20 No limit. 

 Post-office service: Letter carrier 21 40 All other positions 18 No limit. 

 Government printing service: All positions (male) 21 No limit. All positions (female) 18 No limit. 

 Internal-revenue service: All positions 21 No limit. 

Approved:

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

CIVIL SERVICE. --CLASSIFICATION OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT. 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _Washington, D. C. January 12, 1897_. 

In accordance with the third clause of section 6 of the act entitled "Anact to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, "approved January 16, 1883--

_It is ordered_, That the officers and employees in or under thisoffice included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rulesbe, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes:

_Class A_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of less than$720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. 

_Class B_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 perannum. 

_Class C_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 perannum. 

_Class D_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1, 000 perannum. 

_Class E_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 000 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 000 or more, but less than$1, 200 per annum. 

_Class 1_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 200 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 200 or more, but less than$1, 400 per annum. 

_Class 2_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 400 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 400 or more, but less than$1, 600 per annum. 

_Class 3_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 600 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 600 or more, but less than$1, 800 per annum. 

_Class 4_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $1, 800 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $1, 800 or more, but less than$2, 000 per annum. 

_Class 5_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $2, 000 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $2, 000 or more, but less than$2, 500 per annum. 

_Class 6_. --All persons receiving an annual salary of $2, 500 ormore, or a compensation at the rate of $2, 500 or more per annum. 

_It is provided_, That this classification shall not includepersons appointed to an office by and with the advice and consent ofthe Senate nor persons employed as mere laborers or workmen; but allpositions whose occupants are designated as laborers or workmen, and whowere prior to May 6, 1896, and are now regularly assigned to work of thesame grade as that performed by classified employees, shall be includedwithin this classification. Hereafter no person who is appointed as alaborer or workman, without examination under the civil-service rules, shall be assigned to work of the same grade as that performed byclassified employees. 

_It is also ordered_, That no person shall be admitted into anyplace not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any ofthe classes above designated until he shall have passed an appropriateexamination prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission andhis eligibility has been certified to this office by said Commission. 

By direction of the President:

HENRY T. THURBER, _Private Secretary_. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 12, 1897_. 

Hon. JUDSON HARMON, _Attorney-General of the United States_. 

DEAR SIR: The bill which has been for some time pending before theCongress providing for the adjustment and extension of the indebtednessof the Pacific railroads to the Government of the United States has beendefeated in the House of Representatives. 

In the case of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Kansas PacificRailroad, a default in the payment of their indebtedness having occurredand suits having been commenced for the foreclosure of the lien uponsaid roads which is paramount to the lien and security of the UnitedStates, you are hereby directed, pursuant to the provisions of an act ofCongress passed March 3, 1887, after taking such precautions andperfecting such arrangements as are possible to assure as far aspracticable the payment of their indebtedness to the Government as aresult of the suits now pending or others to be instituted, to take suchproceedings in the courts as shall be needful to protect and defend therights and interests of the United States in respect of suchindebtedness, and to take steps to foreclose the mortgages or liens ofthe United States upon the property of these railroad companies. 

In the case of the other aided Pacific railroads, as to which noforeclosure suits are pending, a different situation is presented, whichrequires further consideration before deciding the course to be taken bythe Government. 

Yours, truly, GROVER CLEVELAND. 

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. 

Rule VI of the civil-service rules is hereby amended by adding to theexceptions from examination in the departmental service a new clause, toread as follows:

 (_d_) Assistant Secretary Smithsonian Institution, in charge of United States National Museum. 

Approved, January 27, 1897. 

GROVER CLEVELAND.