The Gun Foundry Board, appointed by direction of Congress, consisting of three army and three navy officers, has submitted its report, duly transmitted on the 20th day of February, 1884, recommending that the Government should promote the production at private steel works of the required material for heavy cannon, and that two Government factories, one for the Army and one for the Navy, should be established for the fabrication of guns from such material. An early consideration of the report is recommended, together with such action as will enable the Government to construct its ordnance upon its own territory and so to provide the armaments demanded by considerations which concern the national safety and honor.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 1, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 15, 1884, requesting the President to forward to the House information, including reports from consuls and others, concerning the undervaluation, false classification, and other irregular practices in the importation of foreign merchandise, and to recommend what legislation, if any, is needed to prevent such frauds on the revenue, I have the honor to transmit herewith a letter of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 28th ultimo, inclosing a draft of a bill on the subject, together with copies of reports taken from the files of the Treasury Department concerning the information desired.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 1, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, furnished in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 16, 1884, calling for information as to the payments made by Spain in accordance with the terms of its treaty with the United States concluded February 17, 1834.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 2, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit to Congress a communication from the Secretary of War, embodying the views of the president of the Mississippi River Commission upon a report from Major Stickney, of the Engineer Corps, in relation to the protection of existing levees from destruction by the floods in the lower part of the Mississippi River. It appears that there is an urgent need of an appropriation of $100,000 to be used for this purpose, and that an enormous destruction of property may be thereby averted. I recommend an immediate appropriation of the sum required for the purpose, to be expended under the direction of the Mississippi River Commission.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 2, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of 5th of February last, respecting the arrest and imprisonment of certain American citizens by the authorities of Colombia, at Aspinwall, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 11, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

The condition of our seacoast defenses and their armament has been brought to the attention of Congress in my annual messages, and I now submit a special estimate of the Chief of Ordnance, United States Army, transmitted by the Secretary of War, for a permanent annual appropriation of $1,500,000 to provide the necessary armament for our fortifications.

This estimate is founded upon the report of the Gun Foundry Board recently transmitted, to which I have heretofore invited the early attention of Congress.

In presenting this estimate I do not think it necessary to enumerate the considerations which make it of the highest importance that there should be no unnecessary delay in entering upon the work, which must be commensurate with the public interests to be guarded, and which will take much time.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 14, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of War of the 5th instant, submitting copies of certain papers, consisting of a letter, dated February 16 last, from Mr. Haughwout Howe, of New York City, presenting a proposition for the sale to the Government for the sum of $5,500 of certain hospital and other records pertaining to an association founded in New York City in April, 1862, for the purpose of extending relief to soldiers of the late war; a report of an examination made of these records by a representative of the War Department, and a report of the Adjutant-General stating that the records would prove of great value to the Department in the settlement of claims of deserving soldiers, as well as in detecting fraudulent claims, as the books, etc., contain information not now of record in the War Department.

The Secretary of War, it will be observed, recommends that an appropriation be made by Congress of the necessary sum for the purchase of the records referred to.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 14, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States of America:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention concluded between the United States of America and France and the twenty-four other powers named in said convention for the protection of submarine cables, concluded at Paris on the 14th day of March, A.D. 1884. I also inclose, for the information of the Senate, a copy of Mr. Morton's dispatch No. 518, of the 18th ultimo, in relation to the subject.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



WASHINGTON, April 14, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention concerning trade-marks and trade-labels between the United States and Belgium, signed on the 7th instant.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 18, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State of the 16th instant, relative to the approaching visit of a special embassy from Siam to the United States, and recommend that the appropriation asked by the Secretary of State to suitably defray the expenses of such embassy while in this country be made.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 18, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a copy of a report of the Secretary of State of the 16th instant, in relation to the final award made by the late French and American Claims Commission against the United States for the sum of $625,566.35, for the payment of the claims of French citizens against this Government. I recommend that an appropriation of the above sum be made to enable the Government to fulfill its obligations under the treaty of January 15, 1880, between this country and France.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 18, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, dated the 16th instant, respecting the approaching international conference at Washington, D.C., for the purpose of fixing upon a meridian proper to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the globe, and recommend that the sum of $10,000 be appropriated to enable the Secretary of State to meet the expenses of the same.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 18, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 5th of December last, respecting the execution by the United States of the ninth article of the treaty of 1819 with Spain, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State and its accompanying papers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 22, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in response to a resolution of the Senate of February 29, 1884, requesting information concerning the respective average production, consumption, exportation, and importation of wheat, rye, corn, and cotton in foreign countries, together with statistics showing the production and surplus or deficiency in the crops of the past two years in each of such countries, an estimate of the probable requirements of such products from the United States to meet the wants of these countries before the crops of the coming crop year are ready for market, and other available information concerning the questions to which the resolution refers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 24, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st instant, a report of the Secretary of State, with the accompanying papers, in relation to the threatened confiscation of the American college at Rome by the Italian Government.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 28, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in relation to the bill for the support of the diplomatic and consular services.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 3, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for your consideration, a communication from the Secretary of State, recommending the appropriation of the sum of $22,500, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to meet the proper obligations of the Government on account of the courteous services of the various umpires of the late American-Spanish Commission.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 6, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of March 12, 1884, requesting to be furnished with a copy of correspondence between this Government and that of China respecting the Ward claims and the claim of Charles E. Hill, I herewith submit a letter of the Secretary of State, together with its accompanying papers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 6, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting a copy of the report of the Utah Commission.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 6, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a copy of the preliminary report of the board of management of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, showing their operations and containing observations upon other matters concerning the project deemed of importance.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 6, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to that part of the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of January last respecting the question of boundaries between the Republics of Mexico and Guatemala, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State and its accompanying papers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 12, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 6th of February last, a communication from the Secretary of State, respecting the extradition of criminals under the treaty of 1842 with Great Britain.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 12, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, transmitting a draft of a resolution providing for the presentation of a testimonial to Mr. E.L. Oxenham, British consul at Chin-Kiang, in acknowledgment of services rendered the United States.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 14, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State of the 14th instant, with accompanying papers, relative to the necessity of an appropriation by Congress to enable this Government to execute the provisions of the convention between the United States and Mexico of July 29, 1882, for the relocation of the monuments marking the boundary line between the two countries, and recommend that the amount asked, $224,556.75, immediately provided.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 15, 1884.

To the Senate:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for consideration with a view to advising and consenting thereto, an agreement, signed May 14, 1884, between the Secretary of State and the minister plenipotentiary of Siam, for the regulation of the liquor traffic in Siam when citizens of the United States engage in the importation or sale of liquors there.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 19, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for such action as is deemed proper, a communication from the Secretary of State, recommending an additional appropriation of $6,000 for the construction of a wharf and roadway as a means of approach to the monument to be erected at Wakefield, Westmoreland County, Va., to mark the birthplace of George Washington.

I commend the matter to your favorable attention.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 19, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying copies of correspondence, in further response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of January 16, 1884, respecting the arrest and imprisonment of John E. Wheelock in Venezuela in 1879.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 29, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for such action as is deemed proper, a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanied by several inclosures, in which he recommends an appropriation for rewarding the services of the Osette Indians in rescuing and caring for the crew of the American steamer Umatilla, which vessel was wrecked in February last near the coast of Vancouvers Island.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 29, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate of March 10 last, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in regard to the claim of Edward H. Ladd against the Government of Colombia.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 9, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter and its accompanying estimate, submitted by the board charged with preparing a departmental exhibit for the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition to be held at New Orleans, beginning December 1, 1884. This board was appointed by Executive order of May 13, 1884,[17] and is composed of representatives of the several Executive Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution. It is charged with the important and responsible duty of making arrangements for a complete and harmonious collection of the articles and materials deemed desirable to place on exhibition, in illustration of the resources of the country, its methods of governmental administration, and its means of offense and defense.

The board submits an estimate calling for an appropriation of $588,000 to accomplish the desired end. That amount is distributed among the Departments as shown in the table. The War, Navy, and Interior Departments call for the largest share, representing as they do the national defenses by land and sea, the progress of naval architecture and ordnance, the geological survey and mineral wealth of the Territories, the treatment of the Indians, and the education of the masses, all of which admit of varied and instructive exhibits. The Smithsonian Institution, having under its general care the National Museum and the Fish Commission, is prepared to make a display second in interest to none of modern days. The remaining Departments can present instructive and interesting exhibits, which will attract popular attention and convey an idea of their extensively ramified duties and of the many points where they beneficially affect the life of the people as a nation and as individuals.

The exhibit of the Government at the Centennial Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876 was admitted to be one of the most attractive features of that great national undertaking and a valuable addition to it. From men of intelligence and scientific attainments, at home and abroad, it received the highest encomiums, showing the interest it awakened among those whose lives are given to the improvement of the social and material condition of the people.

The reproduction of such a display now on a more extensive plan is rendered possible by the advancement of science and invention during the eight years that have passed since the Philadelphia exhibit was collected.

The importance, purposes, and benefits of the New Orleans Exhibition are continental in their scope. Standing at the threshold of the almost unopened markets of Spanish and Portuguese America, New Orleans is a natural gateway to their trade, and the exhibition offers to the people of Mexico and Central and South America an adequate knowledge of our farming implements, metal manufactures, cotton and woolen goods, and the like necessities of existence, in respect to which those countries are either deficient or supplied to a limited extent. The breaking down of the barriers which still separate us from the Republics of America whose productions so entirely complement our own will aid greatly in removing the disparity of commercial intercourse under which less than 10 per cent of our exports go to American countries.

I trust that Congress will realize the urgency of this recommendation and make its appropriation immediately available, so that the board may lose no time in undertaking the extensive preparations necessary to spread a more intimate knowledge of our Government institutions and national resources among the people of our country and of neighboring states in a way to command the respect due it in the family of nations.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

[Footnote 17: See pp. 230-231.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 9, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, for consideration by the Senate and appropriate action thereon, a report of the Secretary of State, communicating the proposal of the King of Hawaii that the duration of the existing reciprocity treaty with the United States be extended for a further definite period of seven years.

The treaty having been heretofore under consideration by your honorable body, I deem it fitting to consult the Senate in the matter before directing the negotiations to proceed.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 11, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th instant, I return House bill No. 2344, entitled "An act for the relief of Melissa G. Polar."

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 11, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives, in response to a resolution of that body of the 21st of April last, a copy of the material correspondence on file in the Department of State relative to the claim of W.J. Hale against the Argentine Republic, and a list of the papers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 12, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate dated May 2, 1884, the following report of the Secretary of State, with an accompanying paper, relative to the latest law of the Mexican Republic creating or modifying the zona libre in relation to importations of merchandise.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 13, 1884.

To the Senate:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention signed on the 11th instant, supplementary to the extradition convention concluded between the United States and Italy on the 23d of March, 1868.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 19, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3ist of March last, a communication from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, concerning the rent of consular premises in China.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 21, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have permitted House bill No. 4689, entitled "An act for the relief of Eliza W. Patterson," to become a law by withholding action upon it for ten days after it was presented to me.

The affairs and interests of the District of Columbia are committed to Congress as its legislature. I do not question the constitutional right of Congress to pass a law relieving the family of an officer, in view of the services he had rendered his country, from the burdens of taxation, bat I submit to Congress that this just gift of the nation to the family of such faithful officer should come from the National Treasury rather than from that of this District, and I therefore recommend that an appropriation be made to reimburse the District for the amount of taxes which would have been due to it had this act not become a law.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 24, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, making an inquiry regarding the expenditure of moneys appropriated by Congress to meet the expenses of the French and American Claims Commission, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State upon the subject.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 28, 1884.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, calling attention to certain omissions, etc., in the act (H.R. 1340) entitled "An act to establish a Bureau of Labor Statistics," and invite the attention of the Congress to the same.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 30, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with resolutions of the House of Representatives respectively dated March 22 and April 19, 1884, a report from the Secretary of State, communicating information in regard to moneys received from Venezuela under the treaty of April 25, 1866, and their distribution to holders of awards by the Department of State.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, July 3, 1884.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the 11th of February last, a report of the Secretary of State, relative to the papers on file in the Department of State touching the unsettled claims of citizens of the United States against France for spoliations prior to July 31, 1801.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 7, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with the concurrent resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives of the 5th instant, I return herewith House bill 6770, entitled "An act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic service of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, and for other purposes."

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



VETO MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 2, 1884.

To the House of Representatives:

After careful consideration of the bill entitled "An act for the relief of Fitz John Porter," I herewith return it with my objections to that House of Congress in which it originated. Its enacting clause is in terms following:

That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint Fitz John Porter, late a major-general of the United States Volunteers and a brevet brigadier-general and colonel of the Army, to the position of colonel in the Army of the United States, of the same grade and rank held by him at the time of his dismissal from the Army by sentence of court-martial promulgated January 27, 1863. * * *

It is apparent that should this bill become a law it will create a new office which can be filled by the appointment of the particular individual whom it specifies, and can not be filled otherwise; or it may be said with perhaps greater precision of statement that it will create a new office upon condition that the particular person designated shall be chosen to fill it. Such an act, as it seems to me, is either unnecessary and ineffective or it involves an encroachment by the legislative branch of the Government upon the authority of the Executive. As the Congress has no power under the Constitution to nominate or appoint an officer and can not lawfully impose upon the President the duty of nominating or appointing to office any particular individual of its own selection, this bill, if it can fairly be construed as requiring the President to make the nomination and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the appointment which it authorizes, is in manifest violation of the Constitution. If such be not its just interpretation, it must be regarded as a mere enactment of advice and counsel, which lacks in the very nature of things the force of positive law and can serve no useful purpose upon the statute books.

There are other causes that deter me from giving this bill the sanction of my approval. The judgment of the court-martial by which more than twenty years since General Fitz John Porter was tried and convicted was pronounced by a tribunal composed of nine general officers of distinguished character and ability. Its investigation of the charges of which it found the accused guilty was thorough and conscientious, and its findings and sentence were in due course of law approved by Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States. Its legal competency, its jurisdiction of the accused and of the subject of the accusation, and the substantial regularity of all of its proceedings are matters which have never been brought into question. Its judgment, therefore, is final and conclusive in its character.

The Supreme Court of the United States has recently declared that a court-martial such as this was is the organism provided by law and clothed with the duty of administering justice in this class of cases. Its judgments, when approved, rest on the same basis and are surrounded by the same considerations which give conclusiveness to the judgments of other legal tribunals, including as well the lowest as the highest. It follows, accordingly, that when a lawfully constituted court-martial has duly declared its findings and its sentence and the same have been duly approved neither the President nor the Congress has any power to set them aside. The existence of such power is not openly asserted, nor perhaps is it necessarily implied, in the provisions of the bill which is before me, but when its enacting clauses are read in the light of the recitations of its preamble it will be seen that it seeks in effect the practical annulment of the findings and the sentence of a competent court-martial.

A conclusion at variance with these findings has been reached after investigation by a board consisting of three officers of the Army. This board was not created in pursuance of any statutory authority and was powerless to compel the attendance of witnesses or to pronounce a judgment which could have been lawfully enforced. The officers who constituted it, in their report to the Secretary of War, dated March 19, 1879, state that in their opinion—

Justice requires * * * such action as may be necessary to annul and set aside the findings and sentence of the court-martial in the case of Major-General Fitz John Porter and to restore him to the positions of which that sentence deprived him, such restoration to take effect from the date of his dismissal from the service.

The provisions of the bill now under consideration are avowedly based on the assumption that the findings of the court-martial have been discovered to be erroneous; but it will be borne in mind that the investigation which is claimed to have resulted in this discovery was made many years after the events to which that evidence related and under circumstances that made it impossible to reproduce the evidence on which they were based.

It seems to me that the proposed legislation would establish a dangerous precedent, calculated to imperil in no small measure the binding force and effect of the judgments of the various tribunals established under our Constitution and laws.

I have already, in the exercise of the pardoning power with which the President is vested by the Constitution, remitted the continuing penalty which had made it impossible for Fitz John Porter to hold any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States; but I am unwilling to give my sanction to any legislation which shall practically annul and set at naught the solemn and deliberate conclusions of the tribunal by which he was convicted and of the President by whom its findings were examined and approved.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas both Houses of Congress did on the 20th instant request the commemoration, on the 23d instant, of the one hundredth anniversary of the surrender by George Washington, at Annapolis, of his commission as Commander in Chief of the patriot forces of America; and

Whereas it is fitting that this memorable act, which not only signalized the termination of the heroic struggle of seven years for independence, but also manifested Washington's devotion to the great principle that ours is a civic government of and by the people, should be generally observed throughout the United States:

Now, therefore, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do hereby recommend that either by appropriate exercises in connection with the religious services of the 23d instant or by such public observances as may be deemed proper on Monday, the 24th instant, this signal event in the history of American liberty be commemorated; and further, I hereby direct that at 12 o'clock noon on Monday next the national salute be fired from all the forts throughout the country.

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

[SEAL.]

Done this 21st day of December, A.D. 1883, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by a memorandum of an agreement executed at Madrid on the 13th day of February, A.D. 1884, by and between the duly authorized agents and representatives of the Government of the United States of America and of the Government of His Majesty the King of Spain, satisfactory evidence has been given to me that the Government of that country has abolished the discriminating customs duty heretofore imposed upon the products of and articles proceeding from the United States of America imported into the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, said abolition to take effect on and after the 1st day of March next:

Now, therefore, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, do hereby declare and proclaim that on and after the said 1st day of March next, so long as the products of and articles proceeding from the United States imported into the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico shall be exempt from discriminating customs duties, any such duties on the products of and articles proceeding from Cuba and Puerto Rico under the Spanish flag shall be suspended and discontinued.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of February, A.D. 1884, and of the Independence, of the United States the one hundred and eighth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is alleged that certain persons have within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States begun and set on foot preparations for an organized and forcible possession of and settlement upon the lands of what is known as the Oklahoma lands, in the Indian Territory, which Territory is designated, recognized, and described by the treaties and laws of the United States and by the executive authorities as Indian country, and as such is subject to occupation by Indian tribes only; and

Whereas the laws of the United States provide for the removal of all persons residing or being found in said Indian Territory without express permission of the Interior Department:

Now, therefore, for the purpose of properly protecting the interests of the Indian nations and tribes in said Territory, and that settlers may not be induced to go into a country, at great expense to themselves, where they can not be allowed to remain, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do admonish and warn all such persons so intending or preparing to remove upon said lands or into said Territory against any attempt to so remove or settle upon any of the lands of said Territory; and I do further warn and notify any and all such persons who do so offend that they will be speedily and immediately removed therefrom by the proper officers of the Interior Department, and, if necessary, the aid and assistance of the military forces of the United States will be invoked to remove all such intruders from the said Indian Territory.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of July, A.D. 1884, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

While quarantine regulations are committed to the several States, the General Government has reposed certain powers in the President, to be used at his discretion in preventing a threatened epidemic.

Feeling it my duty, I hereby call upon all persons who under existing systems in the several States are intrusted with the execution of quarantine regulations to be diligent and on the alert in order to prevent the introduction of the pestilence which we all regret to learn has made its appearance in some of the countries of Europe between which and the ports of the United States intercourse is direct and frequent.

I further advise that the cities and towns of the United States, whether on the coast or on the lines of interior communication, by sound sanitary regulations and the promotion of cleanliness, be prepared to resist the power of the disease and to mitigate its severity.

And I further direct the consuls of the United States in the ports where the pestilence has made or may make its appearance to exercise vigilance in carrying out the instructions heretofore given and in communicating to the Government of the United States any information of value relating to the progress or treatment of the disease.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at the city of Washington, this 19th day of July, A.D. 1884, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and ninth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

The season is nigh when it is the yearly wont of this people to observe a day appointed for that purpose by the President as an especial occasion for thanksgiving unto God.

Now, therefore, in recognition of this hallowed custom, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do hereby designate as such day of general thanksgiving Thursday, the 27th day of this present November.

And I do recommend that throughout the land the people, ceasing from their accustomed occupations, do then keep holiday at their several homes and their several places of worship, and with heart and voice pay reverent acknowledgment to the Giver of All Good for the countless blessings wherewith He hath visited this nation.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of November, A.D. 1884, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and ninth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as follows:

RULE XII.

1. Every regular application must be supported by proper certificates of good moral character, health, and physical and mental capacity for doing the public work, the certificates to be in such form and number as the regulations of the Commission shall provide; but no certificate will be received which is inconsistent with the tenth section of the civil-service act.

2. No one shall be entitled to be examined for admission to the classified postal service if under 16 or over 35 years of age, or to the classified customs service or to the classified departmental service if under 18 or over 45 years of age; but no one shall be examined for appointment to any place in the classified customs service, except that of clerk or messenger, who is under 21 years of age; but these limitations of age shall not apply to persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the country who are otherwise duly qualified.

Approved, December 5, 1883.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 17, 1883

The following-named officers of the Army and Navy will constitute a board to consider an expedition to be sent for the relief of Lieutenant Greely and his party, composing what is known as the "Lady Franklin Bay Expedition," and to recommend to the Secretaries of War and the Navy, jointly, the steps the board may consider necessary to be taken for the equipment and transportation of the relief expedition, and to suggest such plan for its control and conduct and for the organization of its personnel as may seem to them best adapted to accomplish its purpose:

Brigadier-General William B. Hazen, Chief Signal Officer, United States Army; Captain James A. Greer, United States Navy; Lieutenant-Commander B.H. McCalla, United States Navy; Captain George W. Davis, Fourteenth Infantry, United States Army.

The board will meet in Washington, D.C., on the 20th instant.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rule and the amendment to Rule XVI for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service are hereby promulgated:

RULE XXI.

1. No person shall be promoted, without examination under these rules, from any position for which an examination is not required to any position for which an examination is required under the rules; nor shall any person who has passed only a limited examination under clause 4 of Rule VII for the lower classes or grades in the departmental or customs service be promoted within two years after appointment to any position giving a salary of $1,000 or upward without first passing an examination under clause I of said rule, and such examination shall not be allowed within the first year after appointment.

2. But a person who has passed the examination under said clause I and has accepted a position giving a salary of $900 or less shall have the same right of promotion as if originally appointed to a position giving a salary of $1,000 or more.

3. The Commission may at any time certify for a $900 or any lower place in the classified service any person upon the register who has passed the examination under clause I of Rule VII if such person does not object before such certification is made.

II. The following words are added as a fifth clause at the end of Rule XVI, viz:

5. Any person appointed to or employed in any part of the classified service, after due certification for the same under these rules, who shall be dismissed or separated therefrom without fault or delinquency on his part may be reappointed or reemployed in the same part or grade of such service at the same office, within eight months next following such dismissal or separation, without further examination.

III. It is further ordered that the rule heretofore designated XXI be hereafter designated XXII, and XXII as Rule XXIII.

Approved, January 18, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 8, 1884.

General William T. Sherman, General of the Army, having this day reached the age of 64 years, is, in accordance with law, placed upon the retired list of the Army without reduction in his current pay and allowances.

The announcement of the severance from the command of the Army of one who has been for so many years its distinguished chief can but awaken in the minds, not only of the Army, but of the people of the United States, mingled emotions of regret and gratitude—regret at the withdrawal from active military service of an officer whose lofty sense of duty has been a model for all soldiers since he first entered the Army in July, 1840, and gratitude, freshly awakened, for the services, of incalculable value, rendered by him in the war for the Union, which his great military genius and daring did so much to end.

The President deems this a fitting occasion to give expression in this manner to the gratitude felt toward General Sherman by his fellow-citizens, and to the hope that Providence may grant him many years of health and happiness in the relief from the active duties of his profession.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, March 12, 1884.

To the District Attorneys and Marshals of the United States:

By direction of the President, I have to inform you it is reported that certain persons are aiding in the prosecution of heinous crimes by shipping to foreign ports explosives dangerous in the highest degree to life and property. No proof has been adduced that this rumor is founded upon fact, and the President can not believe its truth. The honor of this nation, however, requires that it should not be open to the imputation, unfounded though it be, of the slightest appearance of tolerating such crimes, whether to be committed against our people or those of other countries.

Your attention is therefore called to sections 5353, 5354, 5355, 4278, and 4279 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which regulate the shipment of explosives and the punishment of those who infringe their provisions; and you are instructed to be diligent in your efforts to prevent the offenses described and to detect and prosecute those who have or may commit them.

Very respectfully,

BENJAMIN HARRIS BREWSTER, Attorney-General.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EXECUTIVE ORDER.

Whereas it has been brought to the notice of the President of the United States that in the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mines, to be held in the city of New Orleans, commencing December 1, 1884, for the purpose of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the production, manufacture, and commerce of cotton, it is desirable that from the Executive Departments of the Government of the United States in which there may be articles suitable for the purpose intended there should appear such articles and materials as will, when presented in a collective exhibition, illustrate the functions and administrative faculties of the Government in time of peace and its resources as a war power, and thereby serve to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their adaptation to the wants of the people:

Now, for the purpose of securing a complete and harmonious arrangement of the articles and materials designed to be exhibited from the Executive Departments of the Government, it is ordered that a board, to be composed of one person to be named by the head of each of the Executive Departments which may have articles and materials to be exhibited, and also of one person to be named in behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, and one to be named in behalf of the Department of Agriculture, and one to be named in behalf of the Bureau of Education, be charged with the preparation, arrangement, and safe-keeping of such articles and materials as the heads of the several Departments and the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Director of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Commissioner of Education may respectively decide shall be embraced in the collection; that one of the persons thus named, to be designated by the President, shall be chairman of such board, and that the board appoint from their number such other officers as they may think necessary; and that the said board, when organized, shall be authorized, under the direction of the President, to confer with the executive officers of the World's Industrial Cotton Centennial Exhibition in relation to such matters connected with the subject as may pertain to the respective Departments having articles and materials on exhibition, and that the names of the persons thus selected by the heads of the several Departments, the Commissioner of Agriculture,'the Director of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Commissioner of Education shall be submitted to the President for designation.

Done at the city of Washington, this 9th day of April, 1884, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rules for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service are amended as stated below, and are hereby promulgated:

1. Rule XI is amended by adding thereto a second clause, as follows:

2. The Commission may by regulations, subject to change at any time by the President, declare the kind and measure of ill health, physical incapacity, misrepresentation, and bad faith which may properly exclude any person from the right of examination, grading, or certification under these rules. It may also provide for medical certificates of physical capacity in the proper cases, and for the appropriate certification of persons so defective in sight, speech, hearing, or otherwise as to be apparently disqualified for some of the duties of the part of the service which they seek to enter.

2. The second clause of Rule XII is amended by substituting for the first line and the second line thereof down to the word "age" therein (as printed in the annual report of the Commission) the following words:

No one shall be entitled to be examined for admission to the classified postal service if under 16 or over 35 years of age, excepting messengers, stampers, and other junior assistants, who must not be under 14 years of age.

3. Rule XXI, as printed in said report, is amended by substituting for the first two lines and the third line down to the word "rules" therein the following words:

No person, unless excepted under Rule XIX, shall be admitted into the classified civil service from any place not within said service without an examination and certification under the rules.

Approved, April 23, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is amended as stated below, and is hereby promulgated:

Rule XI is amended by striking out the last sentence of said rule as printed in the annual report of the Commission and inserting in place thereof the following, namely:

No person under enlistment in the Army or Navy of the United States shall be examined under these rules except for some place in the Department under which he is enlisted requiring special qualifications, and with the consent in writing of the head of such Department.

Approved, April 23, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EXECUTIVE ORDER.

In conformity with the Executive order directing the organization of a board, to be composed of one person to be named by the head of each of the Executive Departments which may have articles and materials to be exhibited at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exhibition, I hereby direct the persons who have been so designated, viz, Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen C. Lyford, United States Army, of the War Department, president of the board; Charles S. Hill, of the Department of State; Lieutenant B.H. Buckingham, United States Navy, of the Navy Department; William F. McLennan, of the Treasury Department; Abraham D. Hazen, Assistant Postmaster-General; Benjamin Butterworth, of the Interior Department; Cecil Clay, of the Department of Justice; William Saunders, of the Agricultural Department; G. Brown Goode, of the Smithsonian Institution; London A. Smith, of the Bureau of Education, Interior Department, to assemble at the Department of State, in the city of Washington, at noon on the 17th day of May, 1884, and then and there to organize said board; and said board when so organized shall immediately proceed to the discharge of its duties.

I also designate W.A. De Caindry as the secretary of said board.

Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of May, 1884, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighth.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

By the President: FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, Secretary of State.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 26, 1884.

Under the provisions of section 4 of the act approved March 3, 1883, it is hereby ordered that the several Executive Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Government Printing Office be closed on Friday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby promulgated:

SPECIAL RULE.

Any person who was employed on or before the 16th day of January, 1883, in any Executive Department at Washington in a position not included in the classified service in said Department, but who was at that date exclusively engaged in the duties of a clerk or copyist, and who has since been continuously so engaged, may, in the discretion of the head of the Department, be treated as within the classified service in the Department in a grade corresponding to such duties, provided such person has either already passed an examination under the civil-service rules or shall pass an appropriate competitive or noncompetitive examination thereunder at a grade of 65 per cent or upward.

Approved, June 12, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 8, 1884.

In order to carry out the provisions of that portion of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, and for other purposes," approved July 7, 1884, which contemplates the participation of the several Executive Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution in the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884-85, the board heretofore appointed by Executive order to take charge of the articles and materials to be exhibited by these Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution is hereby continued under the following regulations and distribution of duties, viz:

The funds appropriated for such participation will be drawn from the Treasury upon the requisition of the president of the board, and will be disbursed and accounted for as are other public moneys under the existing laws and regulations relating to disbursing officers.

An officer of the Army will be detailed by the Secretary of War and an officer of the Navy will be detailed by the Secretary of the Navy to report to the president of the board for duty as disbursing officers of the board.

The representatives of the several Executive Departments, the representative of the Department of Agriculture, and the representative of the Smithsonian Institution will have charge of the matter pertaining to their respective Departments, subject to the general advisement of the board, and all bills will be paid by the disbursing officers upon vouchers certified by such representatives and countersigned by the president of the board.

The disbursing officers will render, through the president of the board, monthly accounts current of all advances and disbursements by them to the First Auditor of the Treasury for audit and settlement in the same manner as are other accounts of disbursing officers of the Government.

Each representative will be held responsible to the head of his respective Department for all public property of the United States furnished by the head of such Department or otherwise coming to his hands for the purposes of the exposition, and will render proper accounts of the same to such head of Department until the property is returned.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 10, 1884.

The participation of the several Executive Departments, the Department of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution in the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition at Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Southern Exposition at Louisville, Ky., as contemplated by the "act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, and for other purposes," is hereby placed under the management of the board referred to in Executive order of July 8, 1884, relating to the participation of said Departments and Institution in the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884-85, the provisions of which order being hereby extended to embrace said Cincinnati and Louisville expositions.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 16, 1884.

No appropriation having been specifically made for the participation of the Bureau of Education, Interior Department, in the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans, La., the Industrial Exposition, Cincinnati, Ohio, or the Southern Exposition, Louisville, Ky., the representative on behalf of that Bureau in the board appointed by Executive order of May 13, 1884,[18] is relieved from further duty as a member of the board, and the display of that Bureau will be made as a part of the exhibit of the Interior Department out of the moneys appropriated for the participation of that Department in said expositions.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

[Footnote 18: See pp. 230-231.]



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby promulgated:

SPECIAL RULE

The names of all persons who shall have successfully passed their examination under the civil-service rules previous to July 16, 1884, may remain on the register of persons eligible for appointment two years from the date of their respective registrations, unless sooner appointed.

Approved, July 18, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following special rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby promulgated:

SPECIAL RULE NO. 3.

Appointments to the 150 places in the Pension Office provided to be filled by the act of July 7, 1884, except so far as they may be filled by promotions, must be separately apportioned by the appointing power in as near conformity to the second section of the act of January 16, 1883, as the need of filling them promptly and the residence and qualifications of the applicants will permit.

Approved, July 22, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 5, 1884.

SIR:[19] With deep regret I announce to you that the Hon. Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, yesterday died at his home in Geneva, State of New York.

Thus has closed the life of a distinguished and respected citizen, who by his services as an executive officer of the United States and as a legislator and judge of his own State won the esteem and regard of his fellow-countrymen.

The President directs that all Departments of the executive branch of the Government and the offices subordinate to them shall manifest due honor for the memory of this eminent citizen, in a manner consonant with the dignity of the office thus made vacant and with the upright character of him who held it.

To this end the President directs that the Treasury Department and its dependencies in this capital shall be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days, the several Executive Departments shall be closed on the day of the funeral of the deceased, and that on all public buildings of the Government throughout the United States the national flag shall be draped in mourning and displayed at half-mast.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN.

[Footnote 19: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]



In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil-service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated:

RULE XIX.

There are excepted from examination the following: (i) The confidential clerk or secretary of any head of Department or office; (2) cashiers of collectors; (3) cashiers of postmasters; (4) superintendents of money-order divisions in post-offices; (5) the direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond and disbursing officers having the custody of money who give bonds, but these exceptions shall not extend to any official below the grade of assistant cashier or teller; (6) persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the Government, or as translators or interpreters or stenographers; (7) persons whose employment is exclusively professional; (8) chief clerks, deputy collectors, and superintendents, or chiefs of divisions and bureaus. But no person so excepted shall be either transferred, appointed, or promoted, unless to some excepted place, without an examination under the Commission. Promotions may be made without examination in offices where examinations for promotion are not now held until rules on this subject shall be promulgated.

Approved, November 10, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.



FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, December 1, 1884.

To the Congress of the United States:

Since the close of your last session the American people, in the exercise of their highest right of suffrage, have chosen their Chief Magistrate for the four years ensuing.

When it is remembered that at no period in the country's history has the long political contest which customarily precedes the day of the national election been waged with greater fervor and intensity, it is a subject of general congratulation that after the controversy at the polls was over, and while the slight preponderance by which the issue had been determined was as yet unascertained, the public peace suffered no disturbance, but the people everywhere patiently and quietly awaited the result.

Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the temper of the American citizen, his love of order, and his loyalty to law. Nothing could more signally demonstrate the strength and wisdom of our political institutions.

Eight years have passed since a controversy concerning the result of a national election sharply called the attention of the Congress to the necessity of providing more precise and definite regulations for counting the electoral vote.

It is of the gravest importance that this question be solved before conflicting claims to the Presidency shall again distract the country, and I am persuaded that by the people at large any of the measures of relief thus far proposed would be preferred to continued inaction.

Our relations with all foreign powers continue to be amicable.

With Belgium a convention has been signed whereby the scope of present treaties has been so enlarged as to secure to citizens of either country within the jurisdiction of the other equal rights and privileges in the acquisition and alienation of property. A trade-marks treaty has also been concluded.

The war between Chile an4 Peru is at an end. For the arbitration of the claims of American citizens who during its continuance suffered through the acts of the Chilean authorities a convention will soon be negotiated.

The state of hostilities between France and China continues to be an embarrassing feature of our Eastern relations. The Chinese Government has promptly adjusted and paid the claims of American citizens whose property was destroyed in the recent riots at Canton. I renew the recommendation of my last annual message, that the Canton indemnity fund be returned to China.

The true interpretation of the recent treaty with that country permitting the restriction of Chinese immigration is likely to be again the subject of your deliberations. It may be seriously questioned whether the statute passed at the last session does not violate the treaty rights of certain Chinese who left this country with return certificates valid under the old law, and who now seem to be debarred from relanding for lack of the certificates required by the new.

The recent purchase by citizens of the United States of a large trading fleet heretofore under the Chinese flag has considerably enhanced our commercial importance in the East. In view of the large number of vessels built or purchased by American citizens in other countries and exclusively employed in legitimate traffic between foreign ports under the recognized protection of our flag, it might be well to provide a uniform rule for their registration and documentation, so that the bona fide property rights of our citizens therein shall be duly evidenced and properly guarded.

Pursuant to the advice of the Senate at the last session, I recognized the flag of the International Association of the Kongo as that of a friendly government, avoiding in so doing any prejudgment of conflicting territorial claims in that region. Subsequently, in execution of the expressed wish of the Congress, I appointed a commercial agent for the Kongo basin.

The importance of the rich prospective trade of the Kongo Valley has led to the general conviction that it should be open to all nations upon equal terms. At an international conference for the consideration of this subject called by the Emperor of Germany, and now in session at Berlin, delegates are in attendance on behalf of the United States. Of the results of the conference you will be duly advised.

The Government of Korea has generously aided the efforts of the United States minister to secure suitable premises for the use of the legation. As the conditions of diplomatic intercourse with Eastern nations demand that the legation premises be owned by the represented power, I advise that an appropriation be made for the acquisition of this property by the Government. The United States already possess valuable premises at Tangier as a gift from the Sultan of Morocco. As is stated hereafter, they have lately received a similar gift from the Siamese Government. The Government of Japan stands ready to present to us extensive grounds at Tokyo whereon to erect a suitable building for the legation, court-house, and jail, and similar privileges can probably be secured in China and Persia. The owning of such premises would not only effect a large saving of the present rentals, but would permit of the due assertion of extraterritorial rights in those countries, and would the better serve to maintain the dignity of the United States.

The failure of Congress to make appropriation for our representation at the autonomous court of the Khedive has proved a serious embarrassment in our intercourse with Egypt; and in view of the necessary intimacy of diplomatic relationship due to the participation of this Government as one of the treaty powers in all matters of administration there affecting the rights of foreigners, I advise the restoration of the agency and consulate-general at Cairo on its former basis. I do not conceive it to be the wish of Congress that the United States should withdraw altogether from the honorable position they have hitherto held with respect to the Khedive, or that citizens of this Republic residing or sojourning in Egypt should hereafter be without the aid and protection of a competent representative.

With France the traditional cordial relationship continues. The colossal statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, the generous gift of the people of France, is expected to reach New York in May next. I suggest that Congressional action be taken in recognition of the spirit which has prompted this gift and in aid of the timely completion of the pedestal upon which it is to be placed.

Our relations with Germany, a country which contributes to our own some of the best elements of citizenship, continue to be cordial. The United States have extradition treaties with several of the German States, but by reason of the confederation of those States under the imperial rule the application of such treaties is not as uniform and comprehensive as the interests of the two countries require. I propose, therefore, to open negotiations for a single convention of extradition to embrace all the territory of the Empire.

It affords me pleasure to say that our intercourse with Great Britain continues to be of a most friendly character.

The Government of Hawaii has indicated its willingness to continue for seven years the provisions of the existing reciprocity treaty. Such continuance, in view of the relations of that country to the American system of States, should, in my judgment, be favored.

The revolution in Hayti against the established Government has terminated. While it was in progress it became necessary to enforce our neutrality laws by instituting proceedings against individuals and vessels charged with their infringement. These prosecutions were in all cases successful.

Much anxiety has lately been displayed by various European Governments, and especially by the Government of Italy, for the abolition of our import duties upon works of art. It is well to consider whether the present discrimination in favor of the productions of American artists abroad is not likely to result, as they themselves seem very generally to believe it may, in the practical exclusion of our painters and sculptors from the rich fields for observation, study, and labor which they have hitherto enjoyed.

There is prospect that the long-pending revision of the foreign treaties of Japan may be concluded at a new conference to be held at Tokyo. While this Government fully recognizes the equal and independent station of Japan in the community of nations, it would not oppose the general adoption of such terms of compromise as Japan may be disposed to offer in furtherance of a uniform policy of intercourse with Western nations.

During the past year the increasing good will between our own Government and that of Mexico has been variously manifested. The treaty of commercial reciprocity concluded January 20, 1883, has been ratified and awaits the necessary tariff legislation of Congress to become effective. This legislation will, I doubt not, be among the first measures to claim your attention.

A full treaty of commerce, navigation, and consular rights is much to be desired, and such a treaty I have reason to believe that the Mexican Government stands ready to conclude.

Some embarrassment has been occasioned by the failure of Congress at its last session to provide means for the due execution of the treaty of July 29, 1882, for the resurvey of the Mexican boundary and the relocation of boundary monuments.

With the Republic of Nicaragua a treaty has been concluded which authorizes the construction by the United States of a canal, railway, and telegraph line across the Nicaraguan territory.

By the terms of this treaty 60 miles of the river San Juan, as well as Lake Nicaragua, an inland sea 40 miles in width, are to constitute a part of the projected enterprise.

This leaves for actual canal construction 17 miles on the Pacific side and 36 miles on the Atlantic. To the United States, whose rich territory on the Pacific is for the ordinary purposes of commerce practically cut off from communication by water with the Atlantic ports, the political and commercial advantages of such a project can scarcely be over-estimated.

It is believed that when the treaty is laid before you the justice and liberality of its provisions will command universal approval at home and abroad.

The death of our representative at Russia while at his post at St. Petersburg afforded to the Imperial Government a renewed opportunity to testify its sympathy in a manner befitting the intimate friendliness which has ever marked the intercourse of the two countries.

The course of this Government in raising its representation at Bangkok to the diplomatic rank has evoked from Siam evidences of warm friendship and augurs well for our enlarged intercourse. The Siamese Government has presented to the United States a commodious mansion and grounds for the occupancy of the legation, and I suggest that by joint resolution Congress attest its appreciation of this generous gift.

This Government has more than once been called upon of late to take action in fulfillment of its international obligations toward Spain. Agitation in the island of Cuba hostile to the Spanish Crown having been fomented by persons abusing the sacred rights of hospitality which our territory affords, the officers of this Government have been instructed to exercise vigilance to prevent infractions of our neutrality laws at Key West and at other points near the Cuban coast. I am happy to say that in the only instance where these precautionary measures were successfully eluded the offenders, when found in our territory, were subsequently tried and convicted.

The growing need of close relationship of intercourse and traffic between the Spanish Antilles and their natural market in the United States led to the adoption in January last of a commercial agreement looking to that end. This agreement has since been superseded by a more carefully framed and comprehensive convention, which I shall submit to the Senate for approval. It has been the aim of this negotiation to Open such a favored reciprocal exchange of productions carried under the flag of either country as to make the intercourse between Cuba and Puerto Rico and ourselves scarcely less intimate than the commercial movement between our domestic ports, and to insure a removal of the burdens on shipping in the Spanish Indies, of which in the past our shipowners and shipmasters have so often had cause to complain.

The negotiation of this convention has for a time postponed the prosecution of certain claims of our citizens which were declared to be without the jurisdiction of the late Spanish-American Claims Commission, and which are therefore remitted to diplomatic channels for adjustment. The speedy settlement of these claims will now be urged by this Government.

Negotiations for a treaty of commercial reciprocity with the Dominican Republic have been successfully concluded, and the result will shortly be laid before the Senate.

Certain questions between the United States and the Ottoman Empire still remain unsolved. Complaints on behalf of our citizens are not satisfactorily adjusted. The Porte has sought to withhold from our commerce the right of favored treatment to which we are entitled by existing conventional stipulations, and the revision of the tariffs is unaccomplished.

The final disposition of pending questions with Venezuela has not as yet been reached, but I have good reason to expect an early settlement which will provide the means of reexamining the Caracas awards in conformity with the expressed desire of Congress, and which will recognize the justice of certain claims preferred against Venezuela.

The Central and South American Commission appointed by authority of the act of July 7, 1884, will soon proceed to Mexico. It has been furnished with instructions which will be laid before you. They contain a statement of the general policy of the Government for enlarging its commercial intercourse with American States. The commissioners have been actively preparing for their responsible task by holding conferences in the principal cities with merchants and others interested in Central and South American trade.

The International Meridian Conference lately convened in Washington upon the invitation of the Government of the United States was composed of representatives from twenty-five nations. The conference concluded its labors on the 1st of November, having with substantial unanimity agreed upon the meridian of Greenwich as the starting point whence longitude is to be computed through 180 degrees eastward and westward, and upon the adoption, for all purposes for which it may be found convenient, of a universal day which shall begin at midnight on the initial meridian and whose hours shall be counted from zero up to twenty-four.

The formal report of the transactions of this conference will be hereafter transmitted to the Congress.

This Government is in frequent receipt of invitations from foreign states to participate in international exhibitions, often of great interest and importance. Occupying, as we do, an advanced position in the world's production, and aiming to secure a profitable share for our industries in the general competitive markets, it is a matter of serious concern that the want of means for participation in these exhibitions should so often exclude our producers from advantages enjoyed by those of other countries. During the past year the attention of Congress was drawn to the formal invitations in this regard tendered by the Governments of England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. The Executive has in some instances appointed honorary commissioners. This is, however, a most unsatisfactory expedient, for without some provision to meet the necessary working expenses of a commission it can effect little or nothing in behalf of exhibitors. An International Inventions Exhibition is to be held in London next May. This will cover a field of special importance, in which our country holds a foremost rank; but the Executive is at present powerless to organize a proper representation of our vast national interests in this direction.

I have in several previous messages referred to this subject. It seems to me that a statute giving to the Executive general discretionary authority to accept such invitations and to appoint honorary commissioners, without salary, and placing at the disposal of the Secretary of State a small fund for defraying their reasonable expenses, would be of great public utility.

This Government has received official notice that the revised international regulations for preventing collisions at sea have been adopted by all the leading maritime powers except the United States, and came into force on the 1st of September last. For the due protection of our shipping interests the provisions of our statutes should at once be brought into conformity with these regulations.

The question of securing to authors, composers, and artists copyright privileges in this country in return for reciprocal rights abroad is one that may justly challenge your attention. It is true that conventions will be necessary for fully accomplishing this result; but until Congress shall by statute fix the extent to which foreign holders of copyright shall be here privileged it has been deemed inadvisable to negotiate such conventions. For this reason the United States were not represented at the recent conference at Berne.

I recommend that the scope of the neutrality laws of the United States be so enlarged as to cover all patent acts of hostility committed in our territory and aimed against the peace of a friendly nation. Existing statutes prohibit the fitting out of armed expeditions and restrict the shipment of explosives, though the enactments in the latter respect were not framed with regard to international obligations, but simply for the protection of passenger travel. All these statutes were intended to meet special emergencies that had already arisen. Other emergencies have arisen since, and modern ingenuity supplies means for the organization of hostilities without open resort to armed vessels or to filibustering parties.

I see no reason why overt preparations in this country for the commission of criminal acts such as are here under consideration should not be alike punishable whether such acts are intended to be committed in our own country or in a foreign country with which we are at peace.

The prompt and thorough treatment of this question is one which intimately concerns the national honor.

Our existing naturalization laws also need revision. Those sections relating to persons residing within the limits of the United States in 1795 and 1798 have now only a historical interest. Section 2172, recognizing the citizenship of the children of naturalized parents, is ambiguous in its terms and partly obsolete. There are special provisions of law favoring the naturalization of those who serve in the Army or in merchant vessels, while no similar privileges are granted those who serve in the Navy or the Marine Corps.

"An uniform rule of naturalization" such as the Constitution contemplates should, among other things, clearly define the status of persons born within the United States subject to a foreign power (section 1992) and of minor children of fathers who have declared their intention to become citizens but have failed to perfect their naturalization. It might be wise to provide for a central bureau of registry, wherein should be filed authenticated transcripts of every record of naturalization in the several Federal and State courts, and to make provision also for the vacation or cancellation of such record in cases where fraud had been practiced upon the court by the applicant himself or where he had renounced or forfeited his acquired citizenship. A just and uniform law in this respect would strengthen the hands of the Government in protecting its citizens abroad and would pave the way for the conclusion of treaties of naturalization with foreign countries.

The legislation of the last session effected in the diplomatic and consular service certain changes and reductions which have been productive of embarrassment. The population and commercial activity of our country are steadily on the increase, and are giving rise to new, varying, and often delicate relationships with other countries. Our foreign establishment now embraces nearly double the area of operations that it occupied twenty years ago. The confinement of such a service within the limits of expenditure then established is not, it seems to me, in accordance with true economy. A community of 60,000,000 people should be adequately represented in its intercourse with foreign nations.

A project for the reorganization of the consular service and for recasting the scheme of extraterritorial jurisdiction is now before you. If the limits of a short session will not allow of its full consideration, I trust that you will not fail to make suitable provision for the present needs of the service.

It has been customary to define in the appropriation acts the rank of each diplomatic office to which a salary is attached. I suggest that this course be abandoned and that it be left to the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to fix from time to time the diplomatic grade of the representatives of this Government abroad as may seem advisable, provision being definitely made, however, as now, for the amount of salary attached to the respective stations.

The condition of our finances and the operations of the various branches of the public service which are connected with the Treasury Department are very fully discussed in the report of the Secretary.

It appears that the ordinary revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1884, were:

From customs $195,067,489.76 From internal revenue 121,586,072.51 From all other sources 31,866,307.65 ___ Total ordinary revenues 348,519,869.92

The public expenditures during the same period were:

For civil expenses $22,312,907.71 For foreign intercourse 1,260,766.37 For Indians 6,475,999.29 For pensions 55,429,228.06 For the military establishment, including river and harbor improvements and arsenals 39,429,603.36 For the naval establishment, including vessels, machinery, and improvements at navy-yards 17,292,601.44 For miscellaneous expenditures, including public buildings, light-houses, and collecting the revenue 43,939,710.00 For expenditures on account of the District of Columbia 3,407,049.62 For interest on the public debt 54,578,378.48 For the sinking fund 46,790,229.50 ___ Total ordinary expenditures 290,916,473.83 ============== Leaving a surplus of 57,603,396.09

As compared with the preceding fiscal year, there was a net decrease of over $21,000,000 in the amount of expenditures. The aggregate receipts were less than those of the year previous by about $54,000,000. The falling off in revenue from customs made up nearly $20,000,000 of this deficiency, and about $23,000,000 of the remainder was due to the diminished receipts from internal taxation.

The Secretary estimates the total receipts for the fiscal year which will end June 30, 1885, at $330,000,000 and the total expenditures at $290,620,201.16, in which sum are included the interest on the debt and the amount payable to the sinking fund. This would leave a surplus for the entire year of about $39,000,000.

The value of exports from the United States to foreign countries during the year ending June 30, 1884, was as follows:

Domestic merchandise $724,964,852 Foreign merchandise 15,548,757 Total merchandise 740,513,609 Specie 67,133,383 Total exports of merchandise and specie 807,646,992

The cotton and cotton manufactures included in this statement were valued at $208,900,415; the breadstuffs at $162,544,715; the provisions at $114,416,547, and the mineral oils at $47,103,248.

During the same period the imports were as follows:

Merchandise $667,697,693 Gold and silver 37,426,262 ___ Total 705,123,955

More than 63 per cent of the entire value of imported merchandise consisted of the following articles:

Sugar and molasses $103,884,274 Wool and woolen manufactures 53,542,292 Silk and its manufactures 49,949,128 Coffee 49,686,705 Iron and steel and manufactures thereof 41,464,599 Chemicals 38,464,965 Flax, hemp, jute, and like substances, and manufactures thereof 33,463,398 Cotton and manufactures of cotton 30,454,476 Hides and skins other than fur skins 22,350,906

I concur with the Secretary of the Treasury in recommending the immediate suspension of the coinage of silver dollars and of the issuance of silver certificates. This is a matter to which in former communications I have more than once invoked the attention of the National Legislature.

It appears that annually for the past six years there have been coined, in compliance with the requirements of the act of February 28, 1878, more than 27,000,000 silver dollars.

The number now outstanding is reported by the Secretary to be nearly 185,000,000, whereof but little more than 40,000,000, or less than 22 per cent, are in actual circulation. The mere existence of this fact seems to me to furnish of itself a cogent argument for the repeal of the statute which has made such fact possible.

But there are other and graver considerations that tend in the same direction.

The Secretary avows his conviction that unless this coinage and the issuance of silver certificates be suspended silver is likely at no distant day to become our sole metallic standard. The commercial disturbance and the impairment of national credit that would be thus occasioned can scarcely be overestimated.

I hope that the Secretary's suggestions respecting the withdrawal from circulation of the $1 and $2 notes will receive your approval. It is likely that a considerable portion of the silver now encumbering the vaults of the Treasury might thus find its way into the currency.

While trade dollars have ceased, for the present at least, to be an element of active disturbance in our currency system, some provision should be made for their surrender to the Government. In view of the circumstances under which they were coined and of the fact that they have never had a legal-tender quality, there should be offered for them only a slight advance over their bullion value.

The Secretary in the course of his report considers the propriety of beautifying the designs of our subsidiary silver coins and of so increasing their weight that they may bear their due ratio of value to the standard dollar. His conclusions in this regard are cordially approved.

In my annual message of 1882 I recommended the abolition of all excise taxes except those relating to distilled spirits. This recommendation is now renewed. In case these taxes shall be abolished the revenues that will still remain to the Government will, in my opinion, not only suffice to meet its reasonable expenditures, but will afford a surplus large enough to permit such tariff reduction as may seem to be advisable when the results of recent revenue laws and commercial treaties shall have shown in what quarters those reductions can be most judiciously effected.

One of the gravest of the problems which appeal to the wisdom of Congress for solution is the ascertainment of the most effective means for increasing our foreign trade and thus relieving the depression under which our industries are now languishing. The Secretary of the Treasury advises that the duty of investigating this subject be intrusted in the first instance to a competent commission. While fully recognizing the considerations that may be urged against this course, I am nevertheless of the opinion that upon the whole no other would be likely to effect speedier or better results.

That portion of the Secretary's report which concerns the condition of our shipping interests can not fail to command your attention. He emphatically recommends that as an incentive to the investment of American capital in American steamships the Government shall, by liberal payments for mail transportation or otherwise, lend its active assistance to individual enterprise, and declares his belief that unless that course be pursued our foreign carrying trade must remain, as it is to-day, almost exclusively in the hands of foreigners.

One phase of this subject is now especially prominent in view of the repeal by the act of June 26, 1884, of all statutory provisions arbitrarily compelling American vessels to carry the mails to and from the United States. As it is necessary to make provision to compensate the owners of such vessels for performing that service after April, 1885, it is hoped that the whole subject will receive early consideration that will lead to the enactment of such measures for the revival of our merchant marine as the wisdom of Congress may devise.

The 3 per cent bonds of the Government to the amount of more than $100,000,000 have since my last annual message been redeemed by the Treasury. The bonds of that issue still outstanding amount to little over $200,000,000, about one-fourth of which will be retired through the operations of the sinking fund during the coming year. As these bonds still constitute the chief basis for the circulation of the national banks, the question how to avert the contraction of the currency caused by their retirement is one of constantly increasing importance.

It seems to be generally conceded that the law governing this matter exacts from the banks excessive security, and that upon their present bond deposits a larger circulation than is now allowed may be granted with safety. I hope that the bill which passed the Senate at the last session, permitting the issue of notes equal to the face value of the deposited bonds, will commend itself to the approval of the House of Representatives.

In the expenses of the War Department the Secretary reports a decrease of more than $9,000,000. Of this reduction $5,600,000 was effected in the expenditures for rivers and harbors and $2,700,000 in expenditures for the Quartermaster's Department.

Outside of that Department the annual expenses of all the Army bureaus proper (except possibly the Ordnance Bureau) are substantially fixed charges, which can not be materially diminished without a change in the numerical strength of the Army. The expenditures in the Quartermaster's Department can readily be subjected to administrative discretion, and it is reported by the Secretary of War that as a result of exercising such discretion in reducing the number of draft and pack animals in the Army the annual cost of supplying and caring for such animals is now $1,108,085.90 less than it was in 1881.

The reports of military commanders show that the last year has been notable for its entire freedom from Indian outbreaks.

In defiance of the President's proclamation of July 1, 1884,[20] certain intruders sought to make settlements in the Indian Territory. They were promptly removed by a detachment of troops.

During the past session of Congress a bill to provide a suitable fireproof building for the Army Medical Museum and the library of the Surgeon-General's Office received the approval of the Senate. A similar bill, reported favorably to the House of Representatives by one of its committees, is still pending before that body. It is hoped that during the coming session the measure may become a law, and that thereafter immediate steps may be taken to secure a place of safe deposit for these valuable collections, now in a state of insecurity.

The funds with which the works for the improvement of rivers and harbors were prosecuted during the past year were derived from the appropriations of the act of August 2, 1882, together with such few balances as were on hand from previous appropriations. The balance in the Treasury subject to requisition July 1, 1883, was $10,021,649.55. The amount appropriated during the fiscal year 1884 was $1,319,634.62, and the amount drawn from the Treasury during the fiscal year was $8,228,703.54, leaving a balance of $3,112,580.63 in the Treasury subject to requisition July 1, 1884.

The Secretary of War submits the report of the Chief of Engineers as to the practicability of protecting our important cities on the seaboard by fortifications and other defenses able to repel modern methods of attack. The time has now come when such defenses can be prepared with confidence that they will not prove abortive, and when the possible result of delay in making such preparation is seriously considered delay seems inexcusable. For the most important cities—those whose destruction or capture would be a national humiliation—adequate defenses, inclusive of guns, may be made by the gradual expenditure of $60,000,000—a sum much less than a victorious enemy could levy as a contribution. An appropriation of about one-tenth of that amount is asked to begin the work, and I concur with the Secretary of War in urging that it be granted.