In accordance with section 3, act approved June 23, 1874, I appointed a board to make a survey of the mouth of the Mississippi River with a view to determine the best method of obtaining and maintaining a depth of water sufficient for the purposes of commerce, etc.; and in accordance with an act entitled "An act to provide for the appointment of a commission of engineers to investigate and report a permanent plan for the reclamation of the alluvial basin of the Mississippi River subject to inundation," I appointed a commission of engineers. Neither board has yet completed its labors. When their reports are received, they will be forwarded to Congress without delay.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 84: See pp. 273-276.]

[Footnote 85: See pp. 277-281.]

[Footnote 86: See pp. 276-277.]



SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, December 8, 1874.

To the Senate of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 3d of February, 1873, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, together with the papers[87] which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 87: Dispatches in regard to the records and public documents of the Mexican Government relative to the lands embraced within the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico.]



WASHINGTON, December 8, 1874.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States of America and the Ottoman Empire, relative to the extradition of criminals fugitives from justice, signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at Constantinople on the 11th of August last.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, December 8, 1874.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a convention concluded between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic on the 20th of November last, for further extending the time for the duration of the joint commission respecting claims, originally fixed by the convention between the United States and Mexico signed on the 4th of July, 1868, and extended by those of the 19th of April, 1871, and 27th of November, 1872, between the same parties.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, December 8, 1874.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States of America and the Ottoman Empire, relative to the naturalization of citizens and subjects of the two countries, signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at Constantinople on the 11th of August last. A copy of the correspondence which accompanied the convention on the subject is herewith transmitted.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, December 8, 1874.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report, dated the 8th instant, with accompanying papers,[88] from the Secretary of State, in compliance with the requirements of section 208 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 88: Report of fees collected, etc., by consular officers of the United States for 1873, list of consular officers, and tariff of consular fees prescribed by the President September 1, 1874.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 22, 1874.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a memorial[89] forwarded to me by a convention of colored citizens assembled in the city of Montgomery, Ala., on the 2d of this month.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 89: Asking all the rights of citizenship.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 5, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st December last, requesting the return of its resolution of the 17th of the same month, advising and consenting to the appointment of J.C.S. Colby to be consul of the United States at Chin-Kiang, I have the honor to state that Mr. Colby's commission was signed on the 17th day of December, and upon inquiry at the Department of State it was found that it had been forwarded to him by mail before the receipt of the resolution of recall.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 12, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In accordance with the requirements of the joint resolution approved March 25, 1874, authorizing an inquiry into and report upon the causes of epidemic cholera, I have the honor to transmit herewith reports upon the subject from the Secretaries of the Treasury and War Departments.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 13, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have the honor to make the following answer to a Senate resolution of the 8th instant, asking for information as to any interference by any military officer or any part of the Army of the United States with the organization or proceedings of the general assembly of the State of Louisiana, or either branch thereof; and also inquiring in regard to the existence of armed organizations in that State hostile to the government thereof and intent on overturning such government by force.

To say that lawlessness, turbulence, and bloodshed have characterized the political affairs of that State since its reorganization under the reconstruction acts is only to repeat what has become well known as a part of its unhappy history; but it may be proper here to refer to the election of 1868, by which the Republican vote of the State, through fraud and violence, was reduced to a few thousands, and the bloody riots of 1866 and 1868, to show that the disorders there are not due to any recent causes or to any late action of the Federal authorities.

Preparatory to the election of 1872 a shameful and undisguised conspiracy was formed to carry that election against the Republicans, without regard to law or right, and to that end the most glaring frauds and forgeries were committed in the returns, after many colored citizens had been denied registration and others deterred by fear from casting their ballots.

When the time came for a final canvass of the votes, in view of the foregoing facts William P. Kellogg, the Republican candidate for governor, brought suit upon the equity side of the United States circuit court for Louisiana, and against Warmoth and others, who had obtained possession of the returns of the election, representing that several thousand voters of the State had been deprived of the elective franchise on account of their color, and praying that steps might be taken to have said votes counted and for general relief. To enable the court to inquire as to the truth of these allegations, a temporary restraining order was issued against the defendants, which was at once wholly disregarded and treated with contempt by those to whom it was directed. These proceedings have been widely denounced as an unwarrantable interference by the Federal judiciary with the election of State officers; but it is to be remembered that by the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States the political equality of colored citizens is secured, and under the second section of that amendment, providing that Congress shall have power to enforce its provisions by appropriate legislation, an act was passed on the 31st of May, 1870, and amended in 1871, the object of which was to prevent the denial or abridgment of suffrage to citizens on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; and it has been held by all the Federal judges before whom the question has arisen, including Justice Strong, of the Supreme Court, that the protection afforded by this amendment and these acts extends to State as well as other elections. That it is the duty of the Federal courts to enforce the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof is too clear for controversy.

Section 15 of said act, after numerous provisions therein to prevent an evasion of the fifteenth amendment, provides that the jurisdiction of the circuit court of the United States shall extend to all cases in law or equity arising under the provisions of said act and of the act amendatory thereof. Congress seems to have contemplated equitable as well as legal proceedings to prevent the denial of suffrage to colored citizens; and it may be safely asserted that if Kellogg's bill in the above-named case did not present a case for the equitable interposition of the court, that no such case can arise under the act. That the courts of the United States have the right to interfere in various ways with State elections so as to maintain political equality and rights therein, irrespective of race or color, is comparatively a new, and to some seems to be a startling, idea, but it results as clearly from the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution and the acts that have been passed to enforce that amendment as the abrogation of State laws upholding slavery results from the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution. While the jurisdiction of the court in the case of Kellogg vs. Warmoth and others is clear to my mind, it seems that some of the orders made by the judge in that and the kindred case of Antoine were illegal. But while they are so held and considered, it is not to be forgotten that the mandate of his court had been contemptuously defied, and they were made while wild scenes of anarchy were sweeping away all restraint of law and order. Doubtless the judge of this court made grave mistakes; but the law allows the chancellor great latitude, not only in punishing those who contemn his orders and injunctions, but in preventing the consummation of the wrong which he has judicially forbidden. Whatever may be said or thought of those matters, it was only made known to me that process of the United States court was resisted, and as said act especially provides for the use of the Army and Navy when necessary to enforce judicial process arising thereunder, I considered it my duty to see that such process was executed according to the judgment of the court.

Resulting from these proceedings, through various controversies and complications, a State administration was organized with William P. Kellogg as governor, which, in the discharge of my duty under section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution, I have recognized as the government of the State.

It has been bitterly and persistently alleged that Kellogg was not elected. Whether he was or not is not altogether certain, nor is it any more certain that his competitor, McEnery, was chosen. The election was a gigantic fraud, and there are no reliable returns of its result. Kellogg obtained possession of the office, and in my opinion has more right to it than his competitor.

On the 20th of February, 1873, the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the Senate made a report in which they say they were satisfied by testimony that the manipulation of the election machinery by Warmoth and others was equivalent to 20,000 votes; and they add that to recognize the McEnery government "would be recognizing a government based upon fraud, in defiance of the wishes and intention of the voters of the State." Assuming the correctness of the statements in this report (and they seem to have been generally accepted by the country), the great crime in Louisiana, about which so much has been said, is that one is holding the office of governor who was cheated out of 20,000 votes, against another whose title to the office is undoubtedly based on fraud and in defiance of the wishes and intentions of the voters of the State.

Misinformed and misjudging as to the nature and extent of this report, the supporters of McEnery proceeded to displace by force in some counties of the State the appointees of Governor Kellogg, and on the 13th of April, in an effort of that kind, a butchery of citizens was committed at Colfax, which in bloodthirstiness and barbarity is hardly surpassed by any acts of savage warfare.

To put this matter beyond controversy I quote from the charge of Judge Woods, of the United States circuit court, to the jury in the case of The United States vs. Cruikshank and others, in New Orleans in March, 1874. He said:

In the case on trial there are many facts not in controversy. I proceed to state some of them in the presence and hearing of counsel on both sides; and if I state as a conceded fact any matter that is disputed, they can correct me.

After stating the origin of the difficulty, which grew out of an attempt of white persons to drive the parish judge and sheriff, appointees of Kellogg, from office, and their attempted protection by colored persons, which led to some fighting, in which quite a number of negroes were killed, the judge states:

Most of those who were not killed were taken prisoners. Fifteen or sixteen of the blacks had lifted the boards and taken refuge under the floor of the court-house. They were all captured. About thirty-seven men were taken prisoners. The number is not definitely fixed. They were kept under guard until dark. They were led out, two by two, and shot. Most of the men were shot to death. A few were wounded, not mortally, and by pretending to be dead were afterwards, during the night, able to make their escape. Among them was the Levi Nelson named in the indictment.

The dead bodies of the negroes killed in this affair were left unburied until Tuesday, April 15, when they were buried by a deputy marshal and an officer of the militia from New Orleans. These persons found fifty-nine dead bodies. They showed pistol-shot wounds, the great majority in the head, and most of them in the back of the head. In addition to the fifty-nine dead bodies found, some charred remains of dead bodies were discovered near the court-house. Six dead bodies were found under a warehouse, all shot in the head but one or two, which were shot in the breast.

The only white men injured from the beginning of these troubles to their close were Hadnot and Harris. The court-house and its contents were entirely consumed.

There is no evidence that anyone in the crowd of whites bore any lawful warrant for the arrest of any of the blacks. There is no evidence that either Nash or Cazabat, after the affair, ever demanded their offices, to which they had set up claim, but Register continued to act as parish judge and Shaw as sheriff.

These are facts in this case as I understand them to be admitted.

To hold the people of Louisiana generally responsible for these atrocities would not be just, but it is a lamentable fact that insuperable obstructions were thrown in the way of punishing these murderers; and the so-called conservative papers of the State not only justified the massacre, but denounced as Federal tyranny and despotism the attempt of the United States officers to bring them to justice. Fierce denunciations ring through the country about office holding and election matters in Louisiana, while every one of the Colfax miscreants goes unwhipped of justice, and no way can be found in this boasted land of civilization and Christianity to punish the perpetrators of this bloody and monstrous crime.

Not unlike this was the massacre in August last. Several Northern young men of capital and enterprise had started the little and flourishing town of Coushatta. Some of them were Republicans and officeholders under Kellogg. They were therefore doomed to death. Six of them were seized and carried away from their homes and murdered in cold blood. No one has been punished, and the conservative press of the State denounced all efforts to that end and boldly justified the crime.

Many murders of a like character have been committed in individual cases, which can not here be detailed. For example, T.S. Crawford, judge, and P.H. Harris, district attorney, of the twelfth judicial district of the State, on their way to court were shot from their horses by men in ambush on the 8th of October, 1873; and the widow of the former, in a communication to the Department of Justice, tells a piteous tale of the persecutions of her husband because he was a Union man, and of the efforts made to screen those who had committed a crime which, to use her own language, "left two widows and nine orphans desolate."

To say that the murder of a negro or a white Republican is not considered a crime in Louisiana would probably be unjust to a great part of the people, but it is true that a great number of such murders have been committed and no one has been punished therefor; and manifestly, as to them, the spirit of hatred and violence is stronger than law.

Representations were made to me that the presence of troops in Louisiana was unnecessary and irritating to the people, and that there was no danger of public disturbance if they were taken away. Consequently early in last summer the troops were all withdrawn from the State, with the exception of a small garrison at New Orleans Barracks. It was claimed that a comparative state of quiet had supervened. Political excitement as to Louisiana affairs seemed to be dying out. But the November election was approaching, and it was necessary for party purposes that the flame should be rekindled.

Accordingly, on the 14th of September D.P. Penn, claiming that he was elected lieutenant-governor in 1872, issued an inflammatory proclamation calling upon the militia of the State to arm, assemble, and drive from power the usurpers, as he designated the officers of the State. The White Leagues, armed and ready for the conflict, promptly responded.

On the same day the governor made a formal requisition upon me, pursuant to the act of 1795 and section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution, to aid in suppressing domestic violence. On the next day I issued my proclamation[1] commanding the insurgents to disperse within five days from the date thereof; but before the proclamation was published in New Orleans the organized and armed forces recognizing a usurping governor had taken forcible possession of the statehouse and temporarily subverted the government. Twenty or more people were killed, including a number of the police of the city. The streets of the city were stained with blood. All that was desired in the way of excitement had been accomplished, and, in view of the steps taken to repress it, the revolution is apparently, though it is believed not really, abandoned, and the cry of Federal usurpation and tyranny in Louisiana was renewed with redoubled energy. Troops had been sent to the State under this requisition of the governor, and as other disturbances seemed imminent they were allowed to remain there to render the executive such aid as might become necessary to enforce the laws of the State and repress the continued violence which seemed inevitable the moment Federal support should be withdrawn.

Prior to, and with a view to, the late election in Louisiana white men associated themselves together in armed bodies called "White Leagues," and at the same time threats were made in the Democratic journals of the State that the election should be carried against the Republicans at all hazards, which very naturally greatly alarmed the colored voters. By section 8 of the act of February 28, 1871, it is made the duty of United States marshals and their deputies at polls where votes are cast for Representatives in Congress to keep the peace and prevent any violations of the so-called enforcement acts and other offenses against the laws of the United States; and upon a requisition of the marshal of Louisiana, and in view of said armed organizations and other portentous circumstances, I caused detachments of troops to be stationed in various localities in the State, to aid him in the performance of his official duties. That there was intimidation of Republican voters at the election, notwithstanding these precautions, admits of no doubt. The following are specimens of the means used:

On the 14th of October eighty persons signed and published the following at Shreveport:

We, the undersigned, merchants of the city of Shreveport, in obedience to a request of the Shreveport Campaign Club, agree to use every endeavor to get our employees to vote the People's ticket at the ensuing election, and in the event of their refusal so to do, or in case they vote the Radical ticket, to refuse to employ them at the expiration of their present contracts.

On the same day another large body of persons published in the same place a paper in which they used the following language:

We, the undersigned, merchants of the city of Shreveport, alive to the great importance of securing good and honest government to the State, do agree and pledge ourselves not to advance any supplies or money to any planter the coming year who will give employment or rent lands to laborers who vote the Radical ticket in the coming election.

I have no information of the proceedings of the returning board for said election which may not be found in its report, which has been published; but it is a matter of public information that a great part of the time taken to canvass the votes was consumed by the arguments of lawyers, several of whom represented each party before the board. I have no evidence that the proceedings of this board were not in accordance with the law under which they acted. Whether in excluding from their count certain returns they were right or wrong is a question that depends upon the evidence they had before them; but it is very clear that the law gives them the power, if they choose to exercise it, of deciding that way, and, prima facie, the persons whom they return as elected are entitled to the offices for which they were candidates.

Respecting the alleged interference by the military with the organization of the legislature of Louisiana on the 4th instant, I have no knowledge or information which has not been received by me since that time and published. My first information was from the papers of the morning of the 5th of January. I did not know that any such thing was anticipated, and no orders nor suggestions were ever given to any military officer in that State upon that subject prior to the occurrence. I am well aware that any military interference by the officers or troops of the United States with the organization of the State legislature or any of its proceedings, or with any civil department of the Government, is repugnant to our ideas of government. I can conceive of no case, not involving rebellion or insurrection, where such interference by authority of the General Government ought to be permitted or can be justified. But there are circumstances connected with the late legislative imbroglio in Louisiana which seem to exempt the military from any intentional wrong in that matter. Knowing that they had been placed in Louisiana to prevent domestic violence and aid in the enforcement of the State laws, the officers and troops of the United States may well have supposed that it was their duty to act when called upon by the governor for that purpose.

Each branch of a legislative assembly is the judge of the election and qualifications of its own members; but if a mob or a body of unauthorized persons seize and hold the legislative hall in a tumultuous and riotous manner, and so prevent any organization by those legally returned as elected, it might become the duty of the State executive to interpose, if requested by a majority of the members elect, to suppress the disturbance and enable the persons elected to organize the house.

Any exercise of this power would only be justifiable under most extraordinary circumstances, and it would then be the duty of the governor to call upon the constabulary or, if necessary, the military force of the State. But with reference to Louisiana, it is to be borne in mind that any attempt by the governor to use the police force of that State at this time would have undoubtedly precipitated a bloody conflict with the White League, as it did on the 14th of September.

There is no doubt but that the presence of the United States troops upon that occasion prevented bloodshed and the loss of life. Both parties appear to have relied upon them as conservators of the public peace.

The first call was made by the Democrats, to remove persons obnoxious to them from the legislative halls; and the second was from the Republicans, to remove persons who had usurped seats in the legislature without legal certificates authorizing them to seats, and in sufficient number to change the majority.

Nobody was disturbed by the military who had a legal right at that time to occupy a seat in the legislature. That the Democratic minority of the house undertook to seize its organization by fraud and violence; that in this attempt they trampled under foot law; that they undertook to make persons not returned as elected members, so as to create a majority; that they acted under a preconcerted plan, and under false pretenses introduced into the hall a body of men to support their pretensions by force if necessary, and that conflict, disorder, and riotous proceedings followed are facts that seem to be well established; and I am credibly informed that these violent proceedings were a part of a premeditated plan to have the house organized in this way, recognize what has been called the McEnery senate, then to depose Governor Kellogg, and so revolutionize the State government.

Whether it was wrong for the governor, at the request of the majority of the members returned as elected to the house, to use such means as were in his power to defeat these lawless and revolutionary proceedings is perhaps a debatable question; but it is quite certain that there would have been no trouble if those who now complain of illegal interference had allowed the house to be organized in a lawful and regular manner. When those who inaugurate disorder and anarchy disavow such proceedings, it will be time enough to condemn those who by such means as they have prevent the success of their lawless and desperate schemes.

Lieutenant-General Sheridan was requested by me to go to Louisiana to observe and report the situation there, and, if in his opinion necessary, to assume the command, which he did on the 4th instant, after the legislative disturbances had occurred, at 9 o'clock p.m., a number of hours after the disturbances. No party motives nor prejudices can reasonably be imputed to him; but honestly convinced by what he has seen and heard there, he has characterized the leaders of the White Leagues in severe terms and suggested summary modes of procedure against them, which, though they can not be adopted, would, if legal, soon put an end to the troubles and disorders in that State. General Sheridan was looking at facts, and possibly, not thinking of proceedings which would be the only proper ones to pursue in time of peace, thought more of the utterly lawless condition of society surrounding him at the time of his dispatch and of what would prove a sure remedy. He never proposed to do an illegal act nor expressed determination to proceed beyond what the law in the future might authorize for the punishment of the atrocities which have been committed, and the commission of which can not be successfully denied. It is a deplorable fact that political crimes and murders have been committed in Louisiana which have gone unpunished, and which have been justified or apologized for, which must rest as a reproach upon the State and country long after the present generation has passed away.

I have no desire to have United States troops interfere in the domestic concerns of Louisiana or any other State.

On the 9th of December last Governor Kellogg telegraphed to me his apprehensions that the White League intended to make another attack upon the statehouse, to which, on the same day, I made the following answer, since which no communication has been sent to him:

Your dispatch of this date just received. It is exceedingly unpalatable to use troops in anticipation of danger. Let the State authorities be right, and then proceed with their duties without apprehension of danger. If they are then molested, the question will be determined whether the United States is able to maintain law and order within its limits or not.

I have deplored the necessity which seemed to make it my duty under the Constitution and laws to direct such interference. I have always refused except where it seemed to be my imperative duty to act in such a manner under the Constitution and laws of the United States. I have repeatedly and earnestly entreated the people of the South to live together in peace and obey the laws; and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see reconciliation and tranquillity everywhere prevail, and thereby remove all necessity for the presence of troops among them. I regret, however, to say that this state of things does not exist, nor does its existence seem to be desired, in some localities; and as to those it may be proper for me to say that to the extent that Congress has conferred power upon me to prevent it neither Kuklux Klans, White Leagues, nor any other association using arms and violence to execute their unlawful purposes can be permitted in that way to govern any part of this country; nor can I see with indifference Union men or Republicans ostracized, persecuted, and murdered on account of their opinions, as they now are in some localities.

I have heretofore urged the case of Louisiana upon the attention of Congress, and I can not but think that its inaction has produced great evil.

To summarize: In September last an armed, organized body of men, in the support of candidates who had been put in nomination for the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor at the November election in 1872, and who had been declared not elected by the board of canvassers, recognized by all the courts to which the question had been submitted, undertook to subvert and overthrow the State government that had been recognized by me in accordance with previous precedents. The recognized governor was driven from the statehouse, and but for his finding shelter in the United States custom-house, in the capital of the State of which he was governor, it is scarcely to be doubted that he would have been killed.

From the statehouse, before he had been driven to the custom-house, a call was made, in accordance with the fourth section, fourth article, of the Constitution of the United States, for the aid of the General Government to suppress domestic violence. Under those circumstances, and in accordance with my sworn duties, my proclamation[91] of the 15th of September, 1874, was issued. This served to reinstate Governor Kellogg to his position nominally, but it can not be claimed that the insurgents have to this day surrendered to the State authorities the arms belonging to the State, or that they have in any sense disarmed. On the contrary, it is known that the same armed organizations that existed on the 14th of September, 1874, in opposition to the recognized State government, still retain their organization, equipments, and commanders, and can be called out at any hour to resist the State government. Under these circumstances the same military force has been continued in Louisiana as was sent there under the first call, and under the same general instructions. I repeat that the task assumed by the troops is not a pleasant one to them; that the Army is not composed of lawyers, capable of judging at a moment's notice of just how far they can go in the maintenance of law and order, and that it was impossible to give specific instructions providing for all possible contingencies that might arise. The troops were bound to act upon the judgment of the commanding officer upon each sudden contingency that arose, or wait instructions which could only reach them after the threatened wrongs had been committed which they were called on to prevent. It should be recollected, too, that upon my recognition of the Kellogg government I reported the fact, with the grounds of recognition, to Congress, and asked that body to take action in the matter; otherwise I should regard their silence as an acquiescence in my course. No action has been taken by that body, and I have maintained the position then marked out.

If error has been committed by the Army in these matters, it has always been on the side of the preservation of good order, the maintenance of law, and the protection of life. Their bearing reflects credit upon the soldiers, and if wrong has resulted the blame is with the turbulent element surrounding them.

I now earnestly ask that such action be taken by Congress as to leave my duties perfectly clear in dealing with the affairs of Louisiana, giving assurance at the same time that whatever may be done by that body in the premises will be executed according to the spirit and letter of the law, without fear or favor.

I herewith transmit copies of documents containing more specific information as to the subject-matter of the resolution.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 90: See pp. 276-277.]

[Footnote 91: See pp. 275-277.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 14, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

Senate bill No. 1044, "to provide for the resumption of specie payments," is before me, and this day receives my signature of approval.

I venture upon this unusual method of conveying the notice of approval to the "House in which the measure originated" because of its great importance to the country at large and in order to suggest further legislation which seems to me essential to make this law effective.

It is a subject of congratulation that a measure has become law which fixes a date when specie resumption shall commence and implies an obligation on the part of Congress, if in its power, to give such legislation as may prove necessary to redeem this promise.

To this end I respectfully call your attention to a few suggestions:

First. The necessity of an increased revenue to carry out the obligation of adding to the sinking fund annually 1 per cent of the public debt, amounting now to about $34,000,000 per annum, and to carry out the promises of this measure to redeem, under certain contingencies, eighty millions of the present legal-tenders, and, without contingency, the fractional currency now in circulation.

How to increase the surplus revenue is for Congress to devise, but I will venture to suggest that the duty on tea and coffee might be restored without permanently enhancing the cost to the consumers, and that the 10 per cent horizontal reduction of the tariff on articles specified in the law of June 6, 1872, be repealed. The supply of tea and coffee already on hand in the United States would in all probability be advanced in price by adopting this measure. But it is known that the adoption of free entry to those articles of necessity did not cheapen them, but merely added to the profits of the countries producing them, or of the middlemen in those countries, who have the exclusive trade in them.

Second. The first section of the bill now under consideration provides that the fractional currency shall be redeemed in silver coin as rapidly as practicable. There is no provision preventing the fluctuation in the value of the paper currency. With gold at a premium of anything over 10 per cent above the currency in use, it is probable, almost certain, that silver would be bought up for exportation as fast as it was put out, or until change would become so scarce as to make the premium on it equal to the premium on gold, or sufficiently high to make it no longer profitable to buy for export, thereby causing a direct loss to the community at large and great embarrassment to trade.

As the present law commands final resumption on the 1st day of January, 1879, and as the gold receipts by the Treasury are larger than the gold payments and the currency receipts are smaller than the currency payments, thereby making monthly sales of gold necessary to meet current currency expenses, it occurs to me that these difficulties might be remedied by authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem legal-tender notes, whenever presented in sums of not less than $100 and multiples thereof, at a premium for gold of 10 per cent, less interest at the rate of 2-1/2 per cent per annum from the 1st day of January, 1875, to the date of putting this law into operation, and diminishing this premium at the same rate until final resumption, changing the rate of premium demanded from time to time as the interest amounts to one-quarter of 1 per cent. I suggest this rate of interest because it would bring currency at par with gold at the date fixed by law for final resumption. I suggest 10 per cent as the demand premium at the beginning because I believe this rate would insure the retention of silver in the country for change.

The provisions of the third section of the act will prevent combinations being made to exhaust the Treasury of coin.

With such a law it is presumable that no gold would be called for not required for legitimate business purposes. When large amounts of coin should be drawn from the Treasury, correspondingly large amounts of currency would be withdrawn from circulation, thus causing a sufficient stringency in currency to stop the outward flow of coin.

The advantages of a currency of a fixed known value would also be reached. In my opinion, by the enactment of such a law business and industries would revive and the beginning of prosperity on a firm basis would be reached.

Other means of increasing revenue than those suggested should probably be devised, and also other legislation.

In fact, to carry out the first section of the act another mint becomes a necessity. With the present facilities for coinage, it would take a period probably beyond that fixed by law for final specie resumption to coin the silver necessary to transact the business of the country.

There are now smelting furnaces, for extracting the silver and gold from the ores brought from the mountain territories, in Chicago, St. Louis, and Omaha—three in the former city—and as much of the change required will be wanted in the Mississippi Valley States, and as the metals to be coined come from west of those States, and, as I understand, the charges for transportation of bullion from either of the cities named to the mint in Philadelphia or to New York City amount to $4 for each $1,000 worth, with an equal expense for transportation back, it would seem a fair argument in favor of adopting one or more of those cities as the place or places for the establishment of new coining facilities.

I have ventured upon this subject with great diffidence, because it is so unusual to approve a measure—as I most heartily do this, even if no further legislation is attainable at this time—and to announce the fact by message. But I do so because I feel that it is a subject of such vital importance to the whole country that it should receive the attention of and be discussed by Congress and the people through the press, and in every way, to the end that the best and most satisfactory course may be reached of executing what I deem most beneficial legislation on a most vital question to the interests and prosperity of the nation.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 20, 1875.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report from a board composed of one person named by the head of each Executive Department and of the Department of Agriculture and Smithsonian Institution, 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 at the international exhibition to be held in the city of Philadelphia in the year 1876 for the purpose of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the independence of the United States. The report gives a statement of what is proposed to be exhibited by each Department, together with an estimate of the expense which will have to be incurred. Submitting to Congress the estimate made by the board, I recommend that Congress make a suitable appropriation to enable the different Departments to make a complete and creditable showing of the articles and materials designed to be exhibited by the Government, and which will undoubtedly form one of the most interesting features of the exhibition.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 20, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In my annual message of December 1, 1873, while inviting general attention to all the recommendations made by the Secretary of War, your special consideration was invited to "the importance of preparing for war in time of peace by providing proper armament for our seacoast defenses. Proper armament is of vastly more importance than fortifications. The latter can be supplied very speedily for temporary purposes when needed; the former can not."

These views gain increased strength and pertinence as the years roll by, and I have now again the honor to call special attention to the condition of the "armament of our fortifications" and the absolute necessity for immediate provision by Congress for the procurement of heavy cannon. The large expenditures required to supply the number of guns for our forts is the strongest argument that can be adduced for a liberal annual appropriation for their gradual accumulation. In time of war such preparations can not be made; cannon can not be purchased in open market nor manufactured at short notice; they must be the product of years of experience and labor.

I herewith enclose copies of a report of the Chief of Ordnance and of a board of ordnance officers on the trial of an 8-inch rifle converted from a 10-inch smooth-bore, which shows very conclusively an economical means of utilizing these useless smooth-bores and making them into 8-inch rifles, capable of piercing 7 inches of iron. The 1,294 10-inch Rodman guns should, in my opinion, be so utilized, and the appropriation requested by the Chief of Ordnance of $250,000 to commence these conversions is urgently recommended.

While convinced of the economy and necessity of these conversions, the determination of the best and most economical method of providing guns of still larger caliber should no longer be delayed. The experience of other nations, based on the new conditions of defense brought prominently forward by the introduction of ironclads into every navy afloat, demands heavier metal and rifle guns of not less than 12 inches in caliber. These enormous masses, hurling a shot of 700 pounds, can alone meet many of the requirements of the national defenses. They must be provided, and experiments on a large scale can alone give the data necessary for the determination of the question. A suitable proving ground, with all the facilities and conveniences referred to by the Chief of Ordnance, with a liberal annual appropriation, is an undoubted necessity.

The guns now ready for trial can not be experimented with without funds, and the estimate of $250,000 for the purpose is deemed reasonable and is strongly recommended.

The constant appeals for legislation on the "armament of fortifications" ought no longer to be disregarded if Congress desires in peace to prepare the important material without which future wars must inevitably lead to disaster.

This subject is submitted with the hope that the consideration it deserves may be given it at the present session.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 25, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of the commission of engineers appointed in compliance with the act of Congress approved June 22, 1874, to investigate and report a permanent plan for the reclamation of the alluvial basin of the Mississippi River subject to inundation.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 26, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a report of the progress made to this date by the United States Centennial Commission appointed in accordance with the requirements of the act approved June 1, 1872.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, February 1, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty concluded on the 30th ultimo between this Government and His Hawaiian Majesty, on the subject of commercial reciprocity. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the papers mentioned in the subjoined list, relating to the commerce between the United States and the Hawaiian Islands.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I have the honor to lay before Congress a communication of the Secretary of War relative to the action taken in issuing certain supplies to the suffering people in Kansas and Nebraska, in consequence of the drought and grasshopper plague, and to respectfully request that such action be approved.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 8, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

Herewith I have the honor to send, in accordance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, all the information in my possession not heretofore furnished relating to affairs in the State of Arkansas.

I will venture to express the opinion that all the testimony shows that in the election of 1872 Joseph Brooks was lawfully elected governor of that State; that he has been unlawfully deprived of the possession of his office since that time; that in 1874 the constitution of the State was by violence, intimidation, and revolutionary proceedings overthrown and a new constitution adopted and a new State government established.

These proceedings, if permitted to stand, practically ignore all rights of minorities in all the States. Also, what is there to prevent each of the States recently readmitted to Federal relations on certain conditions changing their constitutions and violating their pledges if this action in Arkansas is acquiesced in?

I respectfully submit whether a precedent so dangerous to the stability of State government, if not of the National Government also, should be recognized by Congress. I earnestly ask that Congress will take definite action in this matter to relieve the Executive from acting upon questions which should be decided by the legislative branch of the Government.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 19, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

Under the requirements of section 6 of the "act for the government of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes," approved June 20, 1874, I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the board of audit upon the amount equitably chargeable to the street-railroad companies pursuant to the charters of said companies or the acts of Congress relating thereto, together with the reasons therefor.

U.S. GRANT.



VETO MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 30, 1875.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to return herewith House bill No. 4462, entitled "An act for the relief of Alexander Burtch," from which I withhold my approval for the reasons given in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of War.

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, January 28, 1875.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return House bill No. 4462, "for the relief of Alexander Burtch."

It appears from the records of this office that Alexander Burtch, Company H, First Indiana Artillery, enlisted July 24, 1861, for three years, reenlisted as a veteran January 1, 1864, and deserted at Fort Gaines, Ala., September 25, 1865, and was a deserter at large at date of muster-out of his company, January 10, 1866.

This Department emphatically objects to this bill becoming a law upon the ground of its great injustice to every soldier who served honorably until his services were no longer required by the Government.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. W. BELKNAP,

Secretary of War.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 12, 1875.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to return herewith House bill No. 2352, entitled "An act granting a pension to Lewis Hinely," from which I withhold my approval for the reasons given in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of the Interior.

U.S. GRANT.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, February 11, 1875.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith House bill No. 2352, "granting a pension to Lewis Hinely."

I am informed by the Commissioner of Pensions that the act does not designate the person for whose benefit it was passed. His true name, as verified by his own signature to papers on file in the Pension Office, is Louis Heinlig, and as there were several soldiers in the company and regiment named in the act whose names are similar to that specified therein, a correction appears to be necessary in order that the beneficiary of the act may be properly identified should the bill become a law.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. DELANO, Secretary.



WASHINGTON, March 3, 1875.

To the House of Representatives:[92]

House bill No. 3341[93] is herewith returned without my approval, for the reasons, first, that it appropriates from the Treasury a large sum of money at a time when the revenue is insufficient for current wants and this proposed further drain on the Treasury. The issue of bonds, authorized by the bill to a very large and indefinite amount, would seriously embarrass the refunding operations now progressing, whereby the interest of the bonded debt of the United States is being largely reduced. Second, I do not believe that any considerable portion of the ex-soldiers who, it is supposed, will be beneficiaries of this appropriation are applicants for it, but, rather, it would result more in a measure for the relief of claim agents and middlemen who would intervene to collect or discount the bounties granted by it. The passage of this bill at this time is inconsistent with the measures of economy now demanded by the necessities of the country.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 92: Pocket veto. This message was written in the President's room at the Capitol, but failed to reach the House of Representatives before the final adjournment of Congress. The original is filed at the Executive Mansion.]

[Footnote 93: "An act to equalize the bounties of soldiers who served in the late war for the Union."]



[The following messages were sent to the special session of the Senate convened by proclamation (see p. 324) of February 17, 1875.]



SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

I nominate in the Medical Department, Army of the United States, Benjamin F. Pope, assistant surgeon, to rank from May 14, 1867.

Note.—October 5, 1870, Assistant Surgeon B.F. Pope, United States Army, applied for discharge to date December 31, 1870, under section 3, act of July 15, 1870.

By letter from the Adjutant-General's Office, War Department, November 2, 1870, he was informed he could not be discharged as requested, as the President had decided staff officers did not come under the provisions of the act.

Subsequently the President decided that staff officers who applied and could be spared could go out under the act. Accordingly, Assistant Surgeon Pope was discharged, on his original application, to date December 31, 1870, by special order of that date, this because time did not permit to communicate with him, and the belief that his desire to leave the service was unchanged.

He drew a year's pay and mileage under the order, came to Washington, and on May 19, 1871, applied for revocation of the order of discharge on the ground that, having been officially notified of disapproval, he had made arrangements to remain in service. Forwarded by the Surgeon-General recommended. Disapproved by the Secretary of War May 23, 1871.

June 17, 1871, the order of discharge was revoked. Assistant-Surgeon Pope then refunded the year's pay and mileage and drew pay for continuous service.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, March 9, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

Pursuant to the authority conferred upon me by the joint resolution of Congress approved on the 17th of June last, due notice was, on the 1st day of July last, given to the Government of Belgium, through the minister of the United States at Brussels, of the desire of this Government to terminate the treaty between the United States and His Majesty the King of the Belgians of the 17th of July, 1858. It being deemed advisable, however, that another instrument, with provisions more consonant with the interests of this country, should be entered into with that Government, I directed that negotiations should be set on foot for the purpose. They have resulted in the treaty[94] between the same parties of the 8th instant, which is now transmitted for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 94: Of commerce and navigation.]



WASHINGTON, March 15, 1875.

To the Senate:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 12th of March instant, I herewith transmit a report[95] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying correspondence.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 95: Stating that the question of indemnity demanded from Spain for the execution or detention of a portion of the crew of the steamer Virginius and for the execution of passengers, citizens of the United States, had been disposed of by an agreement between the two countries, and transmitting correspondence connected therewith.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 17, 1875.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have the honor to transmit herewith communications from the Secretaries of War and the Interior, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant, requesting "any information in my possession in regard to the proposed emigration to the Black Hills country, in the Sioux Indian Reservation; whether such emigration is with the consent of the Indian tribes holding said country under the treaty of February 24, 1869, and, if not, what measures will be taken in relation to the same."

U.S. GRANT.



PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect every State in the Union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas it is provided by the laws of the United States that in all cases of insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such State, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), to call forth the militia of any other State or States, or to employ such part of the land and naval force as shall be judged necessary, for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or of causing the laws to be duly executed; and

Whereas the legislature of the State of Mississippi, now in session, have represented to me, in a concurrent resolution of that body, that several of the legally elected officers of Warren County, in said State, are prevented from executing the duties of their respective offices by force and violence; that the public buildings and records of said county have been taken into the possession of and are now held by lawless and unauthorized persons; that many peaceable citizens of said county have been killed, and others have been compelled to abandon and remain away from their homes and families; that illegal and riotous seizures and imprisonments have been made by such lawless persons; and, further, that a large number of armed men from adjacent States have invaded Mississippi to aid such lawless persons, and are still ready to give them such aid; and

Whereas it is further represented as aforesaid by said legislature that the courts of said county can not be held, and that the governor of said State has no sufficient force at his command to execute the laws thereof in said county and suppress said violence without causing a conflict of races and endangering life and property to an alarming extent; and

Whereas the said legislature as aforesaid have made application to me for such part of the military force of the United States as may be necessary and adequate to protect said State and the citizens thereof against the domestic violence hereinbefore mentioned and to enforce the due execution of the laws; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force for the purposes aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby command said disorderly and turbulent persons to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within five days from the date hereof, and that they refrain from forcible resistance to the laws and submit themselves peaceably to the lawful authorities of said county and State.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of December, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-ninth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 5th day of March next to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the Executive:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation, declaring that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 5th day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon on that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the 17th day of February, A.D. 1875, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-ninth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the eighth section of the act of Congress entitled "An act for the creation of a court for the adjudication and disposition of certain moneys received into the Treasury under an award made by the tribunal of arbitration constituted by virtue of the first article of the treaty concluded at Washington the 8th of May, A.D. 1871, between the United States of America and the Queen of Great Britain," approved June 23, 1874, it is provided—

That the judges of the court created by this act shall convene in the city of Washington as soon as conveniently may be after their appointment; and the said court shall exist for one year from the date of its first convening and organizing; and should it be found impracticable to complete the work of the said court before the expiration of the said one year, the President may by proclamation extend the time of the duration thereof to a period not more than six months beyond the expiration of the said one year; and in such case all the provisions of this act shall be taken and held to be the same as though the continuance of the said court had been originally fixed by this act at the limit to which it may be thus extended.

And whereas it has been made satisfactorily to appear to me that the said court convened on the 22d of July, 1874, and that a large portion of the business of said court still remains undisposed of, and that it is found impracticable to complete the work of the said court before the expiration of the said one year from its first convening and organizing:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the provisions of the said eighth section of the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby extend the time of the duration of said "Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims" for a period of six months from and after the 22d day of July, A.D. 1875.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of June, A.D. 1875, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-ninth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

In accordance with a practice at once wise and beautiful, we have been accustomed, as the year is drawing to a close, to devote an occasion to the humble expression of our thanks to Almighty God for the ceaseless and distinguished benefits bestowed upon us as a nation and for His mercies and protection during the closing year.

Amid the rich and free enjoyment of all our advantages, we should not forget the source from whence they are derived and the extent of our obligation to the Father of All Mercies.

We have full reason to renew our thanks to Almighty God for favors bestowed upon us during the past year.

By His continuing mercy civil and religious liberty have been maintained, peace has reigned within our borders, labor and enterprise have produced their merited rewards; and to His watchful providence we are indebted for security from pestilence and other national calamity.

Apart from national blessings, each individual among us has occasion to thoughtfully recall and devoutly recognize the favors and protection which he has enjoyed.

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do recommend that on Thursday, the 25th day of November, the people of the United States, abstaining from all secular pursuits and from their accustomed avocations, do assemble in their respective places of worship, and, in such form as may seem most appropriate in their own hearts, offer to Almighty God their acknowledgments and thanks for all His mercies and their humble prayers for a continuance of His divine favor.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of October, A.D. 1875, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundredth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 9, 1875.

In order to carry out the provisions of the fifth section of the act of Congress entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1875, the board heretofore appointed to take charge of the articles and materials to be exhibited by the several Executive Departments, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Agricultural Department at the International Exhibition of 1876 is hereby continued under the following regulations and distribution of duties, viz:

The funds appropriated by the above-named section will be drawn from the Treasury upon the requisition of the chairman of the board, and be disbursed as are other public moneys under the existing laws relating to disbursing officers.

An officer of the Army will be detailed by the Secretary of War as disbursing officer of the board.

Each representative of an Executive Department and the representatives of the Smithsonian Institution, of the Agricultural Department, and the United States Commissioner of Food Fishes will have charge of the matters pertaining to his respective Department, subject to the general advisement of the board; and all bills will be paid by the disbursing officer upon vouchers certified by such representative and countersigned by the chairman of the board.

The disbursing officer will render monthly accounts current of all advances to and disbursements by him 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 exhibition, and will render proper accounts of the same to such head of Department until the property is returned.

U.S. GRANT,

President United States.



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 9, 1875.

The BOARD OF EXAMINERS,

Treasury Department:

By direction of the President, the rules and regulations known as the civil-service rules, etc., governing appointments and promotions under the Treasury Department are hereby abolished, and hereafter all appointments will be made as provided for by section 164, Revised Statutes, enacted June 22, 1874.

You are instructed and directed to transfer all books, papers, records, and public property in your possession to the chief clerk of the Department, and notify all sub-boards of the promulgation of this order.

The clerks and other employees now on duty under the direction of the board of examiners will report to the chief clerk for assignment to duty. I am, very respectfully,

B.H. BRISTOW, Secretary.

[A similar order was, by direction of the President, issued by the heads of the other Executive Departments.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 25, 1875.

In pursuance of the fourth section of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1875, a board is hereby appointed, to consist of Lieutenant-Colonel T.T.S. Laidley, Ordnance Department, United States Army, president of the board; Commander L.A. Beardslee, United States Navy; Lieutenant-Colonel Q.A. Gillmore, Engineer Department, United States Army; David Smith, Chief Engineer, United States Navy; W. Sooy Smith, civil engineer; A.S. Holly, civil engineer; R.H. Thurston, civil engineer, who will convene at the Watertown Arsenal, Mass., on April 15, 1875, or as soon thereafter as practicable, for the purpose of determining by actual tests the strength and value of all kinds of iron, steel, and other metals which may be submitted to them or by them procured, and to prepare tables which will exhibit the strength and value of said materials for constructive and mechanical purposes, and to provide for the building of a suitable machine for establishing such tests, the machine to be set up and maintained at the Watertown Arsenal.

The funds appropriated for the purposes of these tests will be disbursed under the Ordnance Department of the Army, and the board will receive instructions from and make its report to the Chief of Ordnance.

Mr. R.H. Thurston, civil engineer, is designated as secretary of the board, at an annual compensation of $1,200.

Actual traveling expenses, as provided by law, will be allowed the members of the board.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 24, 1875.

SIR:[96] The President directs me to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on Saturday, the 29th instant, in order to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

O.E. BABCOCK, Secretary.

[Footnote 96: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc,]



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D.C., July 3, 1875.

To Collectors of Customs:

The importation of breech-loading rifles, and fixed ammunition suitable therefor, into the Territory of Alaska, and the shipment of such rifles or ammunition to any port or place in the Territory of Alaska, are hereby forbidden, and collectors of customs are instructed to refuse clearance of any vessel having on board any such arms or ammunition destined for any port or place in said Territory.

If, however, any vessel intends to touch or trade at a port in Alaska Territory or to pass within the waters thereof, but shall be ultimately destined for some port or place not within the limits of said Territory, and shall have on board any such firearms or ammunition, the master or chief officer thereof will be required to execute and deliver to the collector of customs at the port of clearance a good and sufficient bond, with two sureties, in double the value of such merchandise, conditioned that such arms or ammunition, or any part thereof, shall not be landed or disposed of within the Territory of Alaska. Such bond shall be taken for such time as the collector shall deem proper, and may be satisfied upon proofs similar to those required to satisfy ordinary export bonds, showing that such arms have been landed at some foreign port; or, if such merchandise is landed at any port of the United States not within the limits of the Territory of Alaska, the bond may be satisfied upon production of a certificate to that effect from the collector of the port where it is so landed.

CHAS. F. CONANT, Acting Secretary.

Approved:

U.S. GRANT, President.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 27, 1875.

In conformity to provisions contained in the river and harbor act approved March 3, 1875, granting to James B. Eads and his associates authority to use, for the construction of jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi River, any materials on the public lands of the United States that shall be suitable for and may be needed in said works, under such regulations as the Secretary of War shall prescribe, it is hereby ordered and directed—

1. That the general supervision of all matters properly appertaining to the grant therein made is placed in the officer of engineers, Major C.B. Comstock, detailed by the Secretary of War, under the provisions of the said act, to report to him "the depth of water and width of channel secured and maintained from time to time in said channel, together with such other information as the Secretary of War may direct."

2. Protection of the interests of the United States so far as the taking of material is concerned.—Said Eads and his associates shall, prior to taking material from any public lands, obtain authority to do so from the Secretary of War, their applications specifying the kinds and amounts of material they wish to take from each subdivision of the public lands; and they shall at once cease from such taking on being notified that the authority is withdrawn.

3. Protection of the interests of the United States so far as structures are concerned.—Said Eads and his associates and contractors are authorized to erect, at their own expense, such shops, dwellings, storehouses, and wharves on the military reservation at the mouth of the Mississippi as may be necessary for the prosecution of the work, and shall furnish a list and plan showing the location of the same to the Secretary of War; but these shall be erected in such a way and at such places as not unnecessarily to interfere with navigation or any other interest in which the United States is concerned, whereof the Secretary of War shall be the judge. At his direction any such structure shall be at once removed.

4. Protection of James B. Eads's interests.—No person save said Eads and his contractors shall erect any building, tent, or other habitation on the military reservation at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Any person so doing may be summarily ejected by the United States marshal or his deputy. But as authority has already been given to James B. Eads by the Secretary of War to collect the material aforesaid until he should be furnished with the regulations as now herein given, the said Eads is authorized to continue collecting materials under that authority until the 1st day of September, 1875, after which time these regulations will go into effect.

U.S. GRANT.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 73.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, August 2, 1875.

I. The following order has been received from the President of the United States:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, July 31, 1875.

It becomes the painful duty of the President to announce to the people of the United States the death of Andrew Johnson, the last survivor of his honored predecessors, which occurred in Carter County, East Tennessee, at an early hour this morning.

The solemnity of the occasion which called him to the Presidency, with the varied nature and length of his public services, will cause him to be long remembered and occasion mourning for the death of a distinguished public servant.

As a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and several Departments of the Government at Washington be draped in mourning until the close of the day designated for his funeral, and that all public business be suspended on that day.

It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable honors to be paid on the occasion to the memory of the illustrious dead.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: JOHN L. CADWALADER, Acting Secretary of State.

II. In compliance with the President's instructions, the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. on the day after the receipt of this order at each military post, when the order will be read to them, and the labors of that day will thereafter cease.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.

At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes, between the rising and setting sun a single gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-seven guns.

The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of thirty days.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.



SPECIAL ORDER.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, August 2, 1875.

The President of the United States announces the death of ex-President Andrew Johnson in the following order:

[For order see preceding page.]

In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that the ensign at each naval station and of each vessel of the United States Navy in commission be hoisted at half-mast from sunrise to sunset, and that a gun be fired at intervals of every half hour from sunrise to sunset at each naval station and on board of flagships and of vessels acting singly, on Tuesday, the 3d instant, the day of the funeral, where this order may be received in time, otherwise on the day after its receipt.

The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of mourning attached to the sword hilt and on the left arm for the period of thirty days.

DANIEL AMMEN, Acting Secretary of the Navy.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 97.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, November 22, 1875.

I. The following order announces the decease of Henry Wilson, Vice-President of the United States:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, November 22, 1875.

It is with profound sorrow that the President has to announce to the people of the United States the death of the Vice-President, Henry Wilson, who died in the Capitol of the nation this morning.

The eminent station of the deceased, his high character, his long career in the service of his State and of the Union, his devotion to the cause of freedom, and the ability which he brought to the discharge of every duty stand conspicuous and are indelibly impressed on the hearts and affections of the American people.

In testimony of respect for this distinguished citizen and faithful public servant the various Departments of the Government will be closed on the day of the funeral, and the Executive Mansion and all the Executive Departments in Washington will be draped with badges of mourning for thirty days.

The Secretaries of War and of the Navy will issue orders that appropriate military and naval honors be rendered to the memory of one whose virtues and services will long be borne in recollection by a grateful nation.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.

II. On the day next succeeding the receipt of this order at each military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a. m. and this order read to them.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.

At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired. Commencing at 12 o'clock noon seventeen minute guns will be fired, and at the close of the day the national salute of thirty-seven guns.

The usual badge of mourning will be worn by officers of the Army and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of three months.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.



SPECIAL ORDER.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, November 23, 1875.

The President of the United States announces the death of Vice-President Henry Wilson in the following order:

[For order see preceding page.]

In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that upon the day following the receipt of this the ensign at each United States naval station and of each United States naval vessel in commission be hoisted at half-mast from sunrise to sunset, and that thirteen guns be fired at sunrise, nineteen minute guns at meridian, and a national salute at sunset at each United States naval station and on board flagships and vessels acting singly, at home or abroad.

The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of mourning for three months.

GEO. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy.



SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 7, 1875.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In submitting my seventh annual message to Congress, in this centennial year of our national existence as a free and independent people, it affords me great pleasure to recur to the advancement that has been made from the time of the colonies, one hundred years ago. We were then a people numbering only 3,000,000. Now we number more than 40,000,000. Then industries were confined almost exclusively to the tillage of the soil. Now manufactories absorb much of the labor of the country.

Our liberties remain unimpaired; the bondmen have been freed from slavery; we have become possessed of the respect, if not the friendship, of all civilized nations. Our progress has been great in all the arts—in science, agriculture, commerce, navigation, mining, mechanics, law, medicine, etc,: and in general education the progress is likewise encouraging. Our thirteen States have become thirty-eight, including Colorado (which has taken the initiatory steps to become a State), and eight Territories, including the Indian Territory and Alaska, and excluding Colorado, making a territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the south we have extended to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the west from the Mississippi to the Pacific.

One hundred years ago the cotton gin, the steamship, the railroad, the telegraph, the reaping, sewing, and modern printing machines, and numerous other inventions of scarcely less value to our business and happiness were entirely unknown.

In 1776 manufactories scarcely existed even in name in all this vast territory. In 1870 more than 2,000,000 persons were employed in manufactories, producing more than $2,100,000,000 of products in amount annually, nearly equal to our national debt. From nearly the whole of the population of 1776 being engaged in the one occupation of agriculture, in 1870 so numerous and diversified had become the occupation of our people that less than 6,000,000 out of more than 40,000,000 were so engaged. The extraordinary effect produced in our country by a resort to diversified occupations has built a market for the products of fertile lands distant from the seaboard and the markets of the world.

The American system of locating various and extensive manufactories next to the plow and the pasture, and adding connecting railroads and steamboats, has produced in our distant interior country a result noticeable by the intelligent portions of all commercial nations. The ingenuity and skill of American mechanics have been demonstrated at home and abroad in a manner most flattering to their pride. But for the extraordinary genius and ability of our mechanics, the achievements of our agriculturists, manufacturers, and transporters throughout the country would have been impossible of attainment.

The progress of the miner has also been great. Of coal our production was small; now many millions of tons are mined annually. So with iron, which formed scarcely an appreciable part of our products half a century ago, we now produce more than the world consumed at the beginning of our national existence. Lead, zinc, and copper, from being articles of import, we may expect to be large exporters of in the near future. The development of gold and silver mines in the United States and Territories has not only been remarkable, but has had a large influence upon the business of all commercial nations. Our merchants in the last hundred years have had a success and have established a reputation for enterprise, sagacity, progress, and integrity unsurpassed by peoples of older nationalities. This "good name" is not confined to their homes, but goes out upon every sea and into every port where commerce enters. With equal pride we can point to our progress in all of the learned professions.

As we are now about to enter upon our second centennial—commencing our manhood as a nation—it is well to look back upon the past and study what will be best to preserve and advance our future greatness. From the fall of Adam for his transgression to the present day no nation has ever been free from threatened danger to its prosperity and happiness. We should look to the dangers threatening us, and remedy them so far as lies in our power. We are a republic whereof one man is as good as another before the law. Under such a form of government it is of the greatest importance that all should be possessed of education and intelligence enough to cast a vote with a right understanding of its meaning. A large association of ignorant men can not for any considerable period oppose a successful resistance to tyranny and oppression from the educated few, but will inevitably sink into acquiescence to the will of intelligence, whether directed by the demagogue or by priestcraft. Hence the education of the masses becomes of the first necessity for the preservation of our institutions. They are worth preserving, because they have secured the greatest good to the greatest proportion of the population of any form of government yet devised. All other forms of government approach it just in proportion to the general diffusion of education and independence of thought and action. As the primary step, therefore, to our advancement in all that has marked our progress in the past century, I suggest for your earnest consideration, and most earnestly recommend it, that a constitutional amendment be submitted to the legislatures of the several States for ratification, making it the duty of each of the several States to establish and forever maintain free public schools adequate to the education of all the children in the rudimentary branches within their respective limits, irrespective of sex, color, birthplace, or religions; forbidding the teaching in said schools of religious, atheistic, or pagan tenets; and prohibiting the granting of any school funds or school taxes, or any part thereof, either by legislative, municipal, or other authority, for the benefit or in aid, directly or indirectly, of any religious sect or denomination, or in aid or for the benefit of any other object of any nature or kind whatever.

In connection with this important question I would also call your attention to the importance of correcting an evil that, if permitted to continue, will probably lead to great trouble in our land before the close of the nineteenth century. It is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property.

In 1850, I believe, the church property of the United States which paid no tax, municipal or State, amounted to about $83,000,000. In 1860 the amount had doubled; in 1875 it is about $1,000,000,000. By 1900, without check, it is safe to say this property will reach a sum exceeding $3,000,000,000. So vast a sum, receiving all the protection and benefits of Government without bearing its proportion of the burdens and expenses of the same, will not be looked upon acquiescently by those who have to pay the taxes. In a growing country, where real estate enhances so rapidly with time, as in the United States, there is scarcely a limit to the wealth that may be acquired by corporations, religious or otherwise, if allowed to retain real estate without taxation. The contemplation of so vast a property as here alluded to, without taxation, may lead to sequestration without constitutional authority and through blood.

I would suggest the taxation of all property equally, whether church or corporation, exempting only the last resting place of the dead and possibly, with proper restrictions, church edifices.

Our relations with most of the foreign powers continue on a satisfactory and friendly footing.

Increased intercourse, the extension of commerce, and the cultivation of mutual interests have steadily improved our relations with the large majority of the powers of the world, rendering practicable the peaceful solution of questions which from time to time necessarily arise, leaving few which demand extended or particular notice.

The correspondence of the Department of State with our diplomatic representatives abroad is transmitted herewith.

I am happy to announce the passage of an act by the General Cortes of Portugal, proclaimed since the adjournment of Congress, for the abolition of servitude in the Portuguese colonies. It is to be hoped that such legislation may be another step toward the great consummation to be reached, when no man shall be permitted, directly or indirectly, under any guise, excuse, or form of law, to hold his fellow-man in bondage. I am of opinion also that it is the duty of the United States, as contributing toward that end, and required by the spirit of the age in which we live, to provide by suitable legislation that no citizen of the United States shall hold slaves as property in any other country or be interested therein.

Chile has made reparation in the case of the whale ship Good Return, seized without sufficient cause upward of forty years ago. Though she had hitherto denied her accountability, the denial was never acquiesced in by this Government, and the justice of the claim has been so earnestly contended for that it has been gratifying that she should have at last acknowledged it.

The arbitrator in the case of the United States steamer Montijo, for the seizure and detention of which the Government of the United States of Colombia was held accountable, has decided in favor of the claim. This decision has settled a question which had been pending for several years, and which, while it continued open, might more or less disturb the good understanding which it is desirable should be maintained between the two Republics.

A reciprocity treaty with the King of the Hawaiian Islands was concluded some months since. As it contains a stipulation that it shall not take effect until Congress shall enact the proper legislation for that purpose, copies of the instrument are herewith submitted, in order that, if such should be the pleasure of Congress, the necessary legislation upon the subject may be adopted.

In March last an arrangement was made, through Mr. Cushing, our minister in Madrid, with the Spanish Government for the payment by the latter to the United States of the sum of $80,000 in coin, for the purpose of the relief of the families or persons of the ship's company and certain passengers of the Virginius. This sum was to have been paid in three installments at two months each. It is due to the Spanish Government that I should state that the payments were fully and spontaneously anticipated by that Government, and that the whole amount was paid within but a few days more than two months from the date of the agreement, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. In pursuance of the terms of the adjustment, I have directed the distribution of the amount among the parties entitled thereto, including the ship's company and such of the passengers as were American citizens. Payments are made accordingly, on the application by the parties entitled thereto.

The past year has furnished no evidence of an approaching termination of the ruinous conflict which has been raging for seven years in the neighboring island of Cuba. The same disregard of the laws of civilized warfare and of the just demands of humanity which has heretofore called forth expressions of condemnation from the nations of Christendom has continued to blacken the sad scene. Desolation, ruin, and pillage are pervading the rich fields of one of the most fertile and productive regions of the earth, and the incendiary's torch, firing plantations and valuable factories and buildings, is the agent marking the alternate advance or retreat of contending parties.

The protracted continuance of this strife seriously affects the interests of all commercial nations, but those of the United States more than others, by reason of close proximity, its larger trade and intercourse with Cuba, and the frequent and intimate personal and social relations which have grown up between its citizens and those of the island. Moreover, the property of our citizens in Cuba is large, and is rendered insecure and depreciated in value and in capacity of production by the continuance of the strife and the unnatural mode of its conduct. The same is true, differing only in degree, with respect to the interests and people of other nations; and the absence of any reasonable assurance of a near termination of the conflict must of necessity soon compel the States thus suffering to consider what the interests of their own people and their duty toward themselves may demand.

I have hoped that Spain would be enabled to establish peace in her colony, to afford security to the property and the interests of our citizens, and allow legitimate scope to trade and commerce and the natural productions of the island. Because of this hope, and from an extreme reluctance to interfere in the most remote manner in the affairs of another and a friendly nation, especially of one whose sympathy and friendship in the struggling infancy of our own existence must ever be remembered with gratitude, I have patiently and anxiously waited the progress of events. Our own civil conflict is too recent for us not to consider the difficulties which surround a government distracted by a dynastic rebellion at home at the same time that it has to cope with a separate insurrection in a distant colony. But whatever causes may have produced the situation which so grievously affects our interests, it exists, with all its attendant evils operating directly upon this country and its people. Thus far all the efforts of Spain have proved abortive, and time has marked no improvement in the situation. The armed bands of either side now occupy nearly the same ground as in the past, with the difference, from time to time, of more lives sacrificed, more property destroyed, and wider extents of fertile and productive fields and more and more of valuable property constantly wantonly sacrificed to the incendiary's torch.

In contests of this nature, where a considerable body of people who have attempted to free themselves of the control of the superior government have reached such point in occupation of territory, in power, and in general organization as to constitute in fact a body politic; having a government in substance as well as in name; possessed of the elements of stability and equipped with the machinery for the administration of internal policy and the execution of its laws; prepared and able to administer justice at home, as well as in its dealings with other powers, it is within the province of those other powers to recognize its existence as a new and independent nation. In such cases other nations simply deal with an actually existing condition of things, and recognize as one of the powers of the earth that body politic which, possessing the necessary elements, has in fact become a new power. In a word, the creation of a new state is a fact.

To establish the condition of things essential to the recognition of this fact there must be a people occupying a known territory, united under some known and defined form of government, acknowledged by those subject thereto, in which the functions of government are administered by usual methods, competent to mete out justice to citizens and strangers, to afford remedies for public and for private wrongs, and able to assume the correlative international obligations and capable of performing the corresponding international duties resulting from its acquisition of the rights of sovereignty. A power should exist complete in its organization, ready to take and able to maintain its place among the nations of the earth.

While conscious that the insurrection in Cuba has shown a strength and endurance which make it at least doubtful whether it be in the power of Spain to subdue it, it seems unquestionable that no such civil organization exists which may be recognized as an independent government capable of performing its international obligations and entitled to be treated as one of the powers of the earth. A recognition under such circumstances would be inconsistent with the facts, and would compel the power granting it soon to support by force the government to which it had really given its only claim of existence. In my judgment the United States should adhere to the policy and the principles which have heretofore been its sure and safe guides in like contests between revolted colonies and their mother country, and, acting only upon the clearest evidence, should avoid any possibility of suspicion or of imputation.

A recognition of the independence of Cuba being, in my opinion, impracticable and indefensible, the question which next presents itself is that of the recognition of belligerent rights in the parties to the contest. In a former message to Congress I had occasion to consider this question, and reached the conclusion that the conflict in Cuba, dreadful and devastating as were its incidents, did not rise to the fearful dignity of war. Regarding it now, after this lapse of time, I am unable to see that any notable success or any marked or real advance on the part of the insurgents has essentially changed the character of the contest. It has acquired greater age, but not greater or more formidable proportions. It is possible that the acts of foreign powers, and even acts of Spain herself, of this very nature, might be pointed to in defense of such recognition. But now, as in its past-history, the United States should carefully avoid the false lights which might lead it into the mazes of doubtful law and of questionable propriety, and adhere rigidly and sternly to the rule, which has been its guide, of doing only that which is right and honest and of good report. The question of according or of withholding rights of belligerency must be judged in every case in view of the particular attending facts. Unless justified by necessity, it is always, and justly, regarded as an unfriendly act and a gratuitous demonstration of moral support to the rebellion. It is necessary, and it is required, when the interests and rights of another government or of its people are so far affected by a pending civil conflict as to require a definition of its relations to the parties thereto. But this conflict must be one which will be recognized in the sense of international law as war. Belligerence, too, is a fact. The mere existence of contending armed bodies and their occasional conflicts do not constitute war in the sense referred to. Applying to the existing condition of affairs in Cuba the tests recognized by publicists and writers on international law, and which have been observed by nations of dignity, honesty, and power when free from sensitive or selfish and unworthy motives, I fail to find in the insurrection the existence of such a substantial political organization, real, palpable, and manifest to the world, having the forms and capable of the ordinary functions of government coward its own people and to other states, with courts for the administration of justice, with a local habitation, possessing such organization of force, such material, such occupation of territory, as to take the contest out of the category of a mere rebellious insurrection or occasional skirmishes and place it on the terrible footing of war, to which a recognition of belligerency would aim to elevate it. The contest, moreover, is solely on land; the insurrection has not possessed itself of a single seaport whence it may send forth its flag, nor has it any means of communication with foreign powers except through the military lines of its adversaries. No apprehension of any of those sudden and difficult complications which a war upon the ocean is apt to precipitate upon the vessels, both commercial and national, and upon the consular officers of other powers calls for the definition of their relations to the parties to the contest. Considered as a question of expediency, I regard the accordance of belligerent rights still