U.S. GRANT.

JOINT RESOLUTION to provide for defraying temporarily the ordinary and necessary expenses of the public service.

Whereas the ordinary and necessary expenses of the public service in its various branches, comprising among others the expenses which especially pertain to the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the Government, to the consular and diplomatic service, to the postal service, to the support of the Army, and to the maintenance of the Navy, are generally met by annual appropriations which expire at the end of the current fiscal year; and

Whereas no public funds will be available to defray these expenses as the same shall accrue after that period unless appropriations shall have been previously made therefor by law; and

Whereas, to avoid the great embarrassment to the public service that might otherwise ensue, it is expedient to make provision for defraying temporarily such of these expenses as would be unprovided for in case some one of the usual annual appropriation bills designed to provide therefor should fail to be matured by the end of the fiscal year now current: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in case any of the following appropriation bills for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, shall not have passed by the commencement of such year, so that the funds to be appropriated thereby may then be available for expenditure—that is to say, the bill providing for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses; the bill providing for the consular and diplomatic expenses; the bill providing for the service of the Post-Office Department; the bill providing for the support of the Army, and the bill providing for the naval service—the appropriation act for the current fiscal year corresponding in its general description and object to such appropriation bill shall extend to the fiscal year next ensuing until such appropriation bill is enacted and takes effect, to the end that the provisions of such appropriation act which apply to the ordinary and necessary expenses of the public service for the current fiscal year shall in like manner be applicable to similar expenses which may accrue during the period intervening between the end of the current fiscal year and the time when such appropriation bill for the next ensuing fiscal year shall be enacted and take effect.



WASHINGTON, June 20, 1876.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

By the tenth article of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed in Washington on the 9th day of August, 1842, it was agreed that the two Governments should, upon mutual requisitions respectively made, deliver up to justice all persons who, being charged with certain crimes therein enumerated, committed within the jurisdiction of either, should seek an asylum or be found within the territories of the other.

The only condition or limitation contained in the treaty to the reciprocal obligation thus to deliver up the fugitive was that it should be done only upon such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged should be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crime or offense had there been committed.

In the month of February last a requisition was duly made, in pursuance of the provisions of the treaty, by this Government upon that of Great Britain for the surrender of one Ezra D. Winslow, charged with extensive forgeries and the utterance of forged paper, committed within the jurisdiction of the United States, who had sought an asylum and was found within the territories of Her Britannic Majesty and was apprehended in London. The evidence of the criminality of the fugitive was duly furnished and heard, and, being found sufficient to justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crimes had been committed in Great Britain, he was held and committed for extradition.

Her Majesty's Government, however, did not deliver up the fugitive in accordance with the terms of the treaty, notwithstanding every requirement thereof had been met on the part of the United States, but, instead of surrendering the fugitive, demanded certain assurances or stipulations not mentioned in the treaty, but foreign to its provisions, as a condition of the performance by Great Britain of her obligations under the treaty.

In a recent communication to the House of Representatives, and in answer to a call from that body for information on this case, I submitted the correspondence which has passed between the two Governments with reference thereto. It will be found in Executive Document No. 173 of the House of Representatives of the present session, and I respectfully refer thereto for more detailed information bearing on the question.

It appears from the correspondence that the British Government bases its refusal to surrender the fugitive and its demand for stipulations or assurances from this Government on the requirements of a purely domestic enactment of the British Parliament, passed in the year 1870.

This act was brought to the notice of this Government shortly after its enactment, and Her Majesty's Government was advised that the United States understood it as giving continued effect to the existing engagements under the treaty of 1842 for the extradition of criminals; and with this knowledge on its part, and without dissent from the declared views of the United States as to the unchanged nature of the reciprocal rights and obligations of the two powers under the treaty, Great Britain has continued to make requisitions and to grant surrenders in numerous instances, without suggestion that it was contemplated to depart from the practice under the treaty which has obtained for more than thirty years, until now, for the first time, in this case of Winslow, it is assumed that under this act of Parliament Her Majesty may require a stipulation or agreement not provided for in the treaty as a condition to the observance by her Government of its treaty obligations toward this country.

This I have felt it my duty emphatically to repel.

In addition to the case of Winslow, requisition was also made by this Government on that of Great Britain for the surrender of Charles J. Brent, also charged with forgery, committed in the United States, and found in Great Britain. The evidence of criminality was duly heard and the fugitive committed for extradition.

A similar stipulation to that demanded in Winslow's case was also asked in Brent's, and was likewise refused.

It is with extreme regret that I am now called upon to announce to you that Her Majesty's Government has finally released both of these fugitives, Winslow and Brent, and set them at liberty, thus omitting to comply with the provisions and requirements of the treaty under which the extradition of fugitive criminals is made between the two Governments.

The position thus taken by the British Government, if adhered to, can not but be regarded as the abrogation and annulment of the article of the treaty on extradition.

Under these circumstances it will not, in my judgment, comport with the dignity or self-respect of this Government to make demands upon that Government for the surrender of fugitive criminals, nor to entertain any requisition of that character from that Government under the treaty.

It will be a cause of deep regret if a treaty which has been thus far beneficial in its practical operation, which has worked so well and so efficiently, and which, notwithstanding the exciting and at times violent political disturbances of which both countries have been the scene during its existence, has given rise to no complaints on the part of either Government against either its spirit or its provisions, should be abruptly terminated.

It has tended to the protection of society and to the general interests of both countries. Its violation or annulment would be a retrograde step in international intercourse.

I have been anxious and have made the effort to enlarge its scope and to make a new treaty which would be a still more efficient agent for the punishment and prevention of crime. At the same time, I have felt it my duty to decline to entertain a proposition made by Great Britain, pending its refusal to execute the existing treaty, to amend it by practically conceding by treaty the identical conditions which that Government demands under its act of Parliament. In addition to the impossibility of the United States entering upon negotiations under the menace of an intended violation or a refusal to execute the terms of an existing treaty I deemed it inadvisable to treat of only the one amendment proposed by Great Britain while the United States desires an enlargement of the list of crimes for which extradition may be asked, and other improvements which experience has shown might be embodied in a new treaty.

It is for the wisdom of Congress to determine whether the article of the treaty relating to extradition is to be any longer regarded as obligatory on the Government of the United States or as forming part of the supreme law of the land. Should the attitude of the British Government remain unchanged, I shall not, without an expression of the wish of Congress that I should do so, take any action either in making or granting requisitions for the surrender of fugitive criminals under the treaty of 1842.

Respectfully submitted.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 8, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report[109] from General W.T. Sherman [J.D. Cameron, Secretary of War], together with the most recent reports received from Brigadier-General A.H. Terry, as a response to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, a copy of which is attached to this message.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 109: Relating to hostile demonstrations of the Sioux Indians and the disaster to the forces under General Custer.]



WASHINGTON, July 13, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st ultimo, a report[110] from the Secretary of State upon the subject.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 110: Stating that no correspondence has taken place with Great Britain relative to the sequestration of the lands and property in New Zealand claimed by William Webster, an American citizen.]



WASHINGTON, July 19, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st of April last, on the subject of commercial intercourse with Mexico and Central America.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 31, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

The act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, is so defective in what it omits to provide for that I can not announce its approval without at the same time pointing out what seems to me to be its defects. It makes but inadequate provision for the service at best, and in some instances fails to make any provision whatever.

Notably among the first class is the reduction in the ordinary annual appropriations for the Revenue-Cutter Service, to the prejudice of the customs revenue.

The same may be said of the Signal Service, as also the failure to provide for the increased expense devolved upon the mints and assay offices by recent legislation, and thus tending to defeat the objects of that legislation.

Of this class also are public buildings, for the protection, preservation, and completion of which there is no adequate appropriation, while the sum of $100,000 only is appropriated for the repairs of the different navy yards and stations and the preservation of the same, the ordinary and customary appropriations for which are not less than $1,000,000.

A similar reduction is made in the expenses for armories and arsenals.

The provision for the ordinary judicial expenses is much less than the estimated amount for that important service, the actual expenditures of the last fiscal year, and the certain demands of the current year.

The provision for the expenses of the surveys of public lands is less than one-half of the usual appropriation for that service and what are understood to be its actual demands.

Reduction in the expenditures for light-houses, beacons, and fog stations is also made in similar proportion.

Of the class for which no appropriation is made, among the most noticeable, perhaps, is that portion of the general expenses of the District of Columbia on behalf of the United States, as appropriated in former years, and the judgments of the Court of Claims. The failure to make a reasonable contribution to the expenses of the nation's capital is an apparent dereliction on the part of the United States and rank injustice to the people here who bear the burdens, while to refuse or neglect to provide for the payment of solemn judgments of its own courts is apparently to repudiate. Of a different character, but as prejudicial to the Treasury, is the omission to make provision to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to have the rebel archives and records of captured and abandoned property examined and information furnished therefrom for the use of the Government.

Finally, without further specification of detail, it may be said that the act which in its title purports to make provision for a diverse and greatly extended civil service unhappily appropriates an amount not more than 65 per cent of its ordinary demands.

The legislative department establishes and defines the service, and devolves upon the Executive Departments the obligation of submitting annually the needful estimates of expenses of such service. Congress properly exacts implicit obedience to the requirements of the law in the administration of the public service and rigid accountability in the expenditures therefor. It is submitted that a corresponding responsibility and obligation rest upon it to make the adequate appropriations to render possible such administration and tolerable such exaction. Anything short of an ample provision for a specified service is necessarily fraught with disaster to the public interests and is a positive injustice to those charged with its execution.

To appropriate and to execute are corresponding obligations and duties, and the adequacy of the former is the necessary measure of the efficiency of the execution.

In this eighth month of the present session of Congress—nearly one month of the fiscal year to which this appropriation applies having passed—I do not feel warranted in vetoing an absolutely necessary appropriation bill; but in signing it I deem it a duty to show where the responsibility belongs for whatever embarrassments may arise in the execution of the trust confided to me.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 31, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of July 20, 1876, calling upon the President to communicate to the Senate, if in his opinion not incompatible with the public interest, any information in regard to the slaughter of American citizens at Hamburg, S.C., I have the honor to submit the following inclosures, to wit:

No. 1. Letter of the 22d of July, 1876, from Governor D.H. Chamberlain, of South Carolina, to me.

No. 2. My reply thereto.

No. 3. Report of Hon. William Stone, attorney-general of South Carolina.

No. 4. Report of General H.W. Purvis, adjutant and inspector general of South Carolina.

No. 5. Copy of evidence taken before a coroner's jury investigating facts relating to the Hamburg massacre.

No. 6. Printed copy of statement by M.C. Butler, of South Carolina.

No. 7. Printed letter from the same to the editors of the Journal of Commerce.

No. 8. Copy of letter from Governor Chamberlain to the Hon. T.J. Robertson.

No. 9. An address to the American people by the colored citizens of Charleston, S.C.

No. 10. An address by a committee appointed at a convention of leading representatives of Columbia, S.C.

No. 11. Copy of letter of July 15, 1876, from the district attorney of Mississippi to the Attorney-General of the United States.

No. 12. Letter from same to same.

No. 13. Copy of report of a grand jury lately in session in Oxford, Miss.

These inclosures embrace all the information in my possession touching the late disgraceful and brutal slaughter of unoffending men at the town of Hamburg, S.C. My letter to Governor Chamberlain contains all the comments I wish to make on the subject. As allusion is made in that letter to the condition of other States, and particularly to Louisiana and Mississippi, I have added to the inclosures letters and testimony in regard to the lawless condition of a portion of the people of the latter State.

In regard to Louisiana affairs, murders and massacres of innocent men for opinion's sake or on account of color have been of too recent date and of too frequent occurrence to require recapitulation or testimony here. All are familiar with their horrible details, the only wonder being that so many justify them or apologize for them.

But recently a committee of the Senate of the United States visited the State of Mississippi to take testimony on the subject of frauds and violence in elections. Their report has not yet been made public, but I await its forthcoming with a feeling of confidence that it will fully sustain all that I have stated relating to fraud and violence in the State of Mississippi.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 11, 1876.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a telegram of the 5th of August instant from Lieutenant-General Sheridan to General Sherman, a letter of the 11th of the present month from General Sherman to the Secretary of War, and a letter from the latter of the same date to me, all setting forth the possible needs of the Army in consequence of existing hostilities.

I would strongly urge upon Congress the necessity for making some provision for a contingency which may arise during the vacation—for more troops in the Indian country than it is now possible to send.

It would seem to me to be much more economical and better to authorize an increase of the present cavalry force by 2,500 privates, but if this is not deemed advisable, then that the President be authorized to call out not exceeding five regiments, 1,000 strong each, of volunteers, to serve for a period not exceeding six months.

Should this latter authority be given, I would not order out any volunteers unless in my opinion, based upon reports from the scene of war, I deemed it absolutely necessary, and then only the smallest number considered sufficient to meet the emergency.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 14, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

In affixing my signature to the river and harbor bill, No. 3822, I deem it my duty to announce to the House of Representatives my objections to some features of the bill, and the reason I sign it. If it was obligatory upon the Executive to expend all the money appropriated by Congress, I should return the river and harbor bill with my objections, notwithstanding the great inconvenience to the public interests resulting therefrom and the loss of expenditures from previous Congresses upon incompleted works. Without enumerating, many appropriations are made for works of purely private or local interest, in no sense national. I can not give my sanction to these, and will take care that during my term of office no public money shall be expended upon them.

There is very great necessity for economy of expenditures at this time, growing out of the loss of revenue likely to arise from a deficiency of appropriations to insure a thorough collection of the same. The reduction of revenue districts, diminution of special agents, and total abolition of supervisors may result in great falling off of the revenue. It may be a question to consider whether any expenditure can be authorized under the river and harbor appropriation further than to protect works already done and paid for. Under no circumstances will I allow expenditures upon works not clearly national.

U.S. GRANT.



WASHINGTON, August 14, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

In announcing, as I do, that I have attached my signature of official approval to the "Act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic service of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1877, and for other purposes," it is my duty to call attention to a provision in the act directing that notice be sent to certain of the diplomatic and consular officers of the Government "to close their offices."

In the literal sense of this direction it would be an invasion of the constitutional prerogatives and duty of the Executive.

By the Constitution the President "shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls," etc.

It is within the power of Congress to grant or withhold appropriation of money for the payment of salaries and expenses of the foreign representatives of the Government.

In the early days of the Government a sum in gross was appropriated, leaving it to the Executive to determine the grade of the officers and the countries to which they should be sent.

Latterly, for very many years, specific sums have been appropriated for designated missions or employments, and as a rule the omission by Congress to make an appropriation for any specific port has heretofore been accepted as an indication of a wish on the part of Congress which the executive branch of the Government respected and complied with.

In calling attention to the passage which I have indicated I assume that the intention of the provision is only to exercise the constitutional prerogative of Congress over the expenditures of the Government and to fix a time at which the compensation of certain diplomatic and consular officers shall cease, and not to invade the constitutional rights of the Executive, which I should be compelled to resist; and my present object is not to discuss or dispute the wisdom of failing to appropriate for several offices, but to guard against the construction that might possibly be placed on the language used, as implying a right in the legislative branch to direct the closing or discontinuing of any of the diplomatic or consular offices of the Government.

U.S. GRANT.

[For message of August 15, 1876, withdrawing objections to Senate bill No. 779, see p. 388.]



WASHINGTON, August 15, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to its resolution of the 24th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with its accompanying statement.[111]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 111: Aggregate number of civil officers in or connected with the Department of State from 1859 to 1875, inclusive.]



VETO MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 3, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to return herewith without my approval House bill No. 1561, entitled "An act transferring the custody of certain Indian trust funds from the Secretary of the Interior to the Treasurer of the United States," for the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior.

U.S. GRANT.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, February 7, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo, transmitting House bill No. 1561 and requesting this Department to report whether any objections to its becoming a law are known to exist.

In reply I have the honor to state that I am fearful that the act is not sufficiently definite in terms to accomplish the end desired, namely, the mere transfer of the custody of said trust funds, enabling this Department to receive the interest from the custodian and apply it as heretofore without the intervention of Congress. The nature of the guardianship and control over the Indians exercised by me as Secretary and trustee is such as to require this Department to keep an account of the funds to their credit or held in trust for them, and to receive the interest on their trust funds promptly when due. I am fearful that this bill may not allow me to do so, and to guard against any danger of embarrassment in the transaction of this business I inclose a draft of a bill[112] which, if substituted for the one already passed, will, it is believed, obviate the difficulties which may arise if the present bill should become a law.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Z. CHANDLER, Secretary.

[Footnote 112: Omitted.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 27, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to return herewith without my approval the bill (H.R. No. 83) entitled "An act for the relief of James A. Hile, of Lewis County, Mo.," for the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication of the Secretary of War.

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, March 25, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return act H.R. 83, with the following report from the Adjutant-General:

"It appears from the records of this office that James A. Hile, private Company F, Twenty-first Missouri Volunteers, enlisted July 15, 1861; deserted June 14, 1862; returned August 2, 1862; was restored to duty by special order No. 38, headquarters District of Columbus, Department of Tennessee, dated Columbus, Ky., February 26, 1863. He reenlisted February 28, 1864, as a veteran volunteer; was tried by general court-martial for absence without leave from November 25, 1864, to December 13, 1864, and sentenced to forfeit all pay and allowances for time absent by general order No. 48, headquarters Second Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, dated May 22, 1865.

"On the muster-out roll of company dated April 19, 1866, he is reported, 'Deserted March 1, 1866, at Bladen Springs, Ala.'

"This man, in his application to this office for discharge, stated under oath (affidavit dated July 27, 1870) that he left his command without leave and returned to his home February 28, 1866, having previously applied for a furlough, which was refused.

"This man, according to his own statement under oath, did desert as reported, and if this bill becomes a law it will be an injustice to every soldier who served honorably with his command until his services were no longer required by the Government, in addition to falsifying the record, as the bill directs the record shall be made to show he is no deserter.

"This is only one of many similar cases."

The remarks of the Adjutant-General adverse to the passage of the bill are concurred in.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ALPHONSO TAFT, Secretary of War.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 31, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

For the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 489, entitled "An act for the relief of G.B. Tyler and E.H. Luckett, assignees of William T. Cheatham."

U.S. GRANT.



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 30, 1876.

The PRESIDENT:

Referring to the letter of the 25th instant, written by your direction, transmitting Senate bill No. 489, "for the relief of G.B. Tyler and B.H. Luckett, assignees of William T. Cheatham," and requesting my opinion as to the propriety of its approval by you, I have to say that there are no data on file in the Department, so far as I can learn, which indicate that the amount it is proposed by this bill to refund to the assignees of Mr. Cheatham was wrongfully collected or that the amount should be refunded.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in his report to me in reference to the matter, says:

"The reimbursement to the United States by said Cheatham of the salary paid to this storekeeper by the collector of internal revenue for the months of December, 1869, and January, 1870, was in accordance with the provisions of joint resolution of March 29, 1869 (16 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 52), and there appears to be no reason for the refunding by the United States to the assignees of said Cheatham the salary of this storekeeper that would not apply with equal force to similar payments by all other distillers who were operating their distilleries or had spirits in their warehouses at that time."

The facts above stated are considered by this office valid and serious objections to the approval of this bill, and they would have been communicated to the Congressional committee before the passage of the bill had they called the attention of this office to the subject.

The bill is herewith returned.

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

B.H. BRISTOW, Secretary.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 18, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

Herewith I return Senate bill No. 172, entitled "An act fixing the salary of the President of the United States," without my approval.

I am constrained to this course from a sense of duty to my successors in office, to myself, and to what is due to the dignity of the position of Chief Magistrate of a nation of more than 40,000,000 people.

When the salary of the President of the United States, pursuant to the Constitution, was fixed at $25,000 per annum, we were a nation of but 3,000,000 people, poor from a long and exhaustive war, without commerce or manufactures, with but few wants and those cheaply supplied. The salary must then have been deemed small for the responsibilities and dignity of the position, but justifiably so from the impoverished condition of the Treasury and the simplicity it was desired to cultivate in the Republic.

The salary of Congressmen under the Constitution was first fixed at $6 per day for the time actually in session—an average of about one hundred and twenty days to each session—or $720 per year, or less than one-thirtieth of the salary of the President.

Congress have legislated upon their own salaries from time to time since, until finally it reached $5,000 per annum, or one-fifth that of the President, before the salary of the latter was increased.

No one having a knowledge of the cost of living at the national capital will contend that the present salary of Congressmen is too high, unless it is the intention to make the office one entirely of honor, when the salary should be abolished—a proposition repugnant to our republican ideas and institutions.

I do not believe the citizens of this Republic desire their public servants to serve them without a fair compensation for their services. Twenty-five thousand dollars does not defray the expenses of the Executive for one year, or has not in my experience. It is not now one-fifth in value of what it was at the time of the adoption of the Constitution in supplying demands and wants.

Having no personal interest in this matter, I have felt myself free to return this bill to the House in which it originated with my objections, believing that in doing so I meet the wishes and judgment of the great majority of those who indirectly pay all the salaries and other expenses of Government.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 26, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 1922, entitled "An act providing for the recording of deeds, mortgages, and other conveyances affecting real estate in the District of Columbia."

The objection to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the communication addressed to me by the Attorney-General, and which accompanies this message.

U.S. GRANT.



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, May 23, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: In reply to your note of the 19th instant, in which you request me to report whether there are objections to your approval of "An act providing for the recording of deeds, mortgages, and other conveyances affecting real estate in the District of Columbia," being House bill No. 1922, I have the honor to state that the bill seems to me objectionable because of indefiniteness and uncertainty as to the time which it purports to fix when deeds of trust, mortgages, etc., shall take effect and be valid as to creditors and subsequent purchasers for valuable consideration without notice. Although there is no constitutional objection to the act, yet for the reason above stated I hesitate to advise its approval.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

EDWARDS PIERREPONT, Attorney-General.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 9, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 165, entitled "An act for the relief of Michael W. Brock, of Meigs County, Tenn., late a private in Company D, Tenth Tennessee Volunteers."

The objection to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the indorsement (which accompanies this message) by the Adjutant-General of the Army.

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, June 8, 1876.

Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War.

The records of this office show that Michael W. Brock, Company D, Tenth Tennessee Volunteers, deserted November 24, 1864, due United States for horse and horse equipments, carbine, saber, and pistol, all complete.

He presented satisfactory evidence of his having left the service by proper authority, and the charge of desertion has been removed and the soldier furnished an honorable discharge.

No evidence has been presented to this office to establish that he was erroneously charged with Government property.

If satisfactory evidence is furnished showing conclusively that this soldier was erroneously charged with Government property, taken at time of his reported desertion, the charge will be removed, and in that case the inclosed act for his relief will be unnecessary.

ED TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 30, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 692, entitled "An act to amend chapter 166 of the laws of the second session of the Forty-third Congress."

The objections to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the report, which accompanies this message, of the Chief of Engineers of the Army to the Secretary of War.

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, June 28, 1876.

The PRESIDENT:

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith Senate bill No. 692, "to amend chapter 166 of the laws of the second session of the Forty-third Congress," and beg to invite your attention to the report of the Chief of Engineers dated the 27th instant, copy inclosed, and for the reasons stated in said report it is believed the bill should not become a law.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War.



OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, June 27, 1876.

Respectfully returned to the honorable the Secretary of War.

"An act to aid in the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, in the State of Wisconsin," approved March 3, 1875, contains the following clause:

"In case any lands or other property is now or shall be flowed or injured by means of any part of the works of said improvement heretofore or hereafter constructed, for which compensation is now or shall become legally owing, and in the opinion of the officer in charge it is not prudent that the dam or dams be lowered, the amount of such compensation may be ascertained in like manner," etc.

The dams referred to in the above clause are at the outlets of Lake Winnebago, known as the Neenah or Menasha channels of the Lower Fox River.

The officer of the Department of Justice appointed under the provisions of the act referred to to represent the interests of the United States in legal proceedings "for flowage damages hereinbefore described," acting apparently under the assumption that because the dams in question had not been lowered it was the opinion of the officer in charge that they should not be lowered, has had such surveys, investigations, etc., made as were deemed necessary by him to protect the interests of the United States, and under this action it is understood that, at the instance of claimants, judges of the circuit court have appointed commissioners to decide on the amount of compensation due, and the judges have fixed the rate of compensation the commissioners are to receive. These commissioners are not appointed at the instance of the United States.

In this way the awards for damages have already been made to the amount of $70,000, and ultimately a much larger sum will be claimed to be due from the United States.

The officer of engineers in charge of the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers reports that the dams which have occasioned the flowage were not constructed by the canal companies, and are not at all necessary for the purposes of navigation, and so far as that is concerned could not only be lowered, but entirely dispensed with.

They were built by private parties solely for their own use and profit and for water-power purposes, and have raised the water level and caused the flowage, for which they should be held liable.

In view of the preceding facts, and for the additional reason that the subject of the liability of the United States is now being investigated by the Department of Justice, it is respectfully suggested that the inclosed act to amend chapter 166 of the laws of the second session of the Forty-third Congress (S. 692) should not become a law.

A.A. HUMPHREYS,

Brigadier-General and Chief of Engineers.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 11, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

For the reasons set forth in the accompanying report of the Secretary of War, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval House bill No. 1337, entitled "An act for the relief of Nelson Tiffany."

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, June 7, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return House bill No. 1337, "for the relief of Nelson Tiffany."

The Adjutant-General, to whom the bill was referred, reports as follows:

"Nelson Tiffany, private, Company A, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers, deserted October 10, 1864, and remained absent until April 25, 1865, when he surrendered under the President's proclamation, thereby acknowledging his desertion.

"If this bill becomes a law, it will not only falsify the records of this Department, but will be an injustice to every man who served honorably during the War of the Rebellion."

* * * * *

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 13, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

For the reasons stated in the accompanying report by the Commissioner of Pensions to the Secretary of the Interior, I have the honor to return without my approval House bill No. 11, entitled "An act granting a pension to Eliza Jane Blumer."

U.S. GRANT.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington July 8, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith a bill (H.R. 11) entitled "An act granting a pension to Eliza Jane Blumer," and to invite your attention to the inclosed copy of a communication addressed to me on the 7th instant by the Commissioner of Pensions, relating to said bill.

In the opinion of this Department the misdescription of the soldier in the bill is of such a character as would render it difficult, if not impossible, to carry the provisions of the bill into effect should it become a law.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

CHAS. T. GORHAM, Acting Secretary.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D.C., July 7, 1876.

The HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith engrossed House bill No. 11, giving to Eliza Jane Blumer a pension as a widow of Henry A. Blumer, private of Company A, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, with the suggestion that if the bill is intended to pension Eliza Blumer, whose application, No. 46382, on file in this office, has been rejected, it should designate the soldier as of Company B of said regiment, it failing to appear from the records of the War Department that he served in any other company than that last named.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.A. BENTLEY, Commissioner.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 20, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to return herewith without my approval House bill No. 2684, entitled "An act to amend sections 3946, 3951, and 3954 of the Revised Statutes."

It is the judgment of the Postmaster-General, whose report accompanies this message, that if this bill should become a law in its present form it would fail to give effect to its provisions. The remedial suggestions in his report are respectfully recommended to your attention,

U.S. GRANT.



POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Washington, D.C., July 19, 1876.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Washington, D.C.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith House bill No. 2684, "to amend sections 3946, 3951, and 3954 of the Revised Statutes," with the following objections thereto:

The sections of the Revised Statutes which this bill proposes to amend were substantially repealed by the twelfth section of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1875, and for other purposes," approved June 23, 1874. The sections of the Revised Statutes numbered as indicated in the bill were enacted as sections 246 and 251 of the "act to revise, consolidate, and amend the statutes relating to the Post-Office Department," approved June 8, 1872. These sections were subsequently embodied in the revision of the statutes.

If the accompanying bill should become a law in its present form, it would, in my judgment, fail to give effect to its provisions. The bill is a very important one for the service of the Post-Office Department. Efforts have been made for four or five years past to induce Congress to pass just such a law. To break up the vicious system of straw bidding, this bill would be very valuable, and I regret exceedingly that a mistake should have been made in the title and enacting clause which will render its provisions inoperative.

I therefore suggest that the attention of the House in which it originated shall be called to the defects in the bill explained above; and to enable that body to understand very fully what, in my judgment, would be required to perfect it, I would suggest that the title should read "A bill to amend subsections 246 and 251 of section 12 of an act entitled 'An act making appropriations for the service of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1875, and for other purposes,' approved June 23, 1874, and also to amend section 3954 of the Revised Statutes," and that the enacting clause of the bill should be changed in conformity therewith.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

JAS. N. TYNER, Postmaster-General.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 14, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

For the reason stated in the accompanying communication, submitted to me by the Secretary of War, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval House bill No. 36, entitled "An act to restore the name of Captain Edward S. Meyer to the active list of the Army."

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D.C., August 4, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return House bill No. 36, "to restore the name of Captain Edward S. Meyer to the active list of the Army," and beg to invite your attention to the inclosed report of the Adjutant-General of this date, stating objections to the approval of the bill.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War.



ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, August 4, 1876.

Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War.

Edward S. Meyer served as a private in the Fourth Ohio Volunteers (three months) from May 4, 1861, to August 18, 1861. He again enlisted as private, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteers, September 10, 1861; was promoted first lieutenant November 1, 1861, and resigned September 27, 1862. He was commissioned captain, One hundred and seventh Ohio Volunteers, November 11, 1862; was wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 2, 1863, and discharged for physical disability January 1, 1865. He was again mustered into service February 8, 1865, as major, Fifth United States Veteran Volunteers (Hancock's Corps), and mustered out March 20, 1866. Was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brigadier-general of volunteers March 13, 1865.

He was appointed captain, Thirty-fifth United States Infantry, July 28, 1866; became unassigned August 12, 1869; assigned to Nineteenth Infantry August 5, 1870, and transferred to Ninth Cavalry January 1, 1871. Retired August 24, 1872.

July 8, 1869, Captain Meyer applied for retirement on account of wounds received at Chancellorsville May 2, 1863, by which he was incapacitated for active service. No action was then had on the request, pending action by Congress reducing the Army.

October 6, 1869, he asked to be placed on waiting orders, being unfit for duty, and no possibility of improvement without going North. He was accordingly relieved from duty and ordered home to await orders.

December 18, 1869, he called on the Secretary of War and asked to be assigned to duty.

January 4, 1870, he again applied to be assigned to duty with some regiment on the frontier, stating that his wound had healed, etc., and asking to withdraw his previous request for retirement. This was accompanied by a similar request from his father, Mr. S. Meyer, of Ohio.

July 29, 1870, he applied the third time to withdraw application for retirement and to be assigned to duty. On January 1, 1871, in accordance with his repeated requests to be assigned to duty, he was assigned to the Ninth Cavalry, serving in Texas. He joined the regiment, and on March 4, 1872, he renewed his former request to be ordered before a retiring board, stating that he found his injuries would not allow him to remain on duty on the frontier; that his disability was constantly increasing, etc. The medical director of the department approved the request, and added that Captain Meyer's wounds certainly unfitted him for service on the frontier.

April 13, 1872, Senator Sherman joined in requesting retirement of Captain Meyer. He was ordered before the retiring board and on August 20, 1872, was examined.

The board found Captain Meyer "incapacitated for active service, and that said incapacity results from a gunshot wound received in his lower jaw at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., May 2, 1863," when captain in One hundred and seventh Ohio Volunteers. He was retired in accordance with the finding.

March 21 and December 6, 1873, Captain Meyer asked restoration to active service and reappointment as a captain of cavalry, which application was disapproved by the General of the Army.

Pending the action on the bill before Congress no reports were called for as to the official facts of record in the War Department, and no evidence has been filed in this office showing that he has sufficiently recovered.

The absence of such evidence and the fact that after one assignment to active duty he has failed to be sufficiently recovered are submitted as objections why the bill should not be approved.

E.D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 15, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

I herewith return House bill No. 4085 without my approval. The repeal of the clause in the original bill for paving Pennsylvania avenue fixing the time for the completion of the work by December 1, 1876, is objectionable in this, that it fixes no date when the work is to be completed.

Experience shows that where contractors have unlimited time to complete any given work they consult their own convenience, and not the public good. Should Congress deem it proper to amend the present bill in such manner as to fix the date for the completion of the work to be done by any date between December 1 and the close of my official term, it will receive my approval.

U.S. GRANT.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 15, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

For the reasons stated in the accompanying communication, submitted to me by the Acting Secretary of the Interior, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 779, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri tribes of Indians, in the States of Kansas and Nebraska."

U.S. GRANT.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D.C., August 14, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the bill (S. No. 779) entitled "An act to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri tribes of Indians, in the States of Kansas and Nebraska," and to invite your attention to the inclosed copy of a letter this day addressed to me by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, stating that the bill, in his opinion, should not become a law.

I fully concur in the opinion expressed by the Commissioner, and for the reasons stated in his letter do not feel at liberty to recommend your approval of the bill. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

CHAS. T. GORHAM, Acting Secretary.



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C., August 14, 1876.

The HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith, in accordance with your verbal request, a bill entitled "An act to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri tribes of Indians, in the States of Kansas and Nebraska," with my views thereon, the same having passed both Houses of Congress and now awaits the approval of the President.

Your attention is respectfully invited to the act of June 10, 1872 (17 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 391), which provides for the sale of these reservations, or a portion of them. The whole of both these reservations has been surveyed, a portion in accordance with this act of Congress and the remainder with a view to the allotment of lands to the Indians.

The second section of the bill provides for the appraisement of the whole reservation, while the third section authorizes the sale of a portion not exceeding 120,000 acres, a portion of which is in Kansas.

The bill authorizes the sale of that portion lying in Kansas through the land office located at Beatrice, Nebr. No provision is made for the relief of such Indians, if any there be, who may have settled upon the portion authorized to be sold, and who may have made improvements thereon. Moreover, in fulfillment of treaty obligations, the assent of the Indians to the operations of the whole bill, and not simply to the first section, should be required, as in the case of the Menominees (16 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 410). In my opinion, this bill should not receive the approval of the President.

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

J.Q. SMITH, Commissioner.



[The Senate proceeded, as the Constitution prescribes, to reconsider the said bill returned by the President of the United States with his objections, and pending the question, Shall the bill pass, the objections of the President of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding? the following message was received:]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 15, 1876,

To the Senate of the United States:

Upon further investigation I am convinced that my message of this date, withholding my signature from Senate bill No. 779, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of a portion of the reservation of the confederated Otoe and Missouria and the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri tribes of Indians, in the States of Kansas and Nebraska," was premature, and I request, therefore, that the bill may be returned, in order that I may affix my signature to it.

U.S. GRANT.

[A motion to refer the last message to the Committee on Privileges and Elections was, after debate, determined in the negative; and the question recurring, Shall the bill pass, the objections of the President of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding? it was determined in the affirmative—yeas 36, nays 0.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 15, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

For the reasons presented in the accompanying communications, submitted by the Secretary of War, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 561, entitled "An act for the relief of Major Junius T. Turner."

U.S. GRANT.



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, August 14, 1876.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return Senate bill 561, "for the relief of Major Junius T. Turner," with copy of the report of the Adjutant-General of this date, stating objections to the approval of the bill.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War.



WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

August 14, 1876.

Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War.

The following objections exist to this bill becoming a law:

The bill as passed both Houses awards "such sum as shall equal the travel pay of a captain of volunteers from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, Cal.," whereas at the date of the discharge of Junius T. Turner he was a private of Company B, California Battalion, Second Massachusetts Cavalry, and not a commissioned officer.

Aside from this, under the established regulations and rulings of the Treasury and War Departments, "a soldier, on receiving and accepting a commission as a company officer, is not entitled to traveling allowances." A departure from this rule, heretofore adhered to, would open up a very wide field for similar claims.

Private Junius T. Turner, Second Massachusetts Cavalry, was discharged by way of favor March 28, 1864, to accept promotion as second lieutenant, Third Maryland Cavalry, and was mustered as of that grade in said regiment March 29, 1864.

He was honorably discharged September 7, 1865, as captain, Third Maryland Cavalry, as set forth in the inclosed official copy of a letter[113] from this office, dated June 7, 1876, to Hon. C.D. MacDougall, M.C., of Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives.

E.D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.

[Footnote 113: Omitted.]



[The Senate proceeded, as the Constitution prescribes, to reconsider the said bill returned by the President of the United States with his objections, and pending the question, Shall the bill pass, the objections of the President of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding? it was ordered that the message be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. At the next (second) session of the Forty-fourth Congress the following message was received:]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 12, 1877.

To the Senate of the United States:

On the eve of the adjournment of the last session of Congress I returned to the Senate bill No. 561, entitled "An act for the relief of Major Junius T. Turner," with my objections to its becoming a law. I now desire to withdraw those objections, as I am satisfied they were made under a misapprehension of the facts.

U.S. GRANT.

[This message was also referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, which committee, on February 13, 1877, reported to the Senate a recommendation that the bill do pass, the objections of the President of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding. No action was taken.]



PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the first section of an act entitled "An act to authorize the President to accept for citizens of the United States the jurisdiction of certain tribunals in the Ottoman dominions and Egypt, established or to be established under the authority of the Sublime Porte and of the Government of Egypt," approved March 23, 1874, it was enacted as follows:

That whenever the President of the United States shall receive satisfactory information that the Ottoman Government or that of Egypt has organized other tribunals on a basis likely to secure to citizens of the United States in their domains the same impartial justice which they now enjoy there under the judicial functions exercised by the minister, consuls, and other functionaries of the United States pursuant to the act of Congress approved the 22d of June, 1860, entitled "An act to carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, Persia, and other countries giving certain judicial powers to ministers and consuls or other functionaries of the United States in those countries, and for other purposes," he is hereby authorized to suspend the operations of said acts as to the dominions in which such tribunals may be organized so far as the jurisdiction of said tribunals may embrace matters now cognizable by the minister, consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in said dominions, and to notify the Government of the Sublime Porte, or that of Egypt, or either of them, that the United States during such suspension will, as aforesaid, accept for their citizens the jurisdiction of the tribunals aforesaid over citizens of the United States which has heretofore been exercised by the minister, consuls, or other functionaries of the United States.

And whereas satisfactory information has been received by me that the Government of Egypt has organized other tribunals on a basis likely to secure to citizens of the United States in the dominions subject to such Government the impartial justice which they now enjoy there under the judicial functions exercised by the minister, consul, or other functionaries of the United States pursuant to the said act of Congress approved June 22, 1860:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the power and authority conferred upon me by the said act approved March 23, 1874, do hereby suspend during the pleasure of the President the operation of the said act approved June 22, 1860, as to the said dominions subject to the Government of Egypt in which such tribunals have been organized, so far as the jurisdiction of said tribunals may embrace matters now cognizable by the minister, consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in said dominions, except as to cases actually commenced before the date hereof.

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 March, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundredth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States was duly approved on the 13th day of March last, which resolution is as follows:

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it be, and is hereby, recommended by the Senate and House of Representatives to the people of the several States that they assemble in their several counties or towns on the approaching centennial anniversary of our national independence, and that they cause to have delivered on such day an historical sketch of said county or town from its formation, and that a copy of said sketch may be filed, in print or manuscript, in the clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy, in print or manuscript, be filed in the office of the Librarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the first centennial of their existence.

And whereas it is deemed proper that such recommendation be brought to the notice and knowledge of the people of the United States:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known the same, in the hope that the object of such resolution may meet the approval of the people of the United States and that proper steps may be taken to carry the same into effect.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 25th day of May, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundredth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

The centennial anniversary of the day on which the people of the United States declared their right to a separate and equal station among the powers of the earth seems to demand an exceptional observance.

The founders of the Government, at its birth and in its feebleness, invoked the blessings and the protection of a Divine Providence, and the thirteen colonies and three millions of people have expanded into a nation of strength and numbers commanding the position which then was asserted and for which fervent prayers were then offered.

It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country.

I therefore invite the good people of the United States, on the approaching 4th day of July, in addition to the usual observances with which they are accustomed to greet the return of the day, further, in such manner and at such time as in their respective localities and religious associations may be most convenient, to mark its recurrence by some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of our existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and of His protection.

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 26th day of June, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundredth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the Congress of the United States did, by an act approved on the 3d day of March, 1875, authorize the inhabitants of the Territory of Colorado to form for themselves out of said Territory a State government with the name of the State of Colorado, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States upon certain conditions in said act specified; and

Whereas it was provided by said act of Congress that the convention elected by the people of said Territory to frame a State constitution should, when assembled for that purpose and after organization, declare on behalf of the people that they adopt the Constitution of the United States, and should also provide by an ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of the United States and the people of said State, that perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured and that no inhabitant of said State shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship, and that the people inhabiting said Territory do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said Territory and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States, and that the lands belonging to citizens of the United States residing without the said State shall never be taxed higher than the lands belonging to residents thereof, and that no taxes shall be imposed by the State on lands or property therein belonging to or which may hereafter be purchased by the United States; and

Whereas it was further provided by said act that the constitution thus formed for the people of the Territory of Colorado should, by an ordinance of the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of said Territory for ratification or rejection at an election to be held in the month of July, 1876, at which election the lawful voters of said new State should vote directly for or against the proposed constitution, and the returns of said election should be made to the acting governor of the Territory, who, with the chief justice and United States attorney of said Territory, or any two of them, should canvass the same, and, if a majority of legal votes should be cast for said constitution in said proposed State the said acting governor should certify the same to the President of the United States, together with a copy of said constitution and ordinances, whereupon it should be the duty of the President of the United States to issue his proclamation declaring the State admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, without any further action whatever on the part of Congress; and

Whereas it has been certified to me by the acting governor of said Territory of Colorado that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a constitution for said proposed State has been adopted and the same ratified by a majority of the legal voters of said proposed new State, in accordance with the conditions prescribed by said act of Congress; and

Whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution and of the declaration and ordinance required by said act has been received by me:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the fundamental conditions imposed by Congress on the State of Colorado to entitle that State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted, and that the admission of the said State into the Union is now complete.

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

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of August, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and first.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by Article V of a convention concluded at Washington upon the 30th day of January, 1875, between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands it was provided as follows, viz:

The present convention shall take effect as soon as it shall have been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands and shall have been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States, but not until a law to carry it into operation shall have been passed by the Congress of the United States of America. Such assent having been given and the ratifications of the convention having been exchanged as provided in Article VI, the convention shall remain in force for seven years from the date at which it may come into operation, and, further, until the expiration of twelve months after either of the high contracting parties shall give notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same, each of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at the end of the said term of seven years or at any time thereafter.

And whereas such convention has been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands and has been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the United States, and a law to carry the same into operation has been passed by the Congress of the United States, and the ratifications of the convention have been exchanged as provided in Article VI thereof; and

Whereas the Acting Secretary of State of the United States and His Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Washington have recorded in a protocol a conference held by them at Washington on the 9th day of September, 1876, in the following language:

Whereas it is provided by Article V of the convention between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands concerning commercial reciprocity, signed at Washington on the 30th day of January, 1875, as follows:

"Art. V. The present convention shall take effect as soon as it shall have been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands and shall have been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States, but not until the law to carry it into operation shall have been passed by the Congress of the United States of America. Such assent having been given and the ratifications of the convention having been exchanged as provided in Article VI, the convention shall remain in force for seven years from the date at which it may come into operation, and, further, until the expiration of twelve months after either of the high contracting parties shall give notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same, each of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at the end of the said term of seven years or at any time thereafter;" and

Whereas the said convention has been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands, and has been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States; and

Whereas an act was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, entitled "An act to carry into effect a convention between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands signed on the 30th day of January, 1875," which was approved on the 15th day of August, in the year 1876; and

Whereas an act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands entitled "An act to carry into effect a convention between His Majesty the King and the United States of America signed at Washington on the 30th day of January; 1875," which was duly approved on the 18th day of July, in the year 1876; and

Whereas the ratifications of the said convention have been exchanged as provided in Article VI:

The undersigned, William Hunter, Acting Secretary of State of the United States of America, and the Hon. Elisha H. Allen, chief justice of the supreme court, chancellor of the Kingdom, member of the privy council of state, and His Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States of America, duly authorized for this purpose by their respective Governments, have met together at Washington, and, having found the said convention has been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands and has been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States, and that the laws required to carry the said treaty into operation have been passed by the Congress of the United States of America on the one part and by the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands on the other, hereby declare that the convention aforesaid, concluded between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands on the 30th day of January, 1875, will take effect on the date hereof.

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, in pursuance of the premises, do declare that the said convention has been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands and been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States, and that the necessary legislation has been passed to carry the same into effect, and that the ratifications of the convention have been exchanged as provided in Article VI.

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

[SEAL.]

Done in the city of Washington, this 9th day of September, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and first.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has been satisfactorily shown to me that insurrection and domestic violence exist in several counties of the State of South Carolina, and that certain combinations of men against law exist in many counties of said State known as "rifle clubs," who ride up and down by day and night in arms, murdering some peaceable citizens and intimidating others, which combinations, though forbidden by the laws of the State, can not be controlled or suppressed by the ordinary course of justice; and

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

Whereas by laws in pursuance of the above it is provided (in 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 forces as shall be judged necessary, for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or causing the laws to be duly executed; and

Whereas the legislature of said State is not now in session and can not be convened in time to meet the present emergency and the executive of said State, under section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, has therefore made due application to me in the premises 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 domestic violence and to enforce the due execution of the laws; and

Whereas it is required that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby make proclamation and command all persons engaged in said unlawful and insurrectionary proceedings to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within three days from this date, and hereafter abandon said combinations and submit themselves to the laws and constituted authorities of said State.

And I invoke the aid and cooperation of all good citizens thereof to uphold the laws and preserve the public peace.

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 17th day of October, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States one hundred and one.

U.S. GRANT.

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



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

From year to year we have been accustomed to pause in our daily pursuits and set apart a time to offer our thanks to Almighty God for the special blessings He has vouchsafed to us, with our prayers for a continuance thereof.

We have at this time equal reason to be thankful for His continued protection and for the many material blessings which His bounty has bestowed.

In addition to these favors accorded to us as individuals, we have especial occasion to express our hearty thanks to Almighty God that by His providence and guidance our Government, established a century ago, has been enabled to fulfill the purpose of its founders in offering an asylum to the people of every race, securing civil and religious liberty to all within its borders, and meting out to every individual alike justice and equality before the law.

It is, moreover, especially our duty to offer our humble prayers to the Father of All Mercies for a continuance of His divine favor to us as a nation and as individuals.

By reason of all these considerations, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do recommend to the people of the United States to devote the 30th day of November next to the expression of their thanks and prayers to Almighty God, and, laying aside their daily avocations and all secular occupations, to assemble in their respective places of worship and observe such day as a day of thanksgiving and rest.

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 26th day of October, A.D. 1876, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and first.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.



EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, May 20, 1876.

SIR:[114] The President directs me to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on Tuesday, the 30th instant, 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,

C.C. SNIFFEN, Secretary.

[Footnote 114: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]



WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, August 10, 1876.

By direction of the President, General W.T. Sherman and Brigadier-General M.C. Meigs, Quartermaster-General United States Army, are appointed members of the commission to examine "the whole subject of reform and reorganization of the Army of the United States," as provided by section 4, act approved July 24, 1876, "making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, and for other purposes."

J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War.



WASHINGTON, August 21, 1876.

It is with extreme pain that the President announces to the people of the United States the death of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana.

A man of great intellectual endowments, large culture, great probity and earnestness in his devotion to the public interests, has passed from the position, power, and usefulness to which he had been recently called.

The body over which he had been selected to preside not being in session to render its tribute of affection and respect to the memory of the deceased, the President invites the people of the United States to a solemn recognition of the public and private worth and the services of a pure and eminent character.

U.S. GRANT.



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



EXECUTIVE MANSION, November 23, 1876.

A joint resolution adopted by Congress August 5, 1876, declares that—

Whereas it is ascertained that the hostile Indians of the Northwest are largely equipped with arms which require special metallic cartridges, and that such special ammunition is in large part supplied to such hostile Indians, directly or indirectly, through traders and others in the Indian country: Therefore,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to take such measures as in his judgment may be necessary to prevent such special metallic ammunition being conveyed to such hostile Indians, and is further authorized to declare the same contraband of war in such district of country as he may designate during the continuance of hostilities.

To carry into effect the above-cited resolution, the sale of fixed ammunition or metallic cartridges by any trader or other person in any district of the Indian country occupied by hostile Indians, or over which they roam, is hereby prohibited; and all such ammunition or cartridges introduced into said country by traders or other persons, and that are liable in any way or manner, directly or indirectly, to be received by such hostile Indians, shall be deemed contraband of war, seized by any military officer and confiscated; and the district of country to which this prohibition shall apply during the continuance of hostilities is hereby designated as that which embraces all Indian country, or country occupied by Indians or subject to their visits, lying within the Territories of Montana, Dakota, and Wyoming and the States of Nebraska and Colorado.

U.S. GRANT.



EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 5, 1876.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In submitting my eighth and last annual message to Congress it seems proper that I should refer to and in some degree recapitulate the events and official acts of the past eight years.

It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17 I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of them was I eligible as a voter.

Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences of opinion between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict performance of his duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen. It is not necessarily evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive because there are these differences of views. Mistakes have been made, as all can see and I admit, but it seems to me oftener in the selections made of the assistants appointed to aid in carrying out the various duties of administering the Government—in nearly every case selected without a personal acquaintance with the appointee, but upon recommendations of the representatives chosen directly by the people. It is impossible, where so many trusts are to be allotted, that the right parties should be chosen in every instance. History shows that no Administration from the time of Washington to the present has been free from these mistakes. But I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.