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A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS
BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
VOLUME VII
ULYSSES S. GRANT
Prefatory Note
The election of General Grant to the Presidency by the people of the United States was another instance illustrating the gratitude of a republic to a successful soldier. But for the great civil war no one supposes he would ever have been elevated to this exalted post. His services in that heroic struggle were such as to win the highest encomiums from his countrymen, and naturally at the first opportunity after the closing of the war when a Chief Executive was to be chosen they turned their eyes to the most conspicuous figure in that war and made him President of the United States. This volume, the seventh of the series, comprises his eight years and the four years of his successor, Mr. Hayes. During this period of twelve years—that is, from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1881—the legislation for the restoration of the Southern States to their original positions in the Union was enacted, the reunion of the States was perfected, and all sections of the land again given full and free representation in Congress. Much of the bitterness engendered by the war, and which had been left alive at its closing, and which was not diminished to any appreciable extent during President Johnson's term, was largely assuaged during President Grant's Administration, and under that of President Hayes was further softened and almost entirely dissipated.
It will be seen that President Grant in his papers dwelt especially upon the duty of paying the national debt in gold and returning to specie payments; that he urged upon Congress a proposition to annex Santo Domingo; that during his Administration the "Quaker Peace Commission" was appointed to deal with the Indians, the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proclaimed, the treaty of Washington was negotiated, and, with a subsequent arbitration at Geneva, a settlement was provided of the difficulties relating to the Alabama claims and the fisheries; that in 1870 and frequently afterwards he urged upon Congress the need of reform in the civil service. His appeals secured the passage of the law of March 3, 1871, under which he appointed a civil service commission. This commission framed rules, which were approved by the President. They provided for open competitive examination, and went into effect January 1, 1872; and out of these grew the present civil-service rules. One of his most important papers was the message vetoing the "inflation bill."
The closing months of his public life covered the stormy and exciting period following the Presidential election of 1876, when the result as between Mr. Tilden and Mr. Hayes was so long in doubt. There is very little, however, in any Presidential paper of that period to indicate the great peril to the country and the severe strain to which our institutions were subjected in that memorable contest.
The Administration of Mr. Hayes, though it began amid exciting scenes and an unprecedented situation which threatened disasters, was rather marked by moderation and a sympathy with what he considered true reform. Some of his vetoes are highly interesting, and indicate independence of character and that he was not always controlled by mere party politics. One of the most famous and best remembered of his messages is that vetoing the Bland-Allison Act, which restored the legal-tender quality to the silver dollar and provided for its limited coinage.
Other papers of interest are his message recommending the resumption of specie payments; vetoes of a bill to restrict Chinese immigration, of an Army appropriation bill, of a legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill, and of the act known as the "funding act of 1881." It was during Mr. Hayes's Administration, when the Forty-fifth Congress met in extraordinary session on March 18, 1879, that for the first time since the Congress that was chosen with Mr. Buchanan in 1856 the Democratic party was in control of both Houses.
JAMES D. RICHARDSON,
FEBRUARY 22, 1898.
Ulysses S. Grant
March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822. He was of Scotch ancestry, but his family had been American in all its branches for several generations. Was a descendant of Mathew Grant, who arrived at Dorchester, Mass., in May, 1630. His father was Jesse R. Grant and his mother Hannah Simpson; they were married in Clermont County, Ohio, in June, 1821. In the fall of 1823 his parents removed to Georgetown, the county seat of Brown County, Ohio. Ulysses, the eldest of six children, spent his boyhood in assisting his father on the farm, which was more congenial than working in the tannery of which his father was proprietor. From an early age until 17 years old attended the subscription schools of Georgetown, except during the winters of 1836-37 and 1838-39, which were spent at schools in Maysville, Ky., and Ripley, Ohio. In the spring of 1839, at the age of 17, was appointed to a cadetship in the Military Academy at West Point by Thomas L. Hamer, a Member of Congress, and entered the Academy July 1, 1839. The name given him at birth was Hiram Ulysses, but he was always called by his middle name. Mr. Hamer, thinking Ulysses his first name, and that his middle name was probably that of his mother's family, inserted in the official appointment the name of Ulysses S. Grant. The officials of the Academy were notified by Cadet Grant of the error, but they did not feel authorized to correct it, and it was acquiesced in and became the name by which he was always known. Graduated from the Academy in 1843, twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine members. Was attached to the Fourth United States Infantry as brevet second lieutenant July 1, 1843; was appointed second lieutenant, Seventh Infantry, September 30, 1845, and transferred to the Fourth Infantry November 15, 1845. During the Mexican War (1846-1848) took part with his regiment in active service, and was in all the battles fought by Generals Scott and Taylor except that of Buena Vista. Was brevetted for gallant conduct at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, but declined the honor. At the battle of Monterey distinguished himself by volunteering to run the gantlet and bring ammunition for the troops into the city. September 8, 1847, was appointed brevet first lieutenant for gallant conduct at Molino del Rey. Acted as regimental quartermaster April 1, 1847, to July 23, 1848, and from November 17, 1848, to August 5, 1853. September 13, 1847, was brevetted captain for gallant conduct at the battle of Chapultepec, and on September 16 was appointed first lieutenant. At San Cosme was mentioned in special orders by his commanders—regimental, brigade, and division. After the Mexican War his regiment was sent to Pascagoula, Miss., and afterwards to Sacketts Harbor, N.Y., and Detroit, Mich. August 22, 1848, married Miss Julia Dent, of St. Louis, Mo. In 1852 his regiment was sent to the Pacific Coast. August 5, 1853, was appointed captain. Resigned July 31, 1854, and went to live on a farm near St. Louis, but in 1858 gave up farming on account of his health, and entered into the real-estate business in St. Louis. In May, 1860, removed to Galena, Ill., and became a clerk in his father's store. In April, 1861, after President Lincoln's call for troops, presided at a public meeting in Galena, which resulted in the organization of a company of volunteers, which he drilled and accompanied to Springfield, Ill. Was employed by Governor Yates in the adjutant-general's office, and appointed mustering officer. Offered his services to the National Government in a letter written May 24, 1861, but no answer was ever made to it. June 17, 1861, was appointed colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, and served until August 7, when he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers by the President, his commission to date from May 17, 1861. Was assigned September 1 to command the District of Southeastern Missouri. September 4 established his headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th captured Paducah, Ky. February 2, 1862, advanced from Cairo; on the 6th captured Fort Henry, and on the 16th Fort Donelson. Soon afterwards was made a major-general of volunteers, his commission dating from February 16. March 4 was relieved from his command and ordered to remain at Fort Henry, but on the 13th was restored. Commanded at the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862. General Halleck on April 11 assumed command of the combined armies, and General Grant became second in command during the advance upon and the siege of Corinth. In July Halleck became general in chief of all the armies, and General Grant was placed in command of the District of West Tennessee. In September fought the battle of Iuka, Miss., and in October the battle of Corinth. January 29, 1863, moved down the Mississippi River and took command of the troops opposite Vicksburg. On March 29 sent one corps of his army across the peninsula opposite Vicksburg, and on April 16 ran the batteries with seven gunboats and three transports. April 22 six other transports ran the batteries. His army was now below Vicksburg, and on the 29th bombarded Grand Gulf. May 1 fought the battle at Port Gibson, and on May 3 captured Grand Gulf. May 12 defeated the Confederates at Raymond; and on the 14th captured Jackson, Miss. After several engagements the Confederates were driven by him into Vicksburg, when he began the siege of that city, which was surrendered July 4, 1863. On the same day was commissioned a major-general in the United States Army. In August went to New Orleans to confer with General Banks, and while reviewing the troops there was injured by his horse falling on him. About the middle of October was assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, which included Rosecran's army at Chattanooga, Tenn. Arrived at Chattanooga October 23, and the next day issued orders which resulted in the battle of Wauhatchie on the 29th. Attacked the Confederates under General Bragg on November 23, and after three days' fighting captured Missionary Ridge, whereupon the Confederates retreated to Dalton, Ga. For his successes Congress, in December, 1863, passed a resolution of thanks to him and the officers and soldiers of his command, and presented him with a gold medal. The bill restoring the grade of lieutenant-general became a law in February, 1864, and on March 1 he was nominated for the position and was confirmed the succeeding day. On March 12 assumed command of all the armies of the United States, and immediately began the plan of campaign that kept all of the armies in motion until the war ended. About May 4, 1864, this campaign, the greatest of the war, began, and lasted until the surrender of the Confederates in April, 1865. During this period there were fought some of the bloodiest battles of the world. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox, Va., to General Grant, who then displayed the greatest magnanimity to the Confederates, and won for himself from his late enemies their warmest gratitude. His magnanimity will always be remembered by the Confederate soldiers, and will stand in history as long as nobility of character shall be appreciated by mankind. On the closing of the war directed his attention to mustering out of service the great army under his command and the disposal of the enormous quantity of stores of the Government. In the discharge of his duties visited different sections of the country and was received everywhere with enthusiasm. The citizens of Philadelphia presented him with a handsome residence in that city; his old neighbors in Galena gave him a pretty home in their town; the people of New York presented to him a check for $105,000. In November and December, 1865, traveled through the Southern States, and made a report to the President upon the conditions there. In May, 1866, submitted a plan to the Government for the reorganization of the Regular Army of the United States, which became the basis of its reorganization. July 25 Congress passed an act creating the grade of general of the armies of the United States, and on the same day he was appointed to this rank. August 12, 1867, was appointed by President Johnson Secretary of War ad interim, which position he held until January 14, 1868. At the national convention of the Republican party which met in Chicago on May 20, 1868, was unanimously nominated for President on the first call of States. His letter of acceptance of that nomination was brief, and contained the famous sentence, "Let us have peace." At the election in November was chosen to be President, receiving 214 electoral votes, while Horatio Seymour received 80. Was renominated by his party in national convention in Philadelphia June 6, 1872, and at the election in November received 286 electoral votes, against 66 which would have been cast for Horace Greeley if he had lived. Retired from office March 4, 1877. After his retirement made a journey into foreign countries, and was received with great distinction and pomp by all the governments and peoples he visited. An earnest effort was made to nominate him for a third term, but it failed. By special act of Congress passed March 3, 1885, was placed as general on the retired list of the Army. He died July 23, 1885, at Mount McGregor, N.Y., and was buried at Riverside Park, New York City, on the Hudson River.
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Citizens of the United States:
Your suffrages having elected me to the office of President of the United States, I have, in conformity to the Constitution of our country, taken the oath of office prescribed therein. I have taken this oath without mental reservation and with the determination to do to the best of my ability all that is required of me. The responsibilities of the position I feel, but accept them without fear. The office has come to me unsought; I commence its duties untrammeled. I bring to it a conscious desire and determination to fill it to the best of my ability to the satisfaction of the people.
On all leading questions agitating the public mind I will always express my views to Congress and urge them according to my judgment, and when I think it advisable will exercise the constitutional privilege of interposing a veto to defeat measures which I oppose; but all laws will be faithfully executed, whether they meet my approval or not.
I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people. Laws are to govern all alike—those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.
The country having just emerged from a great rebellion, many questions will come before it for settlement in the next four years which preceding Administrations have never had to deal with. In meeting these it is desirable that they should be approached calmly, without prejudice, hate, or sectional pride, remembering that the greatest good to the greatest number is the object to be attained.
This requires security of person, property, and free religious and political opinion in every part of our common country, without regard to local prejudice. All laws to secure these ends will receive my best efforts for their enforcement.
A great debt has been contracted in securing to us and our posterity the Union. The payment of this, principal and interest, as well as the return to a specie basis as soon as it can be accomplished without material detriment to the debtor class or to the country at large, must be provided for. To protect the national honor, every dollar of Government indebtedness should be paid in gold, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. Let it be understood that no repudiator of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted in public place, and it will go far toward strengthening a credit which ought to be the best in the world, and will ultimately enable us to replace the debt with bonds bearing less interest than we now pay. To this should be added a faithful collection of the revenue, a strict accountability to the Treasury for every dollar collected, and the greatest practicable retrenchment in expenditure in every department of Government.
When we compare the paying capacity of the country now, with the ten States in poverty from the effects of war, but soon to emerge, I trust, into greater prosperity than ever before, with its paying capacity twenty-five years ago, and calculate what it probably will be twenty-five years hence, who can doubt the feasibility of paying every dollar then with more ease than we now pay for useless luxuries? Why, it looks as though Providence had bestowed upon us a strong box in the precious metals locked up in the sterile mountains of the far West, and which we are now forging the key to unlock, to meet the very contingency that is now upon us.
Ultimately it may be necessary to insure the facilities to reach these riches, and it may be necessary also that the General Government should give its aid to secure this access; but that should only be when a dollar of obligation to pay secures precisely the same sort of dollar to use now, and hot before. Whilst the question of specie payments is in abeyance the prudent business man is careful about contracting debts payable in the distant future. The nation should follow the same rule. A prostrate commerce is to be rebuilt and all industries encouraged.
The young men of the country—those who from their age must be its rulers twenty-five years hence—have a peculiar interest in maintaining the national honor. A moment's reflection as to what will be our commanding influence among the nations of the earth in their day, if they are only true to themselves, should inspire them with national pride. All divisions—geographical, political, and religious—can join in this common sentiment. How the public debt is to be paid or specie payments resumed is not so important as that a plan should be adopted and acquiesced in. A united determination to do is worth more than divided counsels upon the method of doing. Legislation upon this subject may not be necessary now, nor even advisable, but it will be when the civil law is more fully restored in all parts of the country and trade resumes its wonted channels.
It will be my endeavor to execute all laws in good faith, to collect all revenues assessed, and to have them properly accounted for and economically disbursed. I will to the best of my ability appoint to office those only who will carry out this design.
In regard to foreign policy, I would deal with nations as equitable law requires individuals to deal with each other, and I would protect the law-abiding citizen, whether of native or foreign birth, wherever his rights are jeopardized or the flag of our country floats. I would respect the rights of all nations, demanding equal respect for our own. If others depart from this rule in their dealings with us, we may be compelled to follow their precedent.
The proper treatment of the original occupants of this land—the Indians—is one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship.
The question of suffrage is one which is likely to agitate the public so long as a portion of the citizens of the nation are excluded from its privileges in any State. It seems to me very desirable that this question should be settled now, and I entertain the hope and express the desire that it may be by the ratification of the fifteenth article of amendment to the Constitution.
In conclusion I ask patient forbearance one toward another throughout the land, and a determined effort on the part of every citizen to do his share toward cementing a happy union; and I ask the prayers of the nation to Almighty God in behalf of this consummation.
MARCH 4, 1869.
[NOTE.—The Forty-first Congress, first session, met March 4, 1869, in accordance with the act of January 22, 1867.]
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 6, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
Since the nomination and confirmation of Alexander T. Stewart to the office of Secretary of the Treasury I find that by the eighth section of the act of Congress approved September 2, 1789, it is provided as follows, to wit:
And be it further enacted, That no person appointed to any office instituted by this act shall, directly or indirectly, be concerned or interested in carrying on the business of trade or commerce; or be owner, in whole or in part, of any sea vessel; or purchase, by himself or another in trust for him, any public lands or other public property; or be concerned in the purchase or disposal of any public securities of any State or of the United States; or take or apply to his own use any emolument or gain for negotiating or transacting any business in the said Department other than what shall be allowed by law; and if any person shall offend against any of the prohibitions of this act he shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor and forfeit to the United States the penalty of $3,000, and shall upon conviction be removed from office and forever thereafter incapable of holding any office under the United States: Provided, That if any other person than a public prosecutor shall give information of any such offense, upon which a prosecution and conviction shall be had, one-half the aforesaid penalty of $3,000, when recovered, shall be for the use of the person giving such information.
In view of these provisions and the fact that Mr. Stewart has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate, I would ask that he be exempted by joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress from the operations of the same.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, March 9, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit to the Senate, in compliance with its resolution of the 5th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, communicating a list of the public and private acts and resolutions passed at the third session of the Fortieth Congress which have become laws, either by approval or otherwise.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, March 9, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
I have the honor to request to be permitted to withdraw from the Senate of the United States my message of the 6th instant, requesting the passage of a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress to relieve the Secretary of the Treasury from the disabilities imposed by section 8 of the act of Congress approved September 2, 1789.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, March 15, 1869.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I invite the attention of Congress to the accompanying communication[1] of this date, which I have received from the Secretary of the Interior.
U.S. GRANT.
[Footnote 1: Report of the Government directors of the Union Pacific Railroad relative to an injunction issued by Judge Barnard, of the supreme court of the city of New York, restraining and prohibiting an election of officers or directors on the day directed by the law of December 20, 1867.]
WASHINGTON, March 16, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, asking if the first installment due from the Government of Venezuela pursuant to the convention of April 25, 1866, has been paid, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, March 24, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 1st instant, a report from the Secretary of State, together with accompanying papers.[2]
U.S. GRANT.
[Footnote 2: Correspondence with the United states minister and the secretary of legation at Madrid.]
WASHINGTON, March 29, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with the request contained in the resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant, in regard to certain correspondence[3] between James Buchanan, then President of the United States, and Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, I transmit a report from the Department of State, which is accompanied by a copy of the correspondence referred to.
U.S. GRANT.
[Footnote 3: Regarding the policy to be pursued to avert civil war, then threatening, which correspondence led to the resignation of Mr. Cass.]
WASHINGTON, March 31, 1869.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 30th of January last, calling for the papers relative to the claim of Owen Thorn and others against the British Government, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, together with copies of the papers referred to in said resolution.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, April 3, 1869.
To the House of Representatives:
In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th of January last, requesting information concerning the destruction during the late war by rebel vessels of certain merchant vessels of the United States, and concerning the damages and claims resulting therefrom, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the tabular statement which accompanied it.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 5, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, certain articles of agreement made and concluded at the Kaw Indian Agency, Kans., on the 13th ultimo, between the commissioners on the part of the United States and certain chiefs or headmen of the Kansas or Kaw tribe of Indians on behalf of said tribe, together with a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, to which attention is invited.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, April 7, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of May last, in relation to the subject of claims against Great Britain, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers which accompanied it.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 7, 1869.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
While I am aware that the time in which Congress proposes now to remain in session is very brief, and that it is its desire, as far as is consistent with the public interest, to avoid entering upon the general business of legislation, there is one subject which concerns so deeply the welfare of the country that I deem it my duty to bring it before you.
I have no doubt that you will concur with me in the opinion that it is desirable to restore the States which were engaged in the rebellion to their proper relations to the Government and the country at as early a period as the people of those States shall be found willing to become peaceful and orderly communities and to adopt and maintain such constitutions and laws as will effectually secure the civil and political rights of all persons within their borders. The authority of the United States, which has been vindicated and established by its military power, must undoubtedly be asserted for the absolute protection of all its citizens in the full enjoyment of the freedom and security which is the object of a republican government; but whenever the people of a rebellious State are ready to enter in good faith upon the accomplishment of this object, in entire conformity with the constitutional authority of Congress, it is certainly desirable that all causes of irritation should be removed as promptly as possible, that a more perfect union may be established and the country be restored to peace and prosperity.
The convention of the people of Virginia which met in Richmond on Tuesday, December 3, 1867, framed a constitution for that State, which was adopted by the convention on the 17th of April, 1868, and I desire respectfully to call the attention of Congress to the propriety of providing by law for the holding of an election in that State at some time during the months of May and June next, under the direction of the military commander of that district, at which the question of the adoption of that constitution shall be submitted to the citizens of the State; and if this should seem desirable, I would recommend that a separate vote be taken upon such parts as may be thought expedient, and that at the same time and under the same authority there shall be an election for the officers provided under such constitution, and that the constitution, or such parts thereof as shall have been adopted by the people, be submitted to Congress on the first Monday of December next for its consideration, so that if the same is then approved the necessary steps will have been taken for the restoration of the State of Virginia to its proper relations to the Union. I am led to make this recommendation from the confident hope and belief that the people of that State are now ready to cooperate with the National Government in bringing it again into such relations to the Union as it ought as soon as possible to establish and maintain, and to give to all its people those equal rights under the law which were asserted in the Declaration of Independence in the words of one of the most illustrious of its sons.
I desire also to ask the consideration of Congress to the question whether there is not just ground for believing that the constitution framed by a convention of the people of Mississippi for that State, and once rejected, might not be again submitted to the people of that State in like manner, and with the probability of the same result.
U.S. GRANT.
PROCLAMATION.
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 12th day of April, 1869, to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the Executive:
Now, therefore, I, U.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 12th day of April, 1869, at 12 o'clock 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.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the 8th day of April, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.
[SEAL.]
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, April 16, 1869.
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 and the Emperor of the French, signed this day by the plenipotentiaries of the parties, for the mutual protection of trade-marks of their respective citizens and subjects.
U.S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, April 21, 1869.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution adopted in executive session on the 16th of February last, requesting copy of the official correspondence of Mr. Buchanan during his residence at St. Petersburg as minister of the United States, a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying papers.
U.S. GRANT.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10, 1869, I hereby designate the 6th day of July, 1869, as the time for submitting the constitution passed by the convention which met in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday, the 3d day of December, 1867, to the voters of said State registered at the date of such submission, viz, July 6, 1869, for ratification or rejection.
And I submit to a separate vote the fourth clause of section I of article 3 of said constitution, which is in the following words:
Every person who has been a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or who held any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. This clause shall include the following officers: Governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, second auditor, register of the land office, State treasurer, attorney-general, sheriffs, sergeant of a city or town, commissioner of the revenue, county surveyors, constables, overseers of the poor, commissioner of the board of public works, judges of the supreme court, judges of the circuit court, judges of the court of hustings, justices of the county courts, mayor, recorder, alderman, councilmen of a city or town, coroners, escheators, inspectors of tobacco, flour, etc., clerks of the supreme, district, circuit, and county courts and of the court of hustings, and attorneys for the Commonwealth: Provided, That the legislature may, by a vote of three-fifths of both houses, remove the disabilities incurred by this clause from any person included therein, by a separate vote in each case.
And I also submit to a separate vote the seventh section of article 3 of the said constitution, which is in the words following:
In addition to the foregoing oath of office, the governor, lieutenant-governor, members of the general assembly, secretary of state, auditor of public accounts, State treasurer, attorney-general, and all persons elected to any convention to frame a constitution for this State or to amend or revise this constitution in any manner, and mayor and council of any city or town, shall, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: Provided, The disabilities therein contained may be individually removed by a three-fifths vote of the general assembly:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have never sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."
The above oath shall also be taken by all the city and county officers before entering upon their duties, and by all other State officers not included in the above provision. I direct the vote to be taken upon each of the above-cited provisions alone, and upon the other portions of the said constitution in the following manner, viz:
Each voter favoring the ratification of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) as framed by the convention of December 3, 1867, shall express his judgment by voting for the constitution.
Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) shall express his judgment by voting against the constitution.
Each voter will be allowed to cast a separate ballot for or against either or both of the provisions above quoted.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 14th day of May, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the act of Congress approved June 25, 1868, constituted, on and after that date, eight hours a day's work for all laborers, workmen, and mechanics employed by or on behalf of the Government of the United States, and repealed all acts and parts of acts inconsistent therewith:
Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby direct that from and after this date no reduction shall be made in the wages paid by the Government by the day to such laborers, workmen, and mechanics on account of such reduction of the hours of labor.
In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of May, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-third.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me from His Majesty the Emperor of France, through the Count Faverney, his charge d'affaires, that on and after this date the discriminating duties heretofore levied in French ports upon merchandise imported from the countries of its origin in vessels of the United States are to be discontinued and abolished:
Now, therefore, I, U.S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by an act of Congress of the 7th day of January, 1824, and by an act in addition thereto of the 24th day of May, 1828, do hereby declare and proclaim that on and after this date, so long as merchandise imported from the countries of its origin into French ports in vessels belonging to citizens of the United States is admitted into French ports on the terms aforesaid, the discriminating duties heretofore levied upon merchandise imported from the countries of its origin into ports of the United States in French vessels shall be, and are hereby, discontinued and abolished.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of June, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10, 1869, I hereby designate Tuesday, the 30th day of November, 1869, as the time for submitting the constitution adopted on the 15th day of May, 1868, by the convention which met in Jackson, Miss., to the voters of said State registered at the date of such submission, viz, November 30, 1869.
And I submit to a separate vote that part of section 3 of Article VII of said constitution which is in the following words:
That I am not disfranchised in any of the provisions of the acts known as the reconstruction acts of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congress, and that I admit the political and civil equality of all men. So help me God: Provided, If Congress shall at any time remove the disabilities of any person disfranchised in said reconstruction acts of the said Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congress (and the legislature of this State shall concur therein), then so much of this oath, and so much only, as refers to the said reconstruction acts shall not be required of such person so pardoned to entitle him to be registered.
And I further submit to a separate vote section 5 of the same article of said constitution, which is in the following words:
No person shall be eligible to any office of profit or trust, civil or military, in this State who, as a member of the legislature, voted for the call of the convention that passed the ordinance of secession, or who, as a delegate to any convention, voted for or signed any ordinance of secession, or who gave voluntary aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility to the United States, or who accepted or attempted to exercise the functions of any office, civil or military, under any authority or pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States hostile or inimical thereto, except all persons who aided reconstruction by voting for this convention or who have continuously advocated the assembling of this convention and shall continuously and in good faith advocate the acts of the same; but the legislature may remove such disability: Provided, That nothing in this section, except voting for or signing the ordinance of secession, shall be so construed as to exclude from office the private soldier of the late so-called Confederate States army.
And I further submit to a separate vote section 5 of Article XII of the said constitution, which is in the following words:
The credit of the State shall not be pledged or loaned in aid of any person, association, or corporation; nor shall the State hereafter become a stockholder in any corporation or association.
And I further submit to a separate vote part of the oath of office prescribed in section 26 of Article XII of the said constitution, which is in the following words:
That I have never, as a member of any convention, voted for or signed any ordinance of secession; that I have never, as a member of any State legislature, voted for the call of any convention that passed any such ordinance.
The above oath shall also be taken by all the city and county officers before entering upon their duties, and by all other State officials not included in the above provision. I direct the vote to be taken upon each of the above-cited provisions alone, and upon the other portions of the said constitution in the following manner, viz:
Each voter favoring the ratification of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted), as adopted by the convention of May 15, 1868, shall express his judgment by voting for the constitution.
Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution (excluding the provisions above quoted) shall express his judgment by voting against the constitution.
Each voter will be allowed to cast a separate ballot for or against either or both of the provisions above quoted.
It is understood that sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of Article XIII, under the head of "Ordinance," are considered as forming no part of the said constitution.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of July, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-fourth.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10, 1869, I hereby designate Tuesday, the 30th day of November, 1869, as the time for submitting the constitution adopted by the convention which met in Austin, Tex., on the 15th day of June, 1868, to the voters of said State registered at the date of such submission, viz:
I direct the vote to be taken upon the said constitution in the following manner, viz:
Each voter favoring the ratification of the constitution as adopted by the convention of the 15th of June, 1868, shall express his judgment by voting for the constitution.
Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution shall express his judgment by voting against the constitution.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of July, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-fourth.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
The year which is drawing to a close has been free from pestilence; health has prevailed throughout the land; abundant crops reward the labors of the husbandman; commerce and manufactures have successfully prosecuted their peaceful paths; the mines and forests have yielded liberally; the nation has increased in wealth and in strength; peace has prevailed, and its blessings have advanced every interest of the people in every part of the Union; harmony and fraternal intercourse restored are obliterating the marks of past conflict and estrangement; burdens have been lightened; means have been increased; civil and religious liberty are secured to every inhabitant of the land, whose soil is trod by none but freemen.
It becomes a people thus favored to make acknowledgment to the Supreme Author from whom such blessings flow of their gratitude and their dependence, to render praise and thanksgiving for the same, and devoutly to implore a continuance of God's mercies.
Therefore I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do recommend that Thursday, the 18th day of November next, be observed as a day of thanksgiving and of praise and of prayer to Almighty God, the creator and the ruler of the universe; and I do further recommend to all the people of the United States to assemble on that day in their accustomed places of public worship and to unite in the homage and praise due to the bountiful Father of All Mercies and in fervent prayer for the continuance of the manifold blessings he has vouchsafed to us as a people.
[SEAL.]
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this 5th day of October, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-fourth.
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 proclamation of the President of the United States of the 12th day of June last the levying of discriminating duties on merchandise imported into the United States in French vessels from the countries of its origin was discontinued; and
Whereas satisfactory information has since been received by me that the levying of such duties on all merchandise imported into France in vessels of the United States, whether from the countries of its origin or from other countries, has been discontinued:
Now, therefore, I, U.S. Grant, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by an act of Congress of the 7th day of January, 1824, and by an act in addition thereto of the 24th day of May, 1828, do hereby declare and proclaim that on and after this date, so long as merchandise imported into France in vessels of the United States, whether from the countries of its origin or from other countries, shall be admitted into the ports of France on the terms aforesaid, the discriminating duties heretofore levied upon merchandise imported into the United States in French vessels, either from the countries of its origin or from any other country, shall be, and are, discontinued and abolished.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of November, A.D. 1869, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-fourth.
U.S. GRANT.
By the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 10.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 5, 1869.
The President of the United States directs that the following orders be carried into execution as soon as practicable:
1. The Department of the South will be commanded by Brigadier and Brevet Major General A.H. Terry.
2. Major-General G.G. Meade is assigned to command the Military Division of the Atlantic, and will transfer his headquarters to Philadelphia, Pa. He will turn over his present command temporarily to Brevet Major-General T.H. Ruger, colonel Thirty-third Infantry, who is assigned to duty according to his brevet of major-general while in the exercise of this command.
3. Major-General P.H. Sheridan is assigned to command the Department of Louisiana, and will turn over the command of the Department of the Missouri temporarily to the next senior officer.
4. Major-General W.S. Hancock is assigned to command the Department of Dakota.
5. Brigadier and Brevet Major General E.R.S. Canby is assigned to command the First Military District, and will proceed to his post as soon as relieved by Brevet Major-General Reynolds.
6. Brevet Major-General A.C. Gillem, colonel Twenty-fourth Infantry, will turn over the command of the Fourth Military District to the next senior officer and join his regiment.
7. Brevet Major-General J.J. Reynolds, colonel Twenty-sixth Infantry, is assigned to command the Fifth Military District, according to his brevet of major-general.
8. Brevet Major-General W.H. Emory, colonel Fifth Cavalry, is assigned to command the Department of Washington, according to his brevet of major-general.
By command of the General of the Army:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 11.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 8, 1869.
The following orders of the President of the United States are published for the information and government of all concerned:
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, March 5, 1869.
By direction of the President, General William T. Sherman will assume command of the Army of the United States.
The chiefs of staff corps, departments, and bureaus will report to and act under the immediate orders of the General Commanding the Army.
All official business which by law or regulations requires the action of the President or Secretary of War will be submitted by the General of the Army to the Secretary of War, and in general all orders from the
President or Secretary of War to any portion of the Army, line or staff, will be transmitted through the General of the Army.
J.M. SCHOFIELD, Secretary of War.
By command of the General of the Army:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 55.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 9, 1869.
* * * * *
6. By direction of the President, Brevet Major-General Adelbert Ames, lieutenant-colonel Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, is hereby assigned to command the Fourth Military District, according to his brevet rank.
* * * * *
By command of General Sherman:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 18.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 16, 1869.
By direction of the President of the United States, the following changes are made in military divisions and department commands:
I. Lieutenant-General P.H. Sheridan is assigned to command the Military Division of the Missouri.
II. Major-General H.W. Halleck is assigned to the command of the Military Division of the South, to be composed of the Departments of the South and Louisiana, of the Fourth Military District, and of the States composing the present Department of the Cumberland; headquarters, Louisville, Ky. Major-General Halleck will proceed to his new command as soon as relieved by Major-General Thomas.
III. Major-General G.H. Thomas is assigned to command the Military Division of the Pacific.
IV. Major-General J.M. Schofield is assigned to command the Department of the Missouri. The State of Illinois and post of Fort Smith, Ark., are transferred to this department.
V. Brigadier and Brevet Major General O.O. Howard is assigned to command the Department of Louisiana. Until his arrival the senior officer, Brevet Major-General J.A. Mower, will command, according to his brevet of major-general.
VI. The Department of Washington will be discontinued and merged in the Department of the East. The records will be sent to the Adjutant-General of the Army.
VII. The First Military District will be added to the Military Division of the Atlantic.
VIII. As soon as Major-General Thomas is ready to relinquish command of the Department of the Cumberland, the department will be discontinued, and the States composing it will be added to other departments, to be hereafter designated. The records will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army.
By command of General Sherman:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, March 26, 1869.
By direction of the President, the order of the Secretary of War dated War Department, March 5, 1869, and published in General Orders, No. 11, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, dated March 8, 1869, except so much as directs General W.T. Sherman to "assume command of the Army of the United States," is hereby rescinded.
All official business which by law or regulations requires the action of the President or Secretary of War will be submitted by the chiefs of staff corps, departments, and bureaus to the Secretary of War.
All orders and instructions relating to military operations issued by the President or Secretary of War will be issued through the General of the Army.
JNO. A. RAWLINS,
Secretary of War.
SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 75.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, March 31, 1869.
* * * * *
16. By direction of the President of the United States, Brevet Major-General A.S. Webb, United States Army, is assigned to command the First Military District, according to his brevet of major-general, until the arrival of Brevet Major-General Canby to relieve him. He will accordingly repair to Richmond, Va., without delay.
17. By direction of the President, Brevet Major-General George Stoneman, colonel Twenty-first United States Infantry, is hereby relieved from the temporary command of the First Military District, and will accompany his regiment to the Military Division of the Pacific.
* * * * * *
By command of General Sherman:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., June 3, 1869.
A commission of citizens having been appointed under the authority of law to cooperate with the administrative departments in the management of Indian affairs, consisting of William Welsh, of Philadelphia; John V. Farwell, of Chicago; George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia; Robert Campbell, St. Louis; W.E. Dodge, New York; E.S. Tobey, Boston; Felix R. Brunot, Pittsburg; Nathan Bishop, New York, and Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, the following regulations will till further directions control the action of said commission and of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in matters coming under their joint supervision:
1. The commission will make its own organization and employ its own clerical assistants, keeping its "necessary expenses of transportation, subsistence, and clerk hire when actually engaged in said service" within the amount appropriated therefor by Congress.
2. The commission shall be furnished with full opportunity to inspect the records of the Indian Office and to obtain full information as to the conduct of all parts of the affairs thereof.
3. They shall have full power to inspect, in person or by subcommittee, the various Indian superintendencies and agencies in the Indian country, to be present at payment of annuities, at consultations or councils with the Indians, and when on the ground to advise superintendents and agents in the performance of their duties.
4. They are authorized to be present, in person or by subcommittee, at purchases of goods for Indian purposes, and inspect said purchases, advising the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in regard thereto.
5. Whenever they shall deem it necessary or advisable that instructions of superintendents or agents be changed or modified, they will communicate such advice through the office of Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, and in like manner their advice as to changes in modes of purchasing goods or conducting the affairs of the Indian Bureau proper. Complaints against superintendents or agents or other officers will in the same manner be forwarded to the Indian Bureau or Department of the Interior for action.
6. The commission will at their board meetings determine upon the recommendations to be made as to the plans of civilizing or dealing with the Indians, and submit the same for action in the manner above indicated, and all plans involving the expenditure of public money will be acted upon by the Executive or the Secretary of the Interior before expenditure is made under the same.
7. The usual modes of accounting with the Treasury can not be changed, and all expenditures, therefore, must be subject to the approvals now required by law and the regulations of the Treasury Department, and all vouchers must conform to the same laws and requirements and pass through the ordinary channels.
8. All the officers of the Government connected with the Indian service are enjoined to afford every facility and opportunity to said commission and their subcommittees in the performance of their duties, and to give the most respectful heed to their advice within the limits of such officers' positive instructions from their superiors; to allow such commissioners full access to their records and accounts, and to cooperate with them in the most earnest manner to the extent of their proper powers in the general work of civilizing the Indians, protecting them in their legal rights, and stimulating them to become industrious citizens in permanent homes, instead of following a roving and savage life.
9. The commission will keep such records or minutes of their proceedings as may be necessary to afford evidence of their action, and will provide for the manner in which their communications with and advice to the Government shall be made and authenticated.
U.S. GRANT.
[From the Daily Morning Chronicle, Washington, September 8, 1869.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 7, 1869. [4]
It is my melancholy duty to inform you that the Hon. John A. Rawlins, Secretary of War, departed this life at twelve minutes past 4 o'clock on yesterday afternoon. In consequence of this afflicting event the President directs that the Executive Departments of the Government will be careful to manifest every observance of honor which custom has established as appropriate to the memory of one so eminent as a public functionary and so distinguished as a citizen.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HAMILTON FISH.
[Footnote 4: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments.]
[From the Daily Morning Chronicle, Washington, September 8, 1869.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 7, 1869.
SIR:[5] I have the honor to inform you that the President directs me to communicate to you his order that in honor of the memory of the Hon. John A. Rawlins, late Secretary of War, who died yesterday at twelve minutes past 4 o'clock p.m., the Executive Departments shall be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days, and that they be closed from the morning of the 8th instant until after the obsequies of the deceased shall have been solemnized.
I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
HAMILTON FISH.
[Footnote 5: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 7, 1869.
The remains of the Hon. John A. Rawlins, late Secretary of War, will be interred with military honors, under the direction of the General of the Army, on Thursday, the 9th instant, at 10 o'clock a.m. The following persons will officiate as pallbearers on the occasion:
Brevet Major-General Edward D. Townsend, Adjutant-General; Brevet Major-General Randolph B. Marcy, Inspect or-General; Brevet Major-General Joseph Holt, Judge-Advocate-General; Brevet Major-General Montgomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster-General; Brevet Major-General Amos B. Eaton, Commissary-General; Brevet Major-General Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon-General; Brevet Major-General B.W. Brice, Paymaster-General; Brevet Major-General A.A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers; Brevet Major-General Alexander B. Dyer, Chief of Ordnance; Brevet Brigadier-General Albert J. Myer, Chief Signal Officer; Brevet Major-General O.O. Howard; Brevet Major-General John E. Smith; Commodore Melancton Smith, Chief Bureau Equipment; Brigadier-General Jacob Zeilin, Marine Corps; Brigadier-General Giles A. Smith, Second Assistant Postmaster-General; Hon. Sayles J. Bowen, mayor of Washington.
On the day of the funeral the customary number of guns will be fired from all arsenals, forts, and navy-yards in the United States and from the Military and Naval Academies. Flags will be kept at half-mast, custom-houses closed, and all public work suspended during the day.
The General of the Army and heads of the several Executive Departments will issue the orders necessary for carrying these directions into effect.
By order of the President:
HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 69.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, October 9, 1869.
I. The following order of the President has been received from the War Department:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, October 8, 1869.
The painful duty devolves upon the President of announcing to the people of the United States the death of one of his honored predecessors, Franklin Pierce, which occurred at Concord early this morning.
Eminent in the public councils and universally beloved in private life, his death will be mourned with a sorrow befitting the loss which his country sustains in his decease.
As a mark of respect to his memory, it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington be draped in mourning, and all business suspended on the day of the funeral.
It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable military and naval honors to be paid on the occasion to the memory of this illustrious citizen who has passed from us.
U.S. GRANT.
II. In compliance with the instructions of the President and of the Secretary of War, on the day after the receipt of this order at each military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and the order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease.
The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.
At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting 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 command of General Sherman:
J.C. KELTON,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
GENERAL ORDER.
NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 9, 1869.
The death of ex-President Franklin Pierce is announced in the following order of the President of the United States:
[For order see preceding page.]
In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that twenty-one guns be fired, at intervals of one minute each, at the several navy-yards and stations, on the day of the funeral where this order may be received in time, otherwise on the day after its receipt, commencing at noon, and also on board the flagships in each fleet. The flags at the several navy-yards, naval stations, marine barracks, and vessels in commission will be placed at half-mast from sunrise to sunset on the day when the minute guns are fired.
All 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 thirty days.
GEO. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
EXECUTIVE ORDER.
WASHINGTON, October 19, 1869.
All communications in writing intended for the executive department of this Government and relating to public business of whatever kind, including suggestions for legislation, claims, contracts, employment, appointments, and removals from office, and pardons, must be transmitted through the Department to which the care of the subject-matter of the communication properly belongs. Communications otherwise transmitted will not receive attention.
By order of the President:
HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State.
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., December 6, 1869.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In coming before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this great nation, it is with gratitude to the Giver of All Good for the many benefits we enjoy. We are blessed with peace at home, and are without entangling alliances abroad to forebode trouble; with a territory unsurpassed in fertility, of an area equal to the abundant support of 500,000,000 people, and abounding in every variety of useful mineral in quantity sufficient to supply the world for generations; with exuberant crops; with a variety of climate adapted to the production of every species of earth's riches and suited to the habits, tastes, and requirements of every living thing; with a population of 40,000,000 free people, all speaking one language; with facilities for every mortal to acquire an education; with institutions closing to none the avenues to fame or any blessing of fortune that may be coveted; with freedom of the pulpit, the press, and the school; with a revenue flowing into the National Treasury beyond the requirements of the Government. Happily, harmony is being rapidly restored within our own borders. Manufactures hitherto unknown in our country are springing up in all sections, producing a degree of national independence unequaled by that of any other power.
These blessings and countless others are intrusted to your care and mine for safe-keeping for the brief period of our tenure of office. In a short time we must, each of us, return to the ranks of the people, who have conferred upon us our honors, and account to them for our stewardship. I earnestly desire that neither you nor I may be condemned by a free and enlightened constituency nor by our own consciences.
Emerging from a rebellion of gigantic magnitude, aided, as it was, by the sympathies and assistance of nations with which we were at peace, eleven States of the Union were, four years ago, left without legal State governments. A national debt had been contracted; American commerce was almost driven from the seas; the industry of one-half of the country had been taken from the control of the capitalist and placed where all labor rightfully belongs—in the keeping of the laborer. The work of restoring State governments loyal to the Union, of protecting and fostering free labor, and providing means for paying the interest on the public debt has received ample attention from Congress. Although your efforts have not met with the success in all particulars that might have been desired, yet on the whole they have been more successful than could have been reasonably anticipated.
Seven States which passed ordinances of secession have been fully restored to their places in the Union. The eighth (Georgia) held an election at which she ratified her constitution, republican in form, elected a governor, Members of Congress, a State legislature, and all other officers required. The governor was duly installed, and the legislature met and performed all the acts then required of them by the reconstruction acts of Congress. Subsequently, however, in violation of the constitution which they had just ratified (as since decided by the supreme court of the State), they unseated the colored members of the legislature and admitted to seats some members who are disqualified by the third clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution—an article which they themselves had contributed to ratify. Under these circumstances I would submit to you whether it would not be wise, without delay, to enact a law authorizing the governor of Georgia to convene the members originally elected to the legislature, requiring each member to take the oath prescribed by the reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are ineligible under the third clause of the fourteenth amendment.
The freedmen, under the protection which they have received, are making rapid progress in learning, and no complaints are heard of lack of industry on their part where they receive fair remuneration for their labor. The means provided for paying the interest on the public debt, with all other expenses of Government, are more than ample. The loss of our commerce is the only result of the late rebellion which has not received sufficient attention from you. To this subject I call your earnest attention. I will not now suggest plans by which this object may be effected, but will, if necessary, make it the subject of a special message during the session of Congress.
At the March term Congress by joint resolution authorized the Executive to order elections in the States of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, to submit to them the constitutions which each had previously, in convention, framed, and submit the constitutions, either entire or in separate parts, to be voted upon, at the discretion of the Executive. Under this authority elections were called. In Virginia the election took place on the 6th of July, 1869. The governor and lieutenant-governor elected have been installed. The legislature met and did all required by this resolution and by all the reconstruction acts of Congress, and abstained from all doubtful authority. I recommend that her Senators and Representatives be promptly admitted to their seats, and that the State be fully restored to its place in the family of States. Elections were called in Mississippi and Texas, to commence on the 30th of November, 1869, and to last two days in Mississippi and four days in Texas. The elections have taken place, but the result is not known. It is to be hoped that the acts of the legislatures of these States, when they meet, will be such as to receive your approval, and thus close the work of reconstruction.
Among the evils growing out of the rebellion, and not yet referred to, is that of an irredeemable currency. It is an evil which I hope will receive your most earnest attention. It is a duty, and one of the highest duties, of Government to secure to the citizen a medium of exchange of fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a specie basis, and no substitute for it can be devised. It should be commenced now and reached at the earliest practicable moment consistent with a fair regard to the interests of the debtor class. Immediate resumption, if practicable, would not be desirable. It would compel the debtor class to pay, beyond their contracts, the premium on gold at the date of their purchase, and would bring bankruptcy and ruin to thousands. Fluctuation, however, in the paper value of the measure of all values (gold) is detrimental to the interests of trade. It makes the man of business an involuntary gambler, for in all sales where future payment is to be made both parties speculate as to what will be the value of the currency to be paid and received. I earnestly recommend to you, then, such legislation as will insure a gradual return to specie payments and put an immediate stop to fluctuations in the value of currency.
The methods to secure the former of these results are as numerous as are the speculators on political economy. To secure the latter I see but one way, and that is to authorize the Treasury to redeem its own paper, at a fixed price, whenever presented, and to withhold from circulation all currency so redeemed until sold again for gold.
The vast resources of the nation, both developed and undeveloped, ought to make our credit the best on earth. With a less burden of taxation than the citizen has endured for six years past, the entire public debt could be paid in ten years. But it is not desirable that the people should be taxed to pay it in that time. Year by year the ability to pay increases in a rapid ratio. But the burden of interest ought to be reduced as rapidly as can be done without the violation of contract. The public debt is represented in great part by bonds having from five to twenty and from ten to forty years to run, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. It is optional with the Government to pay these bonds at any period after the expiration of the least time mentioned upon their face. The time has already expired when a great part of them may be taken up, and is rapidly approaching when all may be. It is believed that all which are now due may be replaced by bonds bearing a rate of interest not exceeding 4-1/2 per cent, and as rapidly as the remainder become due that they may be replaced in the same way. To accomplish this it may be necessary to authorize the interest to be paid at either of three or four of the money centers of Europe, or by any assistant treasurer of the United States, at the option of the holder of the bond. I suggest this subject for the consideration of Congress, and also, simultaneously with this, the propriety of redeeming our currency, as before suggested, at its market value at the time the law goes into effect, increasing the rate at which currency shall be bought and sold from day to day or week to week, at the same rate of interest as Government pays upon its bonds.
The subjects of tariff and internal taxation will necessarily receive your attention. The revenues of the country are greater than the requirements, and may with safety be reduced. But as the funding of the debt in a 4 or a 4-1/2 per cent loan would reduce annual current expenses largely, thus, after funding, justifying a greater reduction of taxation than would be now expedient, I suggest postponement of this question until the next meeting of Congress.
It may be advisable to modify taxation and tariff in instances where unjust or burdensome discriminations are made by the present laws, but a general revision of the laws regulating this subject I recommend the postponement of for the present. I also suggest the renewal of the tax on incomes, but at a reduced rate, say of 3 per cent, and this tax to expire in three years.
With the funding of the national debt, as here suggested, I feel safe in saying that taxes and the revenue from imports may be reduced safely from sixty to eighty millions per annum at once, and may be still further reduced from year to year, as the resources of the country are developed.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury shows the receipts of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, to be $370,943,747, and the expenditures, including interest, bounties, etc., to be $321,490,597. The estimates for the ensuing year are more favorable to the Government, and will no doubt show a much larger decrease of the public debt.
The receipts in the Treasury beyond expenditures have exceeded the amount necessary to place to the credit of the sinking fund, as provided by law. To lock up the surplus in the Treasury and withhold it from circulation would lead to such a contraction of the currency as to cripple trade and seriously affect the prosperity of the country. Under these circumstances the Secretary of the Treasury and myself heartily concurred in the propriety of using all the surplus currency in the Treasury in the purchase of Government bonds, thus reducing the interest-bearing indebtedness of the country, and of submitting to Congress the question of the disposition to be made of the bonds so purchased. The bonds now held by the Treasury amount to about seventy-five millions, including those belonging to the sinking fund. I recommend that the whole be placed to the credit of the sinking fund.
Your attention is respectfully invited to the recommendations of the Secretary of the Treasury for the creation of the office of commissioner of customs revenue; for the increase of salaries to certain classes of officials; the substitution of increased national-bank circulation to replace the outstanding 3 per cent certificates; and most especially to his recommendation for the repeal of laws allowing shares of fines, penalties, forfeitures, etc., to officers of the Government or to informers.
The office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue is one of the most arduous and responsible under the Government. It falls but little, if any, short of a Cabinet position in its importance and responsibilities. I would ask for it, therefore, such legislation as in your judgment will place the office upon a footing of dignity commensurate with its importance and with the character and qualifications of the class of men required to fill it properly.
As the United States is the freest of all nations, so, too, its people sympathize with all people struggling for liberty and self-government; but while so sympathizing it is due to our honor that we should abstain from enforcing our views upon unwilling nations and from taking an interested part, without invitation, in the quarrels between different nations or between governments and their subjects. Our course should always be in conformity with strict justice and law, international and local. Such has been the policy of the Administration in dealing with these questions. For more than a year a valuable province of Spain, and a near neighbor of ours, in whom all our people can not but feel a deep interest, has been struggling for independence and freedom. The people and Government of the United States entertain the same warm feelings and sympathies for the people of Cuba in their pending struggle that they manifested throughout the previous struggles between Spain and her former colonies in behalf of the latter. But the contest has at no time assumed the conditions which amount to a war in the sense of international law, or which would show the existence of a de facto political organization of the insurgents sufficient to justify a recognition of belligerency.
The principle is maintained, however, that this nation is its own judge when to accord the rights of belligerency, either to a people struggling to free themselves from a government they believe to be oppressive or to independent nations at war with each other.
The United States have no disposition to interfere with the existing relations of Spain to her colonial possessions on this continent. They believe that in due time Spain and other European powers will find their interest in terminating those relations and establishing their present dependencies as independent powers—members of the family of nations. These dependencies are no longer regarded as subject to transfer from one European power to another. When the present relation of colonies ceases, they are to become independent powers, exercising the right of choice and of self-control in the determination of their future condition and relations with other powers.
The United States, in order to put a stop to bloodshed in Cuba, and in the interest of a neighboring people, proposed their good offices to bring the existing contest to a termination. The offer, not being accepted by Spain on a basis which we believed could be received by Cuba, was withdrawn. It is hoped that the good offices of the United States may yet prove advantageous for the settlement of this unhappy strife. Meanwhile a number of illegal expeditions against Cuba have been broken up. It has been the endeavor of the Administration to execute the neutrality laws in good faith, no matter how unpleasant the task, made so by the sufferings we have endured from lack of like good faith toward us by other nations.
On the 26th of March last the United States schooner Lizzie Major was arrested on the high seas by a Spanish frigate, and two passengers taken from it and carried as prisoners to Cuba. Representations of these facts were made to the Spanish Government as soon as official information of them reached Washington. The two passengers were set at liberty, and the Spanish Government assured the United States that the captain of the frigate in making the capture had acted without law, that he had been reprimanded for the irregularity of his conduct, and that the Spanish authorities in Cuba would not sanction any act that could violate the rights or treat with disrespect the sovereignty of this nation.
The question of the seizure of the brig Mary Lowell at one of the Bahama Islands by Spanish authorities is now the subject of correspondence between this Government and those of Spain and Great Britain.
The Captain-General of Cuba about May last issued a proclamation authorizing search to be made of vessels on the high seas. Immediate remonstrance was made against this, whereupon the Captain-General issued a new proclamation limiting the right of search to vessels of the United States so far as authorized under the treaty of 1795. This proclamation, however, was immediately withdrawn.
I have always felt that the most intimate relations should be cultivated between the Republic of the United States and all independent nations on this continent. It may be well worth considering whether new treaties between us and them may not be profitably entered into, to secure more intimate relations—friendly, commercial, and otherwise.
The subject of an interoceanic canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Isthmus of Darien is one in which commerce is greatly interested. Instructions have been given to our minister to the Republic of the United States of Colombia to endeavor to obtain authority for a survey by this Government, in order to determine the practicability of such an undertaking, and a charter for the right of way to build, by private enterprise, such a work, if the survey proves it to be practicable.
In order to comply with the agreement of the United States as to a mixed commission at Lima for the adjustment of claims, it became necessary to send a commissioner and secretary to Lima in August last. No appropriation having been made by Congress for this purpose, it is now asked that one be made covering the past and future expenses of the commission.
The good offices of the United States to bring about a peace between Spain and the South American Republics with which she is at war having been accepted by Spain, Peru, and Chile, a congress has been invited to be held in Washington during the present winter.
A grant has been given to Europeans of an exclusive right of transit over the territory of Nicaragua, to which Costa Rica has given its assent, which, it is alleged, conflicts with vested rights of citizens of the United States. The Department of State has now this subject under consideration.
The minister of Peru having made representations that there was a state of war between Peru and Spain, and that Spain was constructing, in and near New York, thirty gunboats, which might be used by Spain in such a way as to relieve the naval force at Cuba, so as to operate against Peru, orders were given to prevent their departure. No further steps having been taken by the representative of the Peruvian Government to prevent the departure of these vessels, and I not feeling authorized to detain the property of a nation with which we are at peace on a mere Executive order, the matter has been referred to the courts to decide.
The conduct of the war between the allies and the Republic of Paraguay has made the intercourse with that country so difficult that it has been deemed advisable to withdraw our representative from there.
Toward the close of the last Administration a convention was signed at London for the settlement of all outstanding claims between Great Britain and the United States, which failed to receive the advice and consent of the Senate to its ratification. The time and the circumstances attending the negotiation of that treaty were unfavorable to its acceptance by the people of the United States, and its provisions were wholly inadequate for the settlement of the grave wrongs that had been sustained by this Government, as well as by its citizens. The injuries resulting to the United States by reason of the course adopted by Great Britain during our late civil war—in the increased rates of insurance; in the diminution of exports and imports, and other obstructions to domestic industry and production; in its effect upon the foreign commerce of the country; in the decrease and transfer to Great Britain of our commercial marine; in the prolongation of the war and the increased cost (both in treasure and in lives) of its suppression—could not be adjusted and satisfied as ordinary commercial claims, which continually arise between commercial nations; and yet the convention treated them simply as such ordinary claims, from which they differ more widely in the gravity of their character than in the magnitude of their amount, great even as is that difference. Not a word was found in the treaty, and not an inference could be drawn from it, to remove the sense of the unfriendliness of the course of Great Britain in our struggle for existence, which had so deeply and universally impressed itself upon the people of this country.
Believing that a convention thus misconceived in its scope and inadequate in its provisions would not have produced the hearty, cordial settlement of pending questions, which alone is consistent with the relations which I desire to have firmly established between the United States and Great Britain, I regarded the action of the Senate in rejecting the treaty to have been wisely taken in the interest of peace and as a necessary step in the direction of a perfect and cordial friendship between the two countries. A sensitive people, conscious of their power, are more at ease under a great wrong wholly unatoned than under the restraint of a settlement which satisfies neither their ideas of justice nor their grave sense of the grievance they have sustained. The rejection of the treaty was followed by a state of public feeling on both sides which I thought not favorable to an immediate attempt at renewed negotiations. I accordingly so instructed the minister of the United States to Great Britain, and found that my views in this regard were shared by Her Majesty's ministers. I hope that the time may soon arrive when the two Governments can approach the solution of this momentous question with an appreciation of what is due to the rights, dignity, and honor of each, and with the determination not only to remove the causes of complaint in the past, but to lay the foundation of a broad principle of public law which will prevent future differences and tend to firm and continued peace and friendship.
This is now the only grave question which the United States has with any foreign nation.
The question of renewing a treaty for reciprocal trade between the United States and the British Provinces on this continent has not been favorably considered by the Administration. The advantages of such a treaty would be wholly in favor of the British producer. Except, possibly, a few engaged in the trade between the two sections, no citizen of the United States would be benefited by reciprocity. Our internal taxation would prove a protection to the British producer almost equal to the protection which our manufacturers now receive from the tariff. Some arrangement, however, for the regulation of commercial intercourse between the United States and the Dominion of Canada may be desirable.
The commission for adjusting the claims of the "Hudsons Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Company" upon the United States has terminated its labors. The award of $650,000 has been made and all rights and titles of the company on the territory of the United States have been extinguished. Deeds for the property of the company have been delivered. An appropriation by Congress to meet this sum is asked.
The commissioners for determining the northwestern land boundary between the United States and the British possessions under the treaty of 1856 have completed their labors, and the commission has been dissolved.
In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a proposition was early made to the British Government to abolish the mixed courts created under the treaty of April 7, 1862, for the suppression of the slave trade. The subject is still under negotiation.
It having come to my knowledge that a corporate company, organized under British laws, proposed to land upon the shores of the United States and to operate there a submarine cable, under a concession from His Majesty the Emperor of the French of an exclusive right for twenty years of telegraphic communication between the shores of France and the United States, with the very objectionable feature of subjecting all messages conveyed thereby to the scrutiny and control of the French Government, I caused the French and British legations at Washington to be made acquainted with the probable policy of Congress on this subject, as foreshadowed by the bill which passed the Senate in March last. This drew from the representatives of the company an agreement to accept as the basis of their operations the provisions of that bill, or of such other enactment on the subject as might be passed during the approaching session of Congress; also, to use their influence to secure from the French Government a modification of their concession, so as to permit the landing upon French soil of any cable belonging to any company incorporated by the authority of the United States or of any State in the Union, and, on their part, not to oppose the establishment of any such cable. In consideration of this agreement I directed the withdrawal of all opposition by the United States authorities to the landing of the cable and to the working of it until the meeting of Congress. I regret to say that there has been no modification made in the company's concession, nor, so far as I can learn, have they attempted to secure one. Their concession excludes the capital and the citizens of the United States from competition upon the shores of France. I recommend legislation to protect the rights of citizens of the United States, as well as the dignity and sovereignty of the nation, against such an assumption. I shall also endeavor to secure, by negotiation, an abandonment of the principle of monopolies in ocean telegraphic cables. Copies of this correspondence are herewith furnished.
The unsettled political condition of other countries, less fortunate than our own, sometimes induces their citizens to come to the United States for the sole purpose of becoming naturalized. Having secured this, they return to their native country and reside there, without disclosing their change of allegiance. They accept official positions of trust or honor, which can only be held by citizens of their native land; they journey under passports describing them as such citizens; and it is only when civil discord, after perhaps years of quiet, threatens their persons or their property, or when their native state drafts them into its military service, that the fact of their change of allegiance is made known. They reside permanently away from the United States, they contribute nothing to its revenues, they avoid the duties of its citizenship, and they only make themselves known by a claim of protection. I have directed the diplomatic and consular officers of the United States to scrutinize carefully all such claims for protection. The citizen of the United States, whether native or adopted, who discharges his duty to his country, is entitled to its complete protection. While I have a voice in the direction of affairs I shall not consent to imperil this sacred right by conferring it upon fictitious or fraudulent claimants.
On the accession of the present Administration it was found that the minister for North Germany had made propositions for the negotiation of a convention for the protection of emigrant passengers, to which no response had been given. It was concluded that to be effectual all the maritime powers engaged in the trade should join in such a measure. Invitations have been extended to the cabinets of London, Paris, Florence, Berlin, Brussels, The Hague, Copenhagen, and Stockholm to empower their representatives at Washington to simultaneously enter into negotiations and to conclude with the United States conventions identical in form, making uniform regulations as to the construction of the parts of vessels to be devoted to the use of emigrant passengers, as to the quality and quantity of food, as to the medical treatment of the sick, and as to the rules to be observed during the voyage, in order to secure ventilation, to promote health, to prevent intrusion, and to protect the females; and providing for the establishment of tribunals in the several countries for enforcing such regulations by summary process.
Your attention is respectfully called to the law regulating the tariff on Russian hemp, and to the question whether to fix the charges on Russian hemp higher than they are fixed upon manila is not a violation of our treaty with Russia placing her products upon the same footing with those of the most favored nations.
Our manufactures are increasing with wonderful rapidity under the encouragement which they now receive. With the improvements in machinery already effected, and still increasing, causing machinery to take the place of skilled labor to a large extent, our imports of many articles must fall off largely within a very few years. Fortunately, too, manufactures are not confined to a few localities, as formerly, and it is to be hoped will become more and more diffused, making the interest in them equal in all sections. They give employment and support to hundreds of thousands of people at home, and retain with us the means which otherwise would be shipped abroad. The extension of railroads in Europe and the East is bringing into competition with our agricultural products like products of other countries. Self-interest, if not self-preservation, therefore dictates caution against disturbing any industrial interest of the country. It teaches us also the necessity of looking to other markets for the sale of our surplus. Our neighbors south of us, and China and Japan, should receive our special attention. It will be the endeavor of the Administration to cultivate such relations with all these nations as to entitle us to their confidence and make it their interest, as well as ours, to establish better commercial relations.
Through the agency of a more enlightened policy than that heretofore pursued toward China, largely due to the sagacity and efforts of one of our own distinguished citizens, the world is about to commence largely increased relations with that populous and hitherto exclusive nation. As the United States have been the initiators in this new policy, so they should be the most earnest in showing their good faith in making it a success. In this connection I advise such legislation as will forever preclude the enslavement of the Chinese upon our soil under the name of coolies, and also prevent American vessels from engaging in the transportation of coolies to any country tolerating the system. I also recommend that the mission to China be raised to one of the first class. |
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