 |
BENJ. HARRISON.
The Major-General Commanding will issue the necessary orders to the Army.
It is ordered, That the War Department be draped in mourning for the period of thirty days, and that all business be suspended therein on the day of the funeral.
L.A. GRANT, Acting Secretary of War.
II. On the day of the funeral the troops at every military post will be paraded and this order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease. The national flag will be displayed at half-staff from the time of the receipt of this order until the close of the funeral. On the day of the funeral a salute of seventeen guns will be fired at half-hour intervals, commencing at 8 o'clock a.m. The officers of the Army will wear the usual badges of mourning, and the colors of the several regiments and battalions will be draped in mourning for a period of six months.
The day and hour of the funeral will be communicated to department commanders by telegraph, and by them to their subordinate commanders. Other necessary orders will be issued hereafter relative to the appropriate funeral ceremonies.
By command of Major-General Schofield:
J.C. KELTON, Adjutant-General.
GENERAL ORDER.
NAVY DEPARTMENT, February 16, 1891.
The following Executive order, announcing the death of General William Tecumseh Sherman, is published for the information of the Navy and the Marine Corps:
[For Executive order see preceding page.]
In accordance with the order of the President, the Navy Department will be closed and all business suspended therein on the day of the funeral, and the flag at all yards and stations will be displayed at half-mast until after the burial of General Sherman, and in all places where public expression is given to the national sorrow business will be suspended at navy-yards or stations during such hours as will enable officers and employees of the Navy to participate therein with their fellow-citizens.
B.F. TRACY, Secretary of the Navy.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
FEBRUARY 18, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
In the Department of Agriculture, in the office of the Secretary: Private secretary to the chief of the division of statistics.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
FEBRUARY 21, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
In the Department of the Treasury, in the Coast and Geodetic Survey: Clerk to act as confidential clerk and cashier to the disbursing officer.
In the Post-Office Department, office of Assistant Attorney-General: Confidential clerk to the Assistant Attorney-General.
BENJ. HARRISON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., February 26, 1891.
In accordance with an act of Congress approved September 27, 1890, the following limits to the punishment of enlisted men, together with the accompanying regulations, are established for the government in time of peace of all courts-martial, and will take effect thirty days after the date of this order:
I. Subject to the modifications authorized in subdivision 3 of this section, the punishment for desertion shall not exceed the following:
1. In the case of a soldier who surrenders—
(a) When such surrender is made within thirty days after desertion, confinement at hard labor, with forfeiture of pay and allowances, for three months.
(b) When such surrender is made after an absence of more than thirty days and not more than ninety days, confinement at hard labor, with forfeiture of pay and allowances, for six months.
(c) When such surrender is made after an absence of more than ninety days, dishonorable discharge, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for eighteen months: Provided, That in the case of a deserter who had not been more than three months in the service the confinement shall not exceed ten months.
2. In the case of a soldier who does not surrender—
(a) When at the time of desertion he shall have been less than three months in the service, dishonorable discharge, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for one year.
(b) When at the time of desertion he shall have been three months or more, but less than six months, in the service, dishonorable discharge, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for eighteen months.
(c) When at the time of desertion he shall have been six months or more in the service, dishonorable discharge, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for two years and six months.
3. The foregoing limitations will be subject to modification under the following conditions:
(a) The punishment of a deserter may be increased by one year of confinement at hard labor in consideration of each previous conviction of desertion, and also by dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances when not already authorized.
(b) The punishment for desertion when joined in by two or more soldiers in the execution of a conspiracy, or for desertion in the presence of an outbreak of Indians or of any unlawful assemblage which the troops may be opposing, shall not exceed dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for five years.
II. Except as herein otherwise indicated, punishments shall not exceed the limits prescribed in the following table:
Offenses. Limit of punishment.
Under seventeenth article of war.
Selling horse or arms, Three years' confinement at hard either or both labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.[19]
Selling accouterments Four months confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.[19]
Selling clothing Two months' confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.[19]
Losing or spoiling horse Four months' confinement at hard or arms through neglect labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.[19]
Losing or spoiling One month's confinement at hard accouterments or clothing labor; for noncommissioned officer, through neglect reduction in addition thereto.[19]
Under twentieth article of war.
Behaving himself with Six months' confinement at hard labor disrespect toward his and forfeiture of $10 per month for commanding officer the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Under twenty-fourth article of war.
Refusal to obey or using Dishonorable discharge, with violence to officer or forfeiture of all pay and allowances, noncommissioned officer and imprisonment for 2 years. while quelling quarrels or disorders
Under thirty-first article of war.
Lying out of quarters Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4.
Under thirty-second article of war.
Absence without leave—
Less than 1 hour (not Forfeiture of 50 cents; corporal, $1; including absence from sergeant, $2. a roll call)
Less than 1 hour Forfeiture of $1; corporal, $2; (including absence from sergeant, $3; first sergeant or a roll call) noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $4.
From 1 to 6 hours Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $5.
From 6 to 12 hours Forfeiture of $3; corporal, $4; sergeant, $6; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $7.
From 12 to 24 hours Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $6; sergeant, $7; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $10.
From 24 to 48 hours Forfeiture of $6 and 5 days' confinement at hard labor. For corporal, forfeiture of $8; sergeant, $10; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $12; or for all noncommissioned officers, reduction.
From 2 to 9 days Forfeiture of $10 and 10 days' confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
From 10 to 29 days Forfeiture of $20 and 1 month's confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
From 30 to 90 days Three months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
For more than 90 days Dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances and 3 months' confinement at hard labor.
Under thirty-third article of war.
Failure to repair at the time fixed, etc., to the place of parade for—
Reveille or retreat roll call Forfeiture of 50 cents; corporal, $1; sergeant, $2; first sergeant, $3.
Guard detail Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $8; sergeant, $10.
Fatigue detail } Dress parade } The weekly inspection } Target practice } Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; Drill } sergeant, $5. Guard mounting (by musician) } Stable duty }
Under thirty-eighth article of war.
Drunkenness on—
Guard Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Duty as company cook Forfeiture of $10.
Extra or special duty } At drill } At target practice } At parade } Forfeiture of $6; for At inspection } noncommissioned officer, reduction At inspection of company guard } and forfeiture of $10. detail } At stable duty }
Under fortieth article of war.
Quitting guard Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Under fifty-first article of war.
Persuading soldiers to desert Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Under sixtieth article of war Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' imprisonment.
Under sixty-second article of war.
Manslaughter Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' imprisonment.
Assault with intent to kill Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' imprisonment.
Burglary Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 5 years' imprisonment.
Forgery Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' imprisonment.
Perjury Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' imprisonment.
False swearing Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' imprisonment.
Robbery Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 years' imprisonment.
Larceny or embezzlement of property of the value of—[20]
More than $100 Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' imprisonment.
$100 or less and more than $50 Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 3 years' imprisonment.
$50 or less and more than $20 Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' imprisonment.
$20 or less Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's imprisonment.
Disobedience of orders, Six months' confinement at hard involving willful defiance labor and forfeiture of $10 per of the authority of a month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer in noncommissioned officer, reduction charge of a guard or party in addition thereto.
Using threatening or insulting One month's confinement at hard language or behaving in an labor and forfeiture of $10; for insubordinate manner to a noncommissioned officer, reduction noncommissioned officer while in addition thereto. in the execution of his office
Absence from fatigue duty Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; sergeant, $6.
Absence from extra or special Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; duty sergeant, $6.
Absence from duty as company Forfeiture of $10. or hospital cook
Introducing liquor into post or Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissioned camp in violation of standing officer, reduction and forfeiture orders of $5.
Drunkenness at post or Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissioned in quarters officer, reduction and forfeiture of $5.
Drunkenness and disorderly Forfeiture of $10 and 7 days' conduct, causing the offender's confinement at hard labor; for arrest and conviction by civil noncommissioned officer, reduction authorities at a place within and forfeiture of $12. 10 miles of his station
Noisy or disorderly conduct in Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $7; quarters sergeant, $10.
Abuse by noncommissioned Reduction, 3 months' confinement at officer of his authority over hard labor, and forfeiture of $10 per an inferior month for the same period.
Noncommissioned officer Reduction and forfeiture of $5. encouraging gambling
Noncommissioned officer making Reduction, forfeiture of $8, and 10 false report days' confinement at hard labor.
Sentinel allowing a prisoner Six months' confinement at hard labor under his charge to escape and forfeiture of $10 per month for through neglect the same period.
Sentinel willfully suffering Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of prisoner under his charge to all pay and allowances, and 1 year's escape imprisonment.
Sentinel allowing a prisoner Two months' confinement at hard labor under his charge to obtain and forfeiture of $10 per month for liquor the same period.
Sentinel or member of guard Two months' confinement at hard labor drinking liquor with prisoners and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period.
Disrespect or affront to Two month's confinement at hard labor a sentinel and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Resisting or disobeying sentinel Six months' confinement at hard labor in lawful execution of his duty and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
Lewd or indecent exposure of Three month's confinement at hard person labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto.
[Footnote 19: In addition to the stoppages "sufficient for repairing the loss or damage," which the law requires the court-martial to adjudge. The court's action under this requirement in the case of sale or loss through neglect of clothing shall be limited to a confirmation of the charge made against the offender on his clothing account.]
[Footnote 20: In specifications to charges of larceny or embezzlement the value of the property shall be stated.]
III. (1) When a soldier shall be found guilty of an offense cognizable when committed for the first time by an inferior court-martial, his punishment therefor may exceed the prescribed limit by one-half if it shall appear that during his current enlistment and within two years preceding his trial he has been once convicted of one offense or more; it may be doubled if he has been twice so convicted, and it may be increased by one-half of the prescribed limit for every such previous conviction: Provided, That upon proof of five or more previous convictions the punishment may be that authorized for a fifth conviction, or dishonorable discharge with forfeiture of all pay and allowances. When found guilty of an offense cognizable only by a general court-martial, and on proof of five or more previous convictions within the two years, dishonorable discharge with forfeiture of all pay and allowances may be added to any confinement at hard labor. And when a noncommissioned officer shall be found guilty of an offense not punishable by reduction, reduction may be added to the punishment if it shall appear that he has been convicted of a military offense within one year and during his current enlistment.
(2) After arriving at the findings a court-martial may be opened to receive evidence of previous convictions. These convictions must be proved by the records of previous trials or by duly authenticated orders promulgating the same, showing the actual offenses of which the soldier was convicted, except in the cases of convictions by summary court, when a duly authenticated copy of the record of said court shall be deemed sufficient proof. Charges forwarded to the authority ordering a general court-martial or submitted to a summary garrison or regimental court must be accompanied by the proper evidence of such previous convictions as may have to be considered in determining upon a sentence. Paragraphs 1017 and 1018 of the Regulations are superseded by this order.
IV. This order prescribes the maximum limit of punishment for the offenses named, and this limit is intended for those cases where the severest punishment should be awarded. In other cases the punishment must be graded down according to the extenuating circumstances. Offenses not herein provided for remain punishable as authorized by the Articles of War and the custom of the service.
V. Summary courts are subject to the restrictions named in the eighty-third article of war. Soldiers against whom charges may be preferred for trial by summary court shall not be confined in the guardhouse, but shall be placed in arrest in quarters before and during trial and while awaiting sentence, unless in particular cases restraint may be deemed necessary.
VI. The following substitutions for punishments named in Section II of this order are authorized, at the discretion of the court:
Detention of pay to the extent of four times the amount of the forfeiture; two days' confinement at hard labor for $1 of forfeited pay; one day's solitary confinement on bread and water diet for two days' confinement at hard labor or for $1 of forfeited pay: Provided, That a noncommissioned officer not sentenced to reduction shall not be subject to confinement: And provided, That solitary confinement shall not exceed fourteen days at one time nor be repeated until fourteen days have elapsed, and shall not exceed eighty-four days in one year. Wherever the limit herein prescribed for an offense or offenses may be brought within the punishing power of inferior courts-martial, as defined by the eighty-third article of war, by substitution of punishment under the provisions of this section, the aforesaid courts shall be deemed to have jurisdiction of such offense or offenses.
VII. Sergeants shall not if they object thereto be brought to trial before regimental, garrison, or summary courts-martial without the authority of the officer competent to order their trial by general court-martial; nor shall sergeants of the post noncommissioned staff be reduced, but they may be dishonorably discharged whenever reduction is included in the limit of punishment. Paragraphs 105 and 254 of the Regulations, the latter as amended by General Orders, No. 67, series of 1890, Adjutant-General's Office, are modified accordingly.
BENJ. HARRISON.
By the President: REDFIELD PROCTOR, Secretary of War.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
MARCH 4, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
In the Department of Agriculture, in the office of the Secretary: Clerk to act as appointment clerk.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
MARCH 16, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
In the Post-Office Department, office of the First Assistant Postmaster-General: Assistant superintendent of free delivery.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
APRIL 3, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
In the Treasury Department, office of the Secretary: One clerk in the office of the disbursing clerk.
BENJ. HARRISON.
CIVIL SERVICE—CLASSIFICATION OF INDIAN SERVICE.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, April 13, 1891.
By direction of the President of the United States and in accordance with the third clause of section 6 of an act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883—
It is ordered, That all physicians, school superintendents and assistant superintendents, school-teachers, and matrons in the Indian service be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes, without regard to salary or compensation:
Class 1. Physicians.
Class 2. School superintendents and assistant superintendents.
Class 3. School-teachers.
Class 4. Matrons.
Provided, That no person who may be required by law to be appointed to an office by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and that no person who may be employed merely as a laborer or workman or in connection with any contract schools, shall be considered as within this classification, and no person so employed shall be assigned to the duties of a classified place.
It is further ordered, That no person shall be admitted to any place not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of the classes above designated until he or she shall have passed an appropriate examination under the United States Civil Service Commission and his or her eligibility has been certified to by said Commission or the appropriate board of examiners.
JOHN W. NOBLE, Secretary.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 13, 1891.
The Secretary of the Interior:
I approve of the within classification, and if you see no reason to suggest any further modification you will please put it in force.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
APRIL 13, 1891.
Clause (c) of section 2 of General Rule III is hereby revoked, and clauses (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h) are lettered, respectively, (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g).
BENJ. HARRISON.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
EXECUTIVE ORDER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 25, 1891.
It is hereby ordered, That the several Executive Departments and the Government Printing Office be closed on Saturday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers and sailors who fell in defense of the Union during the War of the Rebellion.
BENJ. HARRISON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., July 6, 1891.
To the People of the United States:
The President, with a profound feeling of sorrow, announces the death of Hannibal Hamlin, at one time Vice-President of the United States, who died at Bangor, Me., on the evening of Saturday, July 4.
Few men in this country have filled more important and more distinguished public positions than Mr. Hamlin, and in recognition of his many eminent and varied services and as an expression of the great respect and reverence which are felt for his memory it is ordered that the national flag be displayed at half-mast upon the public buildings of the United States on the day of his funeral.
BENJ. HARRISON.
By the President: WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Acting Secretary of State.
AMENDMENTS OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, August 6, 1891.
The civil-service rules are hereby amended as follows:
GENERAL RULE II.
In line 1 strike out the word "four" and insert in lieu thereof the word "five." Add at the end of the rule the following:
5. The classified Indian service.
GENERAL RULE III.
Strike out paragraphs 1 and 2 of section 6 of General Rule III and insert in lieu thereof the following:
So far as practicable and useful, competitive examinations shall be established in the classified civil service to test fitness for promotion, under such regulations as the Commission may make. Until such regulations have been applied to any part of the classified service promotions therein shall be made in the manner prescribed by the rule applicable thereto.
DEPARTMENTAL RULE VI.
Strike out the first sentence of section 6 and transfer the remaining sentence to section 5. Change the numbers of sections 7, 8, 9, and 10 to 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively.
CUSTOMS RULE III.
Strike out the first sentence of section 5 and transfer the remaining sentence to section 4. Change the numbers of sections 6, 7, 8, and 9 to 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively.
POSTAL RULE III.
Strike out the first sentence of section 5 and transfer the remaining sentence to section 4. Change the numbers of sections 6, 7, 8, and 9 to 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively.
RAILWAY MAIL RULE III.
Strike out the first sentence of section 7 and transfer the remaining sentence to section 4. Change the numbers of sections 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, respectively.
RAILWAY MAIL RULE II.
Insert an additional clause to section 5, as follows:
(f) Transfer clerks at junction points or stations where not more than two such clerks are employed.
RAILWAY MAIL RULE IV.
Insert an additional proviso at the end of clause (b) of section 2, as follows:
Provided further, That on a line on which the service does not require the full time of a clerk, and one can be employed jointly with the railroad company, the appointment may be made without examination and certification, with the consent of the Commission, upon a statement of the facts by the General Superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appointment to any other place in the service.
In section 6, line 3, strike out the word "twenty" and insert in lieu thereof the word "ten."
In section 7, line 6, strike out the word "thirty" and insert in lieu thereof the word "sixty;" in the same line strike out the word "to" and insert in lieu thereof the words "in periods of;" in line 7 strike out the words "who have been in the railway mail service."
BENJ. HARRISON.
CIVIL SERVICE—INDIAN RULES.
INDIAN RULE I.
The classified Indian service shall include all the physicians, school superintendents, assistant superintendents, school-teachers, and matrons in that service, classified under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883.
INDIAN RULE II.
1. To test fitness for admission to the classified Indian service examinations of a practical character shall be provided on such subjects as the Commission may direct for physician, superintendent, assistant superintendent, teachers, and matrons.
2. The following age limitations shall apply to applicants for examination for the classified Indian service: For physician, not under 25 years of age nor over 45; for superintendent, not under 25 nor over 50; for assistant superintendent and for teacher, not under 20 nor over 50; for matron, not under 25 nor over 55: Provided, That these limitations shall not apply to the wives of superintendents of Indian schools who apply for the position of matron, nor shall the maximum limitations apply to persons allowed preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, by the Commission.
3. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the Commission, and the date of reception and also of approval by the Commission of each application shall be noted on the application paper.
INDIAN RULE III.
1. The papers of every examination shall be marked under regulations made by the Commission. Bach competitor shall be graded on a scale of 100, according to the general average determined by the markings.
2. Immediately after the general average shall have been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to pass.
3. A competitor who has failed to pass an examination may, with the consent of the Commission, be allowed reexamination at any time within six months from the date of failure without filing a new application; but if he be not allowed reexamination within six months he shall be required to file a new application before being again examined.
4. No eligible shall be allowed reexamination during the period of his eligibility unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination, because of illness or other good cause, he was incapable of doing himself justice; and his rating on such reexamination shall cancel and be a substitute for his rating on his former examination.
5. All competitors whose claim to preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes have been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined. The names of all the competitors thus rendered eligible shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles.
6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which the application papers are filed.
7. For the Indian service there shall be four districts and a separate register of eligibles for each grade of examination for each district, the names of males and females being listed separately on each register. The districts shall be comprised as follows: No. 1, of the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming; No. 2, of the States of Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and that part of California lying north of the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude, and the Territory of Utah; No. 3, of that part of California lying south of the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude, the Territories of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, the Indian Territory, and the States of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; No. 4, of all the States of the United States not embraced in any of the foregoing districts, together with the District of Columbia. Upon the written request of any eligible his name shall be entered upon the register of any one or more of the districts other than that in which he resides: Provided, That he shall state in writing his willingness to accept service wherever assigned in any such district.
8. The period of eligibility to appointment shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register unless otherwise determined by regulation of the Commission.
INDIAN RULE IV.
1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner:
(a) The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of male or female eligibles from the district in which the vacancy exists.
(b) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the Commission shall certify from the proper register of the district in which the vacancy exists the names of the three eligibles thereon of the sex called for having the highest averages: Provided, That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified according to their grade before all other eligibles thereon: And provided further, That if the vacancy is in the grade of matron or teacher, and the wife of the superintendent of the school in which the vacancy exists is an eligible, she may be given preference in certification if the appointing officer so requests.
2. Of the three names certified to him the appointing officer shall select one, and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies than one he may select more than one: Provided, That if the appointing officer to whom certification has been made shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certificate, stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is good and well founded, direct the certification of another eligible in place of the one objected to.
3. Each person thus designated for appointment shall be notified, and upon indicating acceptance shall be appointed for a probationary period—if a physician, for six months, and if a school employee, to expire at the end of the then current school year—at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the appointing officer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory to said officer he shall be so notified, and this notification shall be his discharge from the service: Provided, That any probationer may be discharged during probation for misconduct or evident unfitness or incapacity.
4. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall require the officer under whom a probationer may be serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which they shall be made.
5. In case of the sudden occurrence of a vacancy in any school during a school term which the public interest requires to be immediately filled, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs is authorized, in his discretion, to provide for the temporary filling of the same until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule, and when such regular appointment is made the temporary appointment shall terminate. All temporary appointments made under this authority and their termination shall at once be reported to the Commission.
INDIAN RULE V.
Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to the classified Indian service promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the promoting officer if not disapproved by the Commission: Provided, That preference in promotion in any school shall be given to those longest in the service unless there are good reasons to the contrary; and when such reasons prevail they shall, through the proper channels, be reported to the Commission: And provided further, That no one shall be promoted to any grade he could not enter by original appointment under the minimum age limitation applied thereto by Indian Rule II, section 2, and that no one shall be promoted to the grade of physician from any other grade.
INDIAN RULE VI.
Subject to the conditions stated in Rule IV, transfers may be made after absolute appointment from one school to another and from one district to another under such regulations as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may prescribe.
INDIAN RULE VII.
Upon the requisition of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in a grade or class no higher than that in which he was formerly employed any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified Indian service: Provided, That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, without regard to the length of time he has been separated from the service.
INDIAN RULE VIII.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall report to the Commission—
(a) Every probational and every absolute appointment in the classified Indian service.
(b) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every refusal to accept an appointment.
(c) Every separation from the classified Indian service and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal.
(d) Every restoration to the classified Indian service.
These rules shall take effect October 1, 1891.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE RULES.
OCTOBER 9, 1891.
General Rule III, clause 6, is hereby amended by striking out the words "under such regulations as the Commission may make" and substituting therefor the following: "under regulations to be approved by the President;" so that as amended the clause will read as follows:
So far as practicable and useful competitive examinations shall be established in the classified civil service to test fitness for promotion under regulations to be approved by the President.
BENJ. HARRISON.
Whereas civil-service rules for the Indian service were approved to take effect October 1, 1891; and
Whereas it is represented to me by the Civil Service Commission in a communication of this date that no persons have as yet been examined for appointment to that service, and that it seems probable that complete arrangements for putting said rules into full effect will not be made sooner than March 1, 1892:
It is therefore ordered, That said Indian rules shall take effect March 1, 1892, instead of October 1, 1891: Provided, That said rules shall become operative and take effect in any district of the Indian service as soon as an eligible register for such district shall be provided, if it shall be prior to the date above fixed.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 13, 1891.
Upon the recommendation of the Commission the foregoing order is approved.
BENJ. HARRISON.
AMENDMENT OF CIVIL-SERVICE RULES.
NOVEMBER 24, 1891.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended so as to include among the places excepted from examination the following:
In the Department of the Treasury, in the Bureau of Statistics: One confidential clerk to the Chief of the Bureau.
BENJ. HARRISON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 4, 1891.
SIR:[21] In my message to the first session of the Fifty-first Congress I said:
I have suggested to the heads of the Executive Departments that they consider whether a record might not be kept in each bureau of all those elements that are covered by the terms "faithfulness" and "efficiency," and a rating made showing the relative merits of the clerks of each class, this rating to be regarded as a test of merit in making promotions.
In some of the Departments this suggestion has been acted upon in part at least, and I now direct that in your Department a plan be at once devised and put in operation for keeping an efficiency record of all persons within the classified service, with a view to placing promotions wholly upon the basis of merit.
It is intended to make provision for carrying into effect the stipulations of the civil-service law in relation to promotions in the classified service. To that end the rule requiring compulsory examination has been rescinded. In my opinion the examination for promotion of those who present themselves should be chiefly, if not wholly, upon their knowledge of the work of the bureau or Department to which they belong and the record of efficiency made by them during their previous service. I think the records of efficiency kept from day to day should be open to the inspection of the clerks.
Very respectfully, yours,
BENJ. HARRISON.
[Footnote 21: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments.]
THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 9, 1891.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
The reports of the heads of the several Executive Departments, required by law to be submitted to me, which are herewith transmitted, and the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-General, made directly to Congress, furnish a comprehensive view of the administrative work of the last fiscal year relating to internal affairs. It would be of great advantage if these reports could have an attentive perusal by every member of Congress and by all who take an interest in public affairs. Such a perusal could not fail to excite a higher appreciation of the vast labor and conscientious effort which are given to the conduct of our civil administration.
The reports will, I believe, show that every question has been approached, considered, and decided from the standpoint of public duty and upon considerations affecting the public interests alone. Again I invite to every branch of the service the attention and scrutiny of Congress.
The work of the State Department during the last year has been characterized by an unusual number of important negotiations and by diplomatic results of a notable and highly beneficial character. Among these are the reciprocal trade arrangements which have been concluded, in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the tariff law, with the Republic of Brazil, with Spain for its West India possessions, and with Santo Domingo. Like negotiations with other countries have been much advanced, and it is hoped that before the close of the year further definitive trade arrangements of great value will be concluded.
In view of the reports which had been received as to the diminution of the seal herds in the Bering Sea, I deemed it wise to propose to Her Majesty's Government in February last that an agreement for a closed season should be made pending the negotiations for arbitration, which then seemed to be approaching a favorable conclusion. After much correspondence and delays, for which this Government was not responsible, an agreement was reached and signed on the 15th of June, by which Great Britain undertook from that date and until May 1, 1892, to prohibit the killing by her subjects of seals in the Bering Sea, and the Government of the United States during the same period to enforce its existing prohibition against pelagic sealing and to limit the catch by the fur-seal company upon the islands to 7,500 skins. If this agreement could have been reached earlier in response to the strenuous endeavors of this Government, it would have been more effective; but coming even as late as it did it unquestionably resulted in greatly diminishing the destruction of the seals by the Canadian sealers.
In my last annual message I stated that the basis of arbitration proposed by Her Majesty's Government for the adjustment of the long-pending controversy as to the seal fisheries was not acceptable. I am glad now to be able to announce that terms satisfactory to this Government have been agreed upon and that an agreement as to the arbitrators is all that is necessary to the completion of the convention. In view of the advanced position which this Government has taken upon the subject of international arbitration, this renewed expression of our adherence to this method for the settlement of disputes such as have arisen in the Bering Sea will, I doubt not, meet with the concurrence of Congress.
Provision should be made for a joint demarcation of the frontier line between Canada and the United States wherever required by the increasing border settlements, and especially for the exact location of the water boundary in the straits and rivers.
I should have been glad to announce some favorable disposition of the boundary dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela touching the western frontier of British Guiana, but the friendly efforts of the United States in that direction have thus far been unavailing. This Government will continue to express its concern at any appearance of foreign encroachment on territories long under the administrative control of American States. The determination of a disputed boundary is easily attainable by amicable arbitration where the rights of the respective parties rest, as here, on historic facts readily ascertainable.
The law of the last Congress providing a system of inspection for our meats intended for export, and clothing the President with power to exclude foreign products from our market in case the country sending them should perpetuate unjust discriminations against any product of the United States, placed this Government in a position to effectively urge the removal of such discriminations against our meats. It is gratifying to be able to state that Germany, Denmark, Italy, Austria, and France, in the order named, have opened their ports to inspected American pork products. The removal of these restrictions in every instance was asked for and given solely upon the ground that we have now provided a meat inspection that should be accepted as adequate to the complete removal of the dangers, real or fancied, which had been previously urged. The State Department, our ministers abroad, and the Secretary of Agriculture have cooperated with unflagging and intelligent zeal for the accomplishment of this great result. The outlines of an agreement have been reached with Germany looking to equitable trade concessions in consideration of the continued free importation of her sugars, but the time has not yet arrived when this correspondence can be submitted to Congress.
The recent political disturbances in the Republic of Brazil have excited regret and solicitude. The information we possessed was too meager to enable us to form a satisfactory judgment of the causes leading to the temporary assumption of supreme power by President Fonseca; but this Government did not fail to express to him its anxious solicitude for the peace of Brazil and for the maintenance of the free political institutions which had recently been established there, nor to offer our advice that great moderation should be observed in the clash of parties and the contest for leadership. These counsels were received in the most friendly spirit, and the latest information is that constitutional government has been reestablished without bloodshed.
The lynching at New Orleans in March last of eleven men of Italian nativity by a mob of citizens was a most deplorable and discreditable incident. It did not, however, have its origin in any general animosity to the Italian people, nor in any disrespect to the Government of Italy, with which our relations were of the most friendly character. The fury of the mob was directed against these men as the supposed participants or accessories in the murder of a city officer. I do not allude to this as mitigating in any degree this offense against law and humanity, but only as affecting the international questions which grew out of it. It was at once represented by the Italian minister that several of those whose lives had been taken by the mob were Italian subjects, and a demand was made for the punishment of the participants and for an indemnity to the families of those who were killed. It is to be regretted that the manner in which these claims were presented was not such as to promote a calm discussion of the questions involved; but this may well be attributed to the excitement and indignation which the crime naturally evoked. The views of this Government as to its obligations to foreigners domiciled here were fully stated in the correspondence, as well as its purpose to make an investigation of the affair with a view to determine whether there were present any circumstances that could under such rules of duty as we had indicated create an obligation upon the United States. The temporary absence of a minister plenipotentiary of Italy at this capital has retarded the further correspondence, but it is not doubted that a friendly conclusion is attainable.
Some suggestions growing out of this unhappy incident are worthy the attention of Congress. It would, I believe, be entirely competent for Congress to make offenses against the treaty rights of foreigners domiciled in the United States cognizable in the Federal courts. This has not, however, been done, and the Federal officers and courts have no power in such cases to intervene, either for the protection of a foreign citizen or for the punishment of his slayers. It seems to me to follow, in this state of the law, that the officers of the State charged with police and judicial powers in such cases must in the consideration of international questions growing out of such incidents be regarded in such sense as Federal agents as to make this Government answerable for their acts in cases where it would be answerable if the United States had used its constitutional power to define and punish crime against treaty rights.
The civil war in Chile, which began in January last, was continued, but fortunately with infrequent and not important armed collisions, until August 28, when the Congressional forces landed near Valparaiso and after a bloody engagement captured that city. President Balmaceda at once recognized that his cause was lost, and a Provisional Government was speedily established by the victorious party. Our minister was promptly directed to recognize and put himself in communication with this Government so soon as it should have established its de facto character, which was done. During the pendency of this civil contest frequent indirect appeals were made to this Government to extend belligerent rights to the insurgents and to give audience to their representatives. This was declined, and that policy was pursued throughout which this Government when wrenched by civil war so strenuously insisted upon on the part of European nations. The Itata, an armed vessel commanded by a naval officer of the insurgent fleet, manned by its sailors and with soldiers on board, was seized under process of the United States court at San Diego, Cal., for a violation of our neutrality laws. While in the custody of an officer of the court the vessel was forcibly wrested from his control and put to sea. It would have been inconsistent with the dignity and self-respect of this Government not to have insisted that the Itata should be returned to San Diego to abide the judgment of the court. This was so clear to the junta of the Congressional party, established at Iquique, that before the arrival of the Itata at that port the secretary of foreign relations of the Provisional Government addressed to Rear-Admiral Brown, commanding the United States naval forces, a communication, from which the following is an extract:
The Provisional Government has learned by the cablegrams of the Associated Press that the transport Itata, detained in San Diego by order of the United States for taking on board munitions of war, and in possession of the marshal, left the port, carrying on board this official, who was landed at a point near the coast, and then continued her voyage. * * * If this news be correct this Government would deplore the conduct of the Itata, and as an evidence that it is not disposed to support or agree to the infraction of the laws of the United States the undersigned takes advantage of the personal relations you have been good enough to maintain with him since your arrival in this port to declare to you that as soon as she is within reach of our orders his Government will put the Itata, with the arms and munitions she took on board in San Diego, at the disposition of the United States.
A trial in the district court of the United States for the southern district of California has recently resulted in a decision holding, among other things, that inasmuch as the Congressional party had not been recognized as a belligerent the acts done in its interest could not be a violation of our neutrality laws. From this judgment the United States has appealed, not that the condemnation of the vessel is a matter of importance, but that we may know what the present state of our law is; for if this construction of the statute is correct there is obvious necessity for revision and amendment.
During the progress of the war in Chile this Government tendered its good offices to bring about a peaceful adjustment, and it was at one time hoped that a good result might be reached; but in this we were disappointed.
The instructions to our naval officers and to our minister at Santiago from the first to the last of this struggle enjoined upon them the most impartial treatment and absolute noninterference. I am satisfied that these instructions were observed and that our representatives were always watchful to use their influence impartially in the interest of humanity, and on more than one occasion did so effectively. We could not forget, however, that this Government was in diplomatic relations with the then established Government of Chile, as it is now in such relations with the successor of that Government. I am quite sure that President Montt, who has, under circumstances of promise for the peace of Chile, been installed as President of that Republic, will not desire that in the unfortunate event of any revolt against his authority the policy of this Government should be other than that which we have recently observed. No official complaint of the conduct of our minister or of our naval officers during the struggle has been presented to this Government, and it is a matter of regret that so many of our own people should have given ear to unofficial charges and complaints that manifestly had their origin in rival interests and in a wish to pervert the relations of the United States with Chile.
The collapse of the Government of Balmaceda brought about a condition which is unfortunately too familiar in the history of the Central and South American States. With the overthrow of the Balmaceda Government he and many of his councilors and officers became at once fugitives for their lives, and appealed to the commanding officers of the foreign naval vessels in the harbor of Valparaiso and to the resident foreign ministers at Santiago for asylum. This asylum was freely given, according to my information, by the naval vessels of several foreign powers and by several of the legations at Santiago. The American minister as well as his colleagues, acting upon the impulse of humanity, extended asylum to political refugees whose lives were in peril. I have not been willing to direct the surrender of such of these persons as are still in the American legation without suitable conditions.
It is believed that the Government of Chile is not in a position, in view of the precedents with which it has been connected, to broadly deny the right of asylum, and the correspondence has not thus far presented any such denial. The treatment of our minister for a time was such as to call for a decided protest, and it was very gratifying to observe that unfriendly measures, which were undoubtedly the result of the prevailing excitement, were at once rescinded or suitably relaxed.
On the 16th of October an event occurred in Valparaiso so serious and tragic in its circumstances and results as to very justly excite the indignation of our people and to call for prompt and decided action on the part of this Government. A considerable number of the sailors of the United States steamship Baltimore, then in the harbor at Valparaiso, being upon shore leave and unarmed, were assaulted by armed men nearly simultaneously in different localities in the city. One petty officer was killed outright and seven or eight seamen were seriously wounded, one of whom has since died. So savage and brutal was the assault that several of our sailors received more than two and one as many as eighteen stab wounds. An investigation of the affair was promptly made by a board of officers of the Baltimore, and their report shows that these assaults were unprovoked, that our men were conducting themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner, and that some of the police of the city took part in the assault and used their weapons with fatal effect, while a few others, with some well-disposed citizens, endeavored to protect our men. Thirty-six of our sailors were arrested, and some of them while being taken to prison were cruelly beaten and maltreated. The fact that they were all discharged, no criminal charge being lodged against any one of them, shows very clearly that they were innocent of any breach of the peace.
So far as I have yet been able to learn no other explanation of this bloody work has been suggested than that it had its origin in hostility to those men as sailors of the United States, wearing the uniform of their Government, and not in any individual act or personal animosity. The attention of the Chilean Government was at once called to this affair, and a statement of the facts obtained by the investigation we had conducted was submitted, accompanied by a request to be advised of any other or qualifying facts in the possession of the Chilean Government that might tend to relieve this affair of the appearance of an insult to this Government. The Chilean Government was also advised that if such qualifying facts did not exist this Government would confidently expect full and prompt reparation.
It is to be regretted that the reply of the secretary for foreign affairs of the Provisional Government was couched in an offensive tone. To this no response has been made. This Government is now awaiting the result of an investigation which has been conducted by the criminal court at Valparaiso. It is reported unofficially that the investigation is about completed, and it is expected that the result will soon be communicated to this Government, together with some adequate and satisfactory response to the note by which the attention of Chile was called to this incident. If these just expectations should be disappointed or further needless delay intervene, I will by a special message bring this matter again to the attention of Congress for such action as may be necessary. The entire correspondence with the Government of Chile will at an early day be submitted to Congress.
I renew the recommendation of my special message dated January 16, 1890,[22] for the adoption of the necessary legislation to enable this Government to apply in the case of Sweden and Norway the same rule in respect to the levying of tonnage dues as was claimed and secured to the shipping of the United States in 1828 under Article VIII of the treaty of 1827.
The adjournment of the Senate without action on the pending acts for the suppression of the slave traffic in Africa and for the reform of the revenue tariff of the Independent State of the Kongo left this Government unable to exchange those acts on the date fixed, July 2, 1891. A modus vivendi has been concluded by which the power of the Kongo State to levy duties on imports is left unimpaired, and by agreement of all the signatories to the general slave trade act the time for the exchange of ratifications on the part of the United States has been extended to February 2, 1892.
The late outbreak against foreigners in various parts of the Chinese Empire has been a cause of deep concern in view of the numerous establishments of our citizens in the interior of that country. This Government can do no less than insist upon a continuance of the protective and punitory measures which the Chinese Government has heretofore applied. No effort will be omitted to protect our citizens peaceably sojourning in China, but recent unofficial information indicates that what was at first regarded as an outbreak of mob violence against foreigners has assumed the larger form of an insurrection against public order.
The Chinese Government has declined to receive Mr. Blair as the minister of the United States on the ground that as a participant while a Senator in the enactment of the existing legislation against the introduction of Chinese laborers he has become unfriendly and objectionable to China. I have felt constrained to point out to the Chinese Government the untenableness of this position, which seems to rest as much on the unacceptability of our legislation as on that of the person chosen, and which if admitted would practically debar the selection of any representative so long as the existing laws remain in force.
You will be called upon to consider the expediency of making special provision by law for the temporary admission of some Chinese artisans and laborers in connection with the exhibit of Chinese industries at the approaching Columbian Exposition. I regard it as desirable that the Chinese exhibit be facilitated in every proper way.
A question has arisen with the Government of Spain touching the rights of American citizens in the Caroline Islands. Our citizens there long prior to the confirmation of Spain's claim to the islands had secured by settlement and purchase certain rights to the recognition and maintenance of which the faith of Spain was pledged. I have had reason within the past year very strongly to protest against the failure to carry out this pledge on the part of His Majesty's ministers, which has resulted in great injustice and injury to the American residents.
The Government and people of Spain propose to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by holding an exposition at Madrid, which will open on the 12th of September and continue until the 31st of December, 1892. A cordial invitation has been extended to the United States to take part in this commemoration, and as Spain was one of the first nations to express the intention to participate in the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, it would be very appropriate for this Government to give this invitation its friendly promotion.
Surveys for the connecting links of the projected intercontinental railway are in progress, not only in Mexico, but at various points along the course mapped out. Three surveying parties are now in the field under the direction of the commission. Nearly 1,000 miles of the proposed road have been surveyed, including the most difficult part, that through Ecuador and the southern part of Colombia. The reports of the engineers are very satisfactory, and show that no insurmountable obstacles have been met with.
On November 12, 1884, a treaty was concluded with Mexico reaffirming the boundary between the two countries as described in the treaties of February 2, 1848, and December 30, 1853. March 1, 1889, a further treaty was negotiated to facilitate the carrying out of the principles of the treaty of 1884 and to avoid the difficulties occasioned by reason of the changes and alterations that take place from natural causes in the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers in the portions thereof constituting the boundary line between the two Republics. The International Boundary Commission provided for by the treaty of 1889 to have exclusive jurisdiction of any question that may arise has been named by the Mexican Government. An appropriation is necessary to enable the United States to fulfill its treaty obligations in this respect.
The death of King Kalakaua in the United States afforded occasion to testify our friendship for Hawaii by conveying the King's body to his own land in a naval vessel with all due honors. The Government of his successor, Queen Liliuokolani, is seeking to promote closer commercial relations with the United States. Surveys for the much-needed submarine cable from our Pacific coast to Honolulu are in progress, and this enterprise should have the suitable promotion of the two Governments. I strongly recommend that provision be made for improving the harbor of Pearl River and equipping it as a naval station.
The arbitration treaty formulated by the International American Conference lapsed by reason of the failure to exchange ratifications fully within the limit of time provided; but several of the Governments concerned have expressed a desire to save this important result of the conference by an extension of the period. It is, in my judgment, incumbent upon the United States to conserve the influential initiative it has taken in this measure by ratifying the instrument and by advocating the proposed extension of the time for exchange. These views have been made known to the other signatories.
This Government has found occasion to express in a friendly spirit, but with much earnestness, to the Government of the Czar its serious concern because of the harsh measures now being enforced against the Hebrews in Russia. By the revival of antisemitic laws, long in abeyance, great numbers of those unfortunate people have been constrained to abandon their homes and leave the Empire by reason of the impossibility of finding subsistence within the pale to which it is sought to confine them. The immigration of these people to the United States—many other countries being closed to them—is largely increasing and is likely to assume proportions which may make it difficult to find homes and employment for them here and to seriously affect the labor market. It is estimated that over 1,000,000 will be forced from Russia within a few years. The Hebrew is never a beggar; he has always kept the law—life by toil—often under severe and oppressive civil restrictions. It is also true that no race, sect, or class has more fully cared for its own than the Hebrew race. But the sudden transfer of such a multitude under conditions that tend to strip them of their small accumulations and to depress their energies and courage is neither good for them nor for us.
The banishment, whether by direct decree or by not less certain indirect methods, of so large a number of men and women is not a local question. A decree to leave one country is in the nature of things an order to enter another—some other. This consideration, as well as the suggestion of humanity, furnishes ample ground for the remonstrances which we have presented to Russia, while our historic friendship for that Government can not fail to give the assurance that our representations are those of a sincere wellwisher.
The annual report of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua shows that much costly and necessary preparatory work has been done during the year in the construction of shops, railroad tracks, and harbor piers and breakwaters, and that the work of canal construction has made some progress.
I deem it to be a matter of the highest concern to the United States that this canal, connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and giving to us a short water communication between our ports upon those two great seas, should be speedily constructed and at the smallest practicable limit of cost. The gain in freights to the people and the direct saving to the Government of the United States in the use of its naval vessels would pay the entire cost of this work within a short series of years. The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows the saving in our naval expenditures which would result.
The Senator from Alabama (Mr. Morgan) in his argument upon this subject before the Senate at the last session did not overestimate the importance of this work when he said that "the canal is the most important subject now connected with the commercial growth and progress of the United States."
If this work is to be promoted by the usual financial methods and without the aid of this Government, the expenditures in its interest-bearing securities and stock will probably be twice the actual cost. This will necessitate higher tolls and constitute a heavy and altogether needless burden upon our commerce and that of the world. Every dollar of the bonds and stock of the company should represent a dollar expended in the legitimate and economical prosecution of the work. This is only possible by giving to the bonds the guaranty of the United States Government. Such a guaranty would secure the ready sale at par of a 3 per cent bond from time to time as the money was needed. I do not doubt that built upon these business methods the canal would when fully inaugurated earn its fixed charges and operating expenses. But if its bonds are to be marketed at heavy discounts and every bond sold is to be accompanied by a gift of stock, as has come to be expected by investors in such enterprises, the traffic will be seriously burdened to pay interest and dividends. I am quite willing to recommend Government promotion in the prosecution of a work which, if no other means offered for securing its completion, is of such transcendent interest that the Government should, in my opinion, secure it by direct appropriations from its Treasury.
A guaranty of the bonds of the canal company to an amount necessary to the completion of the canal could, I think, be so given as not to involve any serious risk of ultimate loss. The things to be carefully guarded are the completion of the work within the limits of the guaranty, the subrogation of the United States to the rights of the first-mortgage bondholders for any amounts it may have to pay, and in the meantime a control of the stock of the company as a security against mismanagement and loss. I most sincerely hope that neither party nor sectional lines will be drawn upon this great American project, so full of interest to the people of all our States and so influential in its effects upon the prestige and prosperity of our common country.
The island of Navassa, in the West Indian group, has, under the provisions of Title VII of the Revised Statutes, been recognized by the President as appertaining to the United States. It contains guano deposits, is owned by the Navassa Phosphate Company, and is occupied solely by its employees. In September, 1889, a revolt took place among these laborers, resulting in the killing of some of the agents of the company, caused, as the laborers claimed, by cruel treatment. These men were arrested and tried in the United States court at Baltimore, under section 5576 of the statute referred to, as if the offenses had been committed on board a merchant vessel of the United States on the high seas. There appeared on the trial and otherwise came to me such evidences of the bad treatment of the men that in consideration of this and of the fact that the men had no access to any public officer or tribunal for protection or the redress of their wrongs I commuted the death sentences that had been passed by the court upon three of them. In April last my attention was again called to this island and to the unregulated condition of things there by a letter from a colored laborer, who complained that he was wrongfully detained upon the island by the phosphate company after the expiration of his contract of service. A naval vessel was sent to examine into the case of this man and generally into the condition of things on the island. It was found that the laborer referred to had been detained beyond the contract limit and that a condition of revolt again existed among the laborers. A board of naval officers reported, among other things, as follows:
We would desire to state further that the discipline maintained on the island seems to be that of a convict establishment without its comforts and cleanliness, and that until more attention is paid to the shipping of laborers by placing it under Government supervision to prevent misunderstanding and misrepresentation, and until some amelioration is shown in the treatment of the laborers, these disorders will be of constant occurrence.
I recommend legislation that shall place labor contracts upon this and other islands having the relation that Navassa has to the United States under the supervision of a court commissioner, and that shall provide at the expense of the owners an officer to reside upon the island, with power to judge and adjust disputes and to enforce a just and humane treatment of the employees. It is inexcusable that American laborers should be left within our own jurisdiction without access to any Government officer or tribunal for their protection and the redress of their wrongs.
International copyright has been secured, in accordance with the conditions of the act of March 3, 1891, with Belgium, France, Great Britain and the British possessions, and Switzerland, the laws of those countries permitting to our citizens the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to their own citizens or subjects.
With Germany a special convention has been negotiated upon this subject which will bring that country within the reciprocal benefits of our legislation.
The general interest in the operations of the Treasury Department has been much augmented during the last year by reason of the conflicting predictions, which accompanied and followed the tariff and other legislation of the last Congress affecting the revenues, as to the results of this legislation upon the Treasury and upon the country. On the one hand it was contended that imports would so fall off as to leave the Treasury bankrupt and that the prices of articles entering into the living of the people would be so enhanced as to disastrously affect their comfort and happiness, while on the other it was argued that the loss to the revenue, largely the result of placing sugar on the free list, would be a direct gain to the people; that the prices of the necessaries of life, including those most highly protected, would not be enhanced; that labor would have a larger market and the products of the farm advanced prices, while the Treasury surplus and receipts would be adequate to meet the appropriations, including the large exceptional expenditures for the refunding to the States of the direct tax and the redemption of the 4-1/2 per cent bonds.
It is not my purpose to enter at any length into a discussion of the effects of the legislation to which I have referred; but a brief examination of the statistics of the Treasury and a general glance at the state of business throughout the country will, I think, satisfy any impartial inquirer that its results have disappointed the evil prophecies of its opponents and in a large measure realized the hopeful predictions of its friends. Rarely, if ever before, in the history of the country has there been a time when the proceeds of one day's labor or the product of one farmed acre would purchase so large an amount of those things that enter into the living of the masses of the people. I believe that a full test will develop the fact that the tariff act of the Fifty-first Congress is very favorable in its average effect upon the prices of articles entering into common use.
During the twelve months from October 1, 1890, to September 30, 1891, the total value of our foreign commerce (imports and exports combined) was $1,747,806,406, which was the largest of any year in the history of the United States. The largest in any previous year was in 1890, when our commerce amounted to $1,647,139,093, and the last year exceeds this enormous aggregate by over one hundred millions. It is interesting, and to some will be surprising, to know that during the year ending September 30, 1891, our imports of merchandise amounted to $824,715,270. which was an increase of more than $11,000,000 over the value of the imports of the corresponding months of the preceding year, when the imports of merchandise were unusually large in anticipation of the tariff legislation then pending. The average annual value of the imports of merchandise for the ten years from 1881 to 1890 was $692,186,522, and during the year ending September 30, 1891, this annual average was exceeded by $132,528,469.
The value of free imports during the twelve months ending September 30, 1891, was $118,092,387 more than the value of free imports during the corresponding twelve months of the preceding year, and there was during the same period a decrease of $106,846,508 in the value of imports of dutiable merchandise. The percentage of merchandise admitted free of duty during the year to which I have referred, the first under the new tariff, was 48.18, while during the preceding twelve months, under the old tariff, the percentage was 34.27, an increase of 13.91 per cent. If we take the six months ending September 30 last, which covers the time during which sugars have been admitted free of duty, the per cent of value of merchandise imported free of duty is found to be 55.37, which is a larger percentage of free imports than during any prior fiscal year in the history of the Government.
If we turn to exports of merchandise, the statistics are full of gratification. The value of such exports of merchandise for the twelve months ending September 30, 1891, was $923,091,136, while for the corresponding previous twelve months it was $860,177,115, an increase of $62,914,021, which is nearly three times the average annual increase of exports of merchandise for the preceding twenty years. This exceeds in amount and value the exports of merchandise during any year in the history of the Government. The increase in the value of exports of agricultural products during the year referred to over the corresponding twelve months of the prior year was $45,846,197, while the increase in the value of exports of manufactured products was $16,838,240.
There is certainly nothing in the condition of trade, foreign or domestic, there is certainly nothing in the condition of our people of any class, to suggest that the existing tariff and revenue legislation bears oppressively upon the people or retards the commercial development of the nation. It may be argued that our condition would be better if tariff legislation were upon a free-trade basis; but it can not be denied that all the conditions of prosperity and of general contentment are present in a larger degree than ever before in our history, and that, too, just when it was prophesied they would be in the worst state. Agitation for radical changes in tariff and financial legislation can not help but may seriously impede business, to the prosperity of which some degree of stability in legislation is essential.
I think there are conclusive evidences that the new tariff has created several great industries, which will within a few years give employment to several hundred thousand American working men and women. In view of the somewhat overcrowded condition of the labor market of the United States, every patriotic citizen should rejoice at such a result.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury shows that the total receipts of the Government from all sources for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, were $458,544,233.03, while the expenditures for the same period were $421,304,470.46, leaving a surplus of $37,239,762.57.
The receipts of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, actual and estimated, are $433,000,000 and the expenditures $409,000,000. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the estimated receipts are $455,336,350 and the expenditures $441,300,093.
Under the law of July 14, 1890, the Secretary of the Treasury has purchased (since August 13) during the fiscal year 48,393,113 ounces of silver bullion at an average cost of $1.045 per ounce. The highest price paid during the year was $1.2025 and the lowest $O.9636. In exchange for this silver bullion there have been issued $50,577,498 of the Treasury notes authorized by the act. The lowest price of silver reached during the fiscal year was $O.9636 on April 22, 1891; but on November 1 the market price was only $O.96, which would give to the silver dollar a bullion value of 74-1/4 cents.
Before the influence of the prospective silver legislation was felt in the market silver was worth in New York about $O.955 per ounce. The ablest advocates of free coinage in the last Congress were most confident in their predictions that the purchases by the Government required by the law would at once bring the price of silver to $1.2929 per ounce, which would make the bullion value of a dollar 100 cents and hold it there. The prophecies of the antisilver men of disasters to result from the coinage of $2,000,000 per month were not wider of the mark. The friends of free silver are not agreed, I think, as to the causes that brought their hopeful predictions to naught. Some facts are known. The exports of silver from London to India during the first nine months of this calendar year fell off over 50 per cent, or $17,202,730, compared with the same months of the preceding year. The exports of domestic silver bullion from this country, which had averaged for the last ten years over $17,000,000, fell in the last fiscal year to $13,797,391, while for the first time in recent years the imports of silver into this country exceeded the exports by the sum of $2,745,365. In the previous year the net exports of silver from the United States amounted to $8,545,455. The production of the United States increased from 50,000,000 ounces in 1889 to 54,500,000 in 1890. The Government is now buying and putting aside annually 54,000,000 ounces, which, allowing for 7,140,000 ounces of new bullion used in the arts, is 6,640,000 more than our domestic products available for coinage.
I hope the depression in the price of silver is temporary and that a further trial of this legislation will more favorably affect it. That the increased volume of currency thus supplied for the use of the people was needed and that beneficial results upon trade and prices have followed this legislation I think must be very clear to everyone. Nor should it be forgotten that for every dollar of these notes issued a full dollar's worth of silver bullion is at the time deposited in the Treasury as a security for its redemption. Upon this subject, as upon the tariff, my recommendation is that the existing laws be given a full trial and that our business interests be spared the distressing influence which threats of radical changes always impart. Under existing legislation it is in the power of the Treasury Department to maintain that essential condition of national finance as well as of commercial prosperity—the parity in use of the coined dollars and their paper representatives. The assurance that these powers would be freely and unhesitatingly used has done much to produce and sustain the present favorable business conditions.
I am still of the opinion that the free coinage of silver under existing conditions would disastrously affect our business interests at home and abroad. We could not hope to maintain an equality in the purchasing power of the gold and silver dollar in our own markets, and in foreign trade the stamp gives no added value to the bullion contained in coins. The producers of the country, its farmers and laborers, have the highest interest that every dollar, paper or coin, issued by the Government shall be as good as any other. If there is one less valuable than another, its sure and constant errand will be to pay them for their toil and for their crops. The money lender will protect himself by stipulating for payment in gold, but the laborer has never been able to do that. To place business upon a silver basis would mean a sudden and severe contraction of the currency by the withdrawal of gold and gold notes and such an unsettling of all values as would produce a commercial panic. I can not believe that a people so strong and prosperous as ours will promote such a policy.
The producers of silver are entitled to just consideration, but they should not forget that the Government is now buying and putting out of the market what is the equivalent of the entire product of our silver mines. This is more than they themselves thought of asking two years ago. I believe it is the earnest desire of a great majority of the people, as it is mine, that a full coin use shall be made of silver just as soon as the cooperation of other nations can be secured and a ratio fixed that will give circulation equally to gold and silver. The business of the world requires the use of both metals; but I do not see any prospect of gain, but much of loss, by giving up the present system, in which a full use is made of gold and a large use of silver, for one in which silver alone will circulate. Such an event would be at once fatal to the further progress of the silver movement. Bimetallism is the desired end, and the true friends of silver will be careful not to overrun the goal and bring in silver monometallism with its necessary attendants—the loss of our gold to Europe and the relief of the pressure there for a larger currency. I have endeavored by the use of official and unofficial agencies to keep a close observation of the state of public sentiment in Europe upon this question and have not found it to be such as to justify me in proposing an international conference. There is, however, I am sure, a growing sentiment in Europe in favor of a larger use of silver, and I know of no more effectual way of promoting this sentiment than by accumulating gold here. A scarcity of gold in the European reserves will be the most persuasive argument for the use of silver.
The exports of gold to Europe, which began in February last and continued until the close of July, aggregated over $70,000,000. The net loss of gold during the fiscal year was nearly $68,000,000. That no serious monetary disturbance resulted was most gratifying and gave to Europe fresh evidence of the strength and stability of our financial institutions. With the movement of crops the outflow of gold was speedily stopped and a return set in. Up to December 1 we had recovered of our gold lost at the port of New York $27,854,000, and it is confidently believed that during the winter and spring this aggregate will be steadily and largely increased.
The presence of a large cash surplus in the Treasury has for many years been the subject of much unfavorable criticism, and has furnished an argument to those who have desired to place the tariff upon a purely revenue basis. It was agreed by all that the withdrawal from circulation of so large an amount of money was an embarrassment to the business of the country and made necessary the intervention of the Department at frequent intervals to relieve threatened monetary panics. The surplus on March 1, 1889, was $183,827,190.29. The policy of applying this surplus to the redemption of the interest-bearing securities of the United States was thought to be preferable to that of depositing it without interest in selected national banks. There have been redeemed since the date last mentioned of interest-bearing securities $259,079,350, resulting in a reduction of the annual interest charge of $11,684,675. The money which had been deposited in banks without interest has been gradually withdrawn and used in the redemption of bonds.
The result of this policy, of the silver legislation, and of the refunding of the 4-1/2 per cent bonds has been a large increase of the money in circulation. At the date last named the circulation was $1,404,205,896, or $23.03 per capita, while on the 1st day of December, 1891, it had increased to $1,577,262,070, or $24.38 per capita. The offer of the Secretary of the Treasury to the holders of the 4-1/2 per cent bonds to extend the time of redemption, at the option of the Government, at an interest of 2 per cent, was accepted by the holders of about one-half the amount, and the unextended bonds are being redeemed on presentation.
The report of the Secretary of War exhibits the results of an intelligent, progressive, and businesslike administration of a Department which has been too much regarded as one of mere routine. The separation of Secretary Proctor from the Department by reason of his appointment as a Senator from the State of Vermont is a source of great regret to me and to his colleagues in the Cabinet, as I am sure it will be to all those who have had business with the Department while under his charge.
In the administration of army affairs some especially good work has been accomplished. The efforts of the Secretary to reduce the percentage of desertions by removing the causes that promoted it have been so successful as to enable him to report for the last year a lower percentage of desertion than has been before reached in the history of the Army. The resulting money saving is considerable, but the improvement in the morale of the enlisted men is the most valuable incident of the reforms which have brought about this result.
The work of securing sites for shore batteries for harbor defense and the manufacture of mortars and guns of high power to equip them have made good progress during the year. The preliminary work of tests and plans which so long delayed a start is now out of the way. Some guns have been completed, and with an enlarged shop and a more complete equipment at Watervliet the Army will soon be abreast of the Navy in gun construction. Whatever unavoidable causes of delay may arise, there should be none from delayed or insufficient appropriations. We shall be greatly embarrassed in the proper distribution and use of naval vessels until adequate shore defenses are provided for our harbors. |
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