That when any of the United States notes are presented for redemption
in gold and are redeemed in gold, such notes shall be kept and set
apart and only paid out in exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty.
If the holder of the United States note prefers the gold and gets it
from the Government, he should not receive back from the Government a
United States note without paying gold in exchange for it. The reason
for this is made all the more apparent when the Government issues an
interest-bearing debt to provide gold for the redemption of United
States notes--a non-interest-bearing debt. Surely it should not pay
them out again except on demand and for gold. If they are put out in
any other way, they may return again, to be followed by another bond
issue to redeem them--another interest-bearing debt to redeem a
non-interest-bearing debt.
This recommendation was made in the belief that such provisions of law
would insure to a greater degree the safety of the present standard, and
better protect our currency from the dangers to which it is subjected
from a disturbance in the general business conditions of the country.
In my judgment the present condition of the Treasury amply justifies the
immediate enactment of the legislation recommended one year ago, under
which a portion of the gold holdings should be placed in a trust fund
from which greenbacks should be redeemed upon presentation, but when
once redeemed should not thereafter be paid out except for gold.
It is not to be inferred that other legislation relating to our currency
is not required; on the contrary, there is an obvious demand for it.
The importance of adequate provision which will insure to our future a
money standard related as our money standard now is to that of our
commercial rivals is generally recognized.
The companion proposition that our domestic paper currency shall be kept
safe and yet be so related to the needs of our industries and internal
commerce as to be adequate and responsive to such needs is a proposition
scarcely less important. The subject, in all its parts, is commended to
the wise consideration of the Congress.
The annexation of Hawaii and the changed relations of the United States
to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines resulting from the war, compel
the prompt adoption of a maritime policy by the United States. There
should be established regular and frequent steamship communication,
encouraged by the United States, under the American flag, with the newly
acquired islands. Spain furnished to its colonies, at an annual cost of
about $2,000,000, steamship lines communicating with a portion of the
world's markets, as well as with trade centers of the home Government.
The United States will not undertake to do less. It is our duty to
furnish the people of Hawaii with facilities, under national control,
for their export and import trade. It will be conceded that the present
situation calls for legislation which shall be prompt, durable, and
liberal.
The part which American merchant vessels and their seamen performed
in the war with Spain demonstrates that this service, furnishing both
pickets and the second line of defense, is a national necessity, and
should be encouraged in every constitutional way. Details and methods
for the accomplishment of this purpose are discussed in the report of
the Secretary of the Treasury, to which the attention of Congress is
respectfully invited.
In my last annual message I recommended that Congress authorize the
appointment of a commission for the purpose of making systematic
investigations with reference to the cause and prevention of yellow
fever. This matter has acquired an increased importance as a result
of the military occupation of the island of Cuba and the commercial
intercourse between this island and the United States which we have
every reason to expect. The sanitary problems connected with our new
relations with the island of Cuba and the acquisition of Puerto Rico
are no less important than those relating to finance, commerce, and
administration. It is my earnest desire that these problems may be
considered by competent experts and that everything may be done
which the most recent advances in sanitary science can offer for the
protection of the health of our soldiers in those islands and of
our citizens who are exposed to the dangers of infection from the
importation of yellow fever. I therefore renew my recommendation that
the authority of Congress may be given and a suitable appropriation made
to provide for a commission of experts to be appointed for the purpose
indicated.
Under the act of Congress approved April 26, 1898, authorizing the
President in his discretion, "upon a declaration of war by Congress, or
a declaration by Congress that war exists," I directed the increase of
the Regular Army to the maximum of 62,000, authorized in said act.
There are now in the Regular Army 57,862 officers and men. In said act
it was provided--
That at the end of any war in which the United States may become
involved the Army shall be reduced to a peace basis by the transfer
in the same arm of the service or absorption by promotion or honorable
discharge, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may establish,
of supernumerary commissioned officers and the honorable discharge or
transfer of supernumerary enlisted men; and nothing contained in this
act shall be construed as authorizing the permanent increase of the
commissioned or enlisted force of the Regular Army beyond that now
provided by the law in force prior to the passage of this act,
except as to the increase of twenty-five majors provided for in
section I hereof.
The importance of legislation for the permanent increase of the Army is
therefore manifest, and the recommendation of the Secretary of War for
that purpose has my unqualified approval. There can be no question that
at this time, and probably for some time in the future, 100,000 men
will be none too many to meet the necessities of the situation. At all
events, whether that number shall be required permanently or not, the
power should be given to the President to enlist that force if in his
discretion it should be necessary; and the further discretion should
be given him to recruit for the Army within the above limit from the
inhabitants of the islands with the government of which we are charged.
It is my purpose to muster out the entire Volunteer Army as soon as the
Congress shall provide for the increase of the regular establishment.
This will be only an act of justice and will be much appreciated by the
brave men who left their homes and employments to help the country in
its emergency.
In my last annual message I stated:
The Union Pacific Railway, main line, was sold under the decree of the
United States court for the district of Nebraska on the 1st and 2d of
November of this year. The amount due the Government consisted of the
principal of the subsidy bonds, $27,236,512, and the accrued interest
thereon, $31,211,711.75, making the total indebtedness $58,448,223.75.
The bid at the sale covered the first-mortgage lien and the entire
mortgage claim of the Government, principal and interest.
This left the Kansas Pacific case unconcluded. By a decree of the court
in that case an upset price for the property was fixed at a sum which
would yield to the Government only $2,500,000 upon its lien. The sale,
at the instance of the Government, was postponed first to December 15,
1897, and later, upon the application of the United States, was
postponed to the 16th day of February, 1898.
Having satisfied myself that the interests of the Government required
that an effort should be made to obtain a larger sum, I directed the
Secretary of the Treasury, under the act passed March 3, 1887, to pay
out of the Treasury to the persons entitled to receive the same the
amounts due upon all prior mortgages upon the Eastern and Middle
divisions of said railroad out of any money in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, whereupon the Attorney-General prepared a
petition to be presented to the court, offering to redeem said prior
liens in such manner as the court might direct, and praying that
thereupon the United States might be held to be subrogated to all the
rights of said prior lien holders and that a receiver might be appointed
to take possession of the mortgaged premises and maintain and operate
the same until the court or Congress otherwise directed. Thereupon the
reorganization committee agreed that if said petition was withdrawn and
the sale allowed to proceed on the 16th of February, 1898, they would
bid a sum at the sale which would realize to the Government the entire
principal of its debt, $6,303,000.
Believing that no better price could be obtained and appreciating the
difficulties under which the Government would labor if it should become
the purchaser of the road at the sale, in the absence of any authority
by Congress to take charge of and operate the road I directed that upon
the guaranty of a minimum bid which should give the Government the
principal of its debt the sale should proceed. By this transaction the
Government secured an advance of $3,803,000 over and above the sum which
the court had fixed as the upset price, and which the reorganization
committee had declared was the maximum which they would pay for the
property.
It is a gratifying fact that the result of these proceedings against the
Union Pacific system and the Kansas Pacific line is that the Government
has received on account of its subsidy claim the sum of $64,751,223.75,
an increase of $18,997,163.76 over the sum which the reorganization
committee originally agreed to bid for the joint property, the
Government receiving its whole claim, principal and interest, on the
Union Pacific, and the principal of its debt on the Kansas Pacific
Railroad.
Steps had been taken to foreclose the Government's lien upon the Central
Pacific Railroad Company, but before action was commenced Congress
passed an act, approved July 7, 1898, creating a commission consisting
of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney-General, and the
Secretary of the Interior, and their successors in office, with full
power to settle the indebtedness to the Government growing out of the
issue of bonds in aid of the construction of the Central Pacific and
Western Pacific bond-aided railroads, subject to the approval of the
President.
No report has yet been made to me by the commission thus created.
Whatever action is had looking to a settlement of the indebtedness in
accordance with the act referred to will be duly submitted to the
Congress.
I deem it my duty to call to the attention of Congress the condition of
the present building occupied by the Department of Justice. The business
of that Department has increased very greatly since it was established
in its present quarters. The building now occupied by it is neither
large enough nor of suitable arrangement for the proper accommodation of
the business of the Department. The Supervising Architect has pronounced
it unsafe and unsuited for the use to which it is put. The
Attorney-General in his report states that the library of the Department
is upon the fourth floor, and that all the space allotted to it is so
crowded with books as to dangerously overload the structure. The first
floor is occupied by the Court of Claims. The building is of an old and
dilapidated appearance, unsuited to the dignity which should attach to
this important Department.
A proper regard for the safety, comfort, and convenience of the officers
and employees would justify the expenditure of a liberal sum of money in
the erection of, a new building of commodious proportions and handsome
appearance upon the very advantageous site already secured for that
purpose, including the ground occupied by the present structure and
adjoining vacant lot, comprising in all a frontage of 201 feet on
Pennsylvania avenue and a depth of 136 feet.
In this connection I may likewise refer to the inadequate accommodations
provided for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wisdom of
making provision for the erection of a separate building for the court
and its officers and library upon available ground near the Capitol.
The postal service of the country advances with extraordinary growth.
Within twenty years both the revenues and the expenditures of the
Post-Office Department have multiplied threefold. In the last ten years
they have nearly doubled. Our postal business grows much more rapidly
than our population. It now involves an expenditure of $100,000,000 a
year, numbers 73,000 post-offices, and enrolls 200,000 employees. This
remarkable extension of a service which is an accurate index of the
public conditions presents gratifying evidence of the advancement of
education, of the increase of communication and business activity, and
of the improvement of mail facilities leading to their constantly
augmenting use.
The war with Spain laid new and exceptional labors on the Post-Office
Department. The mustering of the military and naval forces of the United
States required special mail arrangements for every camp and every
campaign. The communication between home and camp was naturally eager
and expectant. In some of the larger places of rendezvous as many as
50,000 letters a day required handling. This necessity was met by the
prompt detail and dispatch of experienced men from the established force
and by directing all the instrumentalities of the railway mail and
post-office service, so far as necessary, to this new need. Congress
passed an act empowering the Postmaster-General to establish offices or
branches at every military camp or station, and under this authority the
postal machinery was speedily put into effective operation.
Under the same authority, when our forces moved upon Cuba, Puerto
Rico, and the Philippines they were attended and followed by the postal
service. Though the act of Congress authorized the appointment of
postmasters where necessary, it was early determined that the public
interests would best be subserved, not by new designations, but by the
detail of experienced men familiar with every branch of the service,
and this policy was steadily followed. When the territory which was the
theater of conflict came into our possession, it became necessary to
reestablish mail facilities for the resident population as well as to
provide them for our forces of occupation, and the former requirement
was met through the extension and application of the latter obligation.
I gave the requisite authority, and the same general principle was
applied to this as to other branches of civil administration under
military occupation. The details are more particularly given in the
report of the Postmaster-General, and, while the work is only just
begun, it is pleasing to be able to say that the service in the
territory which has come under our control is already materially
improved.
The following recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy relative to
the increase of the Navy have my earnest approval:
1. Three seagoing sheathed and coppered battle ships of about 13,500
tons trial displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful
ordnance for vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable
speed and great radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and
armament, $3,600,000 each.
2. Three sheathed and coppered armored cruisers of about 12,000 tons
trial displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful
ordnance for vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable
speed and great radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and
armament, $4,000,000 each.
3. Three sheathed and coppered protected cruisers of about 6,000 tons
trial displacement, to have the highest practicable speed and great
radius of action, and to carry the most powerful ordnance suitable for
vessels of their class. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament,
$2,150,000 each.
4. Six sheathed and coppered cruisers of about 2,500 tons trial
displacement, to have the highest speed compatible with good cruising
qualities, great radius of action, and to carry the most powerful
ordnance suited to vessels of their class. Estimated cost, exclusive
of armament, $1,141,800 each.
I join with the Secretary of the Navy in recommending that the grades
of admiral and vice-admiral be temporarily revived, to be filled by
officers who have specially distinguished themselves in the war with
Spain.
I earnestly urge upon Congress the importance of early legislation
providing for the taking of the Twelfth Census. This is necessary in
view of the large amount of work which must be performed in the
preparation of the schedules preparatory to the enumeration of the
population.
There were on the pension rolls on June 30, 1898, 993,714 names, an
increase of nearly 18,000 over the number on the rolls on the same day
of the preceding year. The amount appropriated by the act of December
22, 1896, for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year of 1898
was $140,000,000. Eight million seventy thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two dollars and forty-six cents was appropriated by the act of
March 31, 1898, to cover deficiencies in army pensions, and repayments
in the sum of $12,020.33, making a total of $148,082,892.79 available
for the payment of pensions during the fiscal year 1898. The amount
disbursed from that sum was $144,651,879.80, leaving a balance of
$3,431,012.99 unexpended on the 30th of June, 1898, which was covered
into the Treasury. There were 389 names added to the rolls during the
year by special acts passed at the second session of the Fifty-fifth
Congress, making a total of 6,486 pensioners by Congressional enactments
since 1861.
The total receipts of the Patent Office during the past year were
$1,253,948.44. The expenditures were $1,081,633.79, leaving a surplus
of $172,314.65.
The public lands disposed of by the Government during the year reached
8,453,896.92 acres, an increase of 614,780.26 acres over the previous
year. The total receipts from public lands during the fiscal year
amounted to $2,277,995.18, an increase of $190,063.90 over the preceding
year. The lands embraced in the eleven forest reservations which were
suspended by the act of June 4, 1897, again became subject to the
operations of the proclamations of February 22, 1897, creating them,
which added an estimated amount of 19,951,360 acres to the area embraced
in the reserves previously created. In addition thereto two new reserves
were created during the year--the Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Reserve,
in California, embracing 1,644,594 acres, and the Prescott Reserve, in
Arizona, embracing 10,240 acres--while the Pecos River Reserve, in New
Mexico, has been changed and enlarged to include 120,000 additional
acres.
At the close of the year thirty forest reservations, not including those
of the Afognak Forest and the Fish-Culture Reserve, in Alaska, had been
created by Executive proclamations under section 24 of the act of March
3, 1891, embracing an estimated area of 40,719,474 acres.
The Department of the Interior has inaugurated a forest system, made
possible by the act of July, 1898, for a graded force of officers in
control of the reserves. This system has only been in full operation
since August, but good results have already been secured in many
sections. The reports received indicate that the system of patrol has
not only prevented destructive fires from gaining headway, but has
diminished the number of fires.
The special attention of the Congress is called to that part of
the report of the Secretary of the Interior in relation to the Five
Civilized Tribes. It is noteworthy that the general condition of the
Indians shows marked progress. But one outbreak of a serious character
occurred during the year, and that among the Chippewa Indians of
Minnesota, which happily has been suppressed.
While it has not yet been practicable to enforce all the provisions
of the act of June 28, 1898, "for the protection of the people of the
Indian Territory, and for other purposes," it is having a salutary
effect upon the nations composing the five tribes. The Dawes Commission
reports that the most gratifying results and greater advance toward the
attainment of the objects of the Government have been secured in the
past year than in any previous year. I can not too strongly indorse the
recommendation of the commission and of the Secretary of the Interior
for the necessity of providing for the education of the 30,000 white
children resident in the Indian Territory.
The Department of Agriculture has been active in the past year.
Explorers have been sent to many of the countries of the Eastern and
Western hemispheres for seeds and plants that may be useful to the
United States, and with the further view of opening up markets for our
surplus products. The Forestry Division of the Department is giving
special attention to the treeless regions of our country and is
introducing species specially adapted to semiarid regions. Forest fires,
which seriously interfere with production, especially in irrigated
regions, are being studied, that losses from this cause may be avoided.
The Department is inquiring into the use and abuse of water in many
States of the West, and collating information regarding the laws of the
States, the decisions of the courts, and the customs of the people in
this regard, so that uniformity may be secured. Experiment stations are
becoming more effective every year. The annual appropriation of $720,000
by Congress is supplemented by $400,000 from the States. Nation-wide
experiments have been conducted to ascertain the suitableness as to soil
and climate and States for growing sugar beets. The number of sugar
factories has been doubled in the past two years, and the ability of the
United States to produce its own sugar from this source has been clearly
demonstrated.
The Weather Bureau forecast and observation stations have been extended
around the Caribbean Sea, to give early warning of the approach of
hurricanes from the south seas to our fleets and merchant marine.
In the year 1900 will occur the centennial anniversary of the founding
of the city of Washington for the permanent capital of the Government of
the United States by authority of an act of Congress approved July 16,
1790. In May, 1800, the archives and general offices of the Federal
Government were removed to this place. On the 17th of November, 1800,
the National Congress met here for the first time and assumed exclusive
control of the Federal district and city. This interesting event assumes
all the more significance when we recall the circumstances attending the
choosing of the site, the naming of the capital in honor of the Father
of his Country, and the interest taken by him in the adoption of plans
for its future development on a magnificent scale.
These original plans have been wrought out with a constant progress and
a signal success even beyond anything their framers could have foreseen.
The people of the country are justly proud of the distinctive beauty and
government of the capital and of the rare instruments of science and
education which here find their natural home.
A movement lately inaugurated by the citizens to have the anniversary
celebrated with fitting ceremonies, including, perhaps, the
establishment of a handsome permanent memorial to mark so historical an
occasion and to give it more than local recognition, has met with
general favor on the part of the public.
I recommend to the Congress the granting of an appropriation for this
purpose and the appointment of a committee from its respective bodies.
It might also be advisable to authorize the President to appoint a
committee from the country at large, which, acting with the
Congressional and District of Columbia committees, can complete the
plans for an appropriate national celebration.
The alien contract law is shown by experience to need some amendment; a
measure providing better protection for seamen is proposed; the rightful
application of the eight-hour law for the benefit of labor and of the
principle of arbitration are suggested for consideration; and I commend
these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.
The several departmental reports will be laid before you. They give in
great detail the conduct of the affairs of the Government during the
past year and discuss many questions upon which the Congress may feel
called upon to act.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
[Footnote 12: See pp. 127-136.]
[Footnote 13: pp. 139-150.]
[Footnote 14: See pp. 202-203.]
[Footnote 15: See pp. 203-204.]
[Footnote 16: See pp. 153-155.]
[Footnote 17: See p. 201.]
[Footnote 18: See p. 155.]
[Footnote 19: See pp. 204-205.]
[Footnote 20: See pp. 203-204.]
[Footnote 21: See pp. 205-206.]
[Footnote 22: See pp. 206-207.]
[Footnote 23: See Vol. VIII, pp. 501-503.]
AN ACT declaring that war exists between the United States of America
and the Kingdom of Spain.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, First. That war be,
and the same is hereby, declared to exist, and that war has existed
since the 21st day of April, A.D. 1898, including said day, between the
United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain.
Second. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
United States and to call into the actual service of the United States
the militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to
carry this act into effect.
Approved, April 25, 1898.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 10, 1899_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
As a consequence of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the
United States and Spain and its expected ratification by the Spanish
Government, the United States will come into possession of the
Philippine Islands, on the farther shores of the Pacific. The Hawaiian
Islands and Guam becoming United States territory and forming convenient
stopping places on the way across the sea, the necessity for speedy
cable communication between the United States and all these Pacific
islands has become imperative.
Such communication should be established in such a way as to be wholly
under the control of the United States, whether in time of peace or of
war. At present the Philippines can be reached only by cables which
pass through many foreign countries, and the Hawaiian Islands and Guam
can only be communicated with by steamers, involving delays in each
instance of at least a week. The present conditions should not be
allowed to continue for a moment longer than is absolutely necessary.
So long ago as 1885 reference was made in an Executive message to
Congress to the necessity for cable communication between the United
States and Hawaii. This necessity has greatly increased since then.
The question has been discussed in the Fifty-second, Fifty-fourth, and
Fifty-fifth Congresses, in each of which some effort has been made
looking toward laying a cable at least as far as the Hawaiian Islands.
The time has now arrived when a cable in the Pacific must extend at
least as far as Manila, touching at the Hawaiian Islands and Guam on
the way.
Two methods of establishing this cable communication at once suggest
themselves: First, construction and maintenance of such a cable by
and at the expense of the United States Government, and, second,
construction and maintenance of such a cable by a private United States
corporation, under such safeguards as Congress shall impose.
I do not make any recommendations to Congress as to which of these
methods would be the more desirable. A cable of the length of that
proposed requires so much time for construction and laying that it is
estimated that at least two years must elapse after giving the order for
the cable before the entire system could be successfully laid and put in
operation. Further deep-sea soundings must be taken west of the Hawaiian
Islands before the final route for the cable can be selected. Under
these circumstances it becomes a paramount necessity that measures
should be taken before the close of the present Congress to provide such
means as may seem most suitable for the establishment of a cable system.
I commend the whole subject to the careful consideration of the Congress
and to such prompt action as may seem advisable.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.