For civil expenses $18,042,386.42
For foreign intercourse 1,307,583.19
For Indians 9,736,747.40
For pensions 61,345,193.95
For the military establishment, including river and
harbor improvements, and arsenals 43,570,494.19
For the naval establishment, including vessels,
machinery, and improvements at navy-yards 15,032,046.26
For miscellaneous expenditures, including public
buildings, light-houses, and collecting the revenue 34,539,237.50
For expenditures on account of the District of Columbia 3,330,543.87
For interest on the public debt 71,077,206.79
______________
Total ordinary expenditures 257,981,439.57
Leaving a surplus revenue of $145,543,810.71, which, with an amount
drawn from the cash balance in the Treasury of $20,737,694.84, making
$166,281,505.55, was applied to the redemption--
Of bonds for the sinking fund $60,079,150.00
Of fractional currency for the sinking fund 58,705.55
Of loan of July and August, 1861 62,572,050.00
Of loan of March, 1863 4,472,900.00
Of funded loan of 1881 37,194,450.00
Of loan of 1858 1,000.00
Of loan of February, 1861 303,000.00
Of five-twenties of 1862 2,100.00
Of five-twenties of 1864 7,400.00
Of five-twenties of 1865 6,500.00
Of ten-forties of 1864 254,550.00
Of consols of 1865 86,450.00
Of consols of 1867 408,250.00
Of consols of 1868 141,400.00
Of Oregon War debt 675,250.00
Of old demand, compound-interest, and other notes 18,350 00
______________
166,281,505 55
The foreign commerce of the United States during the last fiscal
year, including imports and exports of merchandise and specie, was as
follows:
Exports:
Merchandise $750,542,257
Specie 49,417,479
___________
Total 799,959,736
Imports:
Merchandise 724,639,574
Specie 42,472,390
___________
Total 767,111,964
===========
Excess of exports over imports of merchandise 25,902,683
This excess is less than it has been before for any of the previous six
years, as appears by the following table:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Year ended June 30-- Excess of exports over imports of merchandise
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1876 $79,643,481
1877 151,152,094
1878 257,814,234
1879 264,661,666
1880 167,683,912
1881 259,712,718
1882 25,902,683
---------------------------------------------------------------------
During the year there have been organized 171 national banks, and of
those institutions there are now in operation 2,269, a larger number
than ever before. The value of their notes in active circulation on
July 1, 1882, was $324,656,458.
I commend to your attention the Secretary's views in respect to the
likelihood of a serious contraction of this circulation, and to the
modes by which that result may, in his judgment, be averted.
In respect to the coinage of silver dollars and the retirement of silver
certificates, I have seen nothing to alter but much to confirm the
sentiments to which I gave expression last year.
A comparison between the respective amounts of silver-dollar circulation
on November 1, 1881, and on November 1, 1882, shows a slight increase of
a million and a half of dollars; but during the interval there had been
in the whole number coined an increase of twenty-six millions. Of the
one hundred and twenty-eight millions thus far minted, little more than
thirty-five millions are in circulation. The mass of accumulated coin
has grown so great that the vault room at present available for storage
is scarcely sufficient to contain it. It is not apparent why it is
desirable to continue this coinage, now so enormously in excess of the
public demand.
As to the silver certificates, in addition to the grounds which seemed
last year to justify their retirement may be mentioned the effect which
is likely to ensue from the supply of gold certificates for whose
issuance Congress recently made provision, and which are now in active
circulation.
You can not fail to note with interest the discussion by the Secretary
as to the necessity of providing by legislation some mode of freeing
the Treasury of an excess of assets in the event that Congress fails
to reach an early agreement for the reduction of taxation.
I heartily approve the Secretary's recommendation of immediate and
extensive reductions in the annual revenues of the Government.
It will be remembered that I urged upon the attention of Congress at its
last session the importance of relieving the industry and enterprise of
the country from the pressure of unnecessary taxation. It is one of the
tritest maxims of political economy that all taxes are burdensome,
however wisely and prudently imposed; and though there have always been
among our people wide differences of sentiment as to the best methods of
raising the national revenues, and, indeed, as to the principles upon
which taxation should be based, there has been substantial accord in the
doctrine that only such taxes ought to be levied as are necessary for a
wise and economical administration of the Government. Of late the public
revenues have far exceeded that limit, and unless checked by appropriate
legislation such excess will continue to increase from year to year.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1881, the surplus revenue amounted
to $100,000,000; for the fiscal year ended on the 30th of June last the
surplus was more than one hundred and forty-five millions.
The report of the Secretary shows what disposition has been made of
these moneys. They have not only answered the requirements of the
sinking fund, but have afforded a large balance applicable to other
reductions of the public debt.
But I renew the expression of my conviction that such rapid
extinguishment of the national indebtedness as is now taking place is by
no means a cause for congratulation; it is a cause rather for serious
apprehension.
If it continues, it must speedily be followed by one of the evil results
so clearly set forth in the report of the Secretary.
Either the surplus must lie idle in the Treasury or the Government
will be forced to buy at market rates its bonds not then redeemable,
and which under such circumstances can not fail to command an enormous
premium, or the swollen revenues will be devoted to extravagant
expenditure, which, as experience has taught, is ever the bane of an
overflowing treasury.
It was made apparent in the course of the animated discussions which
this question aroused at the last session of Congress that the policy
of diminishing the revenue by reducing taxation commanded the general
approval of the members of both Houses.
I regret that because of conflicting views as to the best methods by
which that policy should be made operative none of its benefits have
as yet been reaped.
In fulfillment of what I deem my constitutional duty, but with little
hope that I can make valuable contribution to this vexed question,
I shall proceed to intimate briefly my own views in relation to it.
Upon the showing of our financial condition at the close of the last
fiscal year, I felt justified in recommending to Congress the abolition
of all internal revenue taxes except those upon tobacco in its various
forms and upon distilled spirits and fermented liquors, and except also
the special tax upon the manufacturers of and dealers in such articles.
I venture now to suggest that unless it shall be ascertained that the
probable expenditures of the Government for the coming year have been
underestimated all internal taxes save those which relate to distilled
spirits can be prudently abrogated.
Such a course, if accompanied by a simplification of the machinery of
collection, which would then be easy of accomplishment, might reasonably
be expected to result in diminishing the cost of such collection by at
least $2,500,000 and in the retirement from office of from 1,500 to
2,000 persons.
The system of excise duties has never commended itself to the favor of
the American people, and has never been resorted to except for supplying
deficiencies in the Treasury when, by reason of special exigencies,
the duties on imports have proved inadequate for the needs of the
Government. The sentiment of the country doubtless demands that the
present excise tax shall be abolished as soon as such a course can be
safely pursued.
It seems to me, however, that, for various reasons, so sweeping a
measure as the total abolition of internal taxes would for the present
be an unwise step.
Two of these reasons are deserving of special mention:
First. It is by no means clear that even if the existing system of
duties on imports is continued without modification those duties alone
will yield sufficient revenue for all the needs of the Government.
It is estimated that $100,000,000 will be required for pensions during
the coming year, and it may well be doubted whether the maximum annual
demand for that object has yet been reached. Uncertainty upon this
question would alone justify, in my judgment, the retention for the
present of that portion of the system of internal revenue which is
least objectionable to the people.
Second. A total abolition of excise taxes would almost inevitably prove
a serious if not an insurmountable obstacle to a thorough revision of
the tariff and to any considerable reduction in import duties.
The present tariff system is in many respects unjust. It makes unequal
distributions both of its burdens and its benefits. This fact was
practically recognized by a majority of each House of Congress in the
passage of the act creating the Tariff Commission. The report of that
commission will be placed before you at the beginning of this session,
and will, I trust, afford you such information as to the condition and
prospects of the various commercial, agricultural, manufacturing,
mining, and other interests of the country and contain such suggestions
for statutory revision as will practically aid your action upon this
important subject.
The revenue from customs for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1879,
amounted to $137,000,000.
It has in the three succeeding years reached, first, $186,000,000, then
$198,000,000, and finally, as has been already stated, $220,000,000.
The income from this source for the fiscal year which will end on June
30, 1883, will doubtless be considerably in excess of the sum last
mentioned.
If the tax on domestic spirits is to be retained, it is plain,
therefore, that large reductions from the customs revenue are entirely
feasible. While recommending this reduction, I am far from advising the
abandonment of the policy of so discriminating in the adjustment of
details as to afford aid and protection to domestic labor. But the
present system should be so revised as to equalize the public burden
among all classes and occupations and bring it into closer harmony with
the present needs of industry.
Without entering into minute detail, which under present circumstances
is quite unnecessary, I recommend an enlargement of the free list so as
to include within it the numerous articles which yield inconsiderable
revenue, a simplification of the complex and inconsistent schedule of
duties upon certain manufactures, particularly those of cotton, iron,
and steel, and a substantial reduction of the duties upon those articles
and upon sugar, molasses, silk, wool, and woolen goods.
If a general revision of the tariff shall be found to be impracticable
at this session, I express the hope that at least some of the more
conspicuous inequalities of the present law may be corrected before
your final adjournment. One of them is specially referred to by the
Secretary. In view of a recent decision of the Supreme Court, the
necessity of amending the law by which the Dutch standard of color is
adopted as the test of the saccharine strength of sugars is too obvious
to require comment.
From the report of the Secretary of War it appears that the only
outbreaks of Indians during the past year occurred in Arizona and in
the southwestern part of New Mexico. They were promptly quelled, and
the quiet which has prevailed in all other parts of the country has
permitted such an addition to be made to the military force in the
region endangered by the Apaches that there is little reason to
apprehend trouble in the future.
Those parts of the Secretary's report which relate to our seacoast
defenses and their armament suggest the gravest reflections. Our
existing fortifications are notoriously inadequate to the defense of
the great harbors and cities for whose protection they were built.
The question of providing an armament suited to our present necessities
has been the subject of consideration by a board, whose report was
transmitted to Congress at the last session. Pending the consideration
of that report, the War Department has taken no steps for the
manufacture or conversion of any heavy cannon, but the Secretary
expresses the hope that authority and means to begin that important
work will be soon provided. I invite the attention of Congress to the
propriety of making more adequate provision for arming and equipping
the militia than is afforded by the act of 1808, which is still upon
the statute book. The matter has already been the subject of discussion
in the Senate, and a bill which seeks to supply the deficiencies of
existing laws is now upon its calendar.
The Secretary of War calls attention to an embarrassment growing out of
the recent act of Congress making the retirement of officers of the Army
compulsory at the age of 64. The act of 1878 is still in force, which
limits to 400 the number of those who can be retired for disability or
upon their own application. The two acts, when construed together, seem
to forbid the relieving, even for absolute incapacity, of officers who
do not fall within the purview of the later statute, save at such times
as there chance to be less than 400 names on the retired list. There are
now 420. It is not likely that Congress intended this result, and I
concur with the Secretary that the law ought to be amended.
The grounds that impelled me to withhold my signature from the bill
entitled "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair,
and preservation of certain works on rivers and harbors," which became
a law near the close of your last session, prompt me to express the hope
that no similar measure will be deemed necessary during the present
session of Congress. Indeed, such a measure would now be open to a
serious objection in addition to that which was lately urged upon your
attention. I am informed by the Secretary of War that the greater
portion of the sum appropriated for the various items specified in that
act remains unexpended.
Of the new works which it authorized, expenses have been incurred upon
two only, for which the total appropriation was $210,000. The present
available balance is disclosed by the following table:
Amount of appropriation by act of August 2, 1882 $18,738,875
Amount of appropriation by act of June 19, 1882 10,000
Amount of appropriation for payments to J.B. Eads 304,000
Unexpended balance of former appropriations 4,738,263
__________
23,791,138
Less amount drawn from Treasury between July 1, 1882,
and November 30, 1882 6,056,194
__________
17,734,944
It is apparent by this exhibit that so far as concerns most of the items
to which the act of August 2, 1882, relates there can be no need of
further appropriations until after the close of the present session.
If, however, any action should seem to be necessary in respect to
particular objects, it will be entirely feasible to provide for those
objects by appropriate legislation. It is possible, for example, that
a delay until the assembling of the next Congress to make additional
provision for the Mississippi River improvements might be attended with
serious consequences. If such should appear to be the case, a just bill
relating to that subject would command my approval.
This leads me to offer a suggestion which I trust will commend itself to
the wisdom of Congress. Is it not advisable that grants of considerable
sums of money for diverse and independent schemes of internal improvement
should be made the subjects of separate and distinct legislative
enactments? It will scarcely be gainsaid, even by those who favor
the most liberal expenditures for such purposes as are sought to be
accomplished by what is commonly called the river and harbor bill, that
the practice of grouping in such a bill appropriations for a great
diversity of objects, widely separated either in their nature or in the
locality with which they are concerned, or in both, is one which is
much to be deprecated unless it is irremediable. It inevitably tends to
secure the success of the bill as a whole, though many of the items, if
separately considered, could scarcely fail of rejection. By the adoption
of the course I have recommended every member of Congress, whenever
opportunity should arise for giving his influence and vote for
meritorious appropriations, would be enabled so to do without being
called upon to sanction others undeserving his approval. So also would
the Executive be afforded thereby full opportunity to exercise his
constitutional prerogative of opposing whatever appropriations seemed
to him objectionable without imperiling the success of others which
commended themselves to his judgment.
It may be urged in opposition to these suggestions that the number of
works of internal improvement which are justly entitled to governmental
aid is so great as to render impracticable separate appropriation
bills therefor, or even for such comparatively limited number as make
disposition of large sums of money. This objection may be well founded,
and, whether it be or not, the advantages which would be likely to ensue
from the adoption of the course I have recommended may perhaps be more
effectually attained by another, which I respectfully submit to Congress
as an alternative proposition.
It is provided by the constitutions of fourteen of our States that
the executive may disapprove any item or items of a bill appropriating
money, whereupon the part of the bill approved shall be law and the part
disapproved shall fail to become law unless repassed according to the
provisions prescribed, for the passage of bills over the veto of the
executive. The States wherein some such provision as the foregoing is a
part of the fundamental law are Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. I commend to your
careful consideration the question whether an amendment of the Federal
Constitution in the particular indicated would not afford the best
remedy for what is often a grave embarrassment both to members of
Congress and to the Executive, and is sometimes a serious public
mischief.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy states the movements of the
various squadrons during the year, in home and foreign waters, where our
officers and seamen, with such ships as we possess, have continued to
illustrate the high character and excellent discipline of the naval
organization.
On the 21st of December, 1881, information was received that the
exploring steamer _Jeannette_ had been crushed and abandoned in
the Arctic Ocean. The officers and crew, after a journey over the ice,
embarked in three boats for the coast of Siberia. One of the parties,
under the command of Chief Engineer George W. Melville, reached the
land, and, falling in with the natives, was saved. Another, under
Lieutenant-Commander De Long, landed in a barren region near the mouth
of the Lena River. After six weeks had elapsed all but two of the number
had died from fatigue and starvation. No tidings have been received from
the party in the third boat, under the command of Lieutenant Chipp, but
a long and fruitless investigation leaves little doubt that all its
members perished at sea. As a slight tribute to their heroism I give
in this communication the names of the gallant men who sacrificed their
lives on this expedition: Lieutenant-Commander George W. De Long,
Surgeon James M. Ambler, Jerome J. Collins, Hans Halmer Erichsen,
Heinrich H. Kaacke, George W. Boyd, Walter Lee, Adolph Dressier,
Carl A. Görtz, Nelse Iverson, the cook Ah Sam, and the Indian Alexy.
The officers and men in the missing boat were Lieutenant Charles W.
Chipp, commanding; William Dunbar, Alfred Sweetman, Walter Sharvell,
Albert C. Kuehne, Edward Star, Henry D. Warren, and Peter E. Johnson.
Lieutenant Giles B. Harber and Master William H. Scheutze are now,
bringing home the remains of Lieutenant De Long and his comrades, in
pursuance of the directions of Congress.
The _Rodgers_, fitted out for the relief of the _Jeannette_ in
accordance with the act of Congress of March 3, 1881, sailed from San
Francisco June 16 under the command of Lieutenant Robert M. Berry. On
November 30 she was accidentally destroyed by fire while in winter
quarters in St. Lawrence Bay, but the officers and crew succeeded in
escaping to the shore. Lieutenant Berry and one of his officers, after
making a search for the _Jeannette_ along the coast of Siberia,
fell in with Chief Engineer Melville's party and returned home by way of
Europe. The other officers and the crew of the _Rodgers_ were
brought from St. Lawrence Bay by the whaling steamer _North Star_.
Master Charles F. Putnam, who had been placed in charge of a depot of
supplies at Cape Serdze, returning to his post from St. Lawrence Bay
across the ice in a blinding snowstorm, was carried out to sea and lost,
notwithstanding all efforts to rescue him.
It appears by the Secretary's report that the available naval force of
the United States consists of 37 cruisers, 14 single-turreted monitors,
built during the rebellion, a large number of smoothbore guns and
Parrott rifles, and 87 rifled cannon.
The cruising vessels should be gradually replaced by iron or steel
ships, the monitors by modern armored vessels, and the armament by
high-power rifled guns.
The reconstruction of our Navy, which was recommended in my last
message, was begun by Congress authorizing, in its recent act, the
construction of two large unarmored steel vessels of the character
recommended by the late Naval Advisory Board, and subject to the final
approval of a new advisory board to be organized as provided by that
act. I call your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary
and the board that authority be given to construct two more cruisers
of smaller dimensions and one fleet dispatch vessel, and that
appropriations be made for high-power rifled cannon for the torpedo
service and for other harbor defenses.
Pending the consideration by Congress of the policy to be hereafter
adopted in conducting the eight large navy-yards and their expensive
establishments, the Secretary advocates the reduction of expenditures
therefor to the lowest possible amounts.
For the purpose of affording the officers and seamen of the Navy
opportunities for exercise and discipline in their profession, under
appropriate control and direction, the Secretary advises that the
Light-House Service and Coast Survey be transferred, as now organized,
from the Treasury to the Navy Department; and he also suggests, for the
reasons which he assigns, that a similar transfer may wisely be made of
the cruising revenue vessels.
The Secretary forcibly depicts the intimate connection and
interdependence of the Navy and the commercial marine, and invites
attention to the continued decadence of the latter and the corresponding
transfer of our growing commerce to foreign bottoms.
This subject is one of the utmost importance to the national welfare.
Methods of reviving American shipbuilding and of restoring the United
States flag in the ocean carrying trade should receive the immediate
attention of Congress. We have mechanical skill and abundant material
for the manufacture of modern iron steamships in fair competition
with our commercial rivals. Our disadvantage in building ships is the
greater cost of labor, and in sailing them, higher taxes, and greater
interest on capital, while the ocean highways are already monopolized
by our formidable competitors. These obstacles should in some way be
overcome, and for our rapid communication with foreign lands we should
not continue to depend wholly upon vessels built in the yards of other
countries and sailing under foreign flags. With no United States
steamers on the principal ocean lines or in any foreign ports, our
facilities for extending our commerce are greatly restricted, while
the nations which build and sail the ships and carry the mails and
passengers obtain thereby conspicuous advantages in increasing their
trade.
The report of the Postmaster-General gives evidence of the satisfactory
condition of that Department and contains many valuable data and
accompanying suggestions which can not fail to be of interest.
The information which it affords that the receipts for the fiscal year
have exceeded the expenditures must be very gratifying to Congress and
to the people of the country.
As matters which may fairly claim particular attention, I refer you
to his observations in reference to the advisability of changing the
present basis for fixing salaries and allowances, of extending the
money-order system, and of enlarging the functions of the postal
establishment so as to put under its control the telegraph system of
the country, though from this last and most important recommendation
I must withhold my concurrence.
At the last session of Congress several bills were introduced into the
House of Representatives for the reduction of letter postage to the rate
of 2 cents per half ounce.
I have given much study and reflection to this subject, and am
thoroughly persuaded that such a reduction would be for the best
interests of the public.
It has been the policy of the Government from its foundation to defray
as far as possible the expenses of carrying the mails by a direct tax
in the form of postage. It has never been claimed, however, that this
service ought to be productive of a net revenue.
As has been stated already, the report of the Postmaster-General shows
that there is now a very considerable surplus in his Department and that
henceforth the receipts are likely to increase at a much greater ratio
than the necessary expenditures. Unless some change is made in the
existing laws, the profits of the postal service will in a very few
years swell the revenues of the Government many millions of dollars.
The time seems auspicious, therefore, for some reduction in the rates
of postage. In what shall that reduction consist?
A review of the legislation which has been had upon this subject during
the last thirty years discloses that domestic letters constitute the
only class of mail matter which has never been favored by a substantial
reduction of rates. I am convinced that the burden of maintaining the
service falls most unequally upon that class, and that more than any
other it is entitled to present relief.
That such relief may be extended without detriment to other public
interests will be discovered upon reviewing the results of former
reductions.
Immediately prior to the act of 1845 the postage upon a letter composed
of a single sheet was as follows:
If conveyed-- Cents.
30 miles or less 6
Between 30 and 80 miles 10
Between 80 and 150 miles 12-1/2
Between 150 and 400 miles 18-3/4
Over 400 miles 25
By the act of 1845 the postage upon a single letter conveyed for any
distance under 300 miles was fixed at 5 cents and for any greater
distance at 10 cents.
By the act of 1851 it was provided that a single letter, if prepaid,
should be carried any distance not exceeding 3,000 miles for 3 cents
and any greater distance for 6 cents.
It will be noticed that both of these reductions were of a radical
character and relatively quite as important as that which is now
proposed.
In each case there ensued a temporary loss of revenue, but a sudden and
large influx of business, which substantially repaired that loss within
three years.
Unless the experience of past legislation in this country and elsewhere
goes for naught, it may be safely predicted that the stimulus of 33-1/3
per cent reduction in the tax for carriage would at once increase the
number of letters consigned to the mails.
The advantages of secrecy would lead to a very general substitution of
sealed packets for postal cards and open circulars, and in divers other
ways the volume of first-class matter would be enormously augmented.
Such increase amounted in England, in the first year after the adoption
of penny postage, to more than 125 per cent.
As a result of careful estimates, the details of which can not be here
set out, I have become convinced that the deficiency for the first year
after the proposed reduction would not exceed 7 per cent of the
expenditures, or $3,000,000, while the deficiency after the reduction of
1845 was more than 14 per cent, and after that of 1851 was 27 per cent.
Another interesting comparison is afforded by statistics furnished me by
the Post-Office Department.
The act of 1845 was passed in face of the fact that there existed a
deficiency of more than $30,000. That of 1851 was encouraged by the
slight surplus of $132,000. The excess of revenue in the next fiscal
year is likely to be $3,500,000.
If Congress should approve these suggestions, it may be deemed desirable
to supply to some extent the deficiency which must for a time result by
increasing the charge for carrying merchandise, which is now only 16
cents per pound; but even without such an increase I am confident that
the receipts under the diminished rates would equal the expenditures
after the lapse of three or four years.
The report of the Department of Justice brings anew to your notice the
necessity of enlarging the present system of Federal jurisprudence so as
effectually to answer the requirements of the ever-increasing litigation
with which it is called upon to deal.
The Attorney-General renews the suggestions of his predecessor that in
the interests of justice better provision than the existing laws afford
should be made in certain judicial districts for fixing the fees of
witnesses and jurors.
In my message of December last I referred to pending criminal
proceedings growing out of alleged frauds in what is known as the
star-route service of the Post-Office Department, and advised you that
I had enjoined upon the Attorney-General and associate counsel, to whom
the interests of the Government were intrusted, the duty of prosecuting
with the utmost vigor of the law all persons who might be found
chargeable with those offenses. A trial of one of these cases has since
occurred. It occupied for many weeks the attention of the supreme court
of this District and was conducted with great zeal and ability. It
resulted in a disagreement of the jury, but the cause has been again
placed upon the calendar and will shortly be retried. If any guilty
persons shall finally escape punishment for their offenses, it will
not be for lack of diligent and earnest efforts on the part of the
prosecution.
I trust that some agreement may be reached which will speedily enable
Congress, with the concurrence of the Executive, to afford the
commercial community the benefits of a national bankrupt law.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with its accompanying
documents, presents a full statement of the varied operations of that
Department. In respect to Indian affairs nothing has occurred which has
changed or seriously modified the views to which I devoted much space in
a former communication to Congress. I renew the recommendations therein
contained as to extending to the Indian the protection of the law,
allotting land in severalty to such as desire it, and making suitable
provision for the education of youth. Such provision, as the Secretary
forcibly maintains, will prove unavailing unless it is broad enough to
include all those who are able and willing to make use of it, and should
not solely relate to intellectual training, but also to instruction in
such manual labor and simple industrial arts as can be made practically
available.
Among other important subjects which are included within the Secretary's
report, and which will doubtless furnish occasion for Congressional
action, may be mentioned the neglect of the railroad companies to which
large grants of land were made by the acts of 1862 and 1864 to take
title thereto, and their consequent inequitable exemption from local
taxation.
No survey of our material condition can fail to suggest inquiries as to
the moral and intellectual progress of the people.
The census returns disclose an alarming state of illiteracy in certain
portions of the country, where the provision for schools is grossly
inadequate. It is a momentous question for the decision of Congress
whether immediate and substantial aid should not be extended by the
General Government for supplementing the efforts of private beneficence
and of State and Territorial legislation in behalf of education.
The regulation of interstate commerce has already been the subject of
your deliberations. One of the incidents of the marvelous extension of
the railway system of the country has been the adoption of such measures
by the corporations which own or control the roads as have tended to
impair the advantages of healthful competition and to make hurtful
discriminations in the adjustment of freightage.
These inequalities have been corrected in several of the States by
appropriate legislation, the effect of which is necessarily restricted
to the limits of their own territory.
So far as such mischiefs affect commerce between the States or between
any one of the States and a foreign country, they are subjects of
national concern, and Congress alone can afford relief.
The results which have thus far attended the enforcement of the recent
statute for the suppression of polygamy in the Territories are reported
by the Secretary of the Interior. It is not probable that any additional
legislation in this regard will be deemed desirable until the effect of
existing laws shall be more closely observed and studied.
I congratulate you that the commissioners under whose supervision those
laws have been put in operation are encouraged to believe that the evil
at which they are aimed may be suppressed without resort to such radical
measures as in some quarters have been thought indispensable for
success.
The close relation of the General Government to the Territories
preparing to be great States may well engage your special attention.
It is there that the Indian disturbances mainly occur and that polygamy
has found room for its growth. I can not doubt that a careful survey
of Territorial legislation would be of the highest utility. Life and
property would become more secure. The liability of outbreaks between
Indians and whites would be lessened. The public domain would be more
securely guarded and better progress be made in the instruction of the
young.
Alaska is still without any form of civil government. If means were
provided for the education of its people and for the protection of their
lives and property, the immense resources of the region would invite
permanent settlements and open new fields for industry and enterprise.
The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture presents an account of the
labors of that Department during the past year and includes information
of much interest to the general public.
The condition of the forests of the country and the wasteful manner
in which their destruction is taking place give cause for serious
apprehension. Their action in protecting the earth's surface, in
modifying the extremes of climate, and in regulating and sustaining the
flow of springs and streams is now well understood, and their importance
in relation to the growth and prosperity of the country can not be
safely disregarded. They are fast disappearing before destructive fires
and the legitimate requirements of our increasing population, and their
total extinction can not be long delayed unless better methods than
now prevail shall be adopted for their protection and cultivation.
The attention of Congress is invited to the necessity of additional
legislation to secure the preservation of the valuable forests still
remaining on the public domain, especially in the extreme Western States
and Territories, where the necessity for their preservation is greater
than in less mountainous regions, and where the prevailing dryness of
the climate renders their restoration, if they are once destroyed,
well-nigh impossible.
The communication which I made to Congress at its first session, in
December last, contained a somewhat full statement of my sentiments in
relation to the principles and rules which ought to govern appointments
to public service.
Referring to the various plans which had theretofore been the subject
of discussion in the National Legislature (plans which in the main were
modeled upon the system which obtains in Great Britain, but which lacked
certain of the prominent features whereby that system is distinguished),
I felt bound to intimate my doubts whether they, or any of them, would
afford adequate remedy for the evils which they aimed to correct.
I declared, nevertheless, that if the proposed measures should prove
acceptable to Congress they would receive the unhesitating support of
the Executive.
Since these suggestions were submitted for your consideration there has
been no legislation upon the subject to which they relate, but there has
meanwhile been an increase in the public interest in that subject, and
the people of the country, apparently without distinction of party, have
in various ways and upon frequent occasions given expression to their
earnest wish for prompt and definite action. In my judgment such action
should no longer be postponed.
I may add that my own sense of its pressing importance has been
quickened by observation of a practical phase of the matter, to which
attention has more than once been called by my predecessors.
The civil list now comprises about 100,000 persons, far the larger part
of whom must, under the terms of the Constitution, be selected by the
President either directly or through his own appointees.
In the early years of the administration of the Government the personal
direction of appointments to the civil service may not have been an
irksome task for the Executive, but now that the burden has increased
fully a hundredfold it has become greater than he ought to bear, and it
necessarily diverts his time and attention from the proper discharge of
other duties no less delicate and responsible, and which in the very
nature of things can not be delegated to other hands.
In the judgment of not a few who have given study and reflection to this
matter, the nation has outgrown the provisions which the Constitution
has established for filling the minor offices in the public service.
But whatever may be thought of the wisdom or expediency of changing the
fundamental law in this regard, it is certain that much relief may be
afforded, not only to the President and to the heads of the Departments,
but to Senators and Representatives in Congress, by discreet
legislation. They would be protected in a great measure by the bill now
pending before the Senate, or by any other which should embody its
important features, from the pressure of personal importunity and from
the labor of examining conflicting claims and pretensions of candidates.
I trust that before the close of the present session some decisive
action may be taken for the correction of the evils which inhere
in the present methods of appointment, and I assure you of my hearty
cooperation in any measures which are likely to conduce to that end.
As to the most appropriate term and tenure of the official life of the
subordinate employees of the Government, it seems to be generally agreed
that, whatever their extent or character, the one should be definite and
the other stable, and that neither should be regulated by zeal in the
service of party or fidelity to the fortunes of an individual.
It matters little to the people at large what competent person is at
the head of this department or of that bureau if they feel assured that
the removal of one and the accession of another will not involve the
retirement of honest and faithful subordinates whose duties are purely
administrative and have no legitimate connection with the triumph of any
political principles or the success of any political party or faction.
It is to this latter class of officers that the Senate bill, to which
I have already referred, exclusively applies.
While neither that bill nor any other prominent scheme for improving the
civil service concerns the higher grade of officials, who are appointed
by the President and confirmed by the Senate, I feel bound to correct
a prevalent misapprehension as to the frequency with which the present
Executive has displaced the incumbent of an office and appointed another
in his stead.
It has been repeatedly alleged that he has in this particular signally
departed from the course which has been pursued under recent
Administrations of the Government. The facts are as follows:
The whole number of Executive appointments during the four years
immediately preceding Mr. Garfield's accession to the Presidency was
2,696. Of this number 244, or 9 per cent, involved the removal of
previous incumbents.
The ratio of removals to the whole number of appointments was much the
same during each of those four years.
In the first year, with 790 appointments, there were 74 removals, or 9.3
per cent; in the second, with 917 appointments, there were 85 removals,
or 8.5 per cent; in the third, with 480 appointments, there were 48
removals, or 10 per cent; in the fourth, with 429 appointments, there
were 37 removals, or 8.6 per cent. In the four months of President
Garfield's Administration there were 390 appointments and 89 removals,
or 22.7 per cent. Precisely the same number of removals (89) has taken
place in the fourteen months which have since elapsed, but they
constitute only 7.8 per cent of the whole number of appointments (1,118)
within that period and less than 2.6 of the entire list of officials
(3,459), exclusive of the Army and Navy, which is filled by Presidential
appointment.
I declare my approval of such legislation as may be found necessary for
supplementing the existing provisions of law in relation to political
assessments.
In July last I authorized a public announcement that employees of the
Government should regard themselves as at liberty to exercise their
pleasure in making or refusing to make political contributions, and that
their action in that regard would in no manner affect their official
status.
In this announcement I acted upon the view, which I had always maintained
and still maintain, that a public officer should be as absolutely free
as any other citizen to give or to withhold a contribution for the aid
of the political party of his choice. It has, however, been urged, and
doubtless not without foundation in fact, that by solicitation of
official superiors and by other modes such contributions have at times
been obtained from persons whose only motive for giving has been the
fear of what might befall them if they refused. It goes without saying
that such contributions are not voluntary, and in my judgment their
collection should be prohibited by law. A bill which will effectually
suppress them will receive my cordial approval.
I hope that, however numerous and urgent may be the demands upon your
attention, the interests of this District will not be forgotten.
The denial to its residents of the great right of suffrage in all its
relations to national, State, and municipal action imposes upon Congress
the duty of affording them the best administration which its wisdom can
devise.
The report of the District Commissioners indicates certain measures
whose adoption would seem to be very desirable. I instance in particular
those which relate to arrears of taxes, to steam railroads, and to
assessments of real property.
Among the questions which have been the topic of recent debate in the
halls of Congress none are of greater gravity than those relating to the
ascertainment of the vote for Presidential electors and the intendment
of the Constitution in its provisions for devolving Executive functions
upon the Vice-President when the President suffers from inability to
discharge the powers and duties of his office.
I trust that no embarrassments may result from a failure to determine
these questions before another national election.
The closing year has been replete with blessings, for which we
owe to the Giver of All Good our reverent acknowledgment. For the
uninterrupted harmony of our foreign relations, for the decay of
sectional animosities, for the exuberance of our harvests and the
triumphs of our mining and manufacturing industries, for the prevalence
of health, the spread of intelligence, and the conservation of the
public credit, for the growth of the country in all the elements of
national greatness--for these and countless other blessings we should
rejoice and be glad. I trust that under the inspiration of this great
prosperity our counsels may be harmonious, and that the dictates of
prudence, patriotism, justice, and economy may lead to the adoption of
measures in which the Congress and the Executive may heartily unite.