Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection_A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 9, part 1: Benjamin Harrison

A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON

A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

VOLUME IX

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS 1902

Prefatory Note

This volume comprises the papers of Benjamin Harrison and of Grover

Cleveland (second term). The events of these two Administrations of

eight years, though highly interesting, coming as they do down to March

4, 1897, are so recent and fresh in the public mind that I need not

comment on them.

This volume is the last of the series, except the Appendix and Index

volume. The work of compiling was begun by me in April, 1895, just after

the expiration of the Fifty-third Congress. I then anticipated that

I could complete the work easily within a year. Though I have given my

entire time to the undertaking when not engaged in my official duties as

a Representative, instead of completing it within the time mentioned it

has occupied me for nearly four years. The labor has been far greater

than the Joint Committee on Printing or I supposed it would be. I had

no idea of the difficulties to overcome in obtaining the Presidential

papers, especially the proclamations and Executive orders. In the

Prefatory Note to Volume I, I said: "I have sought to bring together

in the several volumes of the series all Presidential proclamations,

addresses, messages, and communications to Congress excepting those

nominating persons to office and those which simply transmit treaties,

and reports of heads of Departments which contain no recommendation

from the Executive." But after the appearance of Volume I, and while

preparing the contents of Volume II, I became convinced that I had made

a mistake and that the work to be exhaustive should comprise every

message of the Presidents transmitting reports of heads of Departments

and other communications, no matter how brief or unintelligible the

papers were in themselves, and that to make them intelligible I should

insert editorial footnotes explaining them. Having acted upon the other

idea in making up Volume I and a portion of Volume II, quite a number of

such brief papers were intentionally omitted. Being convinced that all

the papers of the Executives should be inserted, the plan was modified

accordingly, and the endeavor was thereafter made to publish all of

them.

In order, however, that the compilation may be "accurate and

exhaustive," I have gone back and collected all the papers--those which

should have appeared in Volumes I and II, as well as such as were

unintentionally omitted from the succeeding volumes--excepting those

simply making nominations, and shall publish them in an appendix in the

last volume. While this may occasion some little annoyance to the reader

who seeks such papers in chronological order, yet, inasmuch as they all

appear at their proper places in the alphabetical Index, it is not

believed that any serious inconvenience will result.

The editor and compiler has resorted to every possible avenue and has

spared no effort to procure all public Presidential papers from the

beginning of the Government to March 4, 1897. He has looked out for

every reference to the work in the public prints, has endeavored to read

all the criticisms made because of omissions, and has availed himself of

all the papers to which his attention has been called by anyone; has

diligently and earnestly sought for same himself, and has, as stated

above, inserted all omitted papers in the Appendix, so that he feels

warranted in saying that if he has given to the country all he could

find and all any critic or reviewer has been able to find he has done

his whole duty and reasonable complaint can not be made if any paper is

still omitted. In view of the inaccessibility of many of the messages by

reason of their not having been entered on the journals of either House

of Congress, and of the fact that the Government itself does not possess

many of the proclamations and Executive orders, it may be that there

yet can be found a few papers omitted from this work; but with much

confidence, amounting to a positive conviction, I feel that assurance

may be safely given that only a few, if any at all, have been

overlooked.

Congress in June, 1897, by law requested me to prepare an index to the

entire compilation. I am now and have been for over two years engaged in

this work. I hope to be able to give the last volume, which will include

the Appendix and Index, as above stated, to Congress and the public in

about two months. It would have been completed at this time but for the

fact that in addition to making the Index simply an index to the various

messages and other papers I have added to it the encyclopedic feature.

There will therefore be found in the Index, in alphabetical order, a

large number of encyclopedic definitions of words and phrases used by

the Chief Executives, and of other politico-historical subjects. It

is believed that this feature will not detract in any manner from the

Index, but, on the other hand, will add largely to its value and to

the value of the entire compilation.

JAMES D. RICHARDSON.

NOVEMBER 24, 1898.

Benjamin Harrison

March 4, 1889, to March 4, 1893

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States, was born

at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His father, John Scott Harrison,

was the third son of General William Henry Harrison, ninth President

of the United States, who was the third and youngest son of Benjamin

Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. John

Scott Harrison was twice married, his second wife being Elizabeth,

daughter of Archibald Irwin, of Mercersburg, Pa. Benjamin was the second

son of this marriage. His parents were resolutely determined upon the

education of their children, and early in childhood Benjamin was placed

under private instruction at home. In 1847 he and his elder brother were

sent to a school on what was known as College Hill, a few miles from

Cincinnati. After remaining there two years entered the junior class at

Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1852. Was

married October 20, 1853, to Caroline Scott, daughter of Dr. John W.

Scott, who was then president of Oxford Female Seminary, from which Mrs.

Harrison was graduated in 1852. After studying law under Storer & Gwynne

in Cincinnati, Mr. Harrison was admitted to the bar in 1854, and began

the practice of his profession at Indianapolis, Ind., which has since

been his home. Was appointed crier of the Federal court, at a salary of

$2.50 per day. This was the first money he had ever earned. Jonathan

W. Gordon, one of the leaders of the Indianapolis bar, called young

Harrison to his assistance in the prosecution of a criminal tried for

burglary, and intrusted to him the plea for the State. He had taken

ample notes of the evidence, but the case was closed at night, and the

court-house being dimly lighted by tallow candles, he was unable to read

them when he arose to address the court and jury, paying them aside,

he depended entirely upon his memory and found it perfect. He made an

eloquent plea, produced a marked impression, and won the case. Since

then he has always been an impromptu speaker. Formed a partnership later

with William Wallace, but in 1860 the latter became clerk of Marion

County, and the firm was changed to Harrison & Fishback, which was

terminated by the entry of the senior partner into the Army in 1862.

Was chosen reporter of the supreme court of Indiana in 1860 on the

Republican ticket. This was his first active appearance in the political

field. When the Civil War began assisted in raising the Seventieth

Indiana Regiment of Volunteers, taking a second lieutenant's commission

and raising Company A of that regiment. Governor Morton tendered him

the command of the regiment and he was commissioned its colonel. Mr.

Harrison appointed a deputy reporter for the supreme court. In the

ensuing autumn the Democratic State committee, considering his position

as a civil officer vacated by this military appointment, nominated and

elected a successor, although his term of office had not expired. Their

view was sustained by the State supreme court; but in 1864, while

Colonel Harrison was in the Army, the people of Indiana gave their

judgment by reelecting him to the position of supreme-court reporter

by an overwhelming majority. In 1862 the Seventieth Indiana went into

the field with Harrison as its colonel, their objective point being

Bowling Green, Ky. It was brigaded with the Seventy-ninth Ohio and the

One hundred and second, One hundred and fifth, and One hundred and

twenty-ninth Illinois regiments, under Brigadier-General Ward, of

Kentucky, and this organization was kept unchanged until the close of

the war. Colonel Harrison had the right of the brigade, and his command

was occupied at first in guarding railroads and hunting guerrillas, his

energies being largely spent in drilling his men. When General Rosecrans

set out for Chattanooga General Ward was sent on duty to Nashville, and

on January 2, 1864, his command was called to the front. Later this

brigade became the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Twentieth

Army Corps, under General Hooker, General Ward resuming its command.

The campaign under General Sherman, upon which his regiment with its

associate forces entered, was directed, as is now known, against the

Confederate army of General Joseph E. Johnston, and not against any

particular place. In the Federal advance one of the severest actions was

fought at Resaca, Ga., May 14 and 15, 1864, and the Seventieth Indiana

led the assault. His regiment participated in the fights at New Hope

Church and at Golgotha Church, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peach Tree Creek.

When Atlanta was taken by Sherman, September 2, 1864, Colonel Harrison

received his first furlough to visit home, being assigned to special

duty in a canvass of the State to recruit for the forces in the field.

Returning to Chattanooga and then to Nashville, he was placed in command

of a provisional brigade held in reserve at the battle at the latter

place (December 15 and 16, 1864), and was but little engaged. When the

fight was over he was sent in pursuit of the Confederate general Hood.

Recalled from that pursuit, was next ordered to report to General

Sherman at Savannah. While passing through New York he succumbed to an

attack of scarlet fever, but in a few weeks was able to proceed on his

way. Joining Sherman at Goldsboro, N.C., resumed command of his old

brigade, and at the close of the war went with it to Washington to take

part in the grand review of the armies. Was duly mustered out of the

service June 8, 1865, not, however, until he had received a commission

as brevet brigadier-general, dated January 23, 1865. Returning to

Indianapolis after the war, resumed his office of reporter of the

supreme court, but in 1867 declined a renomination, preferring to devote

himself exclusively to the practice of law. Became a member of the

firm of Porter, Harrison & Fishback, and, after subsequent changes,

of that of Harrison, Miller & Elam. Took part in 1868 and 1872 in the

Presidential campaigns in support of General Grant, traveling over

Indiana and speaking to large audiences. In 1876 at first declined a

nomination for governor on the Republican ticket, consenting to run only

after the regular nominee had withdrawn. In this contest he received

almost 2,000 more votes than his associates, but was defeated. Was a

member of the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. In 1880, as chairman

of the Indiana delegation in the Republican national convention, he cast

nearly the entire vote of the State for James A. Garfield for President.

President Garfield offered him a place in his Cabinet, but he declined

it, preferring the United States Senatorship from Indiana, to which

he had just been chosen, and which he held from 1881 to 1887. In the

Senate he advocated the tariff views of his party, opposed President

Cleveland's vetoes of pension bills, urged the reconstruction and

upbuilding of the Navy, and labored and voted for civil-service reform.

Was a delegate at large to the Republican national convention in 1884,

and in 1888 at Chicago was nominated for the Presidency on the eighth

ballot. The nomination was made unanimous, and in November he was

elected, receiving 233 electoral votes to 168 for Grover Cleveland.

Was inaugurated March 4, 1889. Was again nominated for the Presidency

at the national Republican convention which met at Minneapolis in 1892,

but was defeated at the November election, receiving 145 electoral

votes, against 276 votes for Grover Cleveland. Upon his retiring from

office located at Indianapolis, Ind., where he now resides.

* * * * *

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

FELLOW CITIZENS: There is no constitutional or legal requirement that

the President shall take the oath of office in the presence of the

people, but there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public

induction to office of the chief executive officer of the nation that

from the beginning of the Government the people, to whose service the

official oath consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the

solemn ceremonial. The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes

a mutual covenant. The officer covenants to serve the whole body of the

people by a faithful execution of the laws, so that they may be the

unfailing defense and security of those who respect and observe them,

and that neither wealth, station, nor the power of combinations shall be

able to evade their just penalties or to wrest them from a beneficent

public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty or selfishness.

My promise is spoken; yours unspoken, but not the less real and solemn.

The people of every State have here their representatives. Surely I do

not misinterpret the spirit of the occasion when I assume that the

whole body of the people covenant with me and with each other to-day

to support and defend the Constitution and the Union of the States, to

yield willing obedience to all the laws and each to every other citizen

his equal civil and political rights. Entering thus solemnly into

covenant with each other, we may reverently invoke and confidently

expect the favor and help of Almighty God--that He will give to me

wisdom, strength, and fidelity, and to our people a spirit of fraternity

and a love of righteousness and peace.

This occasion derives peculiar interest from the fact that the

Presidential term which begins this day is the twenty-sixth under our

Constitution. The first inauguration of President Washington took place

in New York, where Congress was then sitting, on the 30th day of

April, 1789, having been deferred by reason of delays attending the

organization of the Congress and the canvass of the electoral vote. Our

people have already worthily observed the centennials of the Declaration

of Independence, of the battle of Yorktown, and of the adoption of the

Constitution, and will shortly celebrate in New York the institution of

the second great department of our constitutional scheme of government.

When the centennial of the institution of the judicial department,

by the organization of the Supreme Court, shall have been suitably

observed, as I trust it will be, our nation will have fully entered

its second century.

I will not attempt to note the marvelous and in great part happy

contrasts between our country as it steps over the threshold into its

second century of organized existence under the Constitution and that

weak but wisely ordered young nation that looked undauntedly down the

first century, when all its years stretched out before it.

Our people will not fail at this time to recall the incidents which

accompanied the institution of government under the Constitution, or to

find inspiration and guidance in the teachings and example of Washington

and his great associates, and hope and courage in the contrast which

thirty-eight populous and prosperous States offer to the thirteen

States, weak in everything except courage and the love of liberty, that

then fringed our Atlantic seaboard.

The Territory of Dakota has now a population greater than any of the

original States (except Virginia) and greater than the aggregate of

five of the smaller States in 1790. The center of population when our

national capital was located was east of Baltimore, and it was argued

by many well-informed persons that it would move eastward rather than

westward; yet in 1880 it was found to be near Cincinnati, and the new

census about to be taken will show another stride to the westward. That

which was the body has come to be only the rich fringe of the nation's

robe. But our growth has not been limited to territory, population, and

aggregate wealth, marvelous as it has been in each of those directions.

The masses of our people are better fed, clothed, and housed than their

fathers were. The facilities for popular education have been vastly

enlarged and more generally diffused.

The virtues of courage and patriotism have given recent proof of their

continued presence and increasing power in the hearts and over the

lives of our people. The influences of religion have been multiplied

and strengthened. The sweet offices of charity have greatly increased.

The virtue of temperance is held in higher estimation. We have not

attained an ideal condition. Not all of our people are happy and

prosperous; not all of them are virtuous and law-abiding. But on the

whole the opportunities offered to the individual to secure the comforts

of life are better than are found elsewhere and largely better than they

were here one hundred years ago.

The surrender of a large measure of sovereignty to the General

Government, effected by the adoption of the Constitution, was not

accomplished until the suggestions of reason were strongly reenforced

by the more imperative voice of experience. The divergent interests

of peace speedily demanded a "more perfect union," The merchant,

the shipmaster, and the manufacturer discovered and disclosed to our

statesmen and to the people that commercial emancipation must be added

to the political freedom which had been so bravely won. The commercial

policy of the mother country had not relaxed any of its hard and

oppressive features. To hold in check the development of our commercial

marine, to prevent or retard the establishment and growth of

manufactures in the States, and so to secure the American market for

their shops and the carrying trade for their ships, was the policy of

European statesmen, and was pursued with the most selfish vigor.

Petitions poured in upon Congress urging the imposition of

discriminating duties that should encourage the production of needed

things at home. The patriotism of the people, which no longer found a

field of exercise in war, was energetically directed to the duty of

equipping the young Republic for the defense of its independence by

making its people self-dependent. Societies for the promotion of home

manufactures and for encouraging the use of domestics in the dress of

the people were organized in many of the States. The revival at the end

of the century of the same patriotic interest in the preservation and

development of domestic industries and the defense of our working

people against injurious foreign competition is an incident worthy of

attention. It is not a departure but a return that we have witnessed.

The protective policy had then its opponents. The argument was made,

as now, that its benefits inured to particular classes or sections.

If the question became in any sense or at any time sectional, it was

only because slavery existed in some of the States. But for this there

was no reason why the cotton-producing States should not have led or

walked abreast with the New England States in the production of cotton

fabrics. There was this reason only why the States that divide with

Pennsylvania the mineral treasures of the great southeastern and

central mountain ranges should have been so tardy in bringing to the

smelting furnace and to the mill the coal and iron from their near

opposing hillsides. Mill fires were lighted at the funeral pile of

slavery. The emancipation proclamation was heard in the depths of the

earth as well as in the sky; men were made free, and material things

became our better servants.

The sectional element has happily been eliminated from the tariff

discussion. We have no longer States that are necessarily only planting

States. None are excluded from achieving that diversification of

pursuits among the people which brings wealth and contentment. The

cotton plantation will not be less valuable when the product is spun in

the country town by operatives whose necessities call for diversified

crops and create a home demand for garden and agricultural products.

Every new mine, furnace, and factory is an extension of the productive

capacity of the State more real and valuable than added territory.

Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang upon the

skirts of progress? How long will those who rejoice that slavery no

longer exists cherish or tolerate the incapacities it put upon their

communities? I look hopefully to the continuance of our protective

system and to the consequent development of manufacturing and mining

enterprises in the States hitherto wholly given to agriculture as a

potent influence in the perfect unification of our people. The men who

have invested their capital in these enterprises, the farmers who have

felt the benefit of their neighborhood, and the men who work in shop or

field will not fail to find and to defend a community of interest.

Is it not quite possible that the farmers and the promoters of the

great mining and manufacturing enterprises which have recently been

established in the South may yet find that the free ballot of the

workingman, without distinction of race, is needed for their defense as

well as for his own? I do not doubt that if those men in the South who

now accept the tariff views of Clay and the constitutional expositions

of Webster would courageously avow and defend their real convictions

they would not find it difficult, by friendly instruction and

cooperation, to make the black man their efficient and safe ally, not

only in establishing correct principles in our national administration,

but in preserving for their local communities the benefits of social

order and economical and honest government. At least until the good

offices of kindness and education have been fairly tried the contrary

conclusion can not be plausibly urged.

I have altogether rejected the suggestion of a special Executive policy

for any section of our country. It is the duty of the Executive to

administer and enforce in the methods and by the instrumentalities

pointed out and provided by the Constitution all the laws enacted by

Congress. These laws are general and their administration should be

uniform and equal. As a citizen may not elect what laws he will obey,

neither may the Executive elect which he will enforce. The duty to

obey and to execute embraces the Constitution in its entirety and the

whole code of laws enacted under it. The evil example of permitting

individuals, corporations, or communities to nullify the laws because

they cross some selfish or local interest or prejudices is full of

danger, not only to the nation at large, but much more to those who use

this pernicious expedient to escape their just obligations or to obtain

an unjust advantage over others. They will presently themselves be

compelled to appeal to the law for protection, and those who would use

the law as a defense must not deny that use of it to others.

If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their legal

limitations and duties, they would have less cause to complain of the

unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent interference with

their operations. The community that by concert, open or secret, among

its citizens denies to a portion of its members their plain rights

under the law has severed the only safe bond of social order and

prosperity. The evil works from a bad center both ways. It demoralizes

those who practice it and destroys the faith of those who suffer by

it in the efficiency of the law as a safe protector. The man in whose

breast that faith has been darkened is naturally the subject of

dangerous and uncanny suggestions. Those who use unlawful methods, if

moved by no higher motive than the selfishness that prompted them, may

well stop and inquire what is to be the end of this.

An unlawful expedient can not become a permanent condition of

government. If the educated and influential classes in a community

either practice or connive at the systematic violation of laws that

seem to them to cross their convenience, what can they expect when the

lesson that convenience or a supposed class interest is a sufficient

cause for lawlessness has been well learned by the ignorant classes?

A community where law is the rule of conduct and where courts, not

mobs, execute its penalties is the only attractive field for business

investments and honest labor.

Our naturalization laws should be so amended as to make the inquiry

into the character and good disposition of persons applying for

citizenship more careful and searching. Our existing laws have been in

their administration an unimpressive and often an unintelligible form.

We accept the man as a citizen without any knowledge of his fitness,

and he assumes the duties of citizenship without any knowledge as to

what they are. The privileges of American citizenship are so great and

its duties so grave that we may well insist upon a good knowledge of

every person applying for citizenship and a good knowledge by him of

our institutions. We should not cease to be hospitable to immigration,

but we should cease to be careless as to the character of it. There are

men of all races, even the best, whose coming is necessarily a burden

upon our public revenues or a threat to social order. These should be

identified and excluded.

We have happily maintained a policy of avoiding all interference with

European affairs. We have been only interested spectators of their

contentions in diplomacy and in war, ready to use our friendly offices

to promote peace, but never obtruding our advice and never attempting

unfairly to coin the distresses of other powers into commercial

advantage to ourselves. We have a just right to expect that our

European policy will be the American policy of European courts.

It is so manifestly incompatible with those precautions for our peace

and safety which all the great powers habitually observe and enforce in

matters affecting them that a shorter waterway between our eastern and

western seaboards should be dominated by any European Government that

we may confidently expect that such a purpose will not be entertained

by any friendly power.

We shall in the future, as in the past, use every endeavor to maintain

and enlarge our friendly relations with all the great powers, but they

will not expect us to look kindly upon any project that would leave

us subject to the dangers of a hostile observation or environment. We

have not sought to dominate or to absorb any of our weaker neighbors,

but rather to aid and encourage them to establish free and stable

governments resting upon the consent of their own people. We have a

clear right to expect, therefore, that no European Government will

seek to establish colonial dependencies upon the territory of these

independent American States. That which a sense of justice restrains

us from seeking they may be reasonably expected willingly to forego.

It must not be assumed, however, that our interests are so exclusively

American that our entire inattention to any events that may transpire

elsewhere can be taken for granted. Our citizens domiciled for purposes

of trade in all countries and in many of the islands of the sea demand

and will have our adequate care in their personal and commercial

rights. The necessities of our Navy require convenient coaling stations

and dock and harbor privileges. These and other trading privileges

we will feel free to obtain only by means that do not in any degree

partake of coercion, however feeble the government from which we ask

such concessions. But having fairly obtained them by methods and for

purposes entirely consistent with the most friendly disposition toward

all other powers, our consent will be necessary to any modification or

impairment of the concession.

We shall neither fail to respect the flag of any friendly nation or the

just rights of its citizens, nor to exact the like treatment for our

own. Calmness, justice, and consideration should characterize our

diplomacy. The offices of an intelligent diplomacy or of friendly

arbitration in proper cases should be adequate to the peaceful

adjustment of all international difficulties. By such methods we will

make our contribution to the world's peace, which no nation values more

highly, and avoid the opprobrium which must fall upon the nation that

ruthlessly breaks it.

The duty devolved by law upon the President to nominate and, by and

with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all public

officers whose appointment is not otherwise provided for in the

Constitution or by act of Congress has become very burdensome and its

wise and efficient discharge full of difficulty. The civil list is so

large that a personal knowledge of any large number of the applicants

is impossible. The President must rely upon the representations of

others, and these are often made inconsiderately and without any just

sense of responsibility. I have a right, I think, to insist that those

who volunteer or are invited to give advice as to appointments shall

exercise consideration and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an

ambition to improve the service should characterize all public

officers.

There are many ways in which the convenience and comfort of those who

have business with our public offices may be promoted by a thoughtful

and obliging officer, and I shall expect those whom I may appoint to

justify their selection by a conspicuous efficiency in the discharge of

their duties. Honorable party service will certainly not be esteemed

by me a disqualification for public office, but it will in no case be

allowed to serve as a shield of official negligence, incompetency, or

delinquency. It is entirely creditable to seek public office by proper

methods and with proper motives, and all applicants will be treated

with consideration; but I shall need, and the heads of Departments will

need, time for inquiry and deliberation. Persistent importunity will

not, therefore, be the best support of an application for office. Heads

of Departments, bureaus, and all other public officers having any duty

connected therewith will be expected to enforce the civil-service

law fully and without evasion. Beyond this obvious duty I hope to do

something more to advance the reform of the civil service. The ideal,

or even my own ideal, I shall probably not attain. Retrospect will be

a safer basis of judgment than promises. We shall not, however, I am

sure, be able to put our civil service upon a nonpartisan basis until

we have secured an incumbency that fair-minded men of the opposition

will approve for impartiality and integrity. As the number of such in

the civil list is increased removals from office will diminish.

While a Treasury surplus is not the greatest evil, it is a serious

evil. Our revenue should be ample to meet the ordinary annual demands

upon our Treasury, with a sufficient margin for those extraordinary but

scarcely less imperative demands which arise now and then. Expenditure

should always be made with economy and only upon public necessity.

Wastefulness, profligacy, or favoritism in public expenditures is

criminal. But there is nothing in the condition of our country or of

our people to suggest that anything presently necessary to the public

prosperity, security, or honor should be unduly postponed.

It will be the duty of Congress wisely to forecast and estimate

these extraordinary demands, and, having added them to our ordinary

expenditures, to so adjust our revenue laws that no considerable annual

surplus will remain. We will fortunately be able to apply to the

redemption of the public debt any small and unforeseen excess of

revenue. This is better than to reduce our income below our necessary

expenditures, with the resulting choice between another change of our

revenue laws and an increase of the public debt. It is quite possible,

I am sure, to effect the necessary reduction in our revenues without

breaking down our protective tariff or seriously injuring any domestic

industry.

The construction of a sufficient number of modern war ships and of

their necessary armament should progress as rapidly as is consistent

with care and perfection in plans and workmanship. The spirit, courage,

and skill of our naval officers and seamen have many times in our

history given to weak ships and inefficient guns a rating greatly

beyond that of the naval list. That they will again do so upon occasion

I do not doubt; but they ought not, by premeditation or neglect, to

be left to the risks and exigencies of an unequal combat. We should

encourage the establishment of American steamship lines. The exchanges

of commerce demand stated, reliable, and rapid means of communication,

and until these are provided the development of our trade with the

States lying south of us is impossible.

Our pension laws should give more adequate and discriminating relief to

the Union soldiers and sailors and to their widows and orphans. Such

occasions as this should remind us that we owe everything to their

valor and sacrifice.

It is a subject of congratulation that there is a near prospect of the

admission into the Union of the Dakotas and Montana and Washington

Territories. This act of justice has been unreasonably delayed in the

case of some of them. The people who have settled these Territories are

intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic, and the accession of these

new States will add strength to the nation. It is due to the settlers

in the Territories who have availed themselves of the invitations of

our land laws to make homes upon the public domain that their titles

should be speedily adjusted and their honest entries confirmed by

patent.

It is very gratifying to observe the general interest now being

manifested in the reform of our election laws. Those who have been for

years calling attention to the pressing necessity of throwing about the

ballot box and about the elector further safeguards, in order that our

elections might not only be free and pure, but might clearly appear to

be so, will welcome the accession of any who did not so soon discover

the need of reform. The National Congress has not as yet taken control

of elections in that case over which the Constitution gives it

jurisdiction, but has accepted and adopted the election laws of the

several States, provided penalties for their violation and a method

of supervision. Only the inefficiency of the State laws or an unfair

partisan administration of them could suggest a departure from this

policy.

It was clearly, however, in the contemplation of the framers of the

Constitution that such an exigency might arise, and provision was

wisely made for it. The freedom of the ballot is a condition of our

national life, and no power vested in Congress or in the Executive to

secure or perpetuate it should remain unused upon occasion. The people

of all the Congressional districts have an equal interest that the

election in each shall truly express the views and wishes of a majority

of the qualified electors residing within it. The results of such

elections are not local, and the insistence of electors residing in

other districts that they shall be pure and free does not savor at all

of impertinence.

If in any of the States the public security is thought to be threatened

by ignorance among the electors, the obvious remedy is education. The

sympathy and help of our people will not be withheld from any community

struggling with special embarrassments or difficulties connected with

the suffrage if the remedies proposed proceed upon lawful lines and are

promoted by just and honorable methods. How shall those who practice

election frauds recover that respect for the sanctity of the ballot

which is the first condition and obligation of good citizenship? The

man who has come to regard the ballot box as a juggler's hat has

renounced his allegiance.

Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions. Let those

who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better proof

of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by promoting

fraternity and justice. A party success that is achieved by unfair

methods or by practices that partake of revolution is hurtful and

evanescent even from a party standpoint. We should hold our differing

opinions in mutual respect, and, having submitted them to the

arbitrament of the ballot, should accept an adverse judgment with the

same respect that we would have demanded of our opponents if the

decision had been in our favor.

No other people have a government more worthy of their respect and love

or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so

full of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor. God has placed

upon our head a diadem and has laid at our feet power and wealth beyond

definition or calculation. But we must not forget that we take these

gifts upon the condition that justice and mercy shall hold the reins

of power and that the upward avenues of hope shall be free to all the

people.

I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent

ambush along our path, but we have uncovered and vanquished them all.

Passion has swept some of our communities, but only to give us a new

demonstration that the great body of our people are stable, patriotic,

and law-abiding. No political party can long pursue advantage at the

expense of public honor or by rude and indecent methods without protest

and fatal disaffection in its own body. The peaceful agencies of

commerce are more fully revealing the necessary unity of all our

communities, and the increasing intercourse of our people is promoting

mutual respect. We shall find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation

which our next census will make of the swift development of the great

resources of some of the States. Each State will bring its generous

contribution to the great aggregate of the nation's increase. And when

the harvests from the fields, the cattle from the hills, and the ores

of the earth shall have been weighed, counted, and valued, we will turn

from them all to crown with the highest honor the State that has most

promoted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism among its people.

MARCH 4, 1889.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 17, 1889_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the Senate resolution of the 11th

ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers,

in regard to the case of Louis Riel, otherwise known as Louis David

Riel.[1]

BENJ. HARRISON.

[Footnote 1: Tried and executed by the authorities of British North

America for complicity in the rebellion in the Northwest Territory.]

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

The following provisions of the laws of the United States are hereby

published for the information of all concerned:

Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, Title XXIII, enacts that--

No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or

other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in

the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall for each

offense be fined not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or imprisoned

not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle,

apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this

section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of the Treasury shall

have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or

other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as

he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent

the killing of any fur seal and to provide for the execution of the

provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor

shall he grant any special privileges under this section.

* * * * *

Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection

of the salmon fisheries of Alaska," approved March 2, 1889, provides

that--

Sec. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United

States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of

the United States in the waters of Bering Sea, and it shall be the

duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his

proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at

least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United

States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against

entering such waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of

said section, and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United

States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and

seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation

of the laws of the United States therein.

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States,

pursuant to the above-recited statutes, hereby warn all persons against

entering the waters of Bering Sea within the dominion of the United

States for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section

1956, Revised Statutes; and I hereby proclaim that all persons found

to be or have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United

States in said waters will be arrested and punished as above provided,

and that all vessels so employed, their tackle, apparel, furniture,

and cargoes, will be seized and forfeited.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of March, 1889, and of

the Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, pursuant to section 8 of the act of Congress approved March 3,

1885, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and

contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty

stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30,

1886, and for other purposes," certain articles of cession and

agreement were made and concluded at the city of Washington on the 19th

day of January, A.D. 1889, by and between the United States of America

and the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, whereby the said

Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians, for the consideration therein

mentioned, ceded and granted to the United States, without reservation

or condition, full and complete title to the entire western half of the

domain of the said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation in the Indian Territory,

lying west of the division line surveyed and established under the

treaty with said nation dated the 14th day of June, 1866, and also

granted and released to the United States all and every claim, estate,

right, or interest of any and every description in and to any and all

land and territory whatever, except so much of the former domain of

said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation as lies east of said line of division

surveyed and established as aforesaid, and then used and occupied as

the home of said nation, and which articles of cession and agreement

were duly accepted, ratified, and confirmed by said Muscogee (or Creek)

Nation of Indians by act of its council approved on the 31st day of

January, 1889, and by the United States by act of Congress approved

March 1, 1889; and

Whereas by section 12 of the act entitled "An act making appropriations

for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and

for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the

year ending June 30, 1890, and for other purposes," approved March 2,

1889, a sum of money was appropriated to pay in full the Seminole

Nation of Indians for all the right, title, interest, and claim which

said nation of Indians might have in and to certain lands ceded by

article 3 of the treaty between the United States and said nation of

Indians concluded June 14, 1866, and proclaimed August 16, 1866, said

appropriation to become operative upon the execution by the duly

appointed delegates of said nation specially empowered to do so of

a release and conveyance to the United States of all right, title,

interest, and claim of said nation of Indians in and to said lands in

manner and form satisfactory to the President of the United States; and

Whereas said release and conveyance, bearing date the 16th day of

March, 1889, has been duly and fully executed, approved, and delivered;

and

Whereas section 13 of the act last aforesaid, relating to said lands,

provides as follows:

SEC. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said

agreement shall be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only

as herein provided; and sections 16 and 36 of each township, whether

surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and benefit of

the public schools to be established within the limits of said lands

under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by

Congress.

That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Seminole Indians

hereunder, except the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, shall be

disposed of to actual settlers under the homestead laws only, except

as herein otherwise provided (except that section 2301 of the Revised

Statutes shall not apply): _And provided further_, That any person

who, having attempted to but for any cause failed to secure a title

in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who made entry under

what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall

be qualified to make a homestead entry upon said lands: _And provided

further_, That the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and

sailors in the late Civil War as defined and described in sections 2304

and 2305 of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged: _And provided

further_, That each entry shall be in square form as nearly as

practicable, and no person be permitted to enter more than one quarter

section thereof, but until said lands are opened for settlement by

proclamation of the President no person shall be permitted to enter

upon and occupy the same, and no person violating this provision shall

ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any right

thereto.

The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not

before, permit entry of said lands for town sites, under sections 2387

and 2388 of the Revised Statutes, but no such entry shall embrace more

than one half section of land.

That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be

acquired from the Seminole Indians, including the provisions pertaining

to forfeiture, shall apply to and regulate the disposal of the lands

acquired from the Muscogee (or Creek) Indians by articles of cession

and agreement made and concluded at the city of Washington on the 19th

day of January, A.D. 1889.

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States,

by virtue of the power in me vested by said act of Congress approved

March 2, 1889, aforesaid, do hereby declare and make known that so much

of the lands as aforesaid acquired from or conveyed by the Muscogee (or

Creek) Nation of Indians and from or by the Seminole Nation of Indians,

respectively, as is contained within the following-described

boundaries, viz:

Beginning at a point where the degree of longitude 98 west from

Greenwich, as surveyed in the years 1858 and 1871, intersects the

Canadian River; thence north along and with the said degree to a point

where the same intersects the Cimarron River; thence up said river,

along the right bank thereof, to a point where the same is intersected

by the south line of what is known as the Cherokee lands lying west of

the Arkansas River, or as the "Cherokee Outlet," said line being the

north line of the lands ceded by the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of

Indians to the United States by the treaty of June 14, 1866; thence

east along said line to a point where the same intersects the west line

of the lands set apart as a reservation for the Pawnee Indians by act

of Congress approved April 10, 1876, being the range line between

ranges 4 and 5 east of the Indian meridian; thence south on said line

to a point where the same intersects the middle of the main channel of

the Cimarron River; thence up said river, along the middle of the main

channel thereof, to a point where the same intersects the range line

between range 1 east and range 1 west (being the Indian meridian),

which line forms the western boundary of the reservations set apart,

respectively, for the Iowa and Kickapoo Indians by Executive orders

dated, respectively, August 15, 1883; thence south along said range

line or meridian to a point where the same intersects the right bank

of the North Fork of the Canadian River; thence up said river, along

the right bank thereof, to a point where the same is intersected

by the west line of the reservation occupied by the Citizen band of

Pottawatomies and the Absentee Shawnee Indians, set apart under the

provisions of the treaty of February 27, 1867, between the United

States and the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, and referred to in the

act of Congress approved May 23, 1872; thence south along the said west

line of the aforesaid reservation to a point where the same intersects

the middle of the main channel of the Canadian River; thence up the

said river, along the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point

opposite to the place of beginning, and thence north to the place of

beginning (saving and excepting 1 acre of land in square form in the

northwest corner of section 9, in township 16 north, range 2 west of

the Indian meridian in Indian Territory, and also 1 acre of land in the

southeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 15, township 16

north, range 7 west of the Indian meridian in the Indian Territory,

which last-described 2 acres are hereby reserved for Government use and

control), will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon of the 22d day

of April next, and not before, be open for settlement, under the terms

of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, and restrictions

contained in said act of Congress approved March 2, 1889, and the laws

of the United States applicable thereto.

And it is hereby expressly declared and made known that no other

parts or portions of the lands embraced within the Indian Territory

than those herein specifically described and declared to be open to

settlement at the time above named and fixed are to be considered as

open to settlement under this proclamation or the act of March 2, 1889,

aforesaid.

And warning is hereby again expressly given that no person entering

upon and occupying said lands before said hour of 12 o'clock noon of

the 22d day of April, A.D. 1889, hereinbefore fixed, will ever be

permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any rights thereto, and

that the officers of the United States will be required to strictly

enforce the provision of the act of Congress to the above effect.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 23d day of March, A.D. 1889, and

of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and

thirteenth.

[SEAL.]

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

A hundred years have passed since the Government which our forefathers

founded was formally organized. At noon on the 30th day of April, 1789,

in the city of New York, and in the presence of an assemblage of the

heroic men whose patriotic devotion had led the colonies to victory and

independence, George Washington took the oath of office as Chief

Magistrate of the new-born Republic. This impressive act was preceded

at 9 o'clock in the morning in all the churches of the city by prayer

for God's blessing on the Government and its first President.

The centennial of this illustrious event in our history has been

declared a general holiday by act of Congress, to the end that the

people of the whole country may join in commemorative exercises

appropriate to the day.

In order that the joy of the occasion may be associated with a deep

thankfulness in the minds of the people for all our blessings in the

past and a devout supplication to God for their gracious continuance in

the future, the representatives of the religious creeds, both Christian

and Hebrew, have memorialized the Government to designate an hour for

prayer and thanksgiving on that day.

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of

America, in response to this pious and reasonable request, do recommend

that on Tuesday, April 30, at the hour of 9 o'clock in the morning,

the people of the entire country repair to their respective places

of divine worship to implore the favor of God that the blessings of

liberty, prosperity, and peace may abide with us as a people, and that

His hand may lead us in the paths of righteousness and good deeds.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States of America to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done in the city of Washington, this 4th day of April, A.D. 1889, and

of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and

thirteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

A highly favored people, mindful of their dependence on the bounty of

Divine Providence, should seek fitting occasion to testify gratitude

and ascribe praise to Him who is the author of their many blessings.

It behooves us, then, to look back with thankful hearts over the past

year and bless God for His infinite mercy in vouchsafing to our land

enduring peace, to our people freedom from pestilence and famine, to

our husbandmen abundant harvests, and to them that labor a recompense

of their toil.

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States

of America, do earnestly recommend that Thursday, the 28th day of

this present month of November, be set apart as a day of national

thanksgiving and prayer, and that the people of our country, ceasing

from the cares and labors of their working day, shall assemble in their

respective places of worship and give thanks to God, who has prospered

us on our way and made our paths the paths of peace, beseeching Him to

bless the day to our present and future good, making it truly one of

thanksgiving for each reunited home circle as for the nation at large.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of November, A.D. 1889,

and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and

fourteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved

on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the

Territory of Dakota might upon the conditions prescribed in said act

become the States of North Dakota and South Dakota; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the area comprising the

Territory of Dakota should for the purposes of the act be divided on

the line of the seventh standard parallel produced due west to the

western boundary of said Territory, and that the delegates elected as

therein provided to the constitutional convention in districts north of

said parallel should assemble in convention at the time prescribed in

the act at the city of Bismarck; and

Whereas it was provided by the said act that the delegates elected as

aforesaid should, after they had met and organized, declare on behalf

of the people of North Dakota that they adopt the Constitution of the

United States, whereupon the said convention should be authorized to

form a constitution and State government for the proposed State of

North Dakota; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted

should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or

political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not

taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States

and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that the

convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of

the United States and the people of said States, make certain

provisions prescribed in said act; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitutions of North

Dakota and South Dakota should, respectively, incorporate an agreement,

to be reached in accordance with the provision of the act, for an

equitable division of all property belonging to the Territory of

Dakota, the disposition of all public records, and also for the

apportionment of the debts and liabilities of said Territory, and that

each of said States should obligate itself to pay its proportion of

such debts and liabilities the same as if they had been created by such

States, respectively; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution thus

formed for the people of North Dakota should, by an ordinance of the

convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of North Dakota

at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday in October,

1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of said

proposed State, and that the returns of said election should be made to

the secretary of the Territory of Dakota, who, with the governor and

chief justice thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same, and

if a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the constitution

the governor should certify the result to the President of the United

States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon and upon

separate articles or propositions, and a copy of said constitution,

articles, propositions, and ordinances; and

Whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of the Territory

of Dakota that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a

constitution for the proposed State of North Dakota has been adopted

and the same ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of said

proposed State in accordance with the conditions prescribed in said

act; and

Whereas it is also certified to me by the said governor that at the

same time that the body of said constitution was submitted to a vote of

the people a separate article, numbered 20 and entitled "Prohibition,"

was also submitted and received a majority of all the votes cast for

and against said article, as well as a majority of all the votes cast

for and against the constitution, and was adopted; and

Whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution, article,

ordinances, and propositions, as required by said act, has been

received by me:

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of

America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress

aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed

by Congress on the State of North Dakota to entitle that State to

admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted and that the

admission of the said State into the Union is now complete.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of November, A.D. 1889, and

of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and

fourteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved

on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the

Territory of Dakota might upon the conditions prescribed in the said

act become the States of North Dakota and South Dakota; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the area comprising the

Territory of Dakota should for the purposes of the act be divided on

the line of the seventh standard parallel produced due west to the

western boundary of said Territory, and that the delegates elected as

therein provided to the constitutional convention in districts south of

said parallel should at the time prescribed in the act assemble in

convention at the city of Sioux Falls; and

Whereas it was provided by the said act that the delegates elected as

aforesaid should, after they had met and organized, declare on behalf

of the people of South Dakota that they adopt the Constitution of the

United States, whereupon the said convention should be authorized to

form a constitution and State government for the proposed State of

South Dakota; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted

should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or

political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not

taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States

and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that the

convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of

the United States and the people of said States, make certain

provisions prescribed in said act; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitutions of North

Dakota and South Dakota should, respectively, incorporate an agreement,

to be reached in accordance with the provisions of the act, for an

equitable division of all property belonging to the Territory of

Dakota, the disposition of all public records, and also for the

apportionment of the debts and liabilities of said Territory, and that

each of said States should obligate itself to pay its proportion of

such debts and liabilities the same as if they had been created by such

States respectively; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that at the election for delegates

to the constitutional convention in South Dakota, as therein provided,

each elector might have written or printed on his ballot the words

"For the Sioux Falls constitution" or the words "Against the Sioux

Falls constitution;" that the votes on this question should be returned

and canvassed in the same manner as the votes for the election of

delegates, and if a majority of all votes cast on this question should

be "For the Sioux Falls constitution" it should be the duty of the

convention which might assemble at Sioux Falls, as provided in the

act, to resubmit to the people of South Dakota, for ratification or

rejection, at an election provided for in said act, the constitution

framed at Sioux Falls and adopted November 3, 1885, and also the

articles and propositions separately submitted at that election,

including the question of locating the temporary seat of government,

with such changes only as related to the name and boundary of the

proposed State, to the reapportionment of the judicial and legislative

districts, and such amendments as might be necessary in order to comply

with the provisions of the act; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution formed for

the people of South Dakota should, by an ordinance of the convention

forming the same, be submitted to the people of South Dakota at an

election to be held therein on the first Tuesday in October, 1889, for

ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of said proposed

State, and that the returns of said election should be made to the

secretary of the Territory of Dakota, who, with the governor and chief

justice thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same, and if

a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the constitution the

governor should certify the result to the President of the United

States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon and upon

separate articles or propositions, and a copy of said constitution,

articles, propositions, and ordinances; and

Whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of the Territory of

Dakota that at the aforesaid election for delegates the "Sioux Falls

constitution" was submitted to the people of the proposed State of

South Dakota, as provided in the said act; that a majority of all the

votes cast on this question was "For the Sioux Falls constitution,"

and that the said constitution was at the time prescribed in the act

resubmitted to the people of South Dakota, with proper changes and

amendments, and has been adopted and ratified by a majority of the

qualified voters of said proposed State in accordance with the

conditions prescribed in said act; and

Whereas it is also certified to me by the said governor that at the

same time that the body of said constitution was submitted to a vote

of the people two additional articles were submitted separately, to

wit, an article numbered 24, entitled "Prohibition," which received a

majority of all the votes cast for and against said article, as well

as a majority of all the votes cast for and against the constitution,

and was adopted; and an article numbered 25, entitled "Minority

representation," which did not receive a majority of the votes cast

thereon or upon the constitution, and was rejected; and

Whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution, additional

articles, ordinances, and propositions, as required by said act, has

been received by me:

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of

America, do, in accordance with the act of Congress aforesaid, declare

and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed by Congress on the

State of South Dakota to entitle that State to admission to the Union

have been ratified and accepted and that the admission of the said

State into the Union is now complete.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of November, A.D. 1889, and

of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and

fourteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved

on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the

Territory of Montana might upon the conditions prescribed in said act

become the State of Montana; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that delegates elected as therein

provided to a constitutional convention in the Territory of Montana

should meet at the seat of government of said Territory, and that after

they had met and organized they should declare on behalf of the people

of Montana that they adopt the Constitution of the United States,

whereupon the said convention should be authorized to form a State

government for the proposed State of Montana; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted

should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or

political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not

taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States

and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that the

convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of

the United States and the people of said State, make certain provisions

prescribed in said act; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution thus formed

for the people of Montana should, by an ordinance of the convention

forming the same, be submitted to the people of Montana at an election

to be held therein on the 1st Tuesday in October, 1889, for

ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of said proposed

State, and that the returns of said election should be made to the

secretary of said Territory, who, with the governor and chief justice

thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same, and if a majority

of the legal votes cast should be for the constitution the governor

should certify the result to the President of the United States,

together with a statement of the votes cast thereon and upon separate

articles or propositions, and a copy of said constitution, articles,

propositions, and ordinances; and

Whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of said Territory

that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a constitution

for the proposed State of Montana has been adopted, and that the same,

together with two ordinances connected therewith, has been ratified by

a majority of the qualified voters of said proposed State in accordance

with the conditions prescribed in said act; and

Whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution and ordinances,

as required by said act, has been received by me:

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of

America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress

aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed by

Congress on the State of Montana to entitle that State to admission to

the Union have been ratified and accepted and that the admission of the

said State into the Union is now complete.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, A.D. 1889,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred

and fourteenth.

BENJ. HARRISON.

By the President:

JAMES G. BLAINE,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved

on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the

Territory of Washington might upon the conditions prescribed in said

act become the State of Washington; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that delegates elected as therein

provided to a constitutional convention in the Territory of Washington

should meet at the seat of government of said Territory, and that after

they had met and organized they should declare on behalf of the people

of Washington that they adopt the Constitution of the United States,

whereupon the said convention should be authorized to form a State

government for the proposed State of Washington; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted

should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or

political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not

taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States

and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that the

convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of

the United States and the people of said State, make certain provisions

prescribed in said act; and

Whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution thus formed

for the people of Washington should, by an ordinance of the convention

forming the same, be submitted to the people of Washington at an