Section 7 of the treaty of 1868 provides only for instruction in the

"elementary branches of an English education," while section 17 of the

act, after continuing this section of the treaty in force, provides a

fund which is to be applied "for the promotion of industrial and other

suitable education among said Indians." Again, section 7 of the treaty

provides for the erection of a schoolhouse for every thirty children who

can be induced to attend, while section 20 of the act requires the

erection of not less than thirty schoolhouses, and more if found

necessary.

The commissioners were asked by the Indians whether the cost of the

English schools provided for in section 7 of the treaty and of the

schoolhouses provided for in the same section and in section 20 of the

act would be a charge against the proceeds of the lands they were now

asked to cede to the United States. This question was answered in the

negative, and I think the answer was correct. If the act, without

reference to section 7 of the treaty, is to be construed to express

the whole duty of the Government toward the Indians in the matter of

schools, the extension for twenty years of the provisions of that

section is without meaning.

The assurance given by the commissioners that the money appropriated by

section 27 of the act to pay certain bands for the ponies taken by the

military authorities in 1876 would not be a charge against the proceeds

of the ceded lands was obviously a correct interpretation of the law.

The Indians were further assured by the commissioners that the amount

appropriated for the expenses of the commission could not under the law

be made a charge upon the proceeds of their lands. This, I think, is a

correct exposition of the act.

It seems from the report of the commission that some of the Indians at

the Standing Rock Agency asked whether if they accepted the act they

could have the election to take their allotments under section 6 of the

treaty of 1868 and have the benefits of sections 8 and 10 of that

treaty, and were told that they could.

As the treaty is continued in force except where it contravenes the

provisions of the act, I do not see any difficulty in admitting this

interpretation.

It will be found that the commission has submitted many recommendations,

some of them involving legislation and others appealing to powers

already possessed by the executive department. The consent of the

Indians to the act was not made dependent upon the adoption of any of

these recommendations, but many of them are obviously just and promotive

of the true interests of the Indians. So far as these require

legislation they are earnestly commended to the attention of Congress.

The Secretary of the Interior has prepared and submits with his letter

transmitting the report of the commission the draft of a bill embodying

those recommendations of the commission requiring legislation.

The appropriations necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the

act should be promptly made and be immediately available.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 12, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, respecting the

International Marine Conference which was held in the city of Washington

in the year 1889, together with a copy of the proceedings of the

conference, including the final act.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 17, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 11th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior, submitting a copy of a report from the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs and accompanying draft of a bill to amend

the first section of an act entitled "An act to provide for the

allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations,

and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the

Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes," approved February

8, 1887.

The matter is presented for the consideration and action of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 18, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 8th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior, submitting a report of the Commissioner of

Indian Affairs and accompanying agreement, made with the Sisseton and

Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians, for the purchase and release

of the surplus lands in the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, in the

States of North and South Dakota, the negotiations for said purchase and

release having been conducted under the authority contained in the fifth

section of the general allotment act of February 8, 1887 (24 U.S.

Statutes at Large, p. 388), which provides, among other things, that the

"purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress, and the form

and manner of executing such release shall also be prescribed by

Congress."

This agreement involves a departure from the terms of the general

allotment act in at least one important particular. It gives to each

member of the tribe 160 acres of land without regard to age or sex,

while the general law gives this allotment only to heads of families.

There are, I think, serious objections to the basis adopted in the

general law, especially in its application to married women; but if the

basis of the agreement herewith submitted is accepted, it would, I

think, result in some cases, where there are large families of minor

children, in excessive allotments to a single family. Whatever is done

in this case will of course become in some sense a precedent in the

cases yet to be dealt with.

Perhaps the question of the payment by the United States of the

annuities which were forfeited by the act of February 16, 1863

(12 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 652), should not have been considered in

connection with this negotiation for the cession of these lands. But it

appears that a refusal to consider this claim would have terminated the

negotiation, and if the claim is just its allowance has already been

too long delayed. The forfeiture declared by the act of 1863 unjustly

included the annuities of certain Indians of these bands who were not

only guilty of no fault, but who rendered meritorious services in the

armies of the United States in the suppression of the Sioux outbreak

and in the War of the Rebellion.

The agreement submitted, as I understand, provides for the payment of

the annuities justly due to these friendly Indians to all the members

of the two bands per capita. This is said to be the unanimous wish of

the Indians, and a distribution to the friendly Indians and their

descendants only would now be very difficult, if not impossible.

The agreement is respectfully submitted for the consideration of

Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 24, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of 18th instant from the Secretary

of the Interior, submitting copy of a report from the Commissioner of

Indian Affairs, inclosing, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill

authorizing the removal of the Indians of the Papago or Gila Bend

Reservation, in Maricopa County, Arizona Territory, to the Papago Indian

Reservation, in Pima County, in said Territory, or to the Pima and

Maricopa Indian reservations, commonly known as the Gila River and Salt

River Indian reservations, respectively, in said Territory, and for

other purposes.

The matter is presented for the early consideration and action of

Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 24, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 18th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior, submitting a copy of a report of the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs and accompanying item for insertion in

the bill making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses

of the Indian Department, which makes provision for further compensation

of Henry B. Carrington, special agent appointed under the act of March

2, 1889, "to provide for the sale of lands patented to certain members

of the Flathead band of Indians in Montana Territory, and for other

purposes," to secure the consent of the Indians thereto and appraise

the lands and improvements thereof; for an appropriation to remove the

Indians whose lands have been sold to the Jocko Reservation, and for

additional legislation considered necessary to complete this matter,

as suggested by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

I also transmit a copy of the report of Special Agent Carrington and its

inclosures.

The matter is presented for the early consideration of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 4, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In pursuance of the authority and direction contained in the act of

Congress approved January 14, 1889, entitled "An act for the relief and

civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota," three

commissioners were appointed by the President on February 26, 1889, as

therein authorized and directed, namely, Henry M. Rice, of Minnesota,

Martin Marty, of Dakota, and Joseph B. Whiting, of Wisconsin, to

negotiate with said Indians.

The commissioners have submitted their final report, with accompanying

papers, showing the results of the negotiations conducted by them, and

the same has been carefully reviewed by the Secretary of the Interior in

his report to me thereon.

Being satisfied from an examination of the papers submitted that the

cession and relinquishment by said Chippewa Indians of their title and

interest in the lands specified and described in the agreement with the

different bands or tribes of Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota

was obtained in the manner prescribed in the first section of said act,

and that more than the requisite number have signed said agreement, I

have, as provided by said act, approved the said instruments in writing

constituting the agreement entered into by the commissioners with said

Indians.

The commissioners did not escape the embarrassment which unfortunately

too often attends our negotiations with the Indians, namely, an

indisposition to treat with the Government for further concessions while

its obligations incurred under former agreements are unkept. I am sure

it will be the disposition of Congress to consider promptly and in a

just and friendly spirit the claims presented by these Indians through

our commissioners, which have been formulated in the draft of a bill

prepared by the Secretary of the Interior and submitted herewith.

The act of January 14, 1889 (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 642),

evidently contemplated the voluntary removal of the body of all these

bands of Indians to the White Earth and Red Lake reservations; but a

proviso in section 3 of the act authorized any Indian to take his

allotment upon the reservation where he now resides. The commissioners

report that quite a general desire was expressed by the Indians to avail

themselves of this option. The result of this is that the ceded land can

not be ascertained and brought to sale under the act until all of the

allotments are made.

I recommend that the necessary appropriations to complete the surveys

and allotments be made at once available, so that the work may be begun

and completed at the earliest possible day.

A copy of the report made by the commissioners, with copies of all the

papers submitted therewith, except the census rolls, is herewith

presented for the information of the Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 24, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 8th

instant, in relation to the employment by the Regular Army of the United

States of Indian scouts for the purpose of pursuing hostile Indians in

their raids in the territory of the United States and Mexico, and in

regard to the proposed transfer of the Apache Chiricahua Indians from

Mount Vernon Barracks, Ala., to Fort Sill, Ind. T., I transmit herewith

a communication from the Secretary of State on the subject, together

with the accompanying papers.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 29, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 28th instant,

the House of Representatives concurring, I return herewith the bill

(S. 1332) entitled "An act granting to the city of Colorado Springs,

in the State of Colorado, certain lands therein described for water

reservoirs."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 31, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in relation

to the discriminating duty now imposed upon foreign works of art,

and recommend that action thereon looking to the removal of the

discrimination be taken by Congress during its present session, if

practicable.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 15, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit, in reply to the resolution of the House of

Representatives of the 3d instant, a report from the Secretary of State,

accompanied by certain correspondence in regard to the seizure of the

schooner _Rebecca_ by the Mexican customs authorities at Tampico in

February, 1884.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 18, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the fifth annual report of the Commissioner of Labor.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 18, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives, the

Senate concurring, I return herewith House bill No. 5179, entitled "An

act fixing the rate of interest to be charged on arrearages of general

and special taxes now due the District of Columbia if paid within a

specified time."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 21, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, the

Senate concurring, I return herewith House bill No. 105, entitled

"An act in relation to immediate transportation of dutiable goods,

amendatory of the act of July 10, 1880."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 21, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate dated March 25 last, in

relation to La Abra Silver Mining Company and the distribution or

payment of moneys to that corporation on account of the award in its

favor by the Mexican Government, I transmit herewith a report from the

Secretary of State upon the subject, together with the accompanying

papers.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 30, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, the House of

Representatives concurring, I return herewith Senate bill 895, entitled

"An act to organize the Territory of Oklahoma, to establish courts in

the Indian Territory, and for other purposes."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 8, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of March 31,

1890, respecting the importation into foreign countries of breadstuffs

and provisions from the United States and the rates of duty imposed upon

such articles, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State

on the subject, together with the accompanying papers.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 13, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 10th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior, and the accompanying copies of

correspondence, relative to the condition of the Northern Cheyenne

Indians at the Pine Ridge Agency, S. Dak.

The desire of these Indians to be united upon some common reservation

with their brethren now occupying the Tongue River Reserve, in Montana,

is quite natural, and such an arrangement would, I think, promote the

best interests of both of these bands.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 17, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of this date, I return

herewith the bill (S. 903) entitled "An act for the erection of a public

building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I inclose herewith a draft of a bill submitted by the Secretary of the

Interior, providing for the survey and disposal of a tract of land

situated in the city of Monterey, Cal., known as the "Cuartel" lot.

The lot referred to is one of the tracts excluded from the survey of the

Pueblo lands of Monterey, Cal., by the decision of Acting Secretary of

the Interior Muldrow of October 4, 1887 (6 Land Decisions, p. 179), on

the ground that it was in a state of reservation for national purposes.

A communication from the Secretary of War to the Secretary of the

Interior, copy herewith, states that this lot has been occupied at

intervals by the War Department for military purposes, but as it is not

within the limits of any declared military reservation the act of July

5, 1884 (23 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 103), providing for a transfer

to the Interior Department of abandoned military reservations, does not

apply.

The lot is no longer required for military purposes, and a willingness

is expressed by the War Department that the Department of the Interior

should assume control of it. A copy of the tracing, with notes, is

inclosed, showing an approximate survey and describing the situation

of the lot.

I also inclose a copy of a report of the Commissioner of the General

Land Office to the Secretary of the Interior, setting forth that under

the decision of Mr. Muldrow the tract of land known as the "Cuartel"

lot belongs to the United States by conquest and by treaty, and is in a

state of reservation for national purposes, and respectfully submitting

that Congress may continue its status as fixed by said decision or enact

appropriate laws providing for its disposition as public land.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the International American Conference,

recently in session at this capital, recommending the survey of a route

for an intercontinental line of railroad to connect the systems of North

America with those of the southern continent, and to be conducted under

the direction of a board of commissioners representing the several

American Republics.

Public attention has chiefly been attracted to the subject of improved

water communication between the ports of the United States and those of

Central and South America. The creation of new and improved steamship

lines undoubtedly furnishes the readiest means of developing an

increased trade with the Latin-American nations. But it should not be

forgotten that it is possible to travel by land from Washington to the

southernmost capital of South America, and that the opening of railroad

communication with these friendly States will give to them and to us

facilities for intercourse and the exchanges of trade that are of

special value.

The work contemplated is vast, but entirely practicable. It will be

interesting to all, and perhaps surprising to most of us, to notice how

much has already been done in the way of railroad construction in Mexico

and South America that can be utilized as part of an intercontinental

line.

I do not hesitate to recommend that Congress make the very moderate

appropriation for surveys suggested by the conference and authorize the

appointment of commissioners and the detail of engineer officers to

direct and conduct the necessary preliminary surveys.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 21, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 20th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior and accompanying correspondence in the matter

of the request of the Seminole Nation of Indians for negotiations with

the Creek Nation of Indians for the purchase of an additional quantity

of land, being about 25,000 acres, for the use of the Seminoles. The

request is based upon the fact that former purchases do not embrace all

of the lands upon which the Seminole Indians have made improvements, and

which by the corrected survey were given to the Creeks. The money to be

paid for these lands is to be reimbursed to the Government by the

Seminoles.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 26, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolutions of the House of Representatives of

the 23d instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bills

H.R. Nos. 380 and 2007, entitled, respectively, "An act to amend an act

entitled 'An act to authorize the Cairo and Tennessee River Railroad

Company to construct bridges across the Tennessee and Cumberland

rivers,' approved January 8, 1889," and "An act granting a pension to

the widow of Adam Shrake."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 27, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing

a report adopted by the International American Conference, recently

in session at this capital, recommending the establishment of an

international American bank, with its principal offices in the city of

New York and branches in the commercial centers of the several other

American Republics.

The advantages of such an institution to the merchants of the United

States engaged in trade with Central and South America and the purposes

intended to be accomplished are fully set forth in the letter of the

Secretary of State and the accompanying report. It is not proposed to

involve the United States in any financial responsibility, but only to

give to the proposed bank a corporate franchise, and to promote public

confidence by requiring that its condition and transactions shall be

submitted to a scrutiny similar to that which is now exercised over our

domestic banking system.

The subject is submitted for the consideration of Congress in the belief

that it will be found possible to promote the end desired by legislation

so guarded as to avoid all just criticism.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication of the 26th instant from the

Secretary of the Interior, and accompanying item of appropriation, to

enable the President to continue the negotiations authorized by sections

14 and 15 of the Indian appropriation act approved March 2, 1889, with

the Cherokee Indians and with all other Indians owning or claiming lands

west of the ninety-sixth degree of longitude in the Indian Territory,

for the cession to the United States of all their title, claim, or

interest of every kind or character in and to said lands, etc.

The matter is presented for the favorable action of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the

29th ultimo, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill (H.R.

7345) entitled "An act authorizing and directing the Secretary of War

to establish new harbor lines in Portage Lake, Houghton County, Mich."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 2, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The International American Conference, recently in session at this

capital, recommended for adoption by the several American Republics--

1. A uniform system of customs regulations for the classification and

valuation of imported merchandise;

2. A uniform nomenclature for the description of articles of merchandise

imported and exported; and

3. The establishment at Washington of an international bureau of

information.

The conference also at its final session decided to establish

in the city of Washington, as a fitting memorial of its meeting, a

Latin-American library, to be formed by contributions from the several

nations, of historical, geographical, and literary works, maps,

manuscripts, and official documents relating to the history and

civilization of America, and expressed a desire that the Government of

the United States should provide a suitable building for the shelter

of such a library, to be solemnly dedicated upon the four hundredth

anniversary of the discovery of America.

The importance of these suggestions is fully set forth in the letter

of the Secretary of State and the accompanying documents, herewith

transmitted, to which I invite your attention.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 6, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 26th of May,

requesting me to "communicate to the Senate such information as may

be in possession of the executive department relating to the alleged

landing of an armed force from the United States revenue cutter _McLane_

at Cedar Keys, Fla., and the alleged entry of houses of citizens by

force, and their alleged pursuit of citizens of the United States in

the surrounding country, and the authority under which the commanding

officer of the cutter acted in any such matter," I submit for the

information of the Senate the accompanying correspondence, which

contains all the information possessed by the executive department

relating to the matters inquired about.

It will be observed that the United States collector of customs at

Cedar Keys had been driven from his office and from the town and the

administration of the customs laws of the United States at that port

suspended by the violent demonstrations and threats of one Cottrell, the

mayor of the place, assisted by his town marshal, Mitchell. If it had

been necessary, as I do not think it can be in any case, for a United

States officer to appeal to the local authorities for immunity from

violence in the exercise of his duties, the situation at Cedar Keys did

not suggest or encourage such an appeal, for those to whom the appeal

would have been addressed were themselves the lawless instruments of

the threatened violence. It will always be agreeable to me if the local

authorities, acting upon their own sense of duty, maintain the public

order in such a way that the officers of the United States shall have

no occasion to appeal for the intervention of the General Government;

but when this is not done I shall deem it my duty to use the adequate

powers vested in the Executive to make it safe and feasible to hold and

exercise the offices established by the Federal Constitution and laws.

The means used in this case were, in my opinion, lawful and necessary,

and the officers do not seem to have intruded upon any private right in

executing the warrants placed in their hands. The letter dated August 4

last, which appears in the correspondence submitted, appealing to me

to intervene for the protection of the citizens of Cedar Keys from the

brutal violence of Cottrell, it will be noticed, was written before the

appointment of the new collector. That the officers of the law should

not have the full sympathy of every good citizen in their efforts to

bring these men to merited punishment is matter of surprise and regret.

It is a very grim commentary upon the condition of social order at Cedar

Keys that only a woman, who had, as she says in her letter, no son or

husband who could be made the victim of his malice, had the courage to

file charges against this man, who was then holding a subordinate place

in the customs service.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 6, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant,

the House of Representatives concurring, I return herewith the bill

(S. 1293) entitled "An act for the relief of Charles F. Bowers."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 16, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress with a view to

securing such legislation as may be appropriate, a communication from

the Secretary of the Interior, relating to the destruction by fires,

carelessly kindled or left, of the timber upon the public lands.

If proper penalties were imposed by law and a few convictions thereunder

secured, I do not doubt that much waste of our forests would be

prevented.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 18, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant,

relating to the negotiations by the Cherokee Commission for the purchase

of certain lands in the Indian Territory, I respectfully state that on

the 20th day of May and the 12th day of June, respectively, agreements

were Signed by the Iowa and the Sac and Fox tribes ceding to the United

States certain of their lands. The contracts and accompanying papers

were received at the Interior Department on the 2d and 17th days of

June, respectively, and are now under examination by the proper officers

of that Department. When these examinations are concluded, the papers

will, if found to be complete and conformable to law, be submitted to

Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for your information, a letter from the Secretary

of State, inclosing a report of the International American Conference,

which recommends that reciprocal commercial treaties be entered into

between the United States and the several other Republics of this

hemisphere.

It has been so often and so persistently stated that our tariff laws

offered an insurmountable barrier to a large exchange of products

with the Latin-American nations that I deem it proper to call especial

attention to the fact that more than 87 per cent of the products of

those nations sent to our ports are now admitted free. If sugar is

placed upon the free list, practically every important article exported

from those States will be given untaxed access to our markets, except

wool. The real difficulty in the way of negotiating profitable

reciprocity treaties is that we have given freely so much that would

have had value in the mutual concessions which such treaties imply.

I can not doubt, however, that the present advantages which the products

of these near and friendly States enjoy in our markets, though they are

not by law exclusive, will, with other considerations, favorably dispose

them to adopt such measures, by treaty or otherwise, as will tend to

equalize and greatly enlarge our mutual exchanges.

It will certainly be time enough for us to consider whether we must

cheapen the cost of production by cheapening labor in order to gain

access to the South American markets when we have fairly tried the

effect of established and reliable steam communication and of convenient

methods of money exchanges. There can be no doubt, I think, that with

these facilities well established and with a rebate of duties upon

imported raw materials used in the manufacture of goods for export our

merchants will be able to compete in the ports of the Latin-American

nations with those of any other country.

If after the Congress shall have acted upon pending tariff legislation

it shall appear that under the general treaty-making power, or under any

special powers given by law, our trade with the States represented in

the conference can be enlarged upon a basis of mutual advantage, it will

be promptly done.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 24, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of

the 23d instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill

(H.R. 5702) "granting a pension to Ann Bryan."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 25, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 23d instant, the

House of Representatives concurring, I return herewith the bill (S. 145)

"for the relief of the legal representatives of Henry S. French."

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 1, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In my annual message I called attention to the urgent need of

legislation for the adjustment of the claims under Mexican grants to

lands in Arizona and New Mexico.

I now submit a correspondence which has passed between the Department

of State and the Mexican Government concerning the rights of certain

Mexican citizens to have their claims to lands ceded to the United

States by the treaty adjusted and confirmed. I also submit a letter from

the Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers, showing the

number and extent of these claims and their present condition.

The United States owes a duty to Mexico to confirm to her citizens those

valid grants that were saved by the treaty, and the long delay which has

attended the discharge of this duty has given just cause of complaint.

The entire community where these large claims exist, and, indeed,

all of our people, are interested in an early and final settlement of

them. No greater incubus can rest upon the energies of a people in the

development of a new country than that resulting from unsettled land

titles.

The necessity for legislation is so evident and so urgent that I venture

to express the hope that relief will be given at the present session of

Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 2, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the provisions of section 14 of the act of March 2,

1889, I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, an

agreement concluded between the commissioners appointed under that

section on behalf of the United States, commonly known as the Cherokee

Commission, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians in the Indian

Territory on the 12th day of June last.

The Sac and Fox Nation have a national council, and the negotiation was

conducted with that body, which undoubtedly had competent authority to

contract on behalf of the tribe for the sale of these lands. The letter

of the Secretary of the Interior and the accompanying papers, which are

submitted herewith, furnish all the information necessary to the

consideration of the questions to be determined by Congress.

The only serious question presented is as to that article of the

agreement which limits the distribution of the funds to be paid by the

United States under it to the Sac and Fox Indians now in the Indian

Territory. I very gravely doubt whether the remnant or band of this

tribe now living in Iowa has any interest in these lands in the Indian

Territory. The reservation there was apparently given in consideration

of improvements upon the lands of the tribe in Kansas. The band now

resident in Iowa upon lands purchased by their own means, as I am

advised, left the Kansas reservation many years before the date of this

treaty, and it would seem could have had no equitable interest in the

improvements on the Kansas lands, which must have been the result of the

labors of that portion of the tribe living upon them. The right of the

Iowa band to a participation in the proceeds of the sale of the Kansas

reservation was explicitly reserved in the treaty; but it seems to me

upon a somewhat hasty examination of the treaty that the reservation

in the Indian Territory was intended only for the benefit of those who

should go there to reside. The Secretary of the Interior has expressed a

somewhat different view of the effect of this treaty; but if the facts

are, as I understand, that the Iowa band did not contribute to the

improvements which were the consideration for the reservation and did

not accept the invitation to settle upon the reservation lands in the

Indian Territory, I do not well see how they have either an equitable or

legal claim to participate in the proceeds of the sale of those lands.

The whole matter is submitted for the consideration of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 2, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing

the recommendations of the International American Conference for the

establishment of improved facilities for postal and cable communication

between the United States and the several countries of Central and South

America.

I can not too strongly urge upon Congress the necessity of giving this

subject immediate and favorable consideration and of making adequate

appropriations to carry the recommendations into effect; and in this

connection I beg leave to call attention to what was said on the subject

in my annual message.[9] The delegates of the seventeen neighboring

Republics, which have so recently been assembled in Washington at the

invitation of this Government, have expressed their wish and purpose to

cooperate with the United States in the adoption of measures to improve

the means of communication between the several Republics of America.

They recognize the necessity of frequent, regular, and rapid steamship

service, both for the purpose of maintaining friendly intercourse

and for the convenience of commerce, and realize that without such

facilities it is useless to attempt to extend the trade between their

ports and ours.

BENJ. HARRISON.

[Footnote 9: See pp. 56-57.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 2, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for your information, a letter from the Secretary

of State, inclosing a copy of a resolution passed by the International

American Conference with reference to the celebration of the fourth

centennial of the discovery of America.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 2, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, as required by section 14 of the act of March 2,

1889, an agreement concluded on the 20th day of May last between the

commissioners on behalf of the United States, commonly known as the

Cherokee Commission, and the Iowa Indians residing in the Indian

Territory.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior, which is accompanied by

communications from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Assistant

Attorney-General, is also submitted.

These papers present a full and clear statement of the matters of fact

and questions of law which Congress will need to consider in passing

upon the question of the ratification of the agreement, which is

submitted for its consideration and such action as may be deemed proper.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 11, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State,

including a report of the action of the International American

Conference, lately in session in this city, concerning the protection of

patents, trademarks, and copyrights in commerce between the American

Republics, to which I invite your attention.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 11, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I invite your attention to the accompanying letter of the Secretary of

State, submitting the recommendations of the International American

Conference for the better protection of the public health against the

spread of contagious diseases.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 12, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing a

copy of a report upon weights and measures adopted by the International

American Conference, recently in session at this capital.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 12, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing a

copy of a report of the International American Conference, recently

in session at this capital, recommending the establishment of an

international American monetary union, and suggesting that the President

be authorized to invite the several American nations to send delegates

to its first meeting in Washington on the first Wednesday of January

next; that authority also be granted for the appointment of three

delegates on the part of the United States, and that an appropriation

be made to meet the necessary expenses.

I commend these suggestions and hope they will receive the prompt

consideration of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 14, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing the

recommendation of the International American Conference with reference

to the adoption by the American Republics of a uniform code of

international law, to which your attention is respectfully directed.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 14, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing the

recommendations of the International American Conference, recently in

session at this capital, concerning a uniform system of port dues and

consular fees to be adopted by the several American Republics, to which

I invite your attention.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, inclosing

a resolution adopted by the International American Conference for

the erection of a memorial tablet in the diplomatic chamber of the

Department of State to commemorate the meeting of that body.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for your information, certain reports on the

subject of extradition adopted by the International American Conference

at its recent sessions in this city.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit two agreements concluded by the commission appointed under

section 14 of the act of March 2, 1889, commonly known as the Cherokee

Commission, with the Citizen band of Pottawatomie Indians and the band

of Absentee Shawnees, respectively, for the cession of certain lands to

the United States.

Letters from the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian

Affairs, and the Assistant Attorney-General for the Department of the

Interior relating to the same matter are also submitted.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 17, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the

government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June

30, 1890, provides, among other things, that the President shall appoint

three competent sanitary engineers to examine and report upon the system

of sewerage existing in the District of Columbia, together with such

suggestions and recommendations as may to them seem necessary and

desirable for the modification and extension of the same, which report

was to be transmitted to Congress by the President at its next session.

In pursuance of the authority thus conferred, on the 17th of August,

1889, I appointed Rudolph Hering, of New York, Samuel M. Gray, of Rhode

Island, and Frederick P. Stearns, of Massachusetts, to make this

examination and report.

The gentlemen named were believed to have such ability and experience as

sanitary engineers as to guarantee an intelligent and exhaustive study

of the problem submitted to them.

I transmit herewith their report, which has just been submitted to me,

for the consideration of Congress.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 23, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives requesting

me, if in my judgment not incompatible with the public interest, to

furnish to the House the correspondence since March 4, 1889, between the

Government of the United States and the Government of Great Britain

touching the subjects in dispute in the Bering Sea, I transmit a letter

from the Secretary of State, which is accompanied by the correspondence

referred to in the resolution.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 29, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota

for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of

Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and

the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near

our border have served the good purpose of calling public attention to

an evil of vast proportions. If the baneful effects of the lotteries

were confined to the States that give the companies corporate powers

and a license to conduct the business, the citizens of other States,

being powerless to apply legal remedies, might clear themselves of

responsibility by the use of such moral agencies as were within their

reach. But the case is not so. The people of all the States are

debauched and defrauded. The vast sums of money offered to the States

for charters are drawn from the people of the United States, and the

General Government through its mail system is made the effective and

profitable medium of intercourse between the lottery company and its

victims. The use of the mails is quite as essential to the companies

as the State license. It would be practically impossible for these

companies to exist if the public mails were once effectively closed

against their advertisements and remittances. The use of the mails by

these companies is a prostitution of an agency only intended to serve

the purposes of a legitimate trade and a decent social intercourse.

It is not necessary, I am sure, for me to attempt to portray the robbery

of the poor and the widespread corruption of public and private morals

which are the necessary incidents of these lottery schemes.

The national capital has become a subheadquarters of the Louisiana

Lottery Company, and its numerous agents and attorneys are conducting

here a business involving probably a larger use of the mails than that

of any legitimate business enterprise in the District of Columbia. There

seems to be good reason to believe that the corrupting touch of these

agents has been felt by the clerks in the postal service and by some of

the police officers of the District.

Severe and effective legislation should be promptly enacted to enable

the Post-Office Department to purge the mails of all letters,

newspapers, and circulars relating to the business.

The letter of the Postmaster-General which I transmit herewith points

out the inadequacy of the existing statutes and suggests legislation

that would be effective.

It may also be necessary to so regulate the carrying of letters by the

express companies as to prevent the use of those agencies to maintain

communication between the lottery companies and their agents or

customers in other States.

It does not seem possible that there can be any division of sentiment

as to the propriety of closing the mails against these companies, and

I therefore venture to express the hope that such proper powers as

are necessary to that end will be at once given to the Post-Office

Department.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, July 30, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Acting Secretary of State, in

response to a resolution of the Senate of the 23d instant, calling for

information touching the alleged arrest and imprisonment of A.J. Diaz

by the Cuban authorities and the action which has been taken in respect

thereto.

It will be seen that Mr. Diaz has been released.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 8, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have received, under date of July 29 ultimo, a communication from Hon.

George W. Steele, governor of the Territory of Oklahoma, in which, among

other things, he says:

A delegation from township 16, range 1, in this county, has just left

me, who came to represent that there are at this time twenty-eight

families in that township who are in actual need of the necessaries of

life, and they give it as their opinion that their township is not an

exception, and that in the very near future a large proportion of the

settlers of this Territory will have to have assistance.

This I have looked for, but have hoped to bridge over until after the

legislature meets, when I thought some arrangement might be made for

taking care of these needy people; but with little taxable property in

the Territory, and very many necessary demands to be made and met, I

doubt if the legislature will be able to make such provision until a

crop is raised next year as will be adequate to the demands. * * *

Now I know whereof I speak, and I say there are a great many people in

this Territory who have not the necessary means of providing meals for

a day to come and are being helped by their very poor neighbors. No one

regrets more than I do the necessity of making the foregoing statement,

and I have hoped to bridge the matter over, as I have said before,

until the legislature would meet and see if some provision could be

made.

I now see the utter hopelessness of such a course, and I beg of you to

call the attention of Congress to the condition of our people, with the

earnest hope that provision may be made whereby great suffering may be

relieved; and I assure you that so far as I am able to prevent it not

one ounce of provisions or a cent of money contributed to the above

need shall be improperly used.

Information received by me from other sources leads me to believe that

Governor Steele is altogether right in his impression that there will

be, unless relief is afforded either by public appropriation or by

organized individual effort, widespread suffering among the settlers

in Oklahoma. Many of these people expended in travel and in providing

shelter for their families all of their accumulated means. The crop

prospects for this year are by reason of drought quite unfavorable, and

the ability of the Territory itself to provide relief must be inadequate

during this year.

I am advised that there is an unexpended balance of about $45,000 of

the fund appropriated for the relief of the sufferers by flood upon the

Mississippi River and its tributaries, and I recommend that authority be

given to use this fund to meet the most urgent necessities of the poorer

people in Oklahoma. Steps have been taken to ascertain more particularly

the condition of the people throughout the Territory, and if a larger

relief should seem to be necessary the facts will be submitted to

Congress. If the fund to which I have referred should be made available

for relief in Oklahoma, care will be taken that so much of it as is

necessary to be expended shall be judiciously applied to the most worthy

and necessitous cases.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, August 15, 1890_.

_To the Senate_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th of July,

1890, calling for all correspondence not already submitted to Congress

and now on file in the Department of State touching the efforts made

by this Government to secure the modification or repeal by the French

Government of its decree of 1881, prohibiting the importation into

France of American pork and kindred American products, I transmit

herewith a report from the Acting Secretary on the subject, with the

accompanying correspondence.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 3, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, which is

accompanied by three reports adopted by the conference of American

nations recently in session at Washington, relating to the subject of

international arbitration. The ratification of the treaties contemplated

by these reports will constitute one of the happiest and most hopeful

incidents in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 1, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of

Representatives of August 20, 1890, concerning the enforcement of

proscriptive edicts against the Jews in Russia, a report from the

Secretary of State upon the subject.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, October 1, 1890_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of September 17, 1890,

I inclose a report from the Secretary of State, transmitting all the

correspondence found among the files of his Department relating to the

claim of Thomas T. Collins against the Government of Spain.

BENJ. HARRISON.

VETO MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 26, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval the bill (H.R. 7170) "to authorize

the city of Ogden, Utah, to assume an increased indebtedness,"

The purpose and effect of this bill is to relieve the city of Ogden from

the limitation imposed by the act of July 30, 1886, upon all municipal

corporations in the Territories as to the indebtedness which they may

lawfully contract. The general law fixes the limit of 4 per cent upon

the last assessment for taxation; this bill extends the limit as to the

city of Ogden to 8 per cent. The purposes for which this legislation is

asked are not peculiar or exceptional. They relate to schools, street

improvements, and to sewerage, and are common to every prosperous and

growing town and city. If the argument by which this measure is

supported is adopted, the conclusion should be a repeal or modification

of the general law; but in my opinion the limitation imposed by the act

of 1886 is wise and wholesome and should not be relaxed.

The report of the governor of Utah for 1889 states the population of

Ogden to be 15,000, the valuation for taxation $7,000,000, and the

existing indebtedness $100,000. It will be noticed that under the

existing limit the city has power to increase its indebtedness

$180,000, which would seem to be enough to make a good beginning in the

construction of sewers, while the cost of street improvements is usually

met in large part by direct assessment upon the property benefited.

It is assumed in the report of the House committee that any city in

the States similarly situated "would have the making of the needed

improvements within its own power," while the fact is that almost all of

our States have either by their constitutions or statutes limited the

power of municipal corporations to incur indebtedness, and the limit is

generally lower than that fixed by the act regulating this matter in the

Territories. A large city debt retards growth and in the end defeats

the purpose of those who think by mortgaging the future to attract

population and property. I do not doubt that the citizens of Ogden will

ultimately realize that the creation of a municipal debt of over half a

million dollars by a city of 15,000 population--being $37 per capita--is

unwise.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 29, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without my approval the bill (H.R. 848) "to authorize the

construction of an addition to the public building in Dallas, Tex."

The bill authorizes the construction of a wing or addition to the

present public building at a cost of $200,000. I find that the bill

as originally introduced by the member representing the Congressional

district in which Dallas is situated fixed $100,000 as the limit of

the proposed expenditure, and it was so reported from the Committee

on Public Buildings and Grounds after conferring with the Supervising

Architect of the Treasury. A bill of the same tenor was introduced in

the Senate by one of the Senators from that State, fixing the same

limit of expenditure.

The public building at Dallas, for which a first appropriation of

$75,000 was made in 1882, subsequently increased to $125,000, was only

completed in 1889. It is probably inadequate now to the convenient

transaction of business, chiefly in that part assigned to the

Post-Office Department. The material and architectural style of any

addition are fixed by the present building and its ground area by

the available unoccupied space, as no provision is made for buying

additional ground. The present building is 85 by 56 feet, and Mr. John

S. Witwer, the postmaster and the custodian of the building, writing

to the Supervising Architect, advises that to meet the present and

prospective needs of the Government an addition at least two-thirds as

large as the present building should be provided. It will be seen from

the following extract from a letter of the Supervising Architect to the

chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, dated

February 17, 1890, that a building larger than that suggested can be

erected within the limit of $100,000. He says:

From computations made in this office based upon data received it is

found that an extension or wing about 40 by 85 feet in dimensions, three

stories high, with basement, giving 3,400 square feet, in addition to

the 4,760 square feet of the first-floor area of the building, of

fireproof construction, can be erected on the present site within the

limit of cost proposed by said bill, namely, $100,000.

It may be possible that an expenditure of $325,000 for a public building

at Dallas, if the questions of site, material, and architecture were all

undetermined, could be defended, but under existing conditions I do not

see how an appropriation of $200,000 can be justified when one-half that

sum is plainly adequate to such relief as the present site allows.

The legislation for the erection of public buildings has not proceeded,

so far as I can trace it, upon any general rules. Neither population nor

the extent of the public business transacted has always indicated the

points where public buildings should first be built or the cost of the

structures. It can not be expected that, in the absence of some general

law, the committees of Congress having charge of such matters will

proceed in their recommendations upon strict or equal lines. The bills

are individual, and if comparisons are attempted the necessary element

of probable future growth is made to cover all apparent inequalities. It

will be admitted, I am sure, that only a public need should suggest the

expenditure of the public money, and that if all such needs can not be

at once supplied the most general and urgent should have the preference.

I am not unfriendly to a liberal annual expenditure for the erection of

public buildings where the safe and convenient transaction of the public

business demands it and the state of the revenues will permit. It would

be wiser, in my opinion, to build more and less costly houses and to fix

by general law the amount of the annual expenditure for this purpose and

some order of preference between the cities asking for public buildings.

But in view of the pending legislation looking to a very large reduction

of our revenues and of the urgency and necessity of a large increase

in our expenditures in certain directions, I am of the opinion that

appropriations for the erection of public buildings and all kindred

expenditures should be kept at the minimum until the effect of other

probable legislation can be accurately measured.

The erection of a public building is largely a matter of local interest

and convenience, while expenditures for enlarged relief and recognition

to the soldiers and sailors of the war for the preservation of the

Union, for necessary coast defenses, and for the extension of our

commerce with other American States are of universal interest and

involve considerations, not of convenience, but of justice, honor,

safety, and general prosperity.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 4, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return without my approval the bill (S. 1306) "for the erection of

a public building at Hudson, N.Y." Hudson, from the best information

attainable, is a city of only a little more than 10,000 population. If

the postal receipts are a fair indication of the growth of the city, it

has not been rapid, as they only increased about $4,000 in ten years.

The gross postal receipts for the year 1888 were but $14,809, and the

office force consists of three clerks and five carriers. There are no

other Government officers at Hudson entitled under the law to offices or

to an allowance for rent, unless it be a deputy collector of internal

revenue.

It appears from the bill and the correspondence with the Supervising

Architect that it is proposed to erect a two-story building, with

fireproof vaults, heating and ventilating apparatus, and elevators, 40

by 80 feet in dimensions. The ground-floor area of 3,200 feet, to be

devoted to the post-office, would give 400 square feet to each of the

present employees. The second story and the basement, each having the

same area, will be absolutely tenantless, unless authority is given by

law to the custodian to rent the rooms to unofficial tenants. It seems

to me to be very clear that the public needs do not suggest or justify

such an expenditure as is contemplated by this bill.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 12, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without my approval the bill (H.R. 7175) to provide for the

purchase of a site and the erection of a public building thereon at

Tuscaloosa, in the State of Alabama.

Judged by its postal revenues and by the force employed in the

office, the post-office at Tuscaloosa is not an important one. It has

one clerk, at a salary of $450, and no carriers. The report of the

Postmaster-General shows that the gross receipts for the year 1888 were

$6,379 and the net revenue less than $4,000. The annual receipts have

only increased about $3,000 in ten years. The rent now paid for a

building affording 2,200 square feet of floor space is $275.

A general proposition to erect public buildings at this scale of expense

in cities of the size of Tuscaloosa would not, I am sure, receive the

sanction of Congress. It would involve the expenditure for buildings of

ten times the present net revenues of such offices, and in the case

under consideration would involve an increased cost for fuel, lights,

and care greater than the rent now paid for the use of a room of ample

size. I would not insist that it must always be shown that a proposed

public building would yield an interest upon the investment, but in

the present uncertain state of the public revenues and expenditures,

resulting from pending and probable legislation, there is, in my

opinion, an absolute necessity that expenditures for public buildings

should be limited to cases where the public needs are very evident and

very imperative. It is clear that this is not such a case.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 17, 1890_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return without my approval the bill (S. 1762) "to change the

boundaries of the Uncompahgre Reservation."

This bill proposes to separate from the Ute Indian Reservation in

Utah and restore to the public domain two ranges of townships along the

east side of the reservation and bordering the Colorado State line.

It is said that these lands are wholly worthless to the Indians for

cultivation or for grazing purposes, and it must follow, I think, that

they are equally worthless for such purposes to white men.

The object, then, of this legislation is to be sought not in any

public demand for these lands for the use of settlers--for if they

are susceptible of that use the Indians have a clear equity to take

allotments upon them--but in that part of the bill which confirms the

mineral entries, or entries for mineral uses, which have been unlawfully

made "or attempted to be made on said lands." It is evidently a private

and not a public end that is to be promoted. It does not follow, of

course, that this private end may not be wholly meritorious and the

relief sought on behalf of these persons altogether just and proper.

The facts, as I am advised, are that upon these lands there are veins

or beds of asphaltum or gilsonite supposed to be of very great value.

Entries have been made in that vicinity, but upon public lands, which

lands have been resold for very large amounts. It is not important,

perhaps, that the United States should in parting with these lands

realize their value, but it is essential, I think, that favoritism

should have no part in connection with the sales. The bill confirms all

attempted entries of these mineral lands at the price of $20 per acre

(a price that is suggestive of something unusual) without requiring

evidence of the expenditure of any money upon the claim, or even proof

that the claimant was the discoverer of the deposits.

The bill requires "good faith," but it will be next to impossible for

the officers of the Interior Department to show actual knowledge on the

part of the claimant of the lines of the reservation. The case will

practically be as to this matter in the hands of the claimant. But why

should good faith at the moment of attempting the entry, without any

requirement of expenditure, and followed, it may be, within twenty-four

hours by actual notice that he was upon a reservation, give an advantage

in the sale of these lands that may represent a very large sum of money?

In the second place, I do not think it wise, without notice even to the

Indians, to segregate these lands from their reservation. It is true, I

think, that they hold these lands by an Executive order, with a contract

right to take allotments upon them, and that the lands in question are

not likely to be sought as an allotment by any Indian. But the Indians

have been placed on this reservation and its boundaries explained to

them, and to take these lands in this manner is calculated to excite

their distrust and fears, and possibly to create serious trouble.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 20, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return without my approval the bill (H.R. 3934) "to authorize the

board of supervisors of Maricopa County, Ariz., to issue certain bonds

in aid of the construction of a certain railroad."

This bill proposes to confer authority upon the supervisors of the

county of Maricopa to issue county bonds at the rate of $4,000 per mile

in aid of a railroad to be constructed from Phoenix northwardly to the

county line, a distance estimated at 50 miles, but probably somewhat

longer. The bill seems to have passed the House of Representatives under

an entire misapprehension of its true scope and effect. In the brief

report submitted by the Committee on Territories it is said that "by the

terms of the bill the county receives _bonds_ in payment of the money

proposed to be advanced," and in the course of the debate the Delegate

from Arizona mistakenly stated in response to a request for information

that the bill proposed a loan by the county, in exchange for which it

was to receive the bonds of the railroad company. In fact, the bill does

not provide for a loan to be secured by bonds, but for a subscription of

stock. How far this mistake may have affected the passage of the bill

can not of course be known.

The bill does not submit the question of granting this aid to a vote

of the people of the county, but confers direct authority upon the

supervisors to issue the bonds. It is said, however, that in April,

1889, an election was held to obtain the views of the people upon the

question. It does not appear from any papers submitted to me who were

the managers of this so-called election; what notice, if any, was given;

what qualifications on the part of voters were insisted upon, if any, or

in what form the question was presented. There was no law providing for

such an election. Being wholly voluntary, the election was, of course,

under the management of those who favored the subsidy, and was conducted

without any legal restraints as to the voting or certification. I have

asked for a statement of the vote by precincts, and have been given what

purports to be the vote at twelve points. The total affirmative vote

given was 1,975 and the negative 134. But of the affirmative vote 1,543

were given at Phoenix and 188 at Tempe, a town very near to Phoenix. If

there were no other objections to this bill, I should deem this alone

sufficient, that no provision is made for submitting to a vote of the

people at an election, after due notice and under the sanction of law,

the question whether this subscription shall be made.

But again, the bill proposes to suspend for this case two provisions

of the act of Congress of July 30, 1886--first, that provision which

forbids municipal corporations from subscribing to the stock of other

corporations or loaning their credit to such corporations, and, second,

that provision which forbids any municipal corporation from creating a

debt in excess of 4 per cent of its taxable property as fixed by the

last assessment. The condition of things then existing in Arizona had

not a little to do with the enactment by Congress of this law, intended

to give to the people of the Territories that protection against

oppressive municipal debts which was secured to the people of most of

the States by constitutional limitations. The wisdom of this legislation

is not contested by the friends of this bill, but they claim that the

circumstances here are so peculiar as to justify this exception. I do

not think so. In the States the limitation upon municipal indebtedness

is usually placed in the constitution, in order that it may be

inflexible. If a showing of need, gain, or advantage is to overcome the

barrier, then it is scarcely worth while to declare a limitation. Only

a belief that the limit is inflexible will promote care and economy in

administration. If this bill becomes a law, how can Congress refuse to

any county in any of the Territories the right to subscribe to the stock

of a railroad company, especially where the subscription would not

exceed the debt limit, upon a showing of the advantages of better and

cheaper communications?

Maricopa County is one of great extent. Its northern boundary is 95

miles long, its southern boundary 66, its eastern 45, and its western

102. This great area is to be taxed to construct a road which can, in

the nature of things, be of advantage to but a fraction of it. There is

no unity of interest or equality of advantage. It may very well be that

a section of these lands along the line of the road, and especially

town lots in Phoenix, would have an added value much greater than the

increased burden imposed, but it is equally clear that much property

in the county will receive no appreciable benefit.

The existing bonded indebtedness of Maricopa County is $272,000; the tax

assessment of the county is about $5,000,000, and the population is

estimated, by multiplying the vote cast in 1888 by 6, at about 12,000.

It will be seen that the bonded debt, to say nothing of a floating debt,

which is said to be small, is already largely in excess of the legal

limit, and it is proposed to increase it by a subscription that will

certainly involve $200,000, and possibly $250,000. If the bill becomes a

law, the bonded indebtedness will very closely approximate 10 per cent

of the assessed valuation of the property of the county.

The condition of things in the county of Yavapai, lying immediately

north of Maricopa, and through which this road is also to run, though

not directly affected by this legislation, is very instructive in this

connection.

By an act of the legislature of Arizona passed the year before the act

of Congress to which I have referred Yavapai County was authorized to

subscribe $4,000 per mile to this line of road. The total length of the

road in the county was 147 miles, and 74 miles, to Prescott, have been

constructed. The secretary of the Territory, in response to an inquiry,

states the debt of Yavapai County at $563,000 and the assessment for

taxation at "between six and seven millions." There are 73 miles of road

yet to be built from the present terminus, Prescott, to the south line

of the county, for which Yavapai County must make a further issue of

bonds of $292,000, making a total county debt of $855,000, or above 13

per cent upon the taxable assessment (taking that at $6,500,000), and

a per capita county debt of nearly $85, taking the population at about

10,600, as stated in the report of the Senate committee. Surely no one

will insist that the true and permanent prosperity of these communities

will be promoted by loading their energies and their industries with

these great debts. I feel the force of the suggestion that the freight

charges now imposed upon the farm and orchard products of Maricopa

County by the railroads now in operation are oppressive. But this bill

does not afford much relief even in that direction. There would be but

one competing point, viz, Phoenix. At all other points on the proposed

road the people would be subject to the exaction of just such rates as

are demanded by the other lines. If this bill contained some effective

provision to secure reasonable freight rates to the people who are to be

taxed to build the road, it would go far to secure my favorable

consideration for it.

I have carefully examined the reports of the committees and every

argument that has been submitted to me by the friends of the bill, but

I can not bring myself to believe that the permanent welfare of the

communities affected by it will be promoted by its passage.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 9, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval the bill (H.R. 5974) entitled "An

act extending the time of payment to purchasers of land of the Omaha

tribe of Indians in Nebraska, and for other purposes."

The United States holds the legal title of these lands, which have been

sold for the benefit of the Omaha Indians to secure the unpaid purchase

money, the time of payment of which it is proposed by this act to

extend. There is no objection that I know of, either on the part of

the United States or of the Indians, to the extension of the unpaid

installments due from purchasers. This relief is probably due to the

purchasers. The bill, however, contains the following provision:

That all the lands the payment for which is hereby extended shall be

subject to taxation in all respects by and in the State of Nebraska

as if fully paid for and patents issued.

Now, while it is entirely proper that the interest of the purchasers in

these lands should share the burdens of the communities in which the

lands are located, the title of the United States and the beneficial

interest of the Indians in the lands should not be subjected to sale for

the delinquency of the purchasers in paying tax assessments levied upon

the lands. The effect of the provision which has been quoted would, in

my opinion, give to the purchaser at a tax sale a title superior to

the lien of the Government for purchase money. The bill should have

contained a proviso that only the interest of the purchasers from the

Government could be sold for taxes, and that the tax sale should be

subject to the lien of the United States for unpaid purchase money.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _September 30, 1890_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my approval the joint resolution (H. Res.

No. 39) declaring the retirement of Captain Charles B. Stivers, of the

United States Army, legal and valid, and that he is entitled as such

officer to his pay.

Captain Stivers was dismissed the service summarily by order of the

President on July 15, 1863. A subsequent examination into the causes

leading to this action seems to have satisfied the President that an

injustice had been done to the officer, and on the 11th day of August,

1863, an order was issued revoking the order of dismissal and restoring

Captain Stivers to duty as an officer of the Army. On December 30, 1864,

by a proper order from the War Department, after examination, Captain

Stivers was placed upon the retired list of the Army.

The Supreme Court has decided in the case of The United States _vs_.

Corson (114 U.S. Reports, 619):

First. That at the time of the issuance of the order of dismissal the

President had authority under the law to summarily dismiss an officer,

and that the effect of such an order was absolutely to separate the

officer from the service.

Second. That having been thus separated from the service he could not be

restored except by nomination to the Senate and its advice and consent

to the appointment.

Mr. Garland, as Attorney-General, gave an opinion to the Secretary of

War in the case of Captain Stivers, based upon the decision of the

Supreme Court to which I have referred, holding that Captain Stivers

was not an officer on the retired list of the Army. The present

Attorney-General, with whom I have conferred, takes the same view

of the law. Indeed, the decision of the Supreme Court to which I have

referred is so exactly in point that there can be no doubt as to the law

of the case. It is undoubtedly competent for Congress by act or joint

resolution to authorize the President, by and with the advice of the

Senate, to appoint Captain Stivers to be a captain in the Army of the

United States and to place him upon the retired list. It is also

perfectly competent by suitable legislation for Congress to give to this

officer the pay of his grade during the interval of time when he was

improperly carried upon the army lists. But the joint resolution which

I herewith return does not attempt to deal with the case in that way.

It undertakes to declare that the retirement of Captain Stivers was

legal and valid and that he always has been and is entitled to his pay

as such officer. I do not think this is a competent method of giving the

relief intended. The retirement under the law as it then existed was not

legal and valid, as the highest judicial tribunal under the Constitution

has declared, for the reason that Captain Stivers was not then an

officer on the active list. That being so, it follows, of course, that

he was not entitled to draw the pay of an office he did not hold.

The relief should have taken the form usual in such cases, which is to

authorize the appointment of the officer to a place made for him on the

retired list.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 1, 1890_.

_To the Senate_:

I return to the Senate without my approval the bill (S. 473) "for the

relief of the Portland Company, of Portland, Me."

This bill confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to inquire into

and determine how much certain steam machinery built for the United

States under contract, and to be used in the vessels _Agawam_ and

_Pontoosuc_, cost the contractors over and above the contract price and

any allowances for extra work which have been made, and requires the

court to enter judgment in favor of the claimant for the excess of cost

above such contract price and allowances.

The bill differs from others which have been presented to me, and one of

which I have approved, in that it does not make the further allowance to

the contractors contingent upon the fact that the additional expense was

the result of the acts of the Government through its officers' causing

delays and increased cost in the construction of the work.

The bill in effect directs the court to ignore the contract entirely,

except as payments under it are to be treated as credits, and to allow

the contractors the cost of the work, and that without reference to

their own negligence or want of skill in executing the work. There would

seem to be no object in the Government's making a contract for work if

the contract is only to be binding upon the parties in the event that

the contractor realizes a profit.

I can not give my approval to the proposition applied here, which if

allowed here should be given general application, that every contractor

with the Government who during the early days of the war failed to

realize, by reason of increase in the cost of labor and materials, a

profit upon the contract shall now have access to the Court of Claims

to recover upon the _quantum meruit_ the cost of the work.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 1, 1890_.

_To the Senate_:

I return without my approval Senate bill No. 1857, "for the relief of

Charles P. Chouteau, survivor of Chouteau, Harrison & Valle."

This claim has been once presented to the Court of Claims and fully

heard. This bill authorizes a rehearing. I find upon examination that

every fact connected with the case necessary to the determination of the

question whether the claim should be appropriated for has already been

found and stated by the Court of Claims in a published opinion. Judgment

was given against the claimant upon the ground that a settlement had

been made and a receipt given in full. If in the opinion of Congress

this receipt, given under the circumstances which accompanied it, should

not be held a bar to such further appropriation as is equitable, all the

facts have been found that can be necessary to determine the question

what further payment should be made to the contractors. There can be no

reason, as it seems to me, for a retrial of the case in the Court of

Claims in the absence of any showing of newly discovered evidence. The

result would only differ from the result already obtained in that under

the bill which I return the court would enter a judgment instead of a

finding, and the judgment could only be paid after Congressional action.

The finding which has already been made, as I have said, is a complete

basis for any such action as Congress may think should be taken in the

premises.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _October 7, 1890_.

_To the Senate_:

I return without my approval the bill (S. 3830) "to prohibit bookmaking

of any kind and pool selling in the District of Columbia for the purpose

of gaming."

My objection to the bill is that it does not prohibit bookmaking and

pool selling, but, on the contrary, expressly saves from the operation

of its prohibitions and penalties the Washington Jockey Club "and any

other regular organizations owning race tracks no less than 1 mile in

length," etc.

If this form of gambling is to be prohibited, as I think it should be,

the penalties should include all persons and all places.

BENJ. HARRISON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress approved March 2, 1889,

entitled "An act to divide a portion of the reservation of the Sioux

Nation of Indians in Dakota into separate reservations and to secure

the relinquishment of the Indian title to the remainder, and for other

purposes"--

That this act shall take effect only upon the acceptance thereof and

consent thereto by the different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians,

in manner and form prescribed by the twelfth article of the treaty

between the United States and said Sioux Indians concluded April 29,

1868, which said acceptance and consent shall be made known by

proclamation by the President of the United States, upon satisfactory

proof presented to him that the same has been obtained in the manner and

form required by said twelfth article of said treaty, which proof shall

be presented to him within one year from the passage of this act; and

upon failure of such proof and proclamation this act becomes of no

effect and null and void.

And whereas satisfactory proof has been presented to me that the

acceptance of and consent to the provisions of the said act by the

different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians have been obtained in

manner and form as therein required:

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

virtue of the power in me vested, do hereby make known and proclaim the

acceptance of said act by the different bands of the Sioux Nation of

Indians and the consent thereto by them as required by the act, and said

act is hereby declared to be in full force and effect, subject to all

the provisions, conditions, limitations, and restrictions therein

contained.

All persons will take notice of the provisions of said act and of the

conditions, limitations, and restrictions therein contained, and be

governed accordingly.

I furthermore notify all persons to particularly observe that by said

act certain tracts or portions of the Great Reservation of the Sioux

Nation in the Territory of Dakota, as described by metes and bounds,

are set apart as separate and permanent reservations for the Indians

receiving rations and annuities at the respective agencies therein

named.

That any Indian receiving and entitled to rations and annuities at

either of the agencies mentioned in this act at the time the same shall

take effect, but residing upon any portion of said Great Reservation not

included in either of the separate reservations herein established, may

at his option, within one year from the time when this act shall take

effect, and within one year after he has been notified of his said right

of option, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct,

by recording his election with the proper agent at the agency to which

he belongs, have the allotment to which he would be otherwise entitled

on one of said separate reservations upon the land where such Indian may

then reside.

That each member or the Ponca tribe of Indians now occupying a part of

the old Ponca Reservation, within the limits of the said Great Sioux

Reservation, shall be entitled to allotments upon said old Ponca

Reservation in quantities as therein set forth, and that when allotments

to the Ponca tribe of Indians and to such other Indians as allotments

are provided for by this act shall have been made upon that portion of

said reservation which is described in the act entitled "An act to

extend the northern boundary of the State of Nebraska," approved March

28, 1882, the President shall, in pursuance of said act, declare that

the Indian title is extinguished to all lands described in said act not

so allotted hereunder, and thereupon all of said land not so allotted

and included in said act of March 28, 1882, shall be open to settlement

as provided in this act.

That protection is guaranteed to such Indians as may have taken

allotments either within or without the said separate reservations under

the provisions of the treaty with the Great Sioux Nation concluded April

29, 1868; and that provision is made in said act for the release of all

title on the part of said Indians receiving rations and annuities on

each separate reservation to the lands described in each of the other

separate reservations, and to confirm in the Indians entitled to receive

rations at each of said separate reservations, respectively, to their

separate and exclusive use and benefit, all the title and interest of

every name and nature secured to the different bands of the Sioux Nation

by said treaty of April 29, 1868; and that said release shall not affect

the title of any individual Indian to his separate allotment of land

not included in any of said separate reservations, nor any agreement

heretofore made with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad

Company or the Dakota Central Railroad Company respecting certain lands

for right of way, station grounds, etc., regarding which certain prior

rights and privileges are reserved to and for the use of said railroad

companies, respectively, upon the terms and conditions set forth in said

act.

That it is therein provided that if any land in said Great Sioux

Reservation is occupied and used by any religious society at the date

of said act for the purpose of missionary or educational work among the

Indians, whether situate outside of or within the limits of any of the

separate reservations, the same, not exceeding 160 acres in any one

tract, shall be granted to said society for the purposes and upon the

terms and conditions therein named; and

Subject to all the conditions and limitations in said act contained, it

is therein provided that all the lands in the Great Sioux Reservation

outside of the separate reservations described in said act, except

American Island, Farm Island, and Niobrara Island, regarding which

islands special provisions are therein made, and sections 16 and 36 in

each township thereof (which are reserved for school purposes), shall

be disposed of by the United States, upon the terms, at the price, and

in the manner therein set forth, to actual settlers only, under the

provisions of the homestead law (except section 2301 thereof) and under

the law relating to town sites.

That section 23 of said act provides--

That all persons who, between the 27th day of February, 1885, and the

17th day of April, 1885, in good faith entered upon or made settlements

with intent to enter the same under the homestead or preemption laws of

the United States upon any part of the Great Sioux Reservation lying

east of the Missouri River, and known as the Crow Creek and Winnebago

Reservation, which by the President's proclamation of date February 27,

1885, was declared to be open to settlement, and not included in the

new reservation established by section 6 of this act, and who, being

otherwise legally entitled to make such entries, located or attempted

to locate thereon homestead, preemption, or town-site claims by actual

settlement and improvement of any portion of such lands, shall for a

period of ninety days after the proclamation of the President required

to be made by this act have a right to reenter upon said claims and

procure title thereto under the homestead or preemption laws of the

United States and complete the same as required therein, and their said

claims shall for such time have a preference over later entries; and

when they shall have in other respects shown themselves entitled and

shall have complied with the law regulating such entries, and, as to

homesteads, with the special provisions of this act, they shall be

entitled to have said lands, and patents therefor shall be issued as in

like cases: _Provided_, That preemption claimants shall reside on their

lands the same length of time before procuring title as homestead

claimants under this act. The price to be paid for town-site entries

shall be such as is required by law in other cases, and shall be paid

into the general fund provided for by this act.

It is furthermore hereby made known that there has been and is hereby

reserved from entry or settlement that tract of land now occupied by the

agency and school buildings at the Lower Brulé Agency, to wit:

The west half of the southwest quarter of section 24, the east half of

the southeast quarter of section 23, the west half of the northwest

quarter of section 25, the east half of the northeast quarter of section

26, and the northwest fractional quarter of the southeast quarter of

section 26, all in township 104 north of range 72 west of the fifth

principal meridian.

That there is also reserved as aforesaid the following-described tract

within which the Cheyenne River Agency, school, and certain other

buildings are located, to wit: Commencing at a point in the center of

the main channel of the Missouri River opposite Deep Creek, about 3

miles south of Cheyenne River; thence due west 5-1/2 miles; thence due

north to the Cheyenne River; thence down said river to the center of the

main channel thereof to a point in the center of the Missouri River due

east or opposite the mouth of said Cheyenne River; thence down the

center of the main channel of the Missouri River to the place of

beginning.

That in pursuance of the provisions contained in section 1 of said act

the tract of land situate in the State of Nebraska and described in

said act as follows, to wit: "Beginning at a point on the boundary

line between the State of Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota where

the range line between ranges 44 and 45 west of the sixth principal

meridian, in the Territory of Dakota, intersects said boundary line;

thence east along said boundary line 5 miles; thence due south 5 miles;

thence due west 10 miles; thence due north to said boundary line; thence

due east along said boundary line to the place of beginning," same is

continued in a state of reservation so long as it may be needed for the

use and protection of the Indians receiving rations and annuities at the

Pine Ridge Agency.

Warning is hereby also expressly given to all persons not to enter or

make settlement upon any of the tracts of land specially reserved by the

terms of said act or by this proclamation, or any portion of any tracts

of land to which any individual member of either of the bands of the

Great Sioux Nation or the Ponca tribe of Indians shall have a preference

right under the provisions of said act; and further, to in no wise

interfere with the occupancy of any of said tracts by any of said

Indians, or in any manner to disturb, molest, or prevent the peaceful

possession of said tracts by them.

The surveys required to be made of the lands to be restored to the

public domain under the provisions of the said act and as in this

proclamation set forth will be commenced and executed as early as

possible.

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 10th day of February, A.D. 1890,

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 that portion of the Indian Territory commonly known as the

Cherokee Strip or Outlet has been for some years in the occupancy of an

association or associations of white persons under certain contracts

said to have been made with the Cherokee Nation, in the nature of a

lease or leases for grazing purposes; and

Whereas an opinion has been given to me by the Attorney-General,

concurring with the opinion given to my predecessor by the late

Attorney-General, that whatever the right or title of said Cherokee

Nation or of the United States to or in said lands may be, no right

exists in said Cherokee Nation under the statutes of the United States

to make such leases or grazing contracts, and that such contracts are

wholly illegal and void; and

Whereas the continued use of said lands thereunder for grazing purposes

is prejudicial to the public interests:

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

hereby proclaim and give notice--

First. That no cattle or live stock shall hereafter be brought upon said

lands for herding or grazing thereon.

Second. That all cattle and other live stock now on said outlet must be

removed therefrom not later than October 1, 1890, and so much sooner as

said lands or any of them may be or become lawfully open to settlement

by citizens of the United States; and that all persons connected with

said cattle companies or associations must, not later than the time

above indicated, depart from said lands.

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 17th day of February, A.D. 1890,

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.

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.

* * * * *