has constrained me to decline to make appointments to second lieutenancies
in the Army from civil life, so that such vacancies as exist in these
places may be reserved for such graduates; and yet it is not probable that
there will be enough vacancies to provide positions for them all when they
leave the military school. Under the prevailing law and usage those not
thus assigned to duty never actively enter the military service. It is
suggested that the law on this subject be changed so that such of these
young men as are not at once assigned to duty after graduation may be
retained as second lieutenants in the Army if they desire it, subject to
assignment when opportunity occurs, and under proper rules as to priority
of selection.
The expenditures on account of the Military Academy for the last fiscal
year, exclusive of the sum taken for its purposes from appropriations for
the support of the Army, were $290,712.07.
The act approved March 3, 1885, designed to compensate officers and
enlisted men for loss of private property while in the service of the
United States, is so indefinite in its terms and apparently admits so many
claims the adjustment of which could not have been contemplated that if it
is to remain upon the statute book it needs amendment.
There should be a general law of Congress prohibiting the construction of
bridges over navigable waters in such manner as to obstruct navigation,
with provisions for preventing the same. It seems that under existing
statutes the Government can not intervene to prevent such a construction
when entered upon without its consent, though when such consent is asked
and granted upon condition the authority to insist upon such condition is
clear. Thus it is represented that while the officers of the Government are
with great care guarding against the obstruction of navigation by a bridge
across the Mississippi River at St. Paul a large pier for a bridge has been
built just below this place directly in the navigable channel of the river.
If such things are to be permitted, a strong argument is presented against
the appropriation of large sums of money to improve the navigation of this
and other important highways of commerce.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy gives a history of the operations
of his Department and the present condition of the work committed to his
charge.
He details in full the course pursued by him to protect the rights of the
Government in respect of certain vessels unfinished at the time of his
accession to office, and also concerning the dispatch boat Dolphin, claimed
to be completed and awaiting the acceptance of the Department. No one can
fail to see from recitals contained in this report that only the
application of business principles has been insisted upon in the treatment
of these subjects, and that whatever controversy has arisen was caused by
the exaction on the part of the Department of contract obligations as they
were legally construed. In the case of the Dolphin, with entire justice to
the contractor, an agreement has been entered into providing for the
ascertainment by a judicial inquiry of the complete or partial compliance
with the contract in her construction, and further providing for the
assessment of any damages to which the Government may be entitled on
account of a partial failure to perform such contract, or the payment of
the sum still remaining unpaid upon her price in case a full performance is
adjudged.
The contractor, by reason of his failure in business, being unable to
complete the other three vessels, they were taken possession of by the
Government in their unfinished state under a clause in the contract
permitting such a course, and are now in process of completion in the yard
of the contractor, but under the supervision of the Navy Department.
Congress at its last session authorized the construction of two additional
new cruisers and two gunboats, at a cost not exceeding in the aggregate
$2,995,000. The appropriation for this purpose having become available on
the 1st day of July last, steps were at once taken for the procurement of
such plans for the construction of these vessels as would be likely to
insure their usefulness when completed. These are of the utmost importance,
considering the constant advance in the art of building vessels of this
character, and the time is not lost which is spent in their careful
consideration and selection.
All must admit the importance of an effective navy to a nation like ours,
having such an extended seacoast to protect; and yet we have not a single
vessel of war that could keep the seas against a first-class vessel of any
important power. Such a condition ought not longer to continue. The nation
that can not resist aggression is constantly exposed to it. Its foreign
policy is of necessity weak and its negotiations are conducted with
disadvantage because it is not in condition to enforce the terms dictated
by its sense of right and justice.
Inspired, as I am, by the hope, shared by all patriotic citizens, that the
day is not very far distant when our Navy will be such as befits our
standing among the nations of the earth, and rejoiced at every step that
leads in the direction of such a consummation, I deem it my duty to
especially direct the attention of Congress to the close of the report of
the Secretary of the Navy, in which the humiliating weakness of the present
organization of his Department is exhibited and the startling abuses and
waste of its present methods are exposed. The conviction is forced upon us
with the certainty of mathematical demonstration that before we proceed
further in the restoration of a Navy we need a thoroughly reorganized Navy
Department. The fact that within seventeen years more than $75,000,000 have
been spent in the construction, repair, equipment, and armament of vessels,
and the further fact that instead of an effective and creditable fleet we
have only the discontent and apprehension of a nation undefended by war
vessels, added to the disclosures now made, do not permit us to doubt that
every attempt to revive our Navy has thus far for the most part been
misdirected, and all our efforts in that direction have been little better
than blind gropings and expensive, aimless follies.
Unquestionably if we are content with the maintenance of a Navy Department
simply as a shabby ornament to the Government, a constant watchfulness may
prevent some of the scandal and abuse which have found their way into our
present organization, and its incurable waste may be reduced to the
minimum. But if we desire to build ships for present usefulness instead of
naval reminders of the days that are past, we must have a Department
organized for the work, supplied with all the talent and ingenuity our
country affords, prepared to take advantage of the experience of other
nations, systematized so that all effort shall unite and lead in one
direction, and fully imbued with the conviction that war vessels, though
new, are useless unless they combine all that the ingenuity of man has up
to this day brought forth relating to their construction.
I earnestly commend the portion of the Secretary's report devoted to this
subject to the attention of Congress, in the hope that his suggestions
touching the reorganization of his Department may be adopted as the first
step toward the reconstruction of our Navy.
The affairs of the postal service are exhibited by the report of the
Postmaster-General, which will be laid before you.
The postal revenue, whose ratio of gain upon the rising prosperity of 1882
and 1883 outstripped the increasing expenses of our growing service, was
checked by the reduction in the rate of letter postage which took effect
with the beginning of October in the latter year, and it diminished during
the two past fiscal years $2,790,000, in about the proportion of $2,270,000
in 1884 to $520,000 in 1885. Natural growth and development have meantime
increased expenditure, resulting in a deficiency in the revenue to meet the
expenses of the Department of five and a quarter million dollars for the
year 1884 and eight and a third million in the last fiscal year. The
anticipated and natural revival of the revenue has been oppressed and
retarded by the unfavorable business condition of the country, of which the
postal service is a faithful indicator. The gratifying fact is shown,
however, by the report that our returning prosperity is marked by a gain of
$380,000 in the revenue of the latter half of the last year over the
corresponding period of the preceding year.
The change in the weight of first-class matter which may be carried for a
single rate of postage from a half ounce to an ounce, and the reduction by
one-half of the rate of newspaper postage, which, under recent legislation,
began with the current year, will operate to restrain the augmentation of
receipts which otherwise might have been expected to such a degree that the
scale of expense may gain upon the revenue and cause an increased
deficiency to be shown at its close. Yet, after no long period of
reawakened prosperity, by proper economy it is confidently anticipated that
even the present low rates, now as favorable as any country affords, will
be adequate to sustain the cost of the service.
The operation of the Post-Office Department is for the convenience and
benefit of the people, and the method by which they pay the charges of this
useful arm of their public service, so that it be just and impartial, is of
less importance to them than the economical expenditure of the means they
provide for its maintenance and the due improvement of its agencies, so
that they may enjoy its highest usefulness.
A proper attention has been directed to the prevention of waste or
extravagance, and good results appear from the report to have already been
accomplished.
I approve the recommendation of the Postmaster-General to reduce the
charges on domestic money orders of $5 and less from 8 to 5 cents. This
change will materially aid those of our people who most of all avail
themselves of this instrumentality, but to whom the element of cheapness is
of the greatest importance. With this reduction the system would still
remain self-supporting.
The free-delivery system has been extended to 19 additional cities during
the year, and 178 now enjoy its conveniences. Experience has commended it
to those who enjoy its benefits, and further enlargement of its facilities
is due to other communities to which it is adapted. In the cities where it
has been established, taken together the local postage exceeds its
maintenance by nearly $1,300,000. The limit to which this system is now
confined by law has been nearly reached, and the reasons given justify its
extension, which is proposed.
It was decided, with my approbation, after a sufficient examination, to be
inexpedient for the Post-Office Department to contract for carrying our
foreign mails under the additional authority given by the last Congress.
The amount limited was inadequate to pay all within the purview of the law
the full rate of 50 cents per mile, and it would have been unjust and
unwise to have given it to some and denied it to others. Nor could
contracts have been let under the law to all at a rate to have brought the
aggregate within the appropriation without such practical prearrangement of
terms as would have violated it.
The rate of sea and inland postage which was proffered under another
statute clearly appears to be a fair compensation for the desired service,
being three times the price necessary to secure transportation by other
vessels upon any route, and much beyond the charges made to private persons
for services not less burdensome.
Some of the steamship companies, upon the refusal of the Postmaster-General
to attempt, by the means provided, the distribution of the sum appropriated
as an extra compensation, withdrew the services of their vessels and
thereby occasioned slight inconvenience, though no considerable injury, the
mails having been dispatched by other means.
Whatever may be thought of the policy of subsidizing any line of public
conveyance or travel, I am satisfied that it should not be done under cover
of an expenditure incident to the administration of a Department, nor
should there be any uncertainty as to the recipients of the subsidy or any
discretion left to an executive officer as to its distribution. If such
gifts of the public money are to be made for the purpose of aiding any
enterprise in the supposed interest of the public, I can not but think that
the amount to be paid and the beneficiary might better be determined by
Congress than in any other way.
The international congress of delegates from the Postal Union countries
convened at Lisbon, in Portugal, in February last, and after a session of
some weeks the delegates signed a convention amendatory of the present
postal-union convention in some particulars designed to advance its
purposes. This additional act has had my approval and will be laid before
you with the departmental report.
I approve the recommendation of the postmaster-General that another
assistant be provided for his Department. I invite your consideration to
the several other recommendations contained in his report.
The report of the Attorney-General contains a history of the conduct of the
Department of Justice during the last year and a number of valuable
suggestions as to needed legislation, and I invite your careful attention
to the same.
The condition of business in the courts of the United States is such that
there seems to be an imperative necessity for remedial legislation on the
subject. Some of these courts are so overburdened with pending causes that
the delays in determining litigation amount often to a denial of justice.
Among the plans suggested for relief is one submitted by the
Attorney-General. Its main features are: The transfer of all the original
jurisdiction of the circuit courts to the district courts and an increase
of judges for the latter where necessary; an addition of judges to the
circuit courts, and constituting them exclusively courts of appeal, and
reasonably limiting appeals thereto; further restrictions of the right to
remove causes from the State to Federal courts; permitting appeals to the
Supreme Court from the courts of the District of Columbia and the
Territories only in the same cases as they are allowed from State courts,
and guarding against an unnecessary number of appeals from the circuit
courts.
I approve the plan thus outlined, and recommend the legislation necessary
for its application to our judicial system.
The present mode of compensating United States marshals and district
attorneys should, in my opinion, be changed. They are allowed to charge
against the Government certain fees for services, their income being
measured by the amount of such fees within a fixed limit as to their annual
aggregate. This is a direct inducement for them to make their fees in
criminal cases as large as possible in an effort to reach the maximum sum
permitted. As an entirely natural consequence, unscrupulous marshals are
found encouraging frivolous prosecutions, arresting people on petty charges
of crime and transporting them to distant places for examination and trial,
for the purpose of earning mileage and other fees; and district attorneys
uselessly attend criminal examinations far from their places of residence
for the express purpose of swelling their accounts against the Government.
The actual expenses incurred in these transactions are also charged against
the Government.
Thus the rights and freedom of our citizens are outraged and public
expenditures increased for the purpose of furnishing public officers
pretexts for increasing the measure of their compensation.
I think marshals and district attorneys should be paid salaries, adjusted
by a rule which will make them commensurate with services fairly rendered.
In connection with this subject I desire to suggest the advisability, if it
be found not obnoxious to constitutional objection, of investing United
States commissioners with the power to try and determine certain violations
of law within the grade of misdemeanors. Such trials might be made to
depend upon the option of the accused. The multiplication of small and
technical offenses, especially under the provisions of our internal-revenue
law, render some change in our present system very desirable in the
interests of humanity as well as economy. The district courts are now
crowded with petty prosecutions, involving a punishment in case of
conviction, of only a slight fine, while the parties accused are harassed
by an enforced attendance upon courts held hundreds of miles from their
homes. If poor and friendless, they are obliged to remain in jail during
months, perhaps, that elapse before a session of the court is held, and are
finally brought to trial surrounded by strangers and with but little real
opportunity for defense. In the meantime frequently the marshal has charged
against the Government his fees for an arrest, the transportation of the
accused and the expense of the same, and for summoning witnesses before a
commissioner, a grand jury, and a court; the witnesses have been paid from
the public funds large fees and traveling expenses, and the commissioner
and district attorney have also made their charges against the Government.
This abuse in the administration of our criminal law should be remedied;
and if the plan above suggested is not practicable, some other should be
devised.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior, containing an account of the
operations of this important Department and much interesting information,
will be submitted for your consideration.
The most intricate and difficult subject in charge of this Department is
the treatment and management of the Indians. I am satisfied that some
progress may be noted in their condition as a result of a prudent
administration of the present laws and regulations for their control.
But it is submitted that there is lack of a fixed purpose or policy on this
subject, which should be supplied. It is useless to dilate upon the wrongs
of the Indians, and as useless to indulge in the heartless belief that
because their wrongs are revenged in their own atrocious manner, therefore
they should be exterminated.
They are within the care of our Government, and their rights are, or should
be, protected from invasion by the most solemn obligations. They are
properly enough called the wards of the Government; and it should be borne
in mind that this guardianship involves on our part efforts for the
improvement of their condition and the enforcement of their rights. There
seems to be general concurrence in the proposition that the ultimate object
of their treatment should be their civilization and citizenship. Fitted by
these to keep pace in the march of progress with the advanced civilization
about them, they will readily assimilate with the mass of our population,
assuming the responsibilities and receiving the protection incident to this
condition.
The difficulty appears to be in the selection of the means to be at present
employed toward the attainment of this result.
Our Indian population, exclusive of those in Alaska, is reported as
numbering 260,000, nearly all being located on lands set apart for their
use and occupation, aggregating over 134,000,000 acres. These lands are
included in the boundaries of 171 reservations of different dimensions,
scattered in 21 States and Territories, presenting great variations in
climate and in the kind and quality of their soils. Among the Indians upon
these several reservations there exist the most marked differences in
natural traits and disposition and in their progress toward civilization.
While some are lazy, vicious, and stupid, others are industrious, peaceful,
and intelligent; while a portion of them are self-supporting and
independent, and have so far advanced in civilization that they make their
own laws, administered through officers of their own choice, and educate
their children in schools of their own establishment and maintenance,
others still retain, in squalor and dependence, almost the savagery of
their natural state.
In dealing with this question the desires manifested by the Indians should
not be ignored. Here again we find a great diversity. With some the tribal
relation is cherished with the utmost tenacity, while its hold upon others
is considerably relaxed; the love of home is strong with all, and yet there
are those whose attachment to a particular locality is by no means
unyielding; the ownership of their lands in severalty is much desired by
some, while by others, and sometimes among the most civilized, such a
distribution would be bitterly opposed.
The variation of their wants, growing out of and connected with the
character of their several locations, should be regarded. Some are upon
reservations most fit for grazing, but without flocks or herds; and some on
arable land, have no agricultural implements. While some of the
reservations are double the size necessary to maintain the number of
Indians now upon them, in a few cases, perhaps, they should be enlarged.
Add to all this the difference in the administration of the agencies. While
the same duties are devolved upon all, the disposition of the agents and
the manner of their contact with the Indians have much to do with their
condition and welfare. The agent who perfunctorily performs his duty and
slothfully neglects all opportunity to advance their moral and physical
improvement and fails to inspire them with a desire for better things will
accomplish nothing in the direction of their civilization, while he who
feels the burden of an important trust and has an interest in his work
will, by consistent example, firm yet considerate treatment, and
well-directed aid and encouragement, constantly lead those under his charge
toward the light of their enfranchisement.
The history of all the progress which has been made in the civilization of
the Indian I think will disclose the fact that the beginning has been
religious teaching, followed by or accompanying secular education. While
the self-sacrificing and pious men and women who have aided in this good
work by their independent endeavor have for their reward the beneficent
results of their labor and the consciousness of Christian duty well
performed, their valuable services should be fully acknowledged by all who
under the law are charged with the control and management of our Indian
wards.
What has been said indicates that in the present condition of the Indians
no attempt should be made to apply a fixed and unyielding plan of action to
their varied and varying needs and circumstances.
The Indian Bureau, burdened as it is with their general oversight and with
the details of the establishment, can hardly possess itself of the minute
phases of the particular cases needing treatment; and thus the propriety of
creating an instrumentality auxiliary to those already established for the
care of the Indians suggests itself.