constantly tending to relieve the country from the dangers of Indian
hostilities, together with the increasing ability of the States,
through the efficiency of the National Guard organizations, to protect
their citizens from domestic violence, lead to the suggestion that the
time is fast approaching when there should be a reorganization of our
Army on the lines of the present necessities of the country. This
change contemplates neither increase in number nor added expense, but a
redistribution of the force and an encouragement of measures tending to
greater efficiency among the men and improvement of the service.
The adoption of battalion formations for infantry regiments, the
strengthening of the artillery force, the abandonment of smaller and
unnecessary posts, and the massing of the troops at important and
accessible stations all promise to promote the usefulness of the Army.
In the judgment of army officers, with but few exceptions, the
operation of the law forbidding the reenlistment of men after ten
years' service has not proved its wisdom, and while the arguments that
led to its adoption were not without merit the experience of the year
constrains me to join in the recommendation for its repeal.
It is gratifying to note that we have begun to attain completed results
in the comprehensive scheme of seacoast defense and fortification
entered upon eight years ago. A large sum has been already expended,
but the cost of maintenance will be inconsiderable as compared with the
expense of construction and ordnance. At the end of the current
calendar year the War Department will have nine 12-inch guns, twenty
10-inch, and thirty-four 8-inch guns ready to be mounted on gun lifts
and carriages, and seventy-five 12-inch mortars. In addition to the
product of the Army Gun Factory, now completed at Watervliet, the
Government has contracted with private parties for the purchase of one
hundred guns of these calibers, the first of which should be delivered
to the Department for test before July 1, 1894.
The manufacture of heavy ordnance keeps pace with current needs, but to
render these guns available for the purposes they are designed to meet
emplacements must be prepared for them. Progress has been made in this
direction, and it is desirable that Congress by adequate appropriations
should provide for the uninterrupted prosecution of this necessary work.
After much preliminary work and exhaustive examination in accordance
with the requirements of the law, the board appointed to select a
magazine rifle of modern type with which to replace the obsolete
Springfield rifle of the infantry service completed its labors during
the last year, and the work of manufacture is now in progress at the
national armory at Springfield. It is confidently expected that by the
end of the current year our infantry will be supplied with a weapon
equal to that of the most progressive armies of the world.
The work on the projected Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military
Park has been prosecuted with zeal and judgment, and its opening will
be celebrated during the coming year. Over 9 square miles of the
Chickamauga battlefield have been acquired, 25 miles of roadway have
been constructed, and permanent tablets have been placed at many
historical points, while the invitation to the States to mark the
positions of their troops participating in the battle has been very
generally accepted.
The work of locating and preserving the lines of battle at the
Gettysburg battlefield is making satisfactory progress on the plans
directed by the last Congress.
The reports of the Military Academy at West Point and the several
schools for special instruction of officers show marked advance in the
education of the Army and a commendable ambition among its officers to
excel in the military profession and to fit themselves for the highest
service to the country.
Under the supervision of Adjutant-General Robert Williams, lately
retired, the Bureau of Military Information has become well established
and is performing a service that will put in possession of the
Government in time of war most valuable information, and at all times
serve a purpose of great utility in keeping the Army advised of the
world's progress in all matters pertaining to the art of war.
The report of the Attorney-General contains the usual summary of the
affairs and proceedings of the Department of Justice for the past year,
together with certain recommendations as to needed legislation on
various subjects. I can not too heartily indorse the proposition that
the fee system as applicable to the compensation of United States
attorneys, marshals, clerks of Federal courts, and United States
commissioners should be abolished with as little delay as possible. It
is clearly in the interest of the community that the business of the
courts, both civil and criminal, shall be as small and as inexpensively
transacted as the ends of justice will allow.
The system is therefore thoroughly vicious which makes the compensation
of court officials depend upon the volume of such business, and thus
creates a conflict between a proper execution of the law and private
gain, which can not fail to be dangerous to the rights and freedom of
the citizen and an irresistible temptation to the unjustifiable
expenditure of public funds. If in addition to this reform another was
inaugurated which would give to United States commissioners the final
disposition of petty offenses within the grade of misdemeanors,
especially those coming under the internal-revenue laws, a great
advance would be made toward a more decent administration of the
criminal law.
In my first message to Congress, dated December 8, 1885, I strongly
recommended these changes and referred somewhat at length to the evils
of the present system. Since that time the criminal business of the
Federal courts and the expense attending it have enormously increased.
The number of criminal prosecutions pending in the circuit and district
courts of the United States on the 1st day of July, 1885, was 3,808, of
which 1,884 were for violations of the internal-revenue laws, while the
number of such prosecutions pending on the 1st day of July, 1893, was
9,500, of which 4,200 were for violations of the internal-revenue laws.
The expense of the United States courts, exclusive of judges' salaries,
for the year ending July 1, 1885, was $2,874,733.11 and for the year
ending July 1, 1893, $4,528,676.87.
It is therefore apparent that the reasons given in 1885 for a change in
the manner of enforcing the Federal criminal law have gained cogency
and strength by lapse of time.
I also heartily join the Attorney-General in recommending legislation
fixing degrees of the crime of murder within Federal jurisdiction, as
has been done in many of the States; authorizing writs of error on
behalf of the Government in cases where final judgment is rendered
against the sufficiency of an indictment or against the Government upon
any other question arising before actual trial; limiting the right of
review in cases of felony punishable only by fine and imprisonment to
the circuit court of appeals, and making speedy provision for the
construction of such prisons and reformatories as may be necessary for
the confinement of United States convicts.
The report of the Postmaster-General contains a detailed statement of
the operations of the Post-Office Department during the last fiscal
year and much interesting information touching this important branch of
the public service.
The business of the mails indicates with absolute certainty the
condition of the business of the country, and depression in financial
affairs inevitably and quickly reduces the postal revenues. Therefore a
larger discrepancy than usual between the post-office receipts and
expenditures is the expected and unavoidable result of the distressing
stringency which has prevailed throughout the country during much of
the time covered by the Postmaster-General's report. At a date when
better times were anticipated it was estimated by his predecessor that
the deficiency on the 30th day of June, 1893, would be but a little
over a million and a half dollars. It amounted, however, to more than
five millions. At the same time and under the influence of like
anticipations estimates were made for the current fiscal year, ending
June 30, 1894, which exhibited a surplus of revenue over expenditures
of $872,245.71; but now, in view of the actual receipts and
expenditures during that part of the current fiscal year already
expired, the present Postmaster-General estimates that at its close
instead of a surplus there will be a deficiency of nearly $8,000,000.
The post-office receipts for the last fiscal year amounted to
$75,896,933.16 and its expenditures to $81,074,104.90. This post-office
deficiency would disappear or be immensely decreased if less matter
were carried free through the mails, an item of which is upward of 300
tons of seeds and grain from the Agricultural Department.
The total number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day
of June, 1893, was 68,403, an increase of 1,284 over the preceding
year. Of these, 3,360 were Presidential, an increase in that class of
204 over the preceding year.
Forty-two free-delivery offices were added during the year to those
already existing, making a total of 610 cities and towns provided with
free delivery on June 30, 1893. Ninety-three other cities and towns are
now entitled to this service under the law, but it has not been
accorded them on account of insufficient funds to meet the expenses of
its establishment.
I am decidedly of the opinion that the provisions of the present law
permit as general an introduction of this feature of mail service as is
necessary or justifiable, and that it ought not to be extended to
smaller communities than are now designated.
The expenses of free delivery for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894,
will be more than $11,000,000, and under legislation now existing there
must be a constant increase in this item of expenditure.
There were 6,401 additions to the domestic money-order offices during
the last fiscal year, being the largest increase in any year since the
inauguration of the system. The total number of these offices at the
close of the year was 18,434. There were 13,309,735 money orders issued
from these offices, being an increase over the preceding year of
1,240,293, and the value of these orders amounted to $127,576,433.65,
an increase of $7,509,632.58. There were also issued during the year
postal notes amounting to $12,903,076.73.
During the year 195 international money-order offices were added to
those already provided, making a total of 2,407 in operation on June
30, 1893. The number of international money orders issued during the
year was 1,055,999, an increase over the preceding year of 72,525, and
their value was $16,341,837.86, an increase of $2,221,506.31. The
number of orders paid was 300,917, an increase over the preceding year
of 13,503, and their value was $5,283,375.70, an increase of $94,094.83.
From the foregoing statements it appears that the total issue of money
orders and postal notes for the year amounted to $156,822,348.24.
The number of letters and packages mailed during the year for special
delivery was 3,375,693, an increase over the preceding year of nearly
22 per cent. The special-delivery stamps used upon these letters and
packages amounted to $337,569.30, and the messengers' fees paid for
their delivery amounted to $256,592.71, leaving a profit to the
Government of $80,976.59.
The Railway Mail Service not only adds to the promptness of mail
delivery at all offices, but it is the especial instrumentality which
puts the smaller and way places in the service on an equality in that
regard with the larger and terminal offices. This branch of the postal
service has therefore received much attention from the
Postmaster-General, and though it is gratifying to know that it is in a
condition of high efficiency and great usefulness, I am led to agree
with the Postmaster-General that there is room for its further
improvement.
There are now connected to the Post-Office establishment 28,324
employees who are in the classified service. The head of this great
Department gives conclusive evidence of the value of civil-service
reform when, after an experience that renders his judgment on the
subject absolutely reliable, he expresses the opinion that without the
benefit of this system it would be impossible to conduct the vast
business intrusted to him.
I desire to commend as especially worthy of prompt attention the
suggestions of the Postmaster-General relating to a more sensible and
business like organization and a better distribution of responsibility
in his Department.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy contains a history of the
operations of his Department during the past year and exhibits a most
gratifying condition of the personnel of our Navy. He presents a
satisfactory account of the progress which has been made in the
construction of vessels and makes a number of recommendations to which
attention is especially invited.
During the past six months the demands for cruising vessels have been
many and urgent. There have been revolutions calling for vessels to
protect American interests in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica,
Honduras, Argentina, and Brazil, while the condition of affairs in
Honolulu has required the constant presence of one or more ships. With
all these calls upon our Navy it became necessary, in order to make up
a sufficient fleet to patrol the Bering Sea under the modus vivendi
agreed upon with Great Britain, to detail to that service one vessel
from the Fish Commission and three from the Revenue Marine.
Progress in the construction of new vessels has not been as rapid as
was anticipated. There have been delays in the completion of unarmored
vessels, but for the most part they have been such as are constantly
occurring even in countries having the largest experience in naval
shipbuilding. The most serious delays, however, have been in the work
upon armored ships. The trouble has been the failure of contractors to
deliver armor as agreed. The difficulties seem now, however, to have
been all overcome, and armor is being delivered with satisfactory
promptness. As a result of the experience acquired by shipbuilders and
designers and material men, it is believed that the dates when vessels
will be completed can now be estimated with reasonable accuracy. Great
guns, rapid-fire guns, torpedoes, and powder are being promptly
supplied.
The following vessels of the new Navy have been completed and are now
ready for service: The double-turreted coast-defense monitor
Miantonomoh, the double-turreted coast-defense monitor Monterey, the
armored cruiser New York, the protected cruisers Baltimore, Chicago,
Philadelphia, Newark, San Francisco, Charleston, Atlanta, and Boston,
the cruiser Detroit, the gunboats Yorktown, Concord, Bennington,
Machias, Castine, and Petrel, the dispatch vessel Dolphin, the practice
vessel Bancroft, and the dynamite gunboat Vesuvius. Of these the
Bancroft, Machias, Detroit, and Castine have been placed in commission
during the current calendar year.
The following vessels are in process of construction: The second-class
battle ships Maine and Texas, the cruisers Montgomery and Marblehead,
and the coast-defense monitors Terror, Puritan, Amphitrite, and
Monadnock, all of which will be completed within one year; the
harbor-defense ram Katahdin and the protected cruisers Columbia,
Minneapolis, Olympia, Cincinnati, and Raleigh, all of which will be
completed prior to July 1, 1895; the first-class battle ships Iowa,
Indiana, Massachusetts, and Oregon, which will be completed February 1,
1896, and the armored cruiser Brooklyn, which will be completed by
August 1 of that year. It is also expected that the three gunboats
authorized by the last Congress will be completed in less than two
years.
Since 1886 Congress has at each session authorized the building of one
or more vessels, and the Secretary of the Navy presents an earnest plea
for the continuance of this plan. He recommends the authorization of at
least one battle ship and six torpedo boats.
While I am distinctly in favor of consistently pursuing the policy we
have inaugurated of building up a thorough and efficient Navy, I can
not refrain from the suggestion that the Congress should carefully take
into account the number of unfinished vessels on our hands and the
depleted condition of our Treasury in considering the propriety of an
appropriation at this time to begin new work.
The method of employing mechanical labor at navy-yards through boards
of labor and making efficiency the sole test by which laborers are
employed and continued is producing the best results, and the Secretary
is earnestly devoting himself to its development. Attention is invited
to the statements of his report in regard to the workings of the system.
The Secretary of the Interior has the supervision of so many important
subjects that his report is of especial value and interest.
On the 30th day of June, 1893, there were on the pension rolls 966,012
names, an increase of 89,944 over the number on the rolls June 30,
1892. Of these there were 17 widows and daughters of Revolutionary
soldiers, 86 survivors of the War of 1812, 5,425 widows of soldiers of
that war, 21,518 survivors and widows of the Mexican War, 3,882
survivors and widows of Indian wars, 284 army nurses. and 475,645
survivors and widows and children of deceased soldiers and sailors of
the War of the Rebellion. The latter number represents those pensioned
on account of disabilities or death resulting from army and navy
service. The number of persons remaining on the rolls June 30, 1893,
who were pensioned under the act of June 27, 1890, which allows
pensions on account of death and disability not chargeable to army
service, was 459,155.
The number added to the rolls during the year was 123,634 and the
number dropped was 33,690. The first payments on pensions allowed
during the year amounted to $33,756,549.98. This includes arrears, or
the accumulation between the time from which the allowance of pension
dates and the time of actually granting the certificate.
Although the law of 1890 permits pensions for disabilities not related
to military service, yet as a requisite to its benefits a disability
must exist incapacitating applicants "from the performance of manual
labor to such a degree as to render them unable to earn a support." The
execution of this law in its early stages does not seem to have been in
accord with its true intention, but toward the close of the last
Administration an authoritative construction was given to the statute,
and since that time this construction has been followed. This has had
the effect of limiting the operation of the law to its intended
purpose. The discovery having been made that many names had been put
upon the pension roll by means of wholesale and gigantic frauds, the
Commissioner suspended payments upon a number of pensions which seemed
to be fraudulent or unauthorized pending a complete examination, giving
notice to the pensioners, in order that they might have an opportunity
to establish, if possible, the justice of their claims notwithstanding
apparent invalidity.
This, I understand, is the practice which has for a long time prevailed
in the Pension Bureau; but after entering upon these recent
investigations the Commissioner modified this rule so as not to allow
until after a complete examination interference with the payment of a
pension apparently not altogether void, but which merely had been fixed
at a rate higher than that authorized by law.
I am unable to understand why frauds in the pension rolls should not be
exposed and corrected with thoroughness and vigor. Every name
fraudulently put upon these rolls is a wicked imposition upon the
kindly sentiment in which pensions have their origin; every fraudulent
pensioner has become a bad citizen; every false oath in support of a
pension has made perjury more common, and false and undeserving
pensioners rob the people not only of their money, but of the patriotic
sentiment which the survivors of a war fought for the preservation of
the Union ought to inspire. Thousands of neighborhoods have their
well-known fraudulent pensioners, and recent developments by the Bureau
establish appalling conspiracies to accomplish pension frauds. By no
means the least wrong done is to brave and deserving pensioners, who
certainly ought not to be condemned to such association.
Those who attempt in the line of duty to rectify these wrongs should
not be accused of enmity or indifference to the claims of honest
veterans. The sum expended on account of pensions for the year ending
June 30, 1893, was $156,740,467.14.
The Commissioner estimates that $165,000,000 will be required to pay
pensions during the year ending June 30, 1894.
The condition of the Indians and their ultimate fate are subjects which
are related to a sacred duty of the Government and which strongly
appeal to the sense of justice and the sympathy of our people.
Our Indians number about 248,000. Most of them are located on 161
reservations, containing 86,116,531 acres of land. About 110,000 of
these Indians have to a large degree adopted civilized customs. Lands
in severalty have been allotted to many of them. Such allotments have
been made to 10,000 individuals during the last fiscal year, embracing
about 1,000,000 acres. The number of Indian Government schools opened
during the year was 195, an increase of 12 over the preceding year. Of
this total 170 were on reservations, of which 73 were boarding schools
and 97 were day schools. Twenty boarding schools and 5 day schools
supported by the Government were not located on reservations. The total
number of Indian children enrolled during the year as attendants of all
schools was 21,138, an increase of 1,231 over the enrollment for the
previous year.
I am sure that secular education and moral and religious teaching must
be important factors in any effort to save the Indian and lead him to
civilization. I believe, too, that the relinquishment of tribal
relations and the holding of land in severalty may in favorable
conditions aid this consummation. It seems to me, however, that
allotments of land in severalty ought to be made with great care and
circumspection. If hastily done, before the Indian knows its meaning,
while yet he has little or no idea of tilling a farm and no conception
of thrift, there is great danger that a reservation life in tribal
relations may be exchanged for the pauperism of civilization instead of
its independence and elevation.
The solution of the Indian problem depends very largely upon good
administration. The personal fitness of agents and their adaptability
to the peculiar duty of caring for their wards are of the utmost
importance.
The law providing that, except in special cases, army officers shall be
detailed as Indian agents it is hoped will prove a successful
experiment.
There is danger of great abuses creeping into the prosecution of claims
for Indian depredations, and I recommend that every possible safeguard
be provided against the enforcement of unjust and fictitious claims of
this description.
The appropriations on account of the Indian Bureau for the year ending
June 30, 1894, amount to $7,954,962.99, a decrease as compared with the
year preceding it of $387,131.95.