Mosquito Strip, the case of the British vice-consul, Hatch, and of
several of his countrymen who had been summarily expelled from
Nicaragua and treated with considerable indignity provoked a claim by
Great Britain upon Nicaragua for pecuniary indemnity, which, upon
Nicaragua's refusal to admit liability, was enforced by Great Britain.
While the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Nicaragua was in no way
questioned by Great Britain, the former's arbitrary conduct in regard
to British subjects furnished the ground for this proceeding.
A British naval force occupied without resistance the Pacific seaport
of Corinto, but was soon after withdrawn upon the promise that the sum
demanded would be paid. Throughout this incident the kindly offices of
the United States were invoked and were employed in favor of as
peaceful a settlement and as much consideration and indulgence toward
Nicaragua as were consistent with the nature of the case. Our efforts
have since been made the subject of appreciative and grateful
recognition by Nicaragua. The coronation of the Czar of Russia at
Moscow in May next invites the ceremonial participation of the United
States, and in accordance with usage and diplomatic propriety our
minister to the imperial court has been directed to represent our
Government on the occasion.
Correspondence is on foot touching the practice of Russian consuls
within the jurisdiction of the United States to interrogate citizens as
to their race and religious faith, and upon ascertainment thereof to
deny to Jews authentication of passports or legal documents for use in
Russia. Inasmuch as such a proceeding imposes a disability which in the
case of succession to property in Russia may be found to infringe the
treaty rights of our citizens, and which is an obnoxious invasion of
our territorial jurisdiction, it has elicited fitting remonstrance, the
result of which, it is hoped, will remove the cause of complaint. The
pending claims of sealing vessels of the United States seized in
Russian waters remain unadjusted. Our recent convention with Russia
establishing a modus vivendi as to imperial jurisdiction in such cases
has prevented further difficulty of this nature.
The Russian Government has welcomed in principle our suggestion for a
modus vivendi, to embrace Great Britain and Japan, looking to the
better preservation of seal life in the North Pacific and Bering Sea
and the extension of the protected area defined by the Paris Tribunal
to all Pacific waters north of the thirty-fifth parallel. It is
especially noticeable that Russia favors prohibition of the use of
firearms in seal hunting throughout the proposed area and a longer
closed season for pelagic sealing.
In my last two annual messages I called the attention of the Congress
to the position we occupied as one of the parties to a treaty or
agreement by which we became jointly bound with England and Germany to
so interfere with the government and control of Samoa as in effect to
assume the management of its affairs. On the 9th day of May, 1894, I
transmitted to the Senate a special message, with accompanying
documents, giving information on the subject and emphasizing the
opinion I have at all times entertained, that our situation in this
matter was inconsistent with the mission and traditions of our
Government, in violation of the principles we profess, and in all its
phases mischievous and vexatious.
I again press this subject upon the attention of the Congress and ask
for such legislative action or expression as will lead the way to our
relief from obligations both irksome and unnatural.
Cuba is again gravely disturbed. An insurrection in some respects more
active than the last preceding revolt, which continued from 1868 to
1878, now exists in a large part of the eastern interior of the island,
menacing even some populations on the coast. Besides deranging the
commercial exchanges of the island, of which our country takes the
predominant share, this flagrant condition of hostilities, by arousing
sentimental sympathy and inciting adventurous support among our people,
has entailed earnest effort on the part of this Government to enforce
obedience to our neutrality laws and to prevent the territory of the
United States from being abused as a vantage ground from which to aid
those in arms against Spanish sovereignty.
Whatever may be the traditional sympathy of our countrymen as
individuals with a people who seem to be struggling for larger autonomy
and greater freedom, deepened, as such sympathy naturally must be, in
behalf of our neighbors, yet the plain duty of their Government is to
observe in good faith the recognized obligations of international
relationship. The performance of this duty should not be made more
difficult by a disregard on the part of our citizens of the obligations
growing out of their allegiance to their country, which should restrain
them from violating as individuals the neutrality which the nation of
which they are members is bound to observe in its relations to friendly
sovereign states. Though neither the warmth of our people's sympathy
with the Cuban insurgents, nor our loss and material damage consequent
upon the futile endeavors thus far made to restore peace and order, nor
any shock our humane sensibilities may have received from the cruelties
which appear to especially characterize this sanguinary and fiercely
conducted war, have in the least shaken the determination of the
Government to honestly fulfill every international obligation, yet it
is to be earnestly hoped on every ground that the devastation of armed
conflict may speedily be stayed and order and quiet restored to the
distracted island, bringing in their train the activity and thrift of
peaceful pursuits.
One notable instance of interference by Spain with passing American
ships has occurred. On March 8 last the Allianca, while bound from
Colon to New York, and following the customary track for vessels near
the Cuban shore, but outside the 3-mile limit, was fired upon by a
Spanish gunboat. Protest was promptly made by the United States against
this act as not being justified by a state of war, nor permissible in
respect of vessels on the usual paths of commerce, nor tolerable in
view of the wanton peril occasioned to innocent life and property. The
act was disavowed, with full expression of regret and assurance of
nonrecurrence of such just cause of complaint, while the offending
officer was relieved of his command. Military arrests of citizens of
the United States in Cuba have occasioned frequent reclamations. Where
held on criminal charges their delivery to the ordinary civil
jurisdiction for trial has been demanded and obtained in conformity
with treaty provisions, and where merely detained by way of military
precaution under a proclaimed state of siege, without formulated
accusation, their release or trial has been insisted upon. The right of
American consular officers in the island to prefer protests and demands
in such cases having been questioned by the insular authority, their
enjoyment of the privilege stipulated by treaty for the consuls of
Germany was claimed under the most-favored-nation provision of our own
convention and was promptly recognized.
The long-standing demand of Antonio Maximo Mora against Spain has at
last been settled by the payment, on the 14th of September last, of the
sum originally agreed upon in liquidation of the claim. Its
distribution among the parties entitled to receive it has proceeded as
rapidly as the rights of those claiming the fund could be safely
determined.
The enforcement of differential duties against products of this country
exported to Cuba and Puerto Rico prompted the immediate claim on our
part to the benefit of the minimum tariff of Spain in return for the
most favorable treatment permitted by our laws as regards the
production of Spanish territories. A commercial arrangement was
concluded in January last securing the treatment so claimed.
Vigorous protests against excessive fines imposed on our ships and
merchandise by the customs officers of these islands for trivial errors
have resulted in the remission of such fines in instances where the
equity of the complaint was apparent, though the vexatious practice has
not been wholly discontinued.
Occurrences in Turkey have continued to excite concern. The reported
massacres of Christians in Armenia and the development there and in
other districts of a spirit of fanatic hostility to Christian
influences naturally excited apprehension for the safety of the devoted
men and women who, as dependents of the foreign missionary societies in
the United States, reside in Turkey under the guaranty of law and usage
and in the legitimate performance of their educational and religious
mission. No efforts have been spared in their behalf, and their
protection in person and property has been earnestly and vigorously
enforced by every means within our power.
I regret, however, that an attempt on our part to obtain better
information concerning the true condition of affairs in the disturbed
quarter of the Ottoman Empire by sending thither the United States
consul at Sivas to make investigation and report was thwarted by the
objections of the Turkish Government. This movement on our part was in
no sense meant as a gratuitous entanglement of the United States in the
so-called Eastern question nor as an officious interference with the
right and duty which belong by treaty to certain great European powers
calling for their intervention in political matters affecting the good
government and religious freedom of the non-Mussulman subjects of the
Sultan, but it arose solely from our desire to have an accurate
knowledge of the conditions in our efforts to care for those entitled
to our protection.
The presence of our naval vessels which are now in the vicinity of the
disturbed localities affords opportunities to acquire a measure of
familiarity with the condition of affairs and will enable us to take
suitable steps for the protection of any interests of our countrymen
within reach of our ships that might be found imperiled.
The Ottoman Government has lately issued an imperial irade exempting
forever from taxation an American college for girls at Scutari.
Repeated assurances have also been obtained by our envoy at
Constantinople that similar institutions maintained and administered by
our countrymen shall be secured in the enjoyment of all rights and that
our citizens throughout the Empire shall be protected.
The Government, however, in view of existing facts, is far from relying
upon such assurances as the limit of its duty. Our minister has been
vigilant and alert in affording all possible protection in individual
cases where danger threatened or safety was imperiled. We have sent
ships as far toward the points of actual disturbance as it is possible
for them to go, where they offer refuge to those obliged to flee, and
we have the promise of other powers which have ships in the
neighborhood that our citizens as well as theirs will be received and
protected on board those ships. On the demand of our minister orders
have been issued by the Sultan that Turkish soldiers shall guard and
escort to the coast American refugees.
These orders have been carried out, and our latest intelligence gives
assurance of the present personal safety of our citizens and
missionaries. Though thus far no lives of American citizens have been
sacrificed, there can be no doubt that serious loss and destruction of
mission property have resulted from riotous conflicts and outrageous
attacks.
By treaty several of the most powerful European powers have secured a
right and have assumed a duty not only in behalf of their own citizens
and in furtherance of their own interests, but as agents of the
Christian world. Their right is to enforce such conduct of Turkish
government as will restrain fanatical brutality, and if this fails
their duty is to so interfere as to insure against such dreadful
occurrences in Turkey as have lately shocked civilization. The powers
declare this right and this duty to be theirs alone, and it is
earnestly hoped that prompt and effective action on their part will not
be delayed.
The new consulates at Erzerum and Harpoot, for which appropriation was
made last session, have been provisionally filled by trusted employees
of the Department of State. These appointees, though now in Turkey,
have not yet received their exequaturs.
The arbitration of the claim of the Venezuela Steam Transportation
Company under the treaty of January 19, 1892, between the United States
and Venezuela, resulted in an award in favor of the claimant.
The Government has used its good offices toward composing the
differences between Venezuela on the one hand and France and Belgium on
the other growing out of the dismissal of the representatives of those
powers on the ground of a publication deemed offensive to Venezuela.
Although that dismissal was coupled with a cordial request that other
more personally agreeable envoys be sent in their stead, a rupture of
intercourse ensued and still continues.
In view of the growth of our interests in foreign countries and the
encouraging prospects for a general expansion of our commerce, the
question of an improvement in the consular service has increased in
importance and urgency. Though there is no doubt that the great body of
consular officers are rendering valuable services to the trade and
industries of the country, the need of some plan of appointment and
control which would tend to secure a higher average of efficiency can
not be denied.
The importance of the subject has led the Executive to consider what
steps might properly be taken without additional legislation to answer
the need of a better system of consular appointments. The matter having
been committed to the consideration of the Secretary of State, in
pursuance of his recommendations an Executive order was issued on the
20th of September, 1895, by the terms of which it is provided that
after that date any vacancy in a consulate or commercial agency with an
annual salary or compensation from official fees of not more than
$2,500 or less than $1,000 should be filled either by transfer or
promotion from some other position under the Department of State of a
character tending to qualify the incumbent for the position to be
filled, or by the appointment of a person not under the Department of
State, but having previously served thereunder and shown his capacity
and fitness for consular duty, or by the appointment of a person who,
having been selected by the President and sent to a board for
examination, is found upon such examination to be qualified for the
position. Posts which pay less than $1,000 being usually, on account of
their small compensation, filled by selection from residents of the
locality, it was not deemed practicable to put them under the new
system.
The compensation of $2,500 was adopted as the maximum limit in the
classification for the reason that consular officers receiving more
than that sum are often charged with functions and duties scarcely
inferior in dignity and importance to those of diplomatic agents, and
it was therefore thought best to continue their selection in the
discretion of the Executive without subjecting them to examination
before a board. Excluding 71 places with compensation at present less
than $1,000 and 53 places above the maximum in compensation, the number
of positions remaining within the scope of the order is 196. This
number will undoubtedly be increased by the inclusion of consular
officers whose remuneration in fees, now less than $1,000, will be
augmented with the growth of our foreign commerce and a return to more
favorable business conditions.
In execution of the Executive order referred to the Secretary of State
has designated as a board to conduct the prescribed examinations the
Third Assistant Secretary of State, the Solicitor of the Department of
State, and the Chief of the Consular Bureau, and has specified the
subjects to which such examinations shall relate.
It is not assumed that this system will prove a full measure of
consular reform. It is quite probable that actual experience will show
particulars in which the order already issued may be amended and
demonstrate that for the best results appropriate legislation by
Congress is imperatively required.
In any event, these efforts to improve the consular service ought to be
immediately supplemented by legislation providing for consular
inspection. This has frequently been a subject of Executive
recommendation, and I again urge such action by Congress as will permit
the frequent and thorough inspection of consulates by officers
appointed for that purpose or by persons already in the diplomatic or
consular service. The expense attending such a plan would be
insignificant compared with its usefulness, and I hope the legislation
necessary to set it on foot will be speedily forthcoming.
I am thoroughly convinced that in addition to their salaries our
ambassadors and ministers at foreign courts should be provided by the
Government with official residences. The salaries of these officers are
comparatively small and in most cases insufficient to pay, with other
necessary expenses, the cost of maintaining household establishments in
keeping with their important and delicate functions. The usefulness of
a nation's diplomatic representative undeniably depends much upon the
appropriateness of his surroundings, and a country like ours, while
avoiding unnecessary glitter and show, should be certain that it does
not suffer in its relations with foreign nations through parsimony and
shabbiness in its diplomatic outfit. These considerations and the other
advantages of having fixed and somewhat permanent locations for our
embassies would abundantly justify the moderate expenditure necessary
to carry out this suggestion.
As we turn from a review of our foreign relations to the contemplation
of our national financial situation we are immediately aware that we
approach a subject of domestic concern more important than any other
that can engage our attention, and one at present in such a perplexing
and delicate predicament as to require prompt and wise treatment.
We may well be encouraged to earnest effort in this direction when we
recall the steps already taken toward improving our economic and
financial situation and when we appreciate how well the way has been
prepared for further progress by an aroused and intelligent popular
interest in these subjects.
By command of the people a customs-revenue system designed for the
protection and benefit of favored classes at the expense of the great
mass of our countrymen, and which, while inefficient for the purpose of
revenue, curtailed our trade relations and impeded our entrance to the
markets of the world, has been superseded by a tariff policy which in
principle is based upon a denial of the right of the Government to
obstruct the avenues to our people's cheap living or lessen their
comfort and contentment for the sake of according especial advantages
to favorites, and which, while encouraging our intercourse and trade
with other nations, recognizes the fact that American self-reliance,
thrift, and ingenuity can build up our country's industries and develop
its resources more surely than enervating paternalism.
The compulsory purchase and coinage of silver by the Government,
unchecked and unregulated by business conditions and heedless of our
currency needs, which for more than fifteen years diluted our
circulating medium, undermined confidence abroad in our financial
ability, and at last culminated in distress and panic at home, has been
recently stopped by the repeal of the laws which forced this reckless
scheme upon the country.
The things thus accomplished, notwithstanding their extreme importance
and beneficent effects, fall far short of curing the monetary evils
from which we suffer as a result of long indulgence in ill-advised
financial expedients.
The currency denominated United States notes and commonly known as
greenbacks was issued in large volume during the late Civil War and was
intended originally to meet the exigencies of that period. It will be
seen by a reference to the debates in Congress at the time the laws
were passed authorizing the issue of these notes that their advocates
declared they were intended for only temporary use and to meet the
emergency of war. In almost if not all the laws relating to them some
provision was made contemplating their voluntary or compulsory
retirement. A large quantity of them, however, were kept on foot and
mingled with the currency of the country, so that at the close of the
year 1874 they amounted to $381,999,073.
Immediately after that date, and in January, 1875, a law was passed
providing for the resumption of specie payments, by which the Secretary
of the Treasury was required whenever additional circulation was issued
to national banks to retire United States notes equal in amount to 80
per cent of such additional national-bank circulation until such notes
were reduced to $300,000,000. This law further provided that on and
after the 1st day of January, 1879, the United States notes then
outstanding should be redeemed in coin, and in order to provide and
prepare for such redemption the Secretary of the Treasury was
authorized not only to use any surplus revenues of the Government, but
to issue bonds of the United States and dispose of them for coin and to
use the proceeds for the purposes contemplated by the statute.
In May, 1878, and before the date thus appointed for the redemption and
retirement of these notes, another statute was passed forbidding their
further cancellation and retirement. Some of them had, however, been
previously redeemed and canceled upon the issue of additional
national-bank circulation, as permitted by the law of 1875, so that the
amount outstanding at the time of the passage of the act forbidding
their further retirement was $346,681,016.
The law of 1878 did not stop at distinct prohibition, but contained in
addition the following express provision:
And when any of said notes may be redeemed or be received into the
Treasury under any law from any source whatever, and shall belong to
the United States, they shall not be retired, canceled, or destroyed,
but they shall be reissued and paid out again and kept in circulation.
This was the condition of affairs on the 1st day of January, 1879, which had been fixed upon four years before as the date for entering upon the redemption and retirement of all these notes, and for which such abundant means had been provided.
The Government was put in the anomalous situation of owing to the
holders of its notes debts payable in gold on demand which could
neither be retired by receiving such notes in discharge of obligations
due the Government nor canceled by actual payment in gold. It was
forced to redeem without redemption and to pay without acquittance.
There had been issued and sold $95,500,000 of the bonds authorized by
the resumption act of 1875, the proceeds of which, together with other
gold in the Treasury, created a gold fund deemed sufficient to meet the
demands which might be made upon it for the redemption of the
outstanding United States notes. This fund, together with such other
gold as might be from time to time in the Treasury available for the
same purpose, has been since called our gold reserve, and $100,000,000
has been regarded as an adequate amount to accomplish its object. This
fund amounted on the 1st day of January, 1879, to $114,193,360, and
though thereafter constantly fluctuating it did not fall below that sum
until July, 1892. In April, 1893, for the first time since its
establishment, this reserve amounted to less than $100,000,000,
containing at that date only $97,011,330.