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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of State of the Union Addresses
+by William McKinley
+(#22 in our series of US Presidential State of the Union Addresses)
+
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+Title: State of the Union Addresses of William McKinley
+
+Author: William McKinley
+
+Release Date: February, 2004  [EBook #5031]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on April 11, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY WILLIAM MCKINLEY ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by James Linden.
+
+The addresses are separated by three asterisks: ***
+
+Dates of addresses by William McKinley in this eBook:
+  December 6, 1897
+  December 5, 1898
+  December 5, 1899
+  December 3, 1900
+
+
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 6, 1897
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+It gives me pleasure to extend greeting to the Fifty-fifth Congress,
+assembled in regular session at the seat of Government, with many of whose
+Senators and Representatives I have been associated in the legislative
+service. Their meeting occurs under felicitous conditions, justifying
+sincere congratulation and calling for our grateful acknowledgment to a
+beneficent Providence which has so signally blessed and prospered us as a
+nation. Peace and good will with all the nations of the earth continue
+unbroken.
+
+A matter of genuine satisfaction is the growing feeling of fraternal regard
+and unification of all sections of our country, the incompleteness of which
+has too long delayed realization of the highest blessings of the Union. The
+spirit of patriotism is universal and is ever increasing in fervor. The
+public questions which now most engross us are lifted far above either
+partisanship, prejudice, or former sectional differences. They affect every
+part of our common country alike and permit of no division on ancient
+lines. Questions of foreign policy, of revenue, the soundness of the
+currency, the inviolability of national obligations, the improvement of the
+public service, appeal to the individual conscience of every earnest
+citizen to whatever party he belongs or in whatever section of the country
+he may reside.
+
+The extra session of this Congress which closed during July last enacted
+important legislation, and while its full effect has not yet been realized,
+what it has already accomplished assures us of its timeliness and wisdom.
+To test its permanent value further time will be required, and the people,
+satisfied with its operation and results thus far, are in no mind to
+withhold from it a fair trial.
+
+Tariff legislation having been settled by the extra session of Congress,
+the question next pressing for consideration is that of the currency.
+
+The work of putting our finances upon a sound basis, difficult as it may
+seem, will appear easier when we recall the financial operations of the
+Government since 1866. On the 30th day of June of that year we had
+outstanding demand liabilities in the sum of $728,868,447.41. On the 1st of
+January, 1879, these liabilities had been reduced to$443,889,495.88. Of our
+interest-bearing obligations, the figures are even more striking. On July
+1, 1866, the principal of the interest-bearing debt of the Government was
+$2,332,331,208. On the 1st day of July, 1893, this sum had been reduced to
+$585,137,100, or an aggregate reduction of $1,747,294,108. The
+interest-bearing debt of the United States on the 1st day of December,
+1897, was $847,365,620. The Government money now outstanding (December 1)
+consists of $346,681,016 of United States notes, $107,793,280 of Treasury
+notes issued by authority of the law of 1890, $384,963,504 of silver
+certificates, and $61,280,761 of standard silver dollars.
+
+With the great resources of the Government, and with the honorable example
+of the past before us, we ought not to hesitate to enter upon a currency
+revision which will make our demand obligations less onerous to the
+Government and relieve our financial laws from ambiguity and doubt.
+
+The brief review of what was accomplished from the close of the war to
+1893, makes unreasonable and groundless any distrust either of our
+financial ability or soundness; while the situation from 1893 to 1897 must
+admonish Congress of the immediate necessity of so legislating as to make
+the return of the conditions then prevailing impossible.
+
+There are many plans proposed as a remedy for the evil. Before we can find
+the true remedy we must appreciate the real evil. It is not that our
+currency of every kind is not good, for every dollar of it is good; good
+because the Government's pledge is out to keep it so, and that pledge will
+not be broken. However, the guaranty of our purpose to keep the pledge will
+be best shown by advancing toward its fulfillment.
+
+The evil of the present system is found in the great cost to the Government
+of maintaining the parity of our different forms of money, that is, keeping
+all of them at par with gold. We surely cannot be longer heedless of the
+burden this imposes upon the people, even under fairly prosperous
+conditions, while the past four years have demonstrated that it is not only
+an expensive charge upon the Government, but a dangerous menace to the
+National credit.
+
+It is manifest that we must devise some plan to protect the Government
+against bond issues for repeated redemptions. We must either curtail the
+opportunity for speculation, made easy by the multiplied redemptions of our
+demand obligations, or increase the gold reserve for their redemption. We
+have $900,000,000 of currency which the Government by solemn enactment has
+undertaken to keep at par with gold. Nobody is obliged to redeem in gold
+but the Government. The banks are not required to redeem in gold. The
+Government is obliged to keep equal with gold all its outstanding currency
+and coin obligations, while its receipts are not required to be paid in
+gold. They are paid in every kind of money but gold, and the only means by
+which the Government can with certainty get gold is by borrowing. It can
+get it in no other way when it most needs it. The Government without any
+fixed gold revenue is pledged to maintain gold redemption, which it has
+steadily and faithfully done, and which, under the authority now given, it
+will continue to do.
+
+The law which requires the Government, after having redeemed its United
+States notes, to pay them out again as current funds, demands a constant
+replenishment of the gold reserve. This is especially so in times of
+business panic and when the revenues are insufficient to meet the expenses
+of the Government. At such times the Government has no other way to supply
+its deficit and maintain redemption but through the increase of its bonded
+debt, as during the Administration of my predecessor, when $262,315,400 of
+four-and-a-half per cent bonds were issued and sold and the proceeds used
+to pay the expenses of the Government in excess of the revenues and sustain
+the gold reserve. While it is true that the greater part of the proceeds of
+these bonds were used to supply deficient revenues, a considerable portion
+was required to maintain the gold reserve.
+
+With our revenues equal to our expenses, there would be no deficit
+requiring the issuance of bonds. But if the gold reserve falls below
+$100,000,000, how will it be replenished except by selling more bonds? Is
+there any other way practicable under existing law? The serious question
+then is, Shall we continue the policy that has been pursued in the past;
+that is, when the gold reserve reaches the point of danger, issue more
+bonds and supply the needed gold, or shall we provide other means to
+prevent these recurring drains upon the gold reserve? If no further
+legislation is had and the policy of selling bonds is to be continued, then
+Congress should give the Secretary of the Treasury authority to sell bonds
+at long or short periods, bearing a less rate of interest than is now
+authorized by law.
+
+I earnestly recommend, as soon as the receipts of the Government are quite
+sufficient to pay all the expenses of the Government, that when any of the
+United States notes are presented for redemption in gold and are redeemed
+in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart, and only paid out in
+exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty. If the holder of the United
+States note prefers the gold and gets it from the Government, he should not
+receive back from the Government a United States note without paying gold
+in exchange for it. The reason for this is made all the more apparent when
+the Government issues an interest-bearing debt to provide gold for the
+redemption of United States notes--a non-interest-bearing debt. Surely it
+should not pay them out again except on demand and for gold. If they are
+put out in any other way, they may return again to be followed by another
+bond issue to redeem them--another interest-bearing debt to redeem a
+non-interest-bearing debt.
+
+In my view, it is of the utmost importance that the Government should be
+relieved from the burden of providing all the gold required for exchanges
+and export. This responsibility is alone borne by the Government, without
+any of the usual and necessary banking powers to help itself. The banks do
+not feel the strain of gold redemption. The whole strain rests upon the
+Government, and the size of the gold reserve in the Treasury has come to
+be, with or without reason, the signal of danger or of security. This ought
+to be stopped.
+
+If we are to have an era of prosperity in the country, with sufficient
+receipts for the expenses of the Government, we may feel no immediate
+embarrassment from our present currency; but the danger still exists, and
+will be ever present, menacing us so long as the existing system continues.
+And, besides, it is in times of adequate revenues and business tranquillity
+that the Government should prepare for the worst. We cannot avoid, without
+serious consequences, the wise consideration and prompt solution of this
+question.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury has outlined a plan, in great detail, for the
+purpose of removing the threatened recurrence of a depleted gold reserve
+and save us from future embarrassment on that account. To this plan I
+invite your careful consideration.
+
+I concur with the Secretary of the Treasury in his recommendation that
+National banks be allowed to issue notes to the face value of the bonds
+which they have deposited for circulation, and that the tax on circulating
+notes secured by deposit of such bonds be reduced to one-half of one per
+cent per annum. I also join him in recommending that authority be given for
+the establishment of National banks with a minimum capital of $25,000. This
+will enable the smaller villages and agricultural regions of the country to
+be supplied with currency to meet their needs.
+
+I recommend that the issue of National bank notes be restricted to the
+denomination of ten dollars and upwards. If the suggestions I have herein
+made shall have the approval of Congress, then I would recommend that
+National banks be required to redeem their notes in gold.
+
+The most important problem with which this Government is now called upon to
+deal pertaining to its foreign relations concerns its duty toward Spain and
+the Cuban insurrection. Problems and conditions more or less in common with
+those now existing have confronted this Government at various times in the
+past. The story of Cuba for many years has been one of unrest, growing
+discontent, an effort toward a larger enjoyment of liberty and
+self-control, of organized resistance to the mother country, of depression
+after distress and warfare, and of ineffectual settlement to be followed by
+renewed revolt. For no enduring period since the enfranchisement of the
+continental possessions of Spain in the Western Continent has the condition
+of Cuba or the policy of Spain toward Cuba not caused concern to the United
+States.
+
+The prospect from time to time that the weakness of Spain's hold upon the
+island and the political vicissitudes and embarrassments of the home
+Government might lead to the transfer of Cuba to a continental power called
+forth between 1823 and 1860 various emphatic declarations of the policy of
+the United States to permit no disturbance of Cuba' s connection with Spain
+unless in the direction of independence or acquisition by us through
+purchase, nor has there been any change of this declared policy since upon
+the part of the Government.
+
+The revolution which began in 1868 lasted for ten years despite the
+strenuous efforts of the successive peninsular governments to suppress it.
+Then as now the Government of the United States testified its grave concern
+and offered its aid to put an end to bloodshed in Cuba. The overtures made
+by General Grant were refused and the war dragged on, entailing great loss
+of life and treasure and increased injury to American interests, besides
+throwing enhanced burdens of neutrality upon this Government. In 1878 peace
+was brought about by the truce of Zanjon, obtained by negotiations between
+the Spanish commander, Martinez de Campos, and the insurgent leaders.
+
+The present insurrection broke out in February, 1895. It is not my purpose
+at this time to recall its remarkable increase or to characterize its
+tenacious resistance against the enormous forces massed against it by
+Spain. The revolt and the efforts to subdue it carried destruction to every
+quarter of the island, developing wide proportions and defying the efforts
+of Spain for its suppression. The civilized code of war has been
+disregarded, no less so by the Spaniards than by the Cubans.
+
+The existing conditions can not but fill this Government and the American
+people with the gravest apprehension. There is no desire on the part of our
+people to profit by the misfortunes of Spain. We have only the desire to
+see the Cubans prosperous and contented, enjoying that measure of
+self-control which is the inalienable right of man, protected in their
+right to reap the benefit of the exhaustless treasures of their country.
+
+The offer made by my predecessor in April, 1896, tendering the friendly
+offices of this Government, failed. Any mediation on our part was not
+accepted. In brief, the answer read: "There is no effectual way to pacify
+Cuba unless it begins with the actual submission of the rebels to the
+mother country." Then only could Spain act in the promised direction, of
+her own motion and after her own plans.
+
+The cruel policy of concentration was initiated February 16, 1896. The
+productive districts controlled by the Spanish armies were depopulated. The
+agricultural inhabitants were herded in and about the garrison towns, their
+lands laid waste and their dwellings destroyed. This policy the late
+cabinet of Spain justified as a necessary measure of war and as a means of
+cutting off supplies from the insurgents. It has utterly failed as a war
+measure. It was not civilized warfare. It was extermination.
+
+Against this abuse of the rights of war I have felt constrained on repeated
+occasions to enter the firm and earnest protest of this Government. There
+was much of public condemnation of the treatment of American citizens by
+alleged illegal arrests and long imprisonment awaiting trial or pending
+protracted judicial proceedings. I felt it my first duty to make instant
+demand for the release or speedy trial of all American citizens under
+arrest. Before the change of the Spanish cabinet in October last twenty-two
+prisoners, citizens of the United States, had been given their freedom.
+
+For the relief of our own citizens suffering because of the conflict the
+aid of Congress was sought in a special message, and under the
+appropriation of May 24, 1897, effective aid has been given to American
+citizens in Cuba, many of them at their own request having been returned to
+the United States.
+
+The instructions given to our new minister to Spain before his departure
+for his post directed him to impress upon that Government the sincere wish
+of the United States to lend its aid toward the ending of the war in Cuba
+by reaching a peaceful and lasting result, just and honorable alike to
+Spain and to the Cuban people. These instructions recited the character and
+duration of the contest, the widespread losses it entails, the burdens and
+restraints it imposes upon us, with constant disturbance of national
+interests, and the injury resulting from an indefinite continuance of this
+state of things. It was stated that at this juncture our Government was
+constrained to seriously inquire if the time was not ripe when Spain of her
+own volition, moved by her own interests and every sentiment of humanity,
+should put a stop to this destructive war and make proposals of settlement
+honorable to herself and just to her Cuban colony. It was urged that as a
+neighboring nation, with large interests in Cuba, we could be required to
+wait only a reasonable time for the mother country to establish its
+authority and restore peace and order within the borders of the island;
+that we could not contemplate an indefinite period for the accomplishment
+of this result.
+
+No solution was proposed to which the slightest idea of humiliation to
+Spain could attach, and, indeed, precise proposals were withheld to avoid
+embarrassment to that Government. All that was asked or expected was that
+some safe way might be speedily provided and permanent peace restored. It
+so chanced that the consideration of this offer, addressed to the same
+Spanish administration which had declined the tenders of my predecessor,
+and which for more than two years had poured men and treasure into Cuba in
+the fruitless effort to suppress the revolt, fell to others. Between the
+departure of General Woodford, the new envoy, and his arrival in Spain the
+statesman who had shaped the policy of his country fell by the hand of an
+assassin, and although the cabinet of the late premier still held office
+and received from our envoy the proposals he bore, that cabinet gave place
+within a few days thereafter to a new administration, under the leadership
+of Sagasta.
+
+The reply to our note was received on the 23d day of October. It is in the
+direction of a better understanding. It appreciates the friendly purposes
+of this Government. It admits that our country is deeply affected by the
+war in Cuba and that its desires for peace are just. It declares that the
+present Spanish government is bound by every consideration to a change of
+policy that should satisfy the United States and pacify Cuba within a
+reasonable time. To this end Spain has decided to put into effect the
+political reforms heretofore advocated by the present premier, without
+halting for any consideration in the path which in its judgment leads to
+peace. The military operations, it is said, will continue, but will be
+humane and conducted with all regard for private rights, being accompanied
+by political action leading to the autonomy of Cuba while guarding Spanish
+sovereignty. This, it is claimed, will result in investing Cuba with a
+distinct personality, the island to be governed by an executive and by a
+local council or chamber, reserving to Spain the control of the foreign
+relations, the army and navy, and the judicial administration. To
+accomplish this the present government proposes to modify existing
+legislation by decree, leaving the Spanish Cortes, with the aid of Cuban
+senators and deputies, to solve the economic problem and properly
+distribute the existing debt.
+
+In the absence of a declaration of the measures that this Government
+proposes to take in carrying out its proffer of good offices, it suggests
+that Spain be left free to conduct military operations and grant political
+reforms, while the United States for its part shall enforce its neutral
+obligations and cut off the assistance which it is asserted the insurgents
+receive from this country. The supposition of an indefinite prolongation of
+the war is denied. It is asserted that the western provinces are already
+well-nigh reclaimed, that the planting of cane and tobacco therein has been
+resumed, and that by force of arms and new and ample reforms very early and
+complete pacification is hoped for.
+
+The immediate amelioration of existing conditions under the new
+administration of Cuban affairs is predicted, and therewithal the
+disturbance and all occasion for any change of attitude on the part of the
+United States. Discussion of the question of the international duties and
+responsibilities of the United States as Spain understands them is
+presented, with an apparent disposition to charge us with failure in this
+regard. This charge is without any basis in fact. It could not have been
+made if Spain had been cognizant of the constant efforts this Government
+has made, at the cost of millions and by the employment of the
+administrative machinery of the nation at command, to perform its full duty
+according to the law of nations. That it has successfully prevented the
+departure of a single military expedition or armed vessel from our shores
+in violation of our laws would seem to be a sufficient answer. But of this
+aspect of the Spanish note it is not necessary to speak further now. Firm
+in the conviction of a wholly performed obligation, due response to this
+charge has been made in diplomatic course.
+
+Throughout all these horrors and dangers to our own peace this Government
+has never in any way abrogated its sovereign prerogative of reserving to
+itself the determination of its policy and course according to its own high
+sense of right and in consonance with the dearest interests and convictions
+of our own people should the prolongation of the strife so demand.
+
+Of the untried measures there remain only: Recognition of the insurgents as
+belligerents; recognition of the independence of Cuba; neutral intervention
+to end the war by imposing a rational compromise between the contestants,
+and intervention in favor of one or the other party. I speak not of
+forcible annexation, for that can not be thought of. That, by our code of
+morality, would be criminal aggression.
+
+Recognition of the belligerency of the Cuban insurgents has often been
+canvassed as a possible, if not inevitable, step both in regard to the
+previous ten years' struggle and during the present war. I am not unmindful
+that the two Houses of Congress in the spring of 1896 expressed the opinion
+by concurrent resolution that a condition of public war existed requiring
+or justifying the recognition of a state of belligerency in Cuba, and
+during the extra session the Senate voted a joint resolution of like
+import, which, however, was not brought to a vote in the House of
+Representatives. In the presence of these significant expressions of the
+sentiment of the legislative branch it behooves the Executive to soberly
+consider the conditions under which so important a measure must needs rest
+for justification. It is to be seriously considered whether the Cuban
+insurrection possesses beyond dispute the attributes of statehood, which
+alone can demand the recognition of belligerency in its favor. Possession,
+in short, of the essential qualifications of sovereignty by the insurgents
+and the conduct of the war by them according to the received code of war
+are no less important factors toward the determination of the problem of
+belligerency than are the influences and consequences of the struggle upon
+the internal polity of the recognizing state.
+
+The wise utterances of President Grant in his memorable message of December
+7, 1875, are signally relevant to the present situation in Cuba, and it may
+be wholesome now to recall them. At that time a ruinous conflict had for
+seven years wasted the neighboring island. During all those years an utter
+disregard of the laws of civilized warfare and of the just demands of
+humanity, which called forth expressions of condemnation from the nations
+of Christendom, continued unabated. Desolation and ruin pervaded that
+productive region, enormously affecting the commerce of all commercial
+nations, but that of the United States more than any other by reason of
+proximity and larger trade and intercourse. At that juncture General Grant
+uttered these words, which now, as then, sum up the elements of the
+problem: A recognition of the independence of Cuba being, in my opinion,
+impracticable and indefensible, the question which next presents itself is
+that of the recognition of belligerent rights in the parties to the
+contest.
+
+In a former message to Congress I had occasion to consider this question,
+and reached the conclusion that the conflict in Cuba, dreadful and
+devastating as were its incidents, did not rise to the fearful dignity of
+war. It is possible that the acts of foreign powers, and even acts of Spain
+herself, of this very nature, might be pointed to in defense of such
+recognition. But now, as in its past history, the United States should
+carefully avoid the false lights which might lead it into the mazes of
+doubtful law and of questionable propriety, and adhere rigidly and sternly
+to the rule, which has been its guide, of doing only that which is right
+and honest and of good report. The question of according or of withholding
+rights of belligerency must be judged in every case in view of the
+particular attending facts. Unless justified by necessity, it is always,
+and justly, regarded as an unfriendly act and a gratuitous demonstration of
+moral support to the rebellion. It is necessary, and it is required, when
+the interests and rights of another government or of its people are so far
+affected by a pending civil conflict as to require a definition of its
+relations to the parties thereto. But this conflict must be one which will
+be recognized in the sense of international law as war. Belligerence, too,
+is a fact. The mere existence of contending armed bodies and their
+occasional conflicts do not constitute war in the sense referred to.
+Applying to the existing condition of affairs in Cuba the tests recognized
+by publicists and writers on international law, and which have been
+observed by nations of dignity, honesty, and power when free from sensitive
+or selfish and unworthy motives, I fail to find in the insurrection the
+existence of such a substantial political organization, real, palpable, and
+manifest to the world, having the forms and capable of the ordinary
+functions of government toward its own people and to other states, with
+courts for the administration of justice, with a local habitation,
+possessing such organization of force, such material, such occupation of
+territory, as to take the contest out of the category of a mere rebellious
+insurrection or occasional skirmishes and place it on the terrible footing
+of war, to which a recognition of belligerency would aim to elevate it. The
+contest, moreover, is solely on land; the insurrection has not possessed
+itself of a single seaport whence it may send forth its flag, nor has it
+any means of communication with foreign powers except through the military
+lines of its adversaries. No apprehension of any of those sudden and
+difficult complications which a war upon the ocean is apt to precipitate
+upon the vessels, both commercial and national, and upon the consular
+officers of other powers calls for the definition of their relations to the
+parties to the contest. Considered as a question of expediency, I regard
+the accordance of belligerent rights still to be as unwise and premature as
+I regard it to be, at present, indefensible as a measure of right. Such
+recognition entails upon the country according the rights which flow from
+it difficult and complicated duties, and requires the exaction from the
+contending parties of the strict observance of their rights and
+obligations. It confers the right of search upon the high seas by vessels
+of both parties; it would subject the carrying of arms and munitions of
+war, which now may be transported freely and without interruption in the
+vessels of the United States, to detention and to possible seizure; it
+would give rise to countless vexatious questions, would release the parent
+Government from responsibility for acts done by the insurgents, and would
+invest Spain with the right to exercise the supervision recognized by our
+treaty of 1795 over our commerce on the high seas, a very large part of
+which, in its traffic between the Atlantic and the Gulf States and between
+all of them and the States on the Pacific, passes through the waters which
+wash the shores of Cuba. The exercise of this supervision could scarce fail
+to lead, if not to abuses, certainly to collisions perilous to the peaceful
+relations of the two States. There can be little doubt to what result such
+supervision would before long draw this nation. It would be unworthy of the
+United States to inaugurate the possibilities of such result by measures of
+questionable right or expediency or by any indirection. Turning to the
+practical aspects of a recognition of belligerency and reviewing its
+inconveniences and positive dangers, still further pertinent considerations
+appear. In the code of nations there is no such thing as a naked
+recognition of belligerency, unaccompanied by the assumption of
+international neutrality. Such recognition, without more, will not confer
+upon either party to a domestic conflict a status not theretofore actually
+possessed or affect the relation of either party to other states. The act
+of recognition usually takes the form of a solemn proclamation of
+neutrality, which recites the de facto condition of belligerency as its
+motive. It announces a domestic law of neutrality in the declaring state.
+It assumes the international obligations of a neutral in the presence of a
+public state of war. It warns all citizens and others within the
+jurisdiction of the proclaimant that they violate those rigorous
+obligations at their own peril and can not expect to be shielded from the
+consequences. The right of visit and search on the seas and seizure of
+vessels and cargoes and contraband of war and good prize under admiralty
+law must under international law be admitted as a legitimate consequence of
+a proclamation of belligerency. While according the equal belligerent
+rights defined by public law to each party in our ports disfavors would be
+imposed on both, which, while nominally equal, would weigh heavily in
+behalf of Spain herself. Possessing a navy and controlling the ports of
+Cuba, her maritime rights could be asserted not only for the military
+investment of the island, but up to the margin of our own territorial
+waters, and a condition of things would exist for which the Cubans within
+their own domain could not hope to create a parallel, while its creation
+through aid or sympathy from within our domain would be even more
+impossible than now, with the additional obligations of international
+neutrality we would perforce assume.
+
+The enforcement of this enlarged and onerous code of neutrality would only
+be influential within our own jurisdiction by land and sea and applicable
+by our own instrumentalities. It could impart to the United States no
+jurisdiction between Spain and the insurgents. It would give the United
+States no right of intervention to enforce the conduct of the strife within
+the paramount authority of Spain according to the international code of
+war.
+
+For these reasons I regard the recognition of the belligerency of the Cuban
+insurgents as now unwise, and therefore inadmissible. Should that step
+hereafter be deemed wise as a measure of right and duty, the Executive will
+take it.
+
+Intervention upon humanitarian grounds has been frequently suggested and
+has not failed to receive my most anxious and earnest consideration. But
+should such a step be now taken, when it is apparent that a hopeful change
+has supervened in the policy of Spain toward Cuba? A new government has
+taken office in the mother country. It is pledged in advance to the
+declaration that all the effort in the world can not suffice to maintain
+peace in Cuba by the bayonet; that vague promises of reform after
+subjugation afford no solution of the insular problem; that with a
+substitution of commanders must come a change of the past system of warfare
+for one in harmony with a new policy, which shall no longer aim to drive
+the Cubans to the "horrible alternative of taking to the thicket or
+succumbing in misery;" that reforms must be instituted in accordance with
+the needs and circumstances of the time, and that these reforms, while
+designed to give full autonomy to the colony and to create a virtual entity
+and self-controlled administration, shall yet conserve and affirm the
+sovereignty of Spain by a just distribution of powers and burdens upon a
+basis of mutual interest untainted by methods of selfish expediency.
+
+The first acts of the new government lie in these honorable paths. The
+policy of cruel rapine and extermination that so long shocked the universal
+sentiment of humanity has been reversed. Under the new military commander a
+broad clemency is proffered. Measures have already been set on foot to
+relieve the horrors of starvation. The power of the Spanish armies, it is
+asserted, is to be used not to spread ruin and desolation, but to protect
+the resumption of peaceful agricultural pursuits and productive industries.
+That past methods are futile to force a peace by subjugation is freely
+admitted, and that ruin without conciliation must inevitably fail to win
+for Spain the fidelity of a contented dependency.
+
+Decrees in application of the foreshadowed reforms have already been
+promulgated. The full text of these decrees has not been received, but as
+furnished in a telegraphic summary from our minister are: All civil and
+electoral rights of peninsular Spaniards are, in virtue of existing
+constitutional authority, forthwith extended to colonial Spaniards. A
+scheme of autonomy has been proclaimed by decree, to become effective upon
+ratification by the Cortes. It creates a Cuban parliament, which, with the
+insular executive, can consider and vote upon all subjects affecting local
+order and interests, possessing unlimited powers save as to matters of
+state, war, and the navy, as to which the Governor-General acts by his own
+authority as the delegate of the central Government. This parliament
+receives the oath of the Governor-General to preserve faithfully the
+liberties and privileges of the colony, and to it the colonial secretaries
+are responsible. It has the right to propose to the central Government,
+through the Governor-General, modifications of the national charter and to
+invite new projects of law or executive measures in the interest of the
+colony.
+
+Besides its local powers, it is competent, first, to regulate electoral
+registration and procedure and prescribe the qualifications of electors and
+the manner of exercising suffrage; second, to organize courts of justice
+with native judges from members of the local bar; third, to frame the
+insular budget, both as to expenditures and revenues, without limitation of
+any kind, and to set apart the revenues to meet the Cuban share of the
+national budget, which latter will be voted by the national Cortes with the
+assistance of Cuban senators and deputies; fourth, to initiate or take part
+in the negotiations of the national Government for commercial treaties
+which may affect Cuban interests; fifth, to accept or reject commercial
+treaties which the national Government may have concluded without the
+participation of the Cuban government; sixth, to frame the colonial tariff,
+acting in accord with the peninsular Government in scheduling articles of
+mutual commerce between the mother country and the colonies. Before
+introducing or voting upon a bill the Cuban government or the chambers will
+lay the project before the central Government and hear its opinion thereon,
+all the correspondence in such regard being made public. Finally, all
+conflicts of jurisdiction arising between the different municipal,
+provincial, and insular assemblies, or between the latter and the insular
+executive power, and which from their nature may not be referable to the
+central Government for decision, shall be submitted to the courts.
+
+That the government of Sagasta has entered upon a course from which
+recession with honor is impossible can hardly be questioned; that in the
+few weeks it has existed it has made earnest of the sincerity of its
+professions is undeniable. I shall not impugn its sincerity, nor should
+impatience be suffered to embarrass it in the task it has undertaken. It is
+honestly due to Spain and to our friendly relations with Spain that she
+should be given a reasonable chance to realize her expectations and to
+prove the asserted efficacy of the new order of things to which she stands
+irrevocably committed. She has recalled the commander whose brutal orders
+inflamed the American mind and shocked the civilized world. She has
+modified the horrible order of concentration and has undertaken to care for
+the helpless and permit those who desire to resume the cultivation of their
+fields to do so, and assures them of the protection of the Spanish
+Government in their lawful occupations. She has just released the
+Competitor prisoners, heretofore sentenced to death, and who have been the
+subject of repeated diplomatic correspondence during both this and the
+preceding Administration.
+
+Not a single American citizen is now in arrest or confinement in Cuba of
+whom this Government has any knowledge. The near future will demonstrate
+whether the indispensable condition of a righteous peace, just alike to the
+Cubans and to Spain as well as equitable to all our interests so intimately
+involved in the welfare of Cuba, is likely to be attained. If not, the
+exigency of further and other action by the United States will remain to be
+taken. When that time comes that action will be determined in the line of
+indisputable right and duty. It will be faced, without misgiving or
+hesitancy in the light of the obligation this Government owes to itself, to
+the people who have confided to it the protection of their interests and
+honor, and to humanity.
+
+Sure of the right, keeping free from all offense ourselves, actuated only
+by upright and patriotic considerations, moved neither by passion nor
+selfishness. the Government will continue its watchful care over the rights
+and property of American citizens and will abate none of its efforts to
+bring about by peaceful agencies a peace which shall be honorable and
+enduring. If it shall hereafter appear to be a duty imposed by our
+obligations to ourselves, to civilization and humanity to intervene with
+force, it shall be without fault on our part and only because the necessity
+for such action will be so clear as to command the support and approval of
+the civilized world.
+
+By a special message dated the 16th day of June last, I laid before the
+Senate a treaty signed that day by the plenipotentiaries of the United
+States and of the Republic of Hawaii, having for its purpose the
+incorporation of the Hawaiian Islands as an integral part of the United
+States and under its sovereignty. The Senate having removed the injunction
+of secrecy, although the treaty is still pending before that body, the
+subject may be properly referred to in this Message because the necessary
+action of the Congress is required to determine by legislation many details
+of the eventual union should the fact of annexation be accomplished, as I
+believe it should be.
+
+While consistently disavowing from a very early period any aggressive
+policy of absorption in regard to the Hawaiian group, a long series of
+declarations through three-quarters of a century has proclaimed the vital
+interest of the United States in the independent life of the Islands and
+their intimate commercial dependence upon this country. At the same time it
+has been repeatedly asserted that in no event could the entity of Hawaiian
+statehood cease by the passage of the Islands under the domination or
+influence of another power than the United States. Under these
+circumstances, the logic of events required that annexation, heretofore
+offered but declined, should in the ripeness of time come about as the
+natural result of the strengthening ties that bind us to those Islands, and
+be realized by the free will of the Hawaiian State.
+
+That treaty was unanimously ratified without amendment by the Senate and
+President of the Republic of Hawaii on the 10th of September last, and only
+awaits the favorable action of the American Senate to effect the complete
+absorption of the Islands into the domain of the United States. What the
+conditions of such a union shall be, the political relation thereof to the
+United States, the character of the local administration, the quality and
+degree of the elective franchise of the inhabitants, the extension of the
+federal laws to the territory or the enactment of special laws to fit the
+peculiar condition thereof, the regulation if need be of the labor system
+therein, are all matters which the treaty has wisely relegated to the
+Congress.
+
+If the treaty is confirmed as every consideration of dignity and honor
+requires, the wisdom of Congress will see to it that, avoiding abrupt
+assimilation of elements perhaps hardly yet fitted to share in the highest
+franchises of citizenship, and having due regard to the geographical
+conditions, the most just provisions for self-rule in local matters with
+the largest political liberties as an integral part of our Nation will be
+accorded to the Hawaiians. No less is due to a people who, after nearly
+five years of demonstrated capacity to fulfill the obligations of
+self-governing statehood, come of their free will to merge their destinies
+in our body-politic.
+
+The questions which have arisen between Japan and Hawaii by reason of the
+treatment of Japanese laborers emigrating to the Islands under the
+Hawaiian-Japanese convention of 1888, are in a satisfactory stage of
+settlement by negotiation. This Government has not been invited to mediate,
+and on the other hand has sought no intervention in that matter, further
+than to evince its kindliest disposition toward such a speedy and direct
+adjustment by the two sovereign States in interest as shall comport with
+equity and honor. It is gratifying to learn that the apprehensions at first
+displayed on the part of Japan lest the cessation of Hawaii's national life
+through annexation might impair privileges to which Japan honorably laid
+claim, have given place to confidence in the uprightness of this
+Government, and in the sincerity of its purpose to deal with all possible
+ulterior questions in the broadest spirit of friendliness.
+
+As to the representation of this Government to Nicaragua, Salvador, and
+Costa Rica, I have concluded that Mr. William L. Merry, confirmed as
+minister of the United States to the States of Nicaragua, Salvador and
+Costa Rica, shall proceed to San Jose, Costa Rica, and there temporarily
+establish the headquarters of the United States to those three States. I
+took this action for what I regarded as the paramount interests of this
+country. It was developed upon an investigation by the Secretary of State
+that the Government of Nicaragua, while not unwilling to receive Mr. Merry
+in his diplomatic quality, was unable to do so because of the compact
+concluded June 20, 1895, whereby that Republic and those of Salvador and
+Honduras, forming what is known as the Greater Republic of Central America,
+had surrendered to the representative Diet thereof their right to receive
+and send diplomatic agents. The Diet was not willing to accept him because
+he was not accredited to that body. I could not accredit him to that body
+because the appropriation law of Congress did not permit it. Mr. Baker, the
+present minister at Managua, has been directed to present his letters of
+recall.
+
+Mr. W. Godfrey Hunter has likewise been accredited to the Governments of
+Guatemala and Honduras, the same as his predecessor. Guatemala is not a
+member of the Greater Republic of Central America, but Honduras is. Should
+this latter Government decline to receive him, he has been instructed to
+report this fact to his Government and await its further instructions.
+
+A subject of large importance to our country, and increasing appreciation
+on the part of the people, is the completion of the great highway of trade
+between the Atlantic and Pacific, known as the Nicaragua Canal. Its utility
+and value to American commerce is universally admitted. The Commission
+appointed under date of July 24 last "to continue the surveys and
+examinations authorized by the act approved March 2, 1895," in regard to
+"the proper route, feasibility, and cost of construction of the Nicaragua
+Canal, with a view of making complete plans for the entire work of
+construction of such canal," is now employed in the undertaking. In the
+future I shall take occasion to transmit to Congress the report of this
+Commission, making at the same time such further suggestions as may then
+seem advisable.
+
+Under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1897, for the
+promotion of an international agreement respecting bimetallism, I appointed
+on the 14th day of April, 1897, Hon. Edward O. Wolcott of Colorado, Hon.
+Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, and Hon. Charles J. Paine of Massachusetts,
+as special envoys to represent the United States. They have been diligent
+in their efforts to secure the concurrence and cooperation of European
+countries in the international settlement of the question, but up to this
+time have not been able to secure an agreement contemplated by their
+mission.
+
+The gratifying action of our great sister Republic of France in joining
+this country in the attempt to bring about an agreement among the principal
+commercial nations of Europe, whereby a fixed and relative value between
+gold and silver shall be secured, furnishes assurance that we are not alone
+among the larger nations of the world in realizing the international
+character of the problem and in the desire of reaching some wise and
+practical solution of it. The British Government has published a resume of
+the steps taken jointly by the French ambassador in London and the special
+envoys of the United States, with whom our ambassador at London actively
+co-operated in the presentation of this subject to Her Majesty's
+Government. This will be laid before Congress.
+
+Our special envoys have not made their final report, as further
+negotiations between the representatives of this Government and the
+Governments of other countries are pending and in contemplation. They
+believe that doubts which have been raised in certain quarters respecting
+the position of maintaining the stability of the parity between the metals
+and kindred questions may yet be solved by further negotiations.
+
+Meanwhile it gives me satisfaction to state that the special envoys have
+already demonstrated their ability and fitness to deal with the subject,
+and it is to be earnestly hoped that their labors may result in an
+international agreement which will bring about recognition of both gold and
+silver as money upon such terms, and with such safeguards as will secure
+the use of both metals upon a basis which shall work no injustice to any
+class of our citizens.
+
+In order to execute as early as possible the provisions of the third and
+fourth sections of the Revenue Act, approved July 24, 1897, I appointed the
+Hon. John A. Kasson of Iowa, a special commissioner plenipotentiary to
+undertake the requisite negotiations with foreign countries desiring to
+avail themselves of these provisions. The negotiations are now proceeding
+with several Governments, both European and American. It is believed that
+by a careful exercise of the powers conferred by that Act some grievances
+of our own and of other countries in our mutual trade relations may be
+either removed, or largely alleviated, and that the volume of our
+commercial exchanges may be enlarged, with advantage to both contracting
+parties.
+
+Most desirable from every standpoint of national interest and patriotism is
+the effort to extend our foreign commerce. To this end our merchant marine
+should be improved and enlarged. We should do our full share of the
+carrying trade of the world. We do not do it now. We should be the laggard
+no longer. The inferiority of our merchant marine is justly humiliating to
+the national pride. The Government by every proper constitutional means,
+should aid in making our ships familiar visitors at every commercial port
+of the world, thus opening up new and valuable markets to the surplus
+products of the farm and the factory.
+
+The efforts which had been made during the two previous years by my
+predecessor to secure better protection to the fur seals in the North
+Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, were renewed at an early date by this
+Administration, and have been pursued with earnestness. Upon my invitation,
+the Governments of Japan and Russia sent delegates to Washington, and an
+international conference was held during the months of October and November
+last, wherein it was unanimously agreed that under the existing regulations
+this species of useful animals was threatened with extinction, and that an
+international agreement of all the interested powers was necessary for
+their adequate protection.
+
+The Government of Great Britain did not see proper to be represented at
+this conference, but subsequently sent to Washington, as delegates, the
+expert commissioners of Great Britain and Canada who had, during the past
+two years, visited the Pribilof Islands, and who met in conference similar
+commissioners on the part of the United States. The result of this
+conference was an agreement on important facts connected with the condition
+of the seal herd, heretofore in dispute, which should place beyond
+controversy the duty of the Governments concerned to adopt measures without
+delay for the preservation and restoration of the herd. Negotiations to
+this end are now in progress, the result of which I hope to be able to
+report to Congress at an early day.
+
+International arbitration cannot be omitted from the list of subjects
+claiming our consideration. Events have only served to strengthen the
+general views on this question expressed in my inaugural address. The best
+sentiment of the civilized world is moving toward the settlement of
+differences between nations without resorting to the horrors of war.
+Treaties embodying these humane principles on broad lines, without in any
+way imperiling our interests or our honor, shall have my constant
+encouragement.
+
+The acceptance by this Government of the invitation of the Republic of
+France to participate in the Universal Exposition of 1900, at Paris, was
+immediately followed by the appointment of a special commissioner to
+represent the United States in the proposed exposition, with special
+reference to the securing of space for an adequate exhibit on behalf of the
+United States.
+
+The special commissioner delayed his departure for Paris long enough to
+ascertain the probable demand for space by American exhibitors. His
+inquiries developed an almost unprecedented interest in the proposed
+exposition, and the information thus acquired enabled him to justify an
+application for a much larger allotment of space for the American section
+than had been reserved by the exposition authorities. The result was
+particularly gratifying, in view of the fact that the United States was one
+of the last countries to accept the invitation of France.
+
+The reception accorded our special commissioner was most cordial, and he
+was given every reasonable assurance that the United States would receive a
+consideration commensurate with the proportions of our exhibit. The report
+of the special commissioner as to the magnitude and importance of the
+coming exposition, and the great demand for space by American exhibitors,
+supplies new arguments for a liberal and judicious appropriation by
+Congress, to the end that an exhibit fairly representative of the
+industries and resources of our country may be made in an exposition which
+will illustrate the world's progress during the nineteenth century. That
+exposition is intended to be the most important and comprehensive of the
+long series of international exhibitions, of which our own at Chicago was a
+brilliant example, and it is desirable that the United States should make a
+worthy exhibit of American genius and skill and their unrivaled
+achievements in every branch of industry.
+
+The present immediately effective force of the Navy consists of four battle
+ships of the first class, two of the second, and forty-eight other vessels,
+ranging from armored cruisers to torpedo boats. There are under
+construction five battle ships of the first class, sixteen torpedo boats,
+and one submarine boat. No provision has yet been made for the armor of
+three of the five battle ships, as it has been impossible to obtain it at
+the price fixed by Congress. It is of great importance that Congress
+provide this armor, as until then the ships are of no fighting value.
+
+The present naval force, especially in view of its increase by the ships
+now under construction, while not as large as that of a few other powers,
+is a formidable force; its vessels are the very best of each type; and with
+the increase that should be made to it from time to time in the future, and
+careful attention to keeping it in a high state of efficiency and repair,
+it is well adapted to the necessities of the country.
+
+The great increase of the Navy which has taken place in recent years was
+justified by the requirements for national defense, and has received public
+approbation. The time has now arrived, however, when this increase, to
+which the country is committed, should, for a time, take the form of
+increased facilities commensurate with the increase of our naval vessels.
+It is an unfortunate fact that there is only one dock on the Pacific Coast
+capable of docking our largest ships, and only one on the Atlantic Coast,
+and that the latter has for the last six or seven months been under repair
+and therefore incapable of use. Immediate steps should be taken to provide
+three or four docks of this capacity on the Atlantic Coast, at least one on
+the Pacific Coast, and a floating dock in the Gulf. This is the
+recommendation of a very competent Board, appointed to investigate the
+subject. There should also be ample provision made for powder and
+projectiles, and other munitions of war, and for an increased number of
+officers and enlisted men. Some additions are also necessary to our
+navy-yards, for the repair and care of our large number of vessels. As
+there are now on the stocks five battle ships of the largest class, which
+cannot be completed for a year or two, I concur with the recommendation of
+the Secretary of the Navy for an appropriation authorizing the construction
+of one battle ship for the Pacific Coast, where, at present, there is only
+one in commission and one under construction, while on the Atlantic Coast
+there are three in commission and four under construction; and also that
+several torpedo boats be authorized in connection with our general system
+of coast defense.
+
+The Territory of Alaska requires the prompt and early attention of
+Congress. The conditions now existing demand material changes in the laws
+relating to the Territory. The great influx of population during the past
+summer and fall and the prospect of a still larger immigration in the
+spring will not permit us to longer neglect the extension of civil
+authority within the Territory or postpone the establishment of a more
+thorough government.
+
+A general system of public surveys has not yet been extended to Alaska and
+all entries thus far made in that district are upon special surveys. The
+act of Congress extending to Alaska the mining laws of the United States
+contained the reservation that it should not be construed to put in force
+the general land laws of the country. By act approved March 3, 1891,
+authority was given for entry of lands for town-site purposes and also for
+the purchase of not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres then or
+thereafter occupied for purposes of trade and manufacture. The purpose of
+Congress as thus far expressed has been that only such rights should apply
+to that Territory as should be specifically named.
+
+It will be seen how much remains to be done for that vast and remote and
+yet promising portion of our country. Special authority was given to the
+President by the Act of Congress approved July 24, 1897, to divide that
+Territory into two land districts and to designate the boundaries thereof
+and to appoint registers and receivers of said land offices, and the
+President was also authorized to appoint a surveyor-general for the entire
+district. Pursuant to this authority, a surveyor-general and receiver have
+been appointed, with offices at Sitka. If in the ensuing year the
+conditions justify it, the additional land district authorized by law will
+be established, with an office at some point in the Yukon Valley. No
+appropriation, however, was made for this purpose, and that is now
+necessary to be done for the two land districts into which the Territory is
+to be divided.
+
+I concur with the Secretary of War in his suggestions as to the necessity
+for a military force in the Territory of Alaska for the protection of
+persons and property. Already a small force, consisting of twenty-five men,
+with two officers, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Randall, of the
+Eighth Infantry, has been sent to St. Michael to establish a military
+post.
+
+As it is to the interest of the Government to encourage the development and
+settlement of the country and its duty to follow up its citizens there with
+the benefits of legal machinery, I earnestly urge upon Congress the
+establishment of a system of government with such flexibility as will
+enable it to adjust itself to the future areas of greatest population.
+
+The startling though possibly exaggerated reports from the Yukon River
+country, of the probable shortage of food for the large number of people
+who are wintering there without the means of leaving the country are
+confirmed in such measure as to justify bringing the matter to the
+attention of Congress. Access to that country in winter can be had only by
+the passes from Dyea and vicinity, which is a most difficult and perhaps an
+impossible task. However, should these reports of the suffering of our
+fellow-citizens be further verified, every effort at any cost should be
+made to carry them relief.
+
+For a number of years past it has been apparent that the conditions under
+which the Five Civilized Tribes were established in the Indian Territory
+under treaty provisions with the United States, with the right of
+self-government and the exclusion of all white persons from within their
+borders, have undergone so complete a change as to render the continuance
+of the system thus inaugurated practically impossible. The total number of
+the Five Civilized Tribes, as shown by the last census, is 45,494, and this
+number has not materially increased; while the white population is
+estimated at from 200,000 to 250,000 which, by permission of the Indian
+Government has settled in the Territory. The present area of the Indian
+Territory contains 25,694,564 acres, much of which is very fertile land.
+The United States citizens residing in the Territory, most of whom have
+gone there by invitation or with the consent of the tribal authorities,
+have made permanent homes for themselves. Numerous towns have been built in
+which from 500 to 5,000 white people now reside. Valuable residences and
+business houses have been erected in many of them. Large business
+enterprises are carried on in which vast sums of money are employed, and
+yet these people, who have invested their capital in the development of the
+productive resources of the country, are without title to the land they
+occupy, and have no voice whatever in the government either of the Nations
+or Tribes. Thousands of their children who were born in the Territory are
+of school age, but the doors of the schools of the Nations are shut against
+them, and what education they get is by private contribution. No provision
+for the protection of the life or property of these white citizens is made
+by the Tribal Governments and Courts.
+
+The Secretary of the Interior reports that leading Indians have absorbed
+great tracts of land to the exclusion of the common people, and government
+by an Indian aristocracy has been practically established, to the detriment
+of the people. It has been found impossible for the United States to keep
+its citizens out of the Territory, and the executory conditions contained
+in the treaties with these Nations have for the most part become impossible
+of execution. Nor has it been possible for the Tribal Governments to secure
+to each individual Indian his full enjoyment in common with Other Indians
+of the common property of the Nations. Friends of the Indians have long
+believed that the best interests of the Indians of the Five Civilized
+Tribes would be found in American citizenship, with all the rights and
+privileges which belong to that condition.
+
+By section 16, of the act of March 3, 1893, the President was authorized to
+appoint three commissioners to enter into negotiations with the Cherokee,
+Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (or Creek), and Seminole Nations, commonly
+known as the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory. Briefly, the
+purposes of the negotiations were to be: The extinguishment of Tribal
+titles to any lands within that Territory now held by any and all such
+Nations or Tribes, either by cession of the same or some part thereof to
+the United States, or by allotment and division of the same in severalty
+among the Indians of such Nations or Tribes respectively as may be entitled
+to the same, or by such other method as may be agreed upon between the
+several Nations and Tribes aforesaid, or each of them, with the United
+States, with a view to such an adjustment upon the basis of justice and
+equity as may, with the consent of the said Nations of Indians so far as
+may be necessary, be requisite and suitable to enable the ultimate creation
+of a State or States of the Union which shall embrace the lands within said
+Indian Territory.
+
+The Commission met much opposition from the beginning. The Indians were
+very slow to act, and those in control manifested a decided disinclination
+to meet with favor the propositions submitted to them. A little more than
+three years after this organization the Commission effected an agreement
+with the Choctaw Nation alone. The Chickasaws, however, refused to agree to
+its terms, and as they have a common interest with the Choctaws in the
+lands of said Nations, the agreement with the latter Nation could have no
+effect without the consent of the former. On April 23, 1897, the Commission
+effected an agreement with both tribes-- the Choctaws and Chickasaws. This
+agreement, it is understood, has been ratified by the constituted
+authorities of the respective Tribes or Nations parties thereto, and only
+requires ratification by Congress to make it binding.
+
+On the 27th of September, 1897, an agreement was effected with the Creek
+Nation, but it is understood that the National Council of said Nation has
+refused to ratify the same. Negotiations are yet to be had with the
+Cherokees, the most populous of the Five Civilized Tribes, and with the
+Seminoles, the smallest in point of numbers and territory.
+
+The provision in the Indian Appropriation Act, approved June 10, 1896,
+makes it the duty of the Commission to investigate and determine the rights
+of applicants for citizenship in the Five Civilized Tribes, and to make
+complete census rolls of the citizens of said Tribes. The Commission is at
+present engaged in this work among the Creeks, and has made appointments
+for taking the census of these people up to and including the 30th of the
+present month.
+
+Should the agreement between the Choctaws and Chickasaws be ratified by
+Congress and should the other Tribes fail to make an agreement with the
+Commission, then it will be necessary that some legislation shall be had by
+Congress, which, while just and honorable to the Indians, shall be
+equitable to the white people who have settled upon these lands by
+invitation of the Tribal Nations.
+
+Hon. Henry L. Dawes, Chairman of the Commission, in a letter to the
+Secretary of the Interior, under date of October 11, 1897, says:
+"Individual ownership is, in their (the Commission's) opinion, absolutely
+essential to any permanent improvement in present conditions, and the lack
+of it is the root of nearly all the evils which so grievously afflict these
+people. Allotment by agreement is the only possible method, unless the
+United States Courts are clothed with the authority to apportion the lands
+among the citizen Indians for whose use it was originally granted."
+
+I concur with the Secretary of the Interior that there can be no cure for
+the evils engendered by the perversion of these great trusts, excepting by
+their resumption by the Government which created them.
+
+The recent prevalence of yellow fever in a number of cities and towns
+throughout the South has resulted in much disturbance of commerce, and
+demonstrated the necessity of such amendments to our quarantine laws as
+will make the regulations of the national quarantine authorities paramount.
+The Secretary of the Treasury, in the portion of his report relating to the
+operation of the Marine Hospital Service, calls attention to the defects in
+the present quarantine laws, and recommends amendments thereto which will
+give the Treasury Department the requisite authority to prevent the
+invasion of epidemic diseases from foreign countries, and in times of
+emergency, like that of the past summer, will add to the efficiency of the
+sanitary measures for the protection of the people, and at the same time
+prevent unnecessary restriction of commerce. I concur in his
+recommendation.
+
+In further effort to prevent the invasion of the United States by yellow
+fever, the importance of the discovery of the exact cause of the disease,
+which up to the present time has been undetermined, is obvious, and to this
+end a systematic bacteriological investigation should be made. I therefore
+recommend that Congress authorize the appointment of a commission by the
+President, to consist of four expert bacteriologists, one to be selected
+from the medical officers of the Marine Hospital Service, one to be
+appointed from civil life, one to be detailed from the medical officers of
+the Army, and one from the medical officers of the Navy.
+
+The Union Pacific Railway, Main Line, was sold under the decree of the
+United States Court for the District of Nebraska, on the 1st and 2d of
+November of this year. The amount due the Government consisted of the
+principal of the subsidy bonds, $27,236,512, and the accrued interest
+thereon, $31,211,711.75, making the total indebtedness, $58,448,223.75. The
+bid at the sale covered the first mortgage lien and the entire mortgage
+claim of the Government, principal and interest.
+
+The sale of the subsidized portion of the Kansas Pacific Line, upon which
+the Government holds a second mortgage lien, has been postponed at the
+instance of the Government to December 16, 1897. The debt of this division
+of the Union Pacific Railway to the Government on November 1, 1897, was the
+principal of the subsidy bonds, $6,303,000, and the unpaid and accrued
+interest thereon, $6,626,690.33, making a total of $12,929,690.33.
+
+The sale of this road was originally advertised for November 4, but for the
+purpose of securing the utmost public notice of the event it was postponed
+until December 16, and a second advertisement of the sale was made. By the
+decree of the Court, the upset price on the sale of the Kansas Pacific will
+yield to the Government the sum of $2,500,000 over all prior liens, costs,
+and charges. If no other or better bid is made, this sum is all that the
+Government will receive on its claim of nearly $13,000,000. The Government
+has no information as to whether there will be other bidders or a better
+bid than the minimum amount herein stated. The question presented therefore
+is: Whether the Government shall, under the authority given it by the act
+of March 3, 1887, purchase or redeem the road in the event that a bid is
+not made by private parties covering the entire Government claim. To
+qualify the Government to bid at the sales will require a deposit of
+$900,000, as follows: In the Government cause $500,000 and in each of the
+first mortgage causes $200,000, and in the latter the deposit must be in
+cash. Payments at the sale are as follows: Upon the acceptance of the bid a
+sum which with the amount already deposited shall equal fifteen per cent of
+the bid; the balance in installments of twenty-five per cent thirty, forty,
+and fifty days after the confirmation of the sale. The lien on the Kansas
+Pacific prior to that of the Government on the 30th July, 1897, principal
+and interest, amounted to $7,281,048.11. The Government, therefore, should
+it become the highest bidder, will have to pay the amount of the first
+mortgage lien.
+
+I believe that under the act of 1887 it has the authority to do this and in
+absence of any action by Congress I shall direct the Secretary of the
+Treasury to make the necessary deposit as required by the Court's decree to
+qualify as a bidder and to bid at the sale a sum which will at least equal
+the principal of the debt due to the Government; but suggest in order to
+remove all controversy that an amendment of the law be immediately passed
+explicitly giving such powers and appropriating in general terms whatever
+sum is sufficient therefor.
+
+In so important a matter as the Government becoming the possible owner of
+railroad property which it perforce must conduct and operate, I feel
+constrained to lay before Congress these facts for its consideration and
+action before the consummation of the sale. It is clear to my mind that the
+Government should not permit the property to be sold at a price which will
+yield less than one-half of the principal of its debt and less than
+one-fifth of its entire debt, principal and interest. But whether the
+Government, rather than accept less than its claim, should become a bidder
+and thereby the owner of the property, I submit to the Congress for
+action.
+
+The Library building provided for by the act of Congress approved April 15,
+1886, has been completed and opened to the public. It should be a matter of
+congratulation that through the foresight and munificence of Congress the
+nation possesses this noble treasure-house of knowledge. It is earnestly to
+be hoped that having done so much toward the cause of education, Congress
+will continue to develop the Library in every phase of research to the end
+that it may be not only one of the most magnificent but among the richest
+and most useful libraries in the world.
+
+The important branch of our Government known as the Civil Service, the
+practical improvement of which has long been a subject of earnest
+discussion, has of late years received increased legislative and Executive
+approval. During the past few months the service has been placed upon a
+still firmer basis of business methods and personal merit. While the right
+of our veteran soldiers to reinstatement in deserving cases has been
+asserted, dismissals for merely political reasons have been carefully
+guarded against, the examinations for admittance to the service enlarged
+and at the same time rendered less technical and more practical; and a
+distinct advance has been made by giving a hearing before dismissal upon
+all cases where incompetency is charged or demand made for the removal of
+officials in any of the Departments. This order has been made to give to
+the accused his right to be heard but without in anyway impairing the power
+of removal, which should always be exercised in cases of inefficiency and
+incompetency, and which is one of the vital safeguards of the civil service
+reform system, preventing stagnation and deadwood and keeping every
+employee keenly alive to the fact that the security of his tenure depends
+not on favor but on his own tested and carefully watched record of
+service.
+
+Much of course still remains to be accomplished before the system can be
+made reasonably perfect for our needs. There are places now in the
+classified service which ought to be exempted and others not classified may
+properly be included. I shall not hesitate to exempt cases which I think
+have been improperly included in the classified service or include those
+which in my judgment will best promote the public service. The system has
+the approval of the people and it will be my endeavor to uphold and extend
+it.
+
+I am forced by the length of this Message to omit many important references
+to affairs of the Government with which Congress will have to deal at the
+present session. They are fully discussed in the departmental reports, to
+all of which I invite your earnest attention.
+
+The estimates of the expenses of the Government by the several Departments
+will, I am sure, have your careful scrutiny. While the Congress may not
+find it an easy task to reduce the expenses of the Government, it should
+not encourage their increase. These expenses will in my judgment admit of a
+decrease in many branches of the Government without injury to the public
+service. It is a commanding duty to keep the appropriations within the
+receipts of the Government, and thus avoid a deficit.
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 5, 1898
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+Notwithstanding the added burdens rendered necessary by the war, our people
+rejoice in a very satisfactory and steadily increasing degree of
+prosperity, evidenced by the largest volume of business ever recorded.
+Manufacture has been productive, agricultural pursuits have yielded
+abundant returns, labor in all fields of industry is better rewarded,
+revenue legislation passed by the present Congress has increased the
+Treasury's receipts to the amount estimated by its authors, the finances of
+the Government have been successfully administered and its credit advanced
+to the first rank, while its currency has been maintained at the world's
+highest standard. Military service under a common flag and for a righteous
+cause has strengthened the national spirit and served to cement more
+closely than ever the fraternal bonds between every section of the
+country.
+
+A review of the relation of the United States to other powers, always
+appropriate, is this year of primary importance in view of the momentous
+issues which have arisen, demanding in one instance the ultimate
+determination by arms and involving far-reaching consequences which will
+require the earnest attention of the Congress.
+
+In my last annual message very full consideration was given to the question
+of the duty of the Government of the United States toward Spain and the
+Cuban insurrection as being by far the most important problem with which we
+were then called upon to deal. The considerations then advanced and the
+exposition of the views therein expressed disclosed my sense of the extreme
+gravity of the situation. Setting aside as logically unfounded or
+practically inadmissible the recognition of the Cuban insurgents as
+belligerents, the recognition of the independence of Cuba, neutral
+intervention to end the war by imposing a rational compromise between the
+contestants, intervention in favor of one or the other party, and forcible
+annexation of the island, I concluded it was honestly due to our friendly
+relations with Spain that she should be given a reasonable chance to
+realize her expectations of reform to which she had become irrevocably
+committed. Within a few weeks previously she had announced comprehensive
+plans which it was confidently asserted would be efficacious to remedy the
+evils so deeply affecting our own country, so injurious to the true
+interests of the mother country as well as to those of Cuba, and so
+repugnant to the universal sentiment of humanity.
+
+The ensuing month brought little sign of real progress toward the
+pacification of Cuba. The autonomous administrations set up in the capital
+and some of the principal cities appeared not to gain the favor of the
+inhabitants nor to be able to extend their influence to the large extent of
+territory held by the insurgents, while the military arm, obviously unable
+to cope with the still active rebellion, continued many of the most
+objectionable and offensive policies of the government that had preceded
+it. No tangible relief was afforded the vast numbers of unhappy
+reconcentrados, despite the reiterated professions made in that regard and
+the amount appropriated by Spain to that end. The proffered expedient of
+zones of cultivation proved illusory. Indeed no less practical nor more
+delusive promises of succor could well have been tendered to the exhausted
+and destitute people, stripped of all that made life and home dear and
+herded in a strange region among unsympathetic strangers hardly less
+necessitous than themselves.
+
+By the end of December the mortality among them had frightfully increased.
+Conservative estimates from Spanish sources placed the deaths among these
+distressed people at over 40 per cent from the time General Weyler's decree
+of reconcentration was enforced. With the acquiescence of the Spanish
+authorities, a scheme was adopted for relief by charitable contributions
+raised in this country and distributed, under the direction of the
+consul-general and the several consuls, by noble and earnest individual
+effort through the organized agencies of the American Red Cross. Thousands
+of lives were thus saved, but many thousands more were inaccessible to such
+forms of aid.
+
+The war continued on the old footing, without comprehensive plan,
+developing only the same spasmodic encounters, barren of strategic result,
+that had marked the course of the earlier ten years' rebellion as well as
+the present insurrection from its start. No alternative save physical
+exhaustion of either combatant, and therewithal the practical ruin of the
+island, lay in sight, but how far distant no one could venture to
+conjecture.
+
+At this juncture, on the 15th of February last, occurred the destruction of
+the battle ship Maine while rightfully lying in the harbor of Havana on a
+mission of international courtesy and good will--a catastrophe the
+suspicious nature and horror of which stirred the nation's heart
+profoundly. It is a striking evidence of the poise and sturdy good sense
+distinguishing our national character that this shocking blow, falling upon
+a generous people already deeply touched by preceding events in Cuba, did
+not move them to an instant desperate resolve to tolerate no longer the
+existence of a condition of danger and disorder at our doors that made
+possible such a deed, by whomsoever wrought. Yet the instinct of justice
+prevailed, and the nation anxiously awaited the result of the searching
+investigation at once set on foot. The finding of the naval board of
+inquiry established that the origin of the explosion was external, by a
+submarine mine, and only halted through lack of positive testimony to fix
+the responsibility of its authorship.
+
+All these things carried conviction to the most thoughtful, even before the
+finding of the naval court, that a crisis in our relations with Spain and
+toward Cuba was at hand. So strong was this belief that it needed but a
+brief Executive suggestion to the Congress to receive immediate answer to
+the duty of making instant provision for the possible and perhaps speedily
+probable emergency of war, and the remarkable, almost unique, spectacle was
+presented of a unanimous vote of both Houses, on the 9th of March,
+appropriating $50,000,000 "for the national defense and for each and every
+purpose connected therewith, to be expended at the discretion of the
+President." That this act of prevision came none too soon was disclosed
+when the application of the fund was undertaken. Our coasts were
+practically undefended. Our Navy needed large provision for increased
+ammunition and supplies, and even numbers to cope with any sudden attack
+from the navy of Spain, which comprised modern vessels of the highest type
+of continental perfection. Our Army also required enlargement of men and
+munitions. The details of the hurried preparation for the dreaded
+contingency are told in the reports of the Secretaries of War and of the
+Navy, and need not be repeated here. It is sufficient to say that the
+outbreak of war when it did come found our nation not unprepared to meet
+the conflict.
+
+Nor was the apprehension of coming strife confined to our own country. It
+was felt by the continental powers, which on April 6, through their
+ambassadors and envoys, addressed to the Executive an expression of hope
+that humanity and moderation might mark the course of this Government and
+people, and that further negotiations would lead to an agreement which,
+while securing the maintenance of peace, would afford all necessary
+guaranties for the reestablishment of order in Cuba. In responding to that
+representation I said I shared the hope the envoys had expressed that peace
+might be preserved in a manner to terminate the chronic condition of
+disturbance in Cuba, so injurious and menacing to our interests and
+tranquillity, as well as shocking to our sentiments of humanity; and while
+appreciating the humanitarian and disinterested character of the
+communication they had made on behalf of the powers, I stated the
+confidence of this Government, for its part, that equal appreciation would
+be shown for its own earnest and unselfish endeavors to fulfill a duty to
+humanity by ending a situation the indefinite prolongation of which had
+become insufferable.
+
+Still animated by the hope of a peaceful solution and obeying the dictates
+of duty, no effort was relaxed to bring about a speedy ending of the Cuban
+struggle. Negotiations to this object continued actively with the
+Government of Spain, looking to the immediate conclusion of a six months'
+armistice in Cuba, with a view to effect the recognition of her people's
+right to independence. Besides this, the instant revocation of the order of
+reconcentration was asked, so that the sufferers, returning to their homes
+and aided by united American and Spanish effort, might be put in a way to
+support themselves and, by orderly resumption of the well-nigh destroyed
+productive energies of the island, contribute to the restoration of its
+tranquillity and well-being. Negotiations continued for some little time at
+Madrid, resulting in offers by the Spanish Government which could not but
+be regarded as inadequate. It was proposed to confide the preparation of
+peace to the insular parliament, yet to be convened under the autonomous
+decrees of November, 1897, but without impairment in any wise of the
+constitutional powers of the Madrid Government, which to that end would
+grant an armistice, if solicited by the insurgents, for such time as the
+general in chief might see fit to fix. How and with what scope of
+discretionary powers the insular parliament was expected to set about the
+"preparation" of peace did not appear. If it were to be by negotiation with
+the insurgents, the issue seemed to rest on the one side with a body chosen
+by a fraction of the electors in the districts under Spanish control, and
+on the other with the insurgent population holding the interior country,
+unrepresented in the so-called parliament and defiant at the suggestion of
+suing for peace.
+
+Grieved and disappointed at this barren outcome of my sincere endeavors to
+reach a practicable solution, I felt it my duty to remit the whole question
+to the Congress. In the message of April 11, 1898, I announced that with
+this last overture in the direction of immediate peace in Cuba and its
+disappointing reception by Spain the effort of the Executive was brought to
+an end. I again reviewed the alternative courses of action which had been
+proposed, concluding that the only one consonant with international policy
+and compatible with our firm-set historical traditions was intervention as
+a neutral to stop the war and check the hopeless sacrifice of life, even
+though that resort involved "hostile constraint upon both the parties to
+the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual
+settlement." The grounds justifying that step were the interests of
+humanity, the duty to protect the life and property of our citizens in
+Cuba, the right to check injury to our commerce and people through the
+devastation of the island, and, most important, the need of removing at
+once and forever the constant menace and the burdens entailed upon our
+Government by the uncertainties and perils of the situation caused by the
+unendurable disturbance in Cuba. I said: The long trial has proved that the
+object for which Spain has waged the war can not be attained. The fire of
+insurrection may flame or may smolder with varying seasons, but it has not
+been and it is plain that it can not be extinguished by present methods.
+The only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be
+endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in
+the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests which
+give us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must
+stop. In view of all this the Congress was asked to authorize and empower
+the President to take measures to secure a full and final termination of
+hostilities between Spain and the people of Cuba and to secure in the
+island the establishment of a stable government, capable of maintaining
+order and observing its international obligations, insuring peace and
+tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well as our own, and for
+the accomplishment of those ends to use the military and naval forces of
+the United States as might be necessary, with added authority to continue
+generous relief to the starving people of Cuba.
+
+The response of the Congress, after nine days of earnest deliberation,
+during which the almost unanimous sentiment of your body was developed on
+every point save as to the expediency of coupling the proposed action with
+a formal recognition of the Republic of Cuba as the true and lawful
+government of that island--a proposition which failed of adoption--the
+Congress, after conference, on the 19th of April, by a vote of 42 to 35 in
+the Senate and 311 to 6 in the House of Representatives, passed the
+memorable joint resolution declaring-- First. That the people of the island
+of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.
+
+Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
+Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of
+Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba
+and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters.
+
+Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
+directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
+United States and to call into the actual service of the United States the
+militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to carry
+these resolutions into effect.
+
+Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
+intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said
+island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination
+when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island
+to its people. This resolution was approved by the Executive on the next
+day, April 20. A copy was at once communicated to the Spanish minister at
+this capital, who forthwith announced that his continuance in Washington
+had thereby become impossible, and asked for his passports, which were
+given him. He thereupon withdrew from Washington, leaving the protection of
+Spanish interests in the United States to the French ambassador and the
+Austro-Hungarian minister. Simultaneously with its communication to the
+Spanish minister here, General Woodford, the American minister at Madrid,
+was telegraphed confirmation of the text of the joint resolution and
+directed to communicate it to the Government of Spain with the formal
+demand that it at once relinquish its authority and government in the
+island of Cuba and withdraw its forces therefrom, coupling this demand with
+announcement of the intentions of this Government as to the future of the
+island, in conformity with the fourth clause of the resolution, and giving
+Spain until noon of April 23 to reply.
+
+That demand, although, as above shown, officially made known to the Spanish
+envoy here, was not delivered at Madrid. After the instruction reached
+General Woodford on the morning of April 21, but before he could present
+it, the Spanish minister of state notified him that upon the President's
+approval of the joint resolution the Madrid Government, regarding the act
+as "equivalent to an evident declaration of war," had ordered its minister
+in Washington to withdraw, thereby breaking off diplomatic relations
+between the two countries and ceasing all official communication between
+their respective representatives. General Woodford thereupon demanded his
+passports and quitted Madrid the same day.
+
+Spain having thus denied the demand of the United States and initiated that
+complete form of rupture of relations which attends a state of war, the
+executive powers authorized by the resolution were at once used by me to
+meet the enlarged contingency of actual war between sovereign states. On
+April 22 I proclaimed a blockade of the north coast of Cuba, including
+ports on said coast between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and the port of
+Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, and on the 23d I called for
+volunteers to execute the purpose of the resolution. By my message of April
+25 the Congress was informed of the situation, and I recommended formal
+declaration of the existence of a state of war between the United States
+and Spain. The Congress accordingly voted on the same day the act approved
+April 25, 1898, declaring the existence of such war from and including the
+21st day of April, and reenacted the provision of the resolution of April
+20 directing the President to use all the armed forces of the nation to
+carry that act into effect.|| Due notification of the existence of war as
+aforesaid was given April 25 by telegraph to all the governments with which
+the United States maintain relations, in order that their neutrality might
+be assured during the war. The various governments responded with
+proclamations of neutrality, each after its own methods. It is not among
+the least gratifying incidents of the struggle that the obligations of
+neutrality were impartially discharged by all, often under delicate and
+difficult circumstances.
+
+In further fulfillment of international duty I issued, April 26, 1893, a
+proclamation announcing the treatment proposed to be accorded to vessels
+and their cargoes as to blockade, contraband, the exercise of the right of
+search, and the immunity of neutral flags and neutral goods under enemy's
+flag. A similar proclamation was made by the Spanish Government. In the
+conduct of hostilities the rules of the Declaration of Paris, including
+abstention from resort to privateering, have accordingly been observed by
+both belligerents, although neither was a party to that declaration.
+
+Our country thus, after an interval of half a century of peace with all
+nations, found itself engaged in deadly conflict with a foreign enemy.
+Every nerve was strained to meet the emergency. The response to the initial
+call for 125,000 volunteers was instant and complete, as was also the
+result of the second call, of May 25, for 75,000 additional volunteers. The
+ranks of the Regular Army were increased to the limits provided by the act
+of April 26, 1898.
+
+The enlisted force of the Navy on the 15th day of August, when it reached
+its maximum, numbered 24,123 men and apprentices. One hundred and three
+vessels were added to the Navy by purchase, 1 was presented to the
+Government, 1 leased, and the 4 vessels of the International Navigation
+Company--the St. Paul, St. Louis, New York, and Paris--were chartered. In
+addition to these the revenue cutters and lighthouse tenders were turned
+over to the Navy Department and became temporarily a part of the auxiliary
+Navy.
+
+The maximum effective fighting force of the Navy during the war, separated
+into classes, was as follows:
+
+Four battle ships of the first class, 1 battle ship of the second class, 2
+armored cruisers, 6 coast-defense monitors, 1 armored ram, 12 protected
+cruisers, 3 unprotected cruisers, 18 gunboats, 1 dynamite cruiser, 11
+torpedo boats; vessels of the old Navy, including monitors, 14. Auxiliary
+Navy: 11 auxiliary cruisers, 28 converted yachts, 27 converted tugs, 19
+converted colliers, 15 revenue cutters, 4 light-house tenders, and 19
+miscellaneous vessels.
+
+Much alarm was felt along our entire Atlantic seaboard lest some attack
+might be made by the enemy. Every precaution was taken to prevent possible
+injury to our great cities lying along the coast. Temporary garrisons were
+provided, drawn from the State militia; infantry and light batteries were
+drawn from the volunteer force. About 12,000 troops were thus employed. The
+coast signal service was established for observing the approach of an
+enemy's ships to the coast of the United States, and the Life-Saving and
+Light-House services cooperated, which enabled the Navy Department to have
+all portions of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Texas, under
+observation.
+
+The auxiliary Navy was created under the authority of Congress and was
+officered and manned by the Naval Militia of the several States. This
+organization patrolled the coast and performed the duty of a second line of
+defense. Under the direction of the Chief of Engineers submarine mines were
+placed at the most exposed points. Before the outbreak of the war permanent
+mining casemates and cable galleries had been constructed at nearly all
+important harbors. Most of the torpedo material was not to be found in the
+market, and had to be specially manufactured. Under date of April 19
+district officers were directed to take all preliminary measures short of
+the actual attaching of the loaded mines to the cables, and on April 22
+telegraphic orders were issued to place the loaded mines in position.
+
+The aggregate number of mines placed was 1,535, at the principal harbors
+from Maine to California. Preparations were also made for the planting of
+mines at certain other harbors, but owing to the early destruction of the
+Spanish fleet these mines were not placed.
+
+The Signal Corps was promptly organized, and performed service of the most
+difficult and important character. Its operations during the war covered
+the electrical connection of all coast fortifications, the establishment of
+telephonic and telegraphic facilities for the camps at Manila, Santiago,
+and in Puerto Rico. There were constructed 300 miles of line at ten great
+camps, thus facilitating military movements from those points in a manner
+heretofore unknown in military administration. Field telegraph lines were
+established and maintained under the enemy's fire at Manila, and later the
+Manila-Hongkong cable was reopened.
+
+In Puerto Rico cable communications were opened over a discontinued route,
+and on land the headquarters of the commanding officer was kept in
+telegraphic or telephonic communication with the division commanders on
+four different lines of operations.
+
+There was placed in Cuban waters a completely outfitted cable ship, with
+war cables and cable gear, suitable both for the destruction of
+communications belonging to the enemy and the establishment of our own. Two
+ocean cables were destroyed under the enemy's batteries at Santiago. The
+day previous to the landing of General Shafter's corps, at Caimanera,
+within 20 miles of the landing place, cable communications were established
+and a cable station opened giving direct communication with the Government
+at Washington. This service was invaluable to the Executive in directing
+the operations of the Army and Navy. With a total force of over 1,300, the
+loss was by disease in camp and field, officers and men included, only 5.
+
+The national-defense fund of $50,000,000 was expended in large part by the
+Army and Navy, and the objects for which it was used are fully shown in the
+reports of the several Secretaries. It was a most timely appropriation,
+enabling the Government to strengthen its defenses and make preparations
+greatly needed in case of war.
+
+This fund being inadequate to the requirements of equipment and for the
+conduct of the war, the patriotism of the Congress provided the means in
+the war-revenue act of June 13 by authorizing a 3 per cent popular loan not
+to exceed $400,000,000 and by levying additional imposts and taxes. Of the
+authorized loan $200,000,000 were offered and promptly taken the
+subscriptions so far exceeding the call as to cover it many times over,
+while, preference being given to the smaller bids, no single allotment
+exceeded $5,000. This was a most encouraging and significant result,
+showing the vast resources of the nation and the determination of the
+people to uphold their country's honor.
+
+It is not within the province of this message to narrate the history of the
+extraordinary war that followed the Spanish declaration of April 21, but a
+brief recital of its more salient features is appropriate.
+
+The first encounter of the war in point of date took place April 27, when a
+detachment of the blockading squadron made a reconnoissance in force at
+Matanzas, shelled the harbor forts, and demolished several new works in
+construction.
+
+The next engagement was destined to mark a memorable epoch in maritime
+warfare. The Pacific fleet, under Commodore George Dewey, had lain for some
+weeks at Hongkong. Upon the colonial proclamation of neutrality being
+issued and the customary twenty-four hours' notice being given, it repaired
+to Mirs Bay, near Hongkong, whence it proceeded to the Philippine Islands
+under telegraphed orders to capture or destroy the formidable Spanish fleet
+then assembled at Manila. At daybreak on the 1st of May the American force
+entered Manila Bay, and after a few hours' engagement effected the total
+destruction of the Spanish fleet, consisting of ten war ships and a
+transport, besides capturing the naval station and forts at Cavite, thus
+annihilating the Spanish naval power in the Pacific Ocean and completely
+controlling the bay of Manila, with the ability to take the city at will.
+Not a life was lost on our ships, the wounded only numbering seven, while
+not a vessel was materially injured. For this gallant achievement the
+Congress, upon my recommendation, fitly bestowed upon the actors preferment
+and substantial reward.
+
+The effect of this remarkable victory upon the spirit of our people and
+upon the fortunes of the war was instant. A prestige of invincibility
+thereby attached to our arms which continued throughout the struggle.
+Reenforcements were hurried to Manila under the command of Major-General
+Merritt and firmly established within sight of the capital, which lay
+helpless before our guns.
+
+On the 7th day of May the Government was advised officially of the victory
+at Manila, and at once inquired of the commander of our fleet what troops
+would be required. The information was received on the 15th day of May, and
+the first army expedition sailed May 25 and arrived off Manila June 30.
+Other expeditions soon followed, the total force consisting of 641 officers
+and 15,058 enlisted men.
+
+Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life and property prevented the
+early storming and capture of the city, and therewith the absolute military
+occupancy of the whole group. The insurgents meanwhile had resumed the
+active hostilities suspended by the uncompleted truce of December, 1897.
+Their forces invested Manila from the northern and eastern sides, but were
+constrained by Admiral Dewey and General Merrill from attempting an
+assault. It was fitting that whatever was to be done in the way of decisive
+operations in that quarter should be accomplished by the strong arm of the
+United States alone. Obeying the stern precept of war which enjoins the
+overcoming of the adversary and the extinction of his power wherever
+assailable as the speedy and sure means to win a peace, divided victory was
+not permissible, for no partition of the rights and responsibilities
+attending the enforcement of a just and advantageous peace could be thought
+of.
+
+Following the comprehensive scheme of general attack, powerful forces were
+assembled at various points on our coast to invade Cuba and Puerto Rico.
+Meanwhile naval demonstrations were made at several exposed points. On May
+11 the cruiser Wilmington and torpedo boat Winslow were unsuccessful in an
+attempt to silence the batteries at Cardenas, a gallant ensign, Worth
+Bagley, and four seamen falling. These grievous fatalities were, strangely
+enough, among the very few which occurred during our naval operations in
+this extraordinary conflict.
+
+Meanwhile the Spanish naval preparations had been pushed with great vigor.
+A powerful squadron under Admiral Cervera, which had assembled at the Cape
+Verde Islands before the outbreak of hostilities, had crossed the ocean,
+and by its erratic movements in the Caribbean Sea delayed our military
+plans while baffling the pursuit of our fleets. For a time fears were felt
+lest the Oregon and Marietta, then nearing home after their long voyage
+from San Francisco of over 15,000 miles, might be surprised by Admiral
+Cervera's fleet, but their fortunate arrival dispelled these apprehensions
+and lent much-needed reenforcement. Not until Admiral Cervera took refuge
+in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, about May 19, was it practicable to plan
+a systematic naval and military attack upon the Antillean possessions of
+Spain.
+
+Several demonstrations occurred on the coasts of Cuba and Puerto Rico in
+preparation for the larger event. On May 13 the North Atlantic Squadron
+shelled San Juan de Puerto Rico. On May 30 Commodore Schley's squadron
+bombarded the forts guarding the mouth of Santiago Harbor. Neither attack
+had any material result. It was evident that well-ordered land operations
+were indispensable to achieve a decisive advantage.
+
+The next act in the war thrilled not alone the hearts of our countrymen but
+the world by its exceptional heroism. On the night of June 3 Lieutenant
+Hobson, aided by seven devoted volunteers, blocked the narrow outlet from
+Santiago Harbor by sinking the collier Merrimac in the channel, under a
+fierce fire from the shore batteries, escaping with their lives as by a
+miracle, but falling into the hands of the Spaniards. It is a most
+gratifying incident of the war that the bravery of this little band of
+heroes was cordially appreciated by the Spanish admiral, who sent a flag of
+truce to notify Admiral Sampson of their safety and to compliment them on
+their daring act. They were subsequently exchanged July 7.
+
+By June 7 the cutting of the last Cuban cable isolated the island.
+Thereafter the invasion was vigorously prosecuted. On June 10, under a
+heavy protecting fire, a landing of 600 marines from the Oregon,
+Marblehead, and Yankee was effected in Guantanamo Bay, where it had been
+determined to establish a naval station.
+
+This important and essential port was taken from the enemy, after severe
+fighting, by the marines, who were the first organized force of the United
+States to land in Cuba.
+
+The position so won was held despite desperate attempts to dislodge our
+forces. By June 16 additional forces were landed and strongly in-trenched.
+On June 22 the advance of the invading army under Major-General Shafter
+landed at Daiquiri, about 15 miles east of Santiago. This was accomplished
+under great difficulties, but with marvelous dispatch. On June 23 the
+movement against Santiago was begun. On the 24th the first serious
+engagement took place, in which the First and Tenth Cavalry and the First
+United States Volunteer Cavalry, General Young's brigade of General
+Wheeler's division, participated, losing heavily. By nightfall, however,
+ground within 5 miles of Santiago was won. The advantage was steadily
+increased. On July 1 a severe battle took place, our forces gaining the
+outworks of Santiago; on the 2d El Caney and San Juan were taken after a
+desperate charge, and the investment of the city was completed. The Navy
+cooperated by shelling the town and the coast forts.
+
+On the day following this brilliant achievement of our land forces, the 3d
+of July, occurred the decisive naval combat of the war. The Spanish fleet,
+attempting to leave the harbor, was met by the American squadron under
+command of Commodore Sampson. In less than three hours all the Spanish
+ships were destroyed, the two torpedo boats being sunk and the Maria
+Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya, and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. The
+Spanish admiral and over 1,300 men were taken prisoners. While the enemy's
+loss of life was deplorably large, some 600 perishing, on our side but one
+man was killed, on the Brooklyn, and one man seriously wounded. Although
+our ships were repeatedly struck, not one was seriously injured. Where all
+so conspicuously distinguished themselves, from the commanders to the
+gunners and the unnamed heroes in the boiler rooms, each and all
+contributing toward the achievement of this astounding victory, for which
+neither ancient nor modern history affords a parallel in the completeness
+of the event and the marvelous disproportion of casualties, it would be
+invidious to single out any for especial honor. Deserved promotion has
+rewarded the more conspicuous actors. The nation's profoundest gratitude is
+due to all of these brave men who by their skill and devotion in a few
+short hours crushed the sea power of Spain and wrought a triumph whose
+decisiveness and far-reaching consequences can scarcely be measured. Nor
+can we be unmindful of the achievements of our builders, mechanics, and
+artisans for their skill in the construction of our war ships.
+
+With the catastrophe of Santiago Spain's effort upon the ocean virtually
+ceased. A spasmodic effort toward the end of June to send her Mediterranean
+fleet, under Admiral Camara, to relieve Manila was abandoned, the
+expedition being recalled after it had passed through the Suez Canal.
+
+The capitulation of Santiago followed. The city was closely besieged by
+land, while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off all relief on
+that side. After a truce to allow of the removal of noncombatants
+protracted negotiations continued from July 3 until July 15, when, under
+menace of immediate assault, the preliminaries of surrender were agreed
+upon. On the 17th General Shafter occupied the city. The capitulation
+embraced the entire eastern end of Cuba. The number of Spanish soldiers
+surrendering was 22,000, all of whom were subsequently conveyed to Spain at
+the charge of the United States. The story of this successful campaign is
+told in the report of the Secretary of War, which will be laid before you.
+The individual valor of officers and soldiers was never more strikingly
+shown than in the several engagements leading to the surrender of Santiago,
+while the prompt movements and successive victories won instant and
+universal applause. To those who gained this complete triumph, which
+established the ascendency of the United States upon land as the fight off
+Santiago had fixed our supremacy on the seas, the earnest and lasting
+gratitude of the nation is unsparingly due. Nor should we alone remember
+the gallantry of the living; the dead claim our tears, and our losses by
+battle and disease must cloud any exultation at the result and teach us to
+weigh the awful cost of war, however rightful the cause or signal the
+victory.
+
+With the fall of Santiago the occupation of Puerto Rico became the next
+strategic necessity. General Miles had previously been assigned to organize
+an expedition for that purpose. Fortunately he was already at Santiago,
+where he had arrived on the 11th of July with reenforcements for General
+Shafter's army.
+
+With these troops, consisting of 3,415 infantry and artillery, two
+companies of engineers, and one company of the Signal Corps, General Miles
+left Guantanamo on July 21, having nine transports convoyed by the fleet
+under Captain Higginson with the Massachusetts (flagship), Dixie,
+Gloucester, Columbia, and Yale, the two latter carrying troops. The
+expedition landed at Guanica July 25, which port was entered with little
+opposition. Here the fleet was joined by the Annapolis and the Wasp, while
+the Puritan and Amphitrite went to San Juan and joined the New Orleans,
+which was engaged in blockading that port. The Major-General Commanding was
+subsequently reenforced by General Schwan's brigade of the Third Army
+Corps, by General Wilson with a part of his division, and also by General
+Brooke with a part of his corps, numbering in all 16,973 officers and men.
+
+On July 27 he entered Ponce, one of the most important ports in the island,
+from which he thereafter directed operations for the capture of the
+island.
+
+With the exception of encounters with the enemy at Guayama, Hormigueros,
+Coamo, and Yauco and an attack on a force landed at Cape San Juan, there
+was no serious resistance. The campaign was prosecuted with great vigor,
+and by the 12th of August much of the island was in our possession and the
+acquisition of the remainder was only a matter of a short time. At most of
+the points in the island our troops were enthusiastically welcomed.
+Protestations of loyalty to the flag and gratitude for delivery from
+Spanish rule met our commanders at every stage. As a potent influence
+toward peace the outcome of the Puerto Rican expedition was of great
+consequence, and generous commendation is due to those who participated in
+it.
+
+The last scene of the war was enacted at Manila, its starting place. On
+August 15, after a brief assault upon the works by the land forces, in
+which the squadron assisted, the capital surrendered unconditionally. The
+casualties were comparatively few. By this the conquest of the Philippine
+Islands, virtually accomplished when the Spanish capacity for resistance
+was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's victory of the 1st of May, was formally
+sealed. To General Merrill, his officers and men, for their uncomplaining
+and devoted service and for their gallantry in action, the nation is
+sincerely grateful. Their long voyage was made with singular success, and
+the soldierly conduct of the men, most of whom were without previous
+experience in the military service, deserves unmeasured praise.
+
+The total casualties in killed and wounded in the Army during the war with
+Spain were: Officers killed, 23; enlisted men killed, 257; total, 280;
+officers wounded, 113; enlisted men wounded, 1,464; total, 1,577. Of the
+Navy: Killed, 17; wounded, 67; died as result of wounds, 1; invalided from
+service, 6; total, 91.
+
+It will be observed that while our Navy was engaged in two great battles
+and in numerous perilous undertakings in blockade and bombardment, and more
+than 50,000 of our troops were transported to distant lands and were
+engaged in assault and siege and battle and many skirmishes in unfamiliar
+territory, we lost in both arms of the service a total of 1,668 killed and
+wounded; and in the entire campaign by land and sea we did not lose a gun
+or a flag or a transport or a ship, and, with the exception of the crew of
+the Merrimac, not a soldier or sailor was taken prisoner.
+
+On August 7, forty-six days from the date of the landing of General
+Shafter's army in Cuba and twenty-one days from the surrender of Santiago,
+the United States troops commenced embarkation for home, and our entire
+force was returned to the United States as early as August 24. They were
+absent from the United States only two months.
+
+It is fitting that I should bear testimony to the patriotism and devotion
+of that large portion of our Army which, although eager to be ordered to
+the post of greatest exposure, fortunately was not required outside of the
+United States. They did their whole duty, and, like their comrades at the
+front, have earned the gratitude of the nation. In like manner, the
+officers and men of the Army and of the Navy who remained in their
+departments and stations faithfully performing most important duties
+connected with the war, and whose requests for assignment in the field and
+at sea I was compelled to refuse because their services were indispensable
+here, are entitled to the highest commendation. It is my regret that there
+seems to be no provision for their suitable recognition.
+
+In this connection it is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial
+appreciation the timely and useful work of the American National Red Cross,
+both in relief measures preparatory to the campaigns, in sanitary
+assistance at several of the camps of assemblage, and later, under the able
+and experienced leadership of the president of the society, Miss Clara
+Barton, on the fields of battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba.
+Working in conjunction with the governmental authorities and under their
+sanction and approval, and with the enthusiastic cooperation of many
+patriotic women and societies in the various States, the Red Cross has
+fully maintained its already high reputation for intense earnestness and
+ability to exercise the noble purposes of its international organization,
+thus justifying the confidence and support which it has received at the
+hands of the American people. To the members and officers of this society
+and all who aided them in their philanthropic work the sincere and lasting
+gratitude of the soldiers and the public is due and is freely accorded.
+
+In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obligations to
+the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe guidance, for
+which the nation makes reverent acknowledgment and offers humble prayer for
+the continuance of His favor.
+
+The annihilation of Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the capitulation
+of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish Government a realizing sense of
+the hopelessness of continuing a struggle now become wholly unequal, it
+made overtures of peace through the French ambassador, who, with the assent
+of his Government, had acted as the friendly representative of Spanish
+interests during the war. On the 26th of July M. Cambon presented a
+communication signed by the Duke of Almodovar, the Spanish minister of
+state, inviting the United States to state the terms upon which it would be
+willing to make peace. On the 30th of July, by a communication addressed to
+the Duke of Almodovar and handed to M. Cambon, the terms of this Government
+were announced substantially as in the protocol afterwards signed. On the
+10th of August the Spanish reply, dated August 7, was handed by M. Cambon
+to the Secretary of State. It accepted unconditionally the terms imposed as
+to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and an island of the Ladrones group, but appeared to
+seek to introduce inadmissible reservations in regard to our demand as to
+the Philippine Islands. Conceiving that discussion on this point could
+neither be practical nor profitable, I directed that in order to avoid
+misunderstanding the matter should be forthwith closed by proposing the
+embodiment in a formal protocol of the terms upon which the negotiations
+for peace were to be undertaken. The vague and inexplicit suggestions of
+the Spanish note could not be accepted, the only reply being to present as
+a virtual ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying the precise terms
+tendered to Spain in our note of July 30, with added stipulations of detail
+as to the appointment of commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the
+Spanish Antilles. On August 12 M. Cambon announced his receipt of full
+powers to sign the protocol so submitted. Accordingly, on the afternoon of
+August 12, M. Cambon, as the plenipotentiary of Spain, and the Secretary of
+State, as the plenipotentiary of the United States, signed a protocol
+providing-- ARTICLE I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over
+and title to Cuba.
+
+ART. II. Spain will cede to the United States the island of Puerto Rico and
+other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an
+island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States.
+
+ART. III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor
+of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine
+the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. The fourth
+article provided for the appointment of joint commissions on the part of
+the United States and Spain, to meet in Havana and San Juan, respectively,
+for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of the stipulated
+evacuation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West
+Indies.
+
+The fifth article provided for the appointment of not more than five
+commissioners on each side, to meet at Paris not later than October 1 and
+to proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, subject
+to ratification according to the respective constitutional forms of the two
+countries.
+
+The sixth and last article provided that upon the signature of the protocol
+hostilities between the two countries should be suspended and that notice
+to that effect should be given as soon as possible by each Government to
+the commanders of its military and naval forces.
+
+Immediately upon the conclusion of the protocol I issued a proclamation, of
+August 12 , suspending hostilities on the part of the United States. The
+necessary orders to that end were at once given by telegraph. The blockade
+of the ports of Cuba and San Juan de Puerto Rico was in like manner raised.
+On the 18th of August the muster out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that
+number as was found to be practicable, was ordered.
+
+On the 1st of December 101,165 officers and men had been mustered out and
+discharged from the service, and 9,002 more will be mustered out by the
+10th of this month; also a corresponding number of general and general
+staff officers have been honorably discharged the service.
+
+The military commissions to superintend the evacuation of Cuba, Puerto
+Rico, and the adjacent islands were forthwith appointed--for Cuba,
+Major-General James F. Wade, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, Major-General
+Matthew C. Butler; for Puerto Rico, Major--General John R. Brooke,
+Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, Brigadier-General William W. Gordon--who
+soon afterwards met the Spanish commissioners at Havana and San Juan,
+respectively. The Puerto Rican Joint Commission speedily accomplished its
+task, and by the 18th of October the evacuation of the island was
+completed. The United States flag was raised over the island at noon on
+that day. The administration of its affairs has been provisionally
+intrusted to a military governor until the Congress shall otherwise
+provide. The Cuban Joint Commission has not yet terminated its labors.
+Owing to the difficulties in the way of removing the large numbers of
+Spanish troops still in Cuba, the evacuation can not be completed before
+the 1st of January next.
+
+Pursuant to the fifth article of the protocol, I appointed William R. Day,
+lately Secretary of State; Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, and George
+Gray, Senators of the United States, and Whitelaw Reid to be the peace
+commissioners on the part of the United States. Proceeding in due season to
+Paris, they there met on the 1st of October five commissioners similarly
+appointed on the part of Spain. Their negotiations have made hopeful
+progress, so that I trust soon to be able to lay a definitive treaty of
+peace before the Senate, with a review of the steps leading to its
+signature.
+
+I do not discuss at this time the government or the future of the new
+possessions which will come to us as the result of the war with Spain. Such
+discussion will be appropriate after the treaty of peace shall be ratified.
+In the meantime and until the Congress has legislated otherwise it will be
+my duty to continue the military governments which have existed since our
+occupation and give to the people security in life and property and
+encouragement under a just and beneficent rule.
+
+As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and have pacified the island it
+will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form a
+government for themselves. This should be undertaken at the earliest moment
+consistent with safety and assured success. It is important that our
+relations with this people shall be of the most friendly character and our
+commercial relations close and reciprocal. It should be our duty to assist
+in every proper way to build up the waste places of the island, encourage
+the industry of the people, and assist them to form a government which
+shall be free and independent, thus realizing the best aspirations of the
+Cuban people.
+
+Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent, and humane government,
+created by the people of Cuba, capable of performing all international
+obligations, and which shall encourage thrift, industry, and prosperity and
+promote peace and good will among all of the inhabitants, whatever may have
+been their relations in the past. Neither revenge nor passion should have a
+place in the new government. Until there is complete tranquillity in the
+island and a stable government inaugurated military occupation will be
+continued.
+
+With the one exception of the rupture with Spain, the intercourse of the
+United States with the great family of nations has been marked with
+cordiality, and the close of the eventful year finds most of the issues
+that necessarily arise in the complex relations of sovereign states
+adjusted or presenting no serious obstacle to a just and honorable solution
+by amicable agreement.
+
+A long unsettled dispute as to the extended boundary between the Argentine
+Republic and Chile, stretching along the Andean crests from the southern
+border of the Atacama Desert to Magellan Straits, nearly a third of the
+length of the South American continent, assumed an acute stage in the early
+part of the year, and afforded to this Government occasion to express the
+hope that the resort to arbitration, already contemplated by existing
+conventions between the parties, might prevail despite the grave
+difficulties arising in its application. I am happy to say that
+arrangements to this end have been perfected, the questions of fact upon
+which the respective commissioners were unable to agree being in course of
+reference to Her Britannic Majesty for determination. A residual difference
+touching the northern boundary line across the Atacama Desert, for which
+existing treaties provided no adequate adjustment, bids fair to be settled
+in like manner by a joint commission, upon which the United States minister
+at Buenos Ayres has been invited to serve as umpire in the last resort.
+
+I have found occasion to approach the Argentine Government with a view to
+removing differences of rate charges imposed upon the cables of an American
+corporation in the transmission between Buenos Ayres and the cities of
+Uruguay and Brazil of through messages passing from and to the United
+States. Although the matter is complicated by exclusive concessions by
+Uruguay and Brazil to foreign companies, there is strong hope that a good
+understanding will be reached and that the important channels of commercial
+communication between the United States and the Atlantic cities of South
+America may be freed from an almost prohibitory discrimination.
+
+In this relation I may be permitted to express my sense of the fitness of
+an international agreement whereby the interchange of messages over
+connecting cables may be regulated on a fair basis of uniformity. The world
+has seen the postal system developed from a congeries of independent and
+exclusive services into a well-ordered union, of which all countries enjoy
+the manifold benefits. It would be strange were the nations not in time
+brought to realize that modern civilization, which owes so much of its
+progress to the annihilation of space by the electric force, demands that
+this all-important means of communication be a heritage of all peoples, to
+be administered and regulated in their common behoof. A step in this
+direction was taken when the international convention of 1884 for the
+protection of submarine cables was signed, and the day is, I trust, not far
+distant when this medium for the transmission of thought from land to land
+may be brought within the domain of international concert as completely as
+is the material carriage of commerce and correspondence upon the face of
+the waters that divide them.
+
+The claim of Thomas Jefferson Page against Argentina, which has been
+pending many years, has been adjusted. The sum awarded by the Congress of
+Argentina was $4,242.35.
+
+The sympathy of the American people has justly been offered to the ruler
+and the people of Austria-Hungary by reason of the affliction that has
+lately befallen them in the assassination of the Empress-Queen of that
+historic realm.
+
+On the 10th of September, 1897, a conflict took place at Lattimer, Pa.,
+between a body of striking miners and the sheriff of Luzerne County and his
+deputies, in which 22 miners were killed and 44 wounded, of whom 10 of the
+killed and 12 of the wounded were Austrian and Hungarian subjects. This
+deplorable event naturally aroused the solicitude of the Austro-Hungarian
+Government, which, on the assumption that the killing and wounding involved
+the unjustifiable misuse of authority, claimed reparation for the
+sufferers. Apart from the searching investigation and peremptory action of
+the authorities of Pennsylvania, the Federal Executive took appropriate
+steps to learn the merits of the case, in order to be in a position to meet
+the urgent complaint of a friendly power. The sheriff and his deputies,
+having been indicted for murder, were tried, and acquitted, after
+protracted proceedings and the hearing of hundreds of witnesses, on the
+ground that the killing was in the line of their official duty to uphold
+law and preserve public order in the State. A representative of the
+Department of Justice attended the trial and reported its course fully.
+With all the facts in its possession, this Government expects to reach a
+harmonious understanding on the subject with that of Austria-Hungary,
+notwithstanding the renewed claim of the latter, after learning the result
+of the trial, for indemnity for its injured subjects.
+
+Despite the brief time allotted for preparation, the exhibits of this
+country at the Universal Exposition at Brussels in 1897 enjoyed the
+singular distinction of a larger proportion of awards, having regard to the
+number and classes of articles entered than those of other countries. The
+worth of such a result in making known our national capacity to supply the
+world's markets is obvious.
+
+Exhibitions of this international character are becoming more frequent as
+the exchanges of commercial countries grow more intimate and varied. Hardly
+a year passes that this Government is not invited to national participation
+at some important foreign center, but often on too short notice to permit
+of recourse to Congress for the power and means to do so. My predecessors
+have suggested the advisability of providing by a general enactment and a
+standing appropriation for accepting such invitations and for
+representation of this country by a commission. This plan has my cordial
+approval.
+
+I trust that the Belgian restrictions on the importation of cattle from the
+United States, originally adopted as a sanitary precaution, will at an
+early day be relaxed as to their present features of hardship and
+discrimination, so as to admit live cattle under due regulation of their
+slaughter after landing. I am hopeful, too, of favorable change in the
+Belgian treatment of our preserved and salted meats. The growth of direct
+trade between the two countries, not alone for Belgian consumption and
+Belgian products, but by way of transit from and to other continental
+states, has been both encouraging and beneficial. No effort will be spared
+to enlarge its advantages by seeking the removal of needless impediments
+and by arrangements for increased commercial exchanges.
+
+The year's events in Central America deserve more than passing mention.
+
+A menacing rupture between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was happily composed by
+the signature of a convention between the parties, with the concurrence of
+the Guatemalan representative as a mediator, the act being negotiated and
+signed on board the United States steamer Alert, then lying in Central
+American waters. It is believed that the good offices of our envoy and of
+the commander of that vessel contributed toward this gratifying outcome.
+
+In my last annual message the situation was presented with respect to the
+diplomatic representation of this Government in Central America created by
+the association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador under the title of the
+Greater Republic of Central America, and the delegation of their
+international functions to the Diet thereof. While the representative
+character of the Diet was recognized by my predecessor and has been
+confirmed during my Administration by receiving its accredited envoy and
+granting exequaturs to consuls commissioned under its authority, that
+recognition was qualified by the distinct understanding that the
+responsibility of each of the component sovereign Republics toward the
+United States remained wholly unaffected.
+
+This proviso was needful inasmuch as the compact of the three Republics was
+at the outset an association whereby certain representative functions were
+delegated to a tripartite commission rather than a federation possessing
+centralized powers of government and administration. In this view of their
+relation and of the relation of the United States to the several Republics,
+a change in the representation of this country in Central America was
+neither recommended by the Executive nor initiated by Congress, thus
+leaving one of our envoys accredited, as heretofore, separately to two
+States of the Greater Republic, Nicaragua and Salvador, and to a third
+State, Costa Rica, which was not a party to the compact, while our other
+envoy was similarly accredited to a union State, Honduras, and a nonunion
+State, Guatemala. The result has been that the one has presented
+credentials only to the President of Costa Rica, the other having been
+received only by the Government of Guatemala.
+
+Subsequently the three associated Republics entered into negotiations for
+taking the steps forecast in the original compact. A convention of their
+delegates framed for them a federal constitution under the name of the
+United States of Central America, and provided for a central federal
+government and legislature. Upon ratification by the constituent States,
+the 1st of November last was fixed for the new system to go into operation.
+Within a few weeks thereafter the plan was severely tested by revolutionary
+movements arising, with a consequent demand for unity of action on the part
+of the military power of the federal States to suppress them. Under this
+strain the new union seems to have been weakened through the withdrawal of
+its more important members. This Government was not officially advised of
+the installation of the federation and has maintained an attitude of
+friendly expectancy, while in no wise relinquishing the position held from
+the outset that the responsibilities of the several States toward us
+remained unaltered by their tentative relations among themselves.
+
+The Nicaragua Canal Commission, under the chairmanship of Rear-Admiral John
+G. Walker, appointed July 24, 1897, under the authority of a provision in
+the sundry civil act of June 4 of that year, has nearly completed its
+labors, and the results of its exhaustive inquiry into the proper route,
+the feasibility, and the cost of construction of an interoceanic canal by a
+Nicaraguan route will be laid before you. In the performance of its task
+the commission received all possible courtesy and assistance from the
+Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which thus testified their
+appreciation of the importance of giving a speedy and practical outcome to
+the great project that has for so many years engrossed the attention of the
+respective countries.
+
+As the scope of the recent inquiry embraced the whole subject, with the aim
+of making plans and surveys for a canal by the most convenient route, it
+necessarily included a review of the results of previous surveys and plans,
+and in particular those adopted by the Maritime Canal Company under its
+existing concessions from Nicaragua and Costa Rica, so that to this extent
+those grants necessarily hold as essential a part in the deliberations and
+conclusions of the Canal Commission as they have held and must needs hold
+in the discussion of the matter by the Congress. Under these circumstances
+and in view of overtures made to the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa
+Rica by other parties for a new canal concession predicated on the assumed
+approaching lapse of the contracts of the Maritime Canal Company with those
+States, I have not hesitated to express my conviction that considerations
+of expediency and international policy as between the several governments
+interested in the construction and control of an interoceanic canal by this
+route require the maintenance of the status quo until the Canal Commission
+shall have reported and the United States Congress shall have had the
+opportunity to pass finally upon the whole matter during the present
+session, without prejudice by reason of any change in the existing
+conditions.
+
+Nevertheless, it appears that the Government of Nicaragua, as one of its
+last sovereign acts before merging its powers in those of the newly formed
+United States of Central America, has granted an optional concession to
+another association, to become effective on the expiration of the present
+grant. It does not appear what surveys have been made or what route is
+proposed under this contingent grant, so that an examination of the
+feasibility of its plans is necessarily not embraced in the report of the
+Canal Commission. All these circumstances suggest the urgency of some
+definite action by the Congress at this session if the labors of the past
+are to be utilized and the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a
+practical waterway is to be realized. That the construction of such a
+maritime highway is now more than ever indispensable to that intimate and
+ready intercommunication between our eastern and western seaboards demanded
+by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the prospective expansion of
+our influence and commerce in the Pacific, and that our national policy now
+more imperatively than ever calls for its control by this Government, are
+propositions which I doubt not the Congress will duly appreciate and wisely
+act upon.
+
+A convention providing for the revival of the late United States and
+Chilean Claims Commission and the consideration of claims which were duly
+presented to the late commission, but not considered because of the
+expiration of the time limited for the duration of the commission, was
+signed May 24, 1897, and has remained unacted upon by the Senate. The term
+therein fixed for effecting the exchange of ratifications having elapsed,
+the convention falls unless the time be extended by amendment, which I am
+endeavoring to bring about, with the friendly concurrence of the Chilean
+Government.
+
+The United States has not been an indifferent spectator of the
+extraordinary events transpiring in the Chinese Empire, whereby portions of
+its maritime provinces are passing under the control of various European
+powers; but the prospect that the vast commerce which the energy of our
+citizens and the necessity of our staple productions for Chinese uses has
+built up in those regions may not be prejudiced through any exclusive
+treatment by the new occupants has obviated the need of our country
+becoming an actor in the scene. Our position among nations, having a large
+Pacific coast and a constantly expanding direct trade with the farther
+Orient, gives us the equitable claim to consideration and friendly
+treatment in this regard, and it will be my aim to subserve our large
+interests in that quarter by all means appropriate to the constant policy
+of our Government. The territories of Kiao-chow, of Wei-hai-wei, and of
+Port Arthur and Talienwan, leased to Germany, Great Britain, and Russia,
+respectively, for terms of years, will, it is announced, be open to
+international commerce during such alien occupation; and if no
+discriminating treatment of American citizens and their trade be found to
+exist or be hereafter developed, the desire of this Government would appear
+to be realized.
+
+In this relation, as showing the volume and value of our exchanges with
+China and the peculiarly favorable conditions which exist for their
+expansion in the normal course of trade, I refer to the communication
+addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the Secretary
+of the Treasury on the 14th of last June, with its accompanying letter of
+the Secretary of State, recommending an appropriation for a commission to
+study the commercial and industrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and
+report as to the opportunities for and obstacles to the enlargement of
+markets in China for the raw products and manufactures of the United
+States. Action was not taken thereon during the late session. I cordially
+urge that the recommendation receive at your hands the consideration which
+its importance and timeliness merit.
+
+Meanwhile there may be just ground for disquietude in view of the unrest
+and revival of the old sentiment of opposition and prejudice to alien
+people which pervades certain of the Chinese provinces. As in the case of
+the attacks upon our citizens in Szechuen and at Kutien in 1895, the United
+States minister has been instructed to secure the fullest measure of
+protection, both local and imperial, for any menaced American interests,
+and to demand, in case of lawless injury to person or property, instant
+reparation appropriate to the case. War ships have been stationed at
+Tientsin for more ready observation of the disorders which have invaded
+even the Chinese capital, so as to be in a position to act should need
+arise, while a guard of marines has been sent to Peking to afford the
+minister the same measure of authoritative protection as the
+representatives of other nations have been constrained to employ.
+
+Following close upon the rendition of the award of my predecessor as
+arbitrator of the claim of the Italian subject Cerruti against the Republic
+of Colombia, differences arose between the parties to the arbitration in
+regard to the scope and extension of the award, of which certain articles
+were contested by Colombia, while Italy claimed their literal fulfillment.
+The award having been made by the President of the United States, as an act
+of friendly consideration and with the sole view to an impartial
+composition of the matter in dispute, I could not but feel deep concern at
+such a miscarriage, and while unable to accept the Colombian theory that I,
+in my official capacity, possessed continuing functions as arbitrator, with
+power to interpret or revise the terms of the award, my best efforts were
+lent to bring the parties to a harmonious agreement as to the execution of
+its provisions.
+
+A naval demonstration by Italy resulted in an engagement to pay the
+liabilities claimed upon their ascertainment; but this apparent disposition
+of the controversy was followed by a rupture of diplomatic intercourse
+between Colombia and Italy, which still continues, although, fortunately,
+without acute symptoms having supervened. Notwithstanding this, efforts are
+reported to be continuing for the ascertainment of Colombia's contingent
+liability on account of Cerruti's debts under the fifth article of the
+award.
+
+A claim of an American citizen against the Dominican Republic for a public
+bridge over the Ozama River, which has been in diplomatic controversy for
+several years, has been settled by expert arbitration and an award in favor
+of the claimant amounting to about $90,000. It, however, remains unpaid,
+despite urgent demands for its settlement according to the terms of the
+compact.
+
+There is now every prospect that the participation of the United States in
+the Universal Exposition to be held in Paris in 1900 will be on a scale
+commensurate with the advanced position held by our products and industries
+in the world's chief marts.
+
+The preliminary report of Mr. Moses P. Handy, who, under the act approved
+July 19, 1897, was appointed special commissioner with a view to securing
+all attainable information necessary to a full and complete understanding
+by Congress in regard to the participation of this Government in the Paris
+Exposition, was laid before you by my message of December 6, 1897, and
+showed the large opportunities opened to make known our national progress
+in arts, science, and manufactures, as well as the urgent need of immediate
+and adequate provision to enable due advantage thereof to be taken. Mr.
+Handy's death soon afterwards rendered it necessary for another to take up
+and complete his unfinished work, and on January 11 last Mr. Thomas W.
+Cridler, Third Assistant Secretary of State, was designated to fulfill that
+task. His report was laid before you by my message of June 14, 1898, with
+the gratifying result of awakening renewed interest in the projected
+display. By a provision in the sundry civil appropriation act of July 1,
+1898, a sum not to exceed $650,000 was allotted for the organization of a
+commission to care for the proper preparation and installation of American
+exhibits and for the display of suitable exhibits by the several Executive
+Departments, particularly by the Department of Agriculture, the Fish
+Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution, in representation of the
+Government of the United States.
+
+Pursuant to that enactment I appointed Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago,
+commissioner-general, with an assistant commissioner-general and a
+secretary. Mr. Peck at once proceeded to Paris, where his success in
+enlarging the scope and variety of the United States exhibit has been most
+gratifying. Notwithstanding the comparatively limited area of the
+exposition site--less than one-half that of the World's Fair at
+Chicago--the space assigned to the United States has been increased from
+the absolute allotment of 157,403 square feet reported by Mr. Handy to some
+202,000 square feet, with corresponding augmentation of the field for a
+truly characteristic representation of the various important branches of
+our country's development. Mr. Peck's report will be laid before you. In my
+judgment its recommendations will call for your early consideration,
+especially as regards an increase of the appropriation to at least one
+million dollars in all, so that not only may the assigned space be fully
+taken up by the best possible exhibits in every class, but the preparation
+and installation be on so perfect a scale as to rank among the first in
+that unparalleled competition of artistic and inventive production, and
+thus counterbalance the disadvantage with which we start as compared with
+other countries whose appropriations are on a more generous scale and whose
+preparations are in a state of much greater forwardness than our
+
+Where our artisans have the admitted capacity to excel, where our inventive
+genius has initiated many of the grandest discoveries of these later days
+of the century, and where the native resources of our land are as limitless
+as they are valuable to supply the world's needs, it is our province, as it
+should be our earnest care, to lead in the march of human progress, and not
+rest content with any secondary place. Moreover, if this be due to
+ourselves, it is no less due to the great French nation whose guests we
+become, and which has in so many ways testified its wish and hope that our
+participation shall befit the place the two peoples have won in the field
+of universal development.
+
+The commercial arrangement made with France on the 28th of May, 1898, under
+the provisions of section 3 of the tariff act of 1897, went into effect on
+the 1st day of June following. It has relieved a portion of our export
+trade from serious embarrassment. Further negotiations are now pending
+under section 4 of the same act with a view to the increase of trade
+between the two countries to their mutual advantage. Negotiations with
+other governments, in part interrupted by the war with Spain, are in
+progress under both sections of the tariff act. I hope to be able to
+announce some of the results of these negotiations during the present
+session of Congress.
+
+Negotiations to the same end with Germany have been set on foot. Meanwhile
+no effort has been relaxed to convince the Imperial Government of the
+thoroughness of our inspection of pork products for exportation, and it is
+trusted that the efficient administration of this measure by the Department
+of Agriculture will be recognized as a guaranty of the healthfulness of the
+food staples we send abroad to countries where their use is large and
+necessary.
+
+I transmitted to the Senate on the 10th of February last information
+touching the prohibition against the importation of fresh fruits from this
+country, which had then recently been decreed by Germany on the ground of
+danger of disseminating the San Jose scale insect. This precautionary
+measure was justified by Germany on the score of the drastic steps taken in
+several States of the Union against the spread of the pest, the elaborate
+reports of the Department of Agriculture being put in evidence to show the
+danger to German fruit-growing interests should the scale obtain a lodgment
+in that country. Temporary relief was afforded in the case of large
+consignments of fruit then on the way by inspection and admission when
+found noninfected. Later the prohibition was extended to dried fruits of
+every kind, but was relaxed so as to apply only to unpeeled fruit and fruit
+waste. As was to be expected, the alarm reached to other countries, and
+Switzerland has adopted a similar inhibition. Efforts are in progress to
+induce the German and Swiss Governments to relax the prohibition in favor
+of dried fruits shown to have been cured under circumstances rendering the
+existence of animal life impossible.
+
+Our relations with Great Britain have continued on the most friendly
+footing. Assenting to our request, the protection of Americans and their
+interests in Spanish jurisdiction was assumed by the diplomatic and
+consular representatives of Great Britain, who fulfilled their delicate and
+arduous trust with tact and zeal, eliciting high commendation. I may be
+allowed to make fitting allusion to the instance of Mr. Ramsden, Her
+Majesty's consul at Santiago de Cuba, whose untimely death after
+distinguished service and untiring effort during the siege of that city was
+sincerely lamented.
+
+In the early part of April last, pursuant to a request made at the instance
+of the Secretary of State by the British ambassador at this capital, the
+Canadian government granted facilities for the passage of four United
+States revenue cutters from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast by way of
+the Canadian canals and the St. Lawrence River. The vessels had reached
+Lake Ontario and were there awaiting the opening of navigation when war was
+declared between the United States and Spain. Her Majesty's Government
+thereupon, by a communication of the latter part of April, stated that the
+permission granted before the outbreak of hostilities would not be
+withdrawn provided the United States Government gave assurance that the
+vessels in question would proceed direct to a United States port without
+engaging in any hostile operation. This Government promptly agreed to the
+stipulated condition, it being understood that the vessels would not be
+prohibited from resisting any hostile attack.
+
+It will give me especial satisfaction if I shall be authorized to
+communicate to you a favorable conclusion of the pending negotiations with
+Great Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. It is the earnest wish
+of this Government to remove all sources of discord and irritation in our
+relations with the neighboring Dominion. The trade between the two
+countries is constantly increasing, and it is important to both countries
+that all reasonable facilities should be granted for its development.
+
+The Government of Greece strongly urges the onerousness of the duty here
+imposed upon the currants of that country, amounting to 100 per cent or
+more of their market value. This fruit is stated to be exclusively a Greek
+product, not coming into competition with any domestic product. The
+question of reciprocal commercial relations with Greece, including the
+restoration of currants to the free list, is under consideration.
+
+The long-standing claim of Bernard Campbell for damages for injuries
+sustained from a violent assault committed against him by military
+authorities in the island of Haiti has been settled by the agreement of
+that Republic to pay him $10,000 in American gold. Of this sum $5,000 has
+already been paid. It is hoped that other pending claims of American
+citizens against that Republic may be amicably adjusted.
+
+Pending the consideration by the Senate of the treaty signed June 1897, by
+the plenipotentiaries of the United States and of the Republic of Hawaii,
+providing for the annexation of the islands, a joint resolution to
+accomplish the same purpose by accepting the offered cession and
+incorporating the ceded territory into the Union was adopted by the
+Congress and approved July 7, 1898. I thereupon directed the United States
+steamship Philadelphia to convey Rear-Admiral Miller to Honolulu, and
+intrusted to his hands this important legislative act, to be delivered to
+the President of the Republic of Hawaii, with whom the Admiral and the
+United States minister were authorized to make appropriate arrangements for
+transferring the sovereignty of the islands to the United States. This was
+simply but impressively accomplished on the 12th of August last by the
+delivery of a certified copy of the resolution to President Dole, who
+thereupon yielded up to the representative of the Government of the United
+States the sovereignty and public property of the Hawaiian Islands.
+
+Pursuant to the terms of the joint resolution and in exercise of the
+authority thereby conferred upon me, I directed that the civil, judicial,
+and military powers theretofore exercised by the officers of the Government
+of the Republic of Hawaii should continue to be exercised by those officers
+until Congress shall provide a government for the incorporated territory,
+subject to my power to remove such officers and to fill vacancies. The
+President, officers, and troops of the Republic thereupon took the oath of
+allegiance to the United States, thus providing for the uninterrupted
+continuance of all the administrative and municipal functions of the
+annexed territory until Congress shall otherwise enact.
+
+Following the further provision of the joint resolution, I appointed the
+Hons. Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, John T. Morgan, of Alabama, Robert R.
+Hitt, of Illinois, Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii, and Walter F. Frear, of
+Hawaii, as commissioners to confer and recommend to Congress such
+legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands as they should deem necessary
+or proper. The commissioners having fulfilled the mission confided to them,
+their report will be laid before you at an early day. It is believed that
+their recommendations will have the earnest consideration due to the
+magnitude of the responsibility resting upon you to give such shape to the
+relationship of those mid-Pacific lands to our home Union as will benefit
+both in the highest degree, realizing the aspirations of the community that
+has cast its lot with us and elected to share our political heritage, while
+at the same time justifying the foresight of those who for three-quarters
+of a century have looked to the assimilation of Hawaii as a natural and
+inevitable consummation, in harmony with our needs and in fulfillment of
+our cherished traditions.
+
+The questions heretofore pending between Hawaii and Japan growing out of
+the alleged mistreatment of Japanese treaty immigrants were, I am pleased
+to say, adjusted before the act of transfer by the payment of a reasonable
+indemnity to the Government of Japan.
+
+Under the provisions of the joint resolution, the existing customs
+relations of the Hawaiian Islands with the United States and with other
+countries remain unchanged until legislation shall otherwise provide. The
+consuls of Hawaii here and in foreign countries continue to fulfill their
+commercial agencies, while the United States consulate at Honolulu is
+maintained for all appropriate services pertaining to trade and the
+revenue. It would be desirable that all foreign consuls in the Hawaiian
+Islands should receive new exequaturs from this Government.
+
+The attention of Congress is called to the fact that, our consular offices
+having ceased to exist in Hawaii and being about to cease in other
+countries coming under the sovereignty of the United States, the provisions
+for the relief and transportation of destitute American seamen in these
+countries under our consular regulations will in consequence terminate. It
+is proper, therefore, that new legislation should be enacted upon this
+subject in order to meet the changed conditions.
+
+The interpretation of certain provisions of the extradition convention of
+December 11, 1861, has been at various times the occasion of controversy
+with the Government of Mexico. An acute difference arose in the case of the
+Mexican demand for the delivery of Jesus Guerra, who, having led a
+marauding expedition near the border with the proclaimed purpose of
+initiating an insurrection against President Diaz, escaped into Texas.
+Extradition was refused on the ground that the alleged offense was
+political in its character, and therefore came within the treaty proviso of
+nonsurrender. The Mexican contention was that the exception only related to
+purely political offenses, and that as Guerra's acts were admixed with the
+common crime of murder, arson, kidnaping, and robbery, the option of
+nondelivery became void, a position which this Government was unable to
+admit in view of the received international doctrine and practice in the
+matter. The Mexican Government, in view of this, gave notice January 24,
+1898, of the termination of the convention, to take effect twelve months
+from that date, at the same time inviting the conclusion of a new
+convention, toward which negotiations are on foot.
+
+In this relation I may refer to the necessity of some amendment of our
+existing extradition statute. It is a common stipulation of such treaties
+that neither party shall be bound to give up its own citizens, with the
+added proviso in one of our treaties, that with Japan, that it may
+surrender if it see fit. It is held in this country by an almost uniform
+course of decisions that where a treaty negatives the obligation to
+surrender the President is not invested with legal authority to act. The
+conferment of such authority would be in the line of that sound morality
+which shrinks from affording secure asylum to the author of a heinous
+crime. Again, statutory provision might well be made for what is styled
+extradition by way of transit, whereby a fugitive surrendered by one
+foreign government to another may be conveyed across the territory of the
+United States to the jurisdiction of the demanding state. A recommendation
+in this behalf made in the President's message of 1886 was not acted upon.
+The matter is presented for your consideration.
+
+The problem of the Mexican free zone has been often discussed with regard
+to its inconvenience as a provocative of smuggling into the United States
+along an extensive and thinly guarded land border. The effort made by the
+joint resolution of March 1, 1895, to remedy the abuse charged by
+suspending the privilege of free transportation in bond across the
+territory of the United States to Mexico failed of good result, as is
+stated in Report No. 702 of the House of Representatives, submitted in the
+last session, March 11, 1898. As the question is one to be conveniently met
+by wise concurrent legislation of the two countries looking to the
+protection of the revenues by harmonious measures operating equally on
+either side of the boundary, rather than by conventional arrangements, I
+suggest that Congress consider the advisability of authorizing and inviting
+a conference of representatives of the Treasury Departments of the United
+States and Mexico to consider the subject in all its complex bearings, and
+make report with pertinent recommendations to the respective Governments
+for the information and consideration of their Congresses.
+
+The Mexican Water Boundary Commission has adjusted all matters submitted to
+it to the satisfaction of both Governments save in three important
+cases--that of the "Chamizal" at El Paso, Tex., where the two commissioners
+failed to agree, and wherein, for this case only, this Government has
+proposed to Mexico the addition of a third member; the proposed elimination
+of what are known as "Bancos," small isolated islands formed by the cutting
+off of bends in the Rio Grande, from the operation of the treaties of 1884
+and 1889, recommended by the commissioners and approved by this Government,
+but still under consideration by Mexico; and the subject of the "Equitable
+distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande," for which the commissioners
+recommended an international dam and reservoir, approved by Mexico, but
+still under consideration by this Government. Pending these questions it is
+necessary to extend the life of the commission, which expires December 23
+next.
+
+The coronation of the young Queen of the Netherlands was made the occasion
+of fitting congratulations.
+
+The claim of Victor H. McCord against Peru, which for a number of years has
+been pressed by this Government and has on several occasions attracted the
+attention of the Congress, has been satisfactorily adjusted. A protocol was
+signed May 17, 1898, whereby, the fact of liability being admitted, the
+question of the amount to be awarded was submitted to the chief justice of
+Canada as sole arbitrator. His award sets the indemnity due the claimant at
+$40,000.
+
+The Government of Peru has given the prescribed notification of its
+intention to abrogate the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation
+concluded with this country August 31, 1887. As that treaty contains many
+important provisions necessary to the maintenance of commerce and good
+relations, which could with difficulty be replaced by the negotiation of
+renewed provisions within the brief twelve months intervening before the
+treaty terminates, I have invited suggestions by Peru as to the particular
+provisions it is desired to annul, in the hope of reaching an arrangement
+whereby the remaining articles may be provisionally saved.
+
+His Majesty the Czar having announced his purpose to raise the Imperial
+Russian mission at this capital to the rank of an embassy, I responded,
+under the authority conferred by the act of March 3, 1893, by commissioning
+and accrediting the actual representative at St. Petersburg in the capacity
+of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The Russian ambassador to
+this country has since presented his credentials.
+
+The proposal of the Czar for a general reduction of the vast military
+establishments that weigh so heavily upon many peoples in time of peace was
+communicated to this Government with an earnest invitation to be
+represented in the conference which it is contemplated to assemble with a
+view to discussing the means of accomplishing so desirable a result. His
+Majesty was at once informed of the cordial sympathy of this Government
+with the principle involved in his exalted proposal and of the readiness of
+the United States to take part in the conference. The active military force
+of the United States, as measured by our population, territorial area, and
+taxable wealth, is, and under any conceivable prospective conditions must
+continue to be, in time of peace so conspicuously less than that of the
+armed powers to whom the Czar's appeal is especially addressed that the
+question can have for us no practical importance save as marking an
+auspicious step toward the betterment of the condition of the modern
+peoples and the cultivation of peace and good will among them; but in this
+view it behooves us as a nation to lend countenance and aid to the
+beneficent project.
+
+The claims of owners of American sealing vessels for seizure by Russian
+cruisers in Bering Sea are being pressed to a settlement. The equities of
+the cases justify the expectation that a measure of reparation will
+eventually be accorded in harmony with precedent and in the light of the
+proven facts.
+
+The recommendation made in my special message of April 27 last is renewed,
+that appropriation be made to reimburse the master and owners of the
+Russian bark Hans for wrongful arrest of the master and detention of the
+vessel in February, 1896, by officers of the United States district court
+for the southern district of Mississippi. The papers accompanying my said
+message make out a most meritorious claim and justify the urgency with
+which it has been presented by the Government of Russia.
+
+Malietoa Laupepa, King of Samoa, died on August 22 last. According to
+Article I of the general act of Berlin, "his successor shall be duly
+elected according to the laws and customs of Samoa."
+
+Arrangements having been agreed upon between the signatories of the general
+act for the return of Mataafa and the other exiled Samoan chiefs, they were
+brought from Jaluit by a German war vessel and landed at Apia on September
+18 last.
+
+Whether the death of Malietoa and the return of his old-time rival Mataafa
+will add to the undesirable complications which the execution of the
+tripartite general act has heretofore developed remains to be seen. The
+efforts of this Government will, as heretofore, be addressed toward a
+harmonious and exact fulfillment of the terms of the international
+engagement to which the United States became a party in 1889.
+
+The Cheek claim against Siam, after some five years of controversy, has
+been adjusted by arbitration under an agreement signed July 6, 1897, an
+award of 706,721 ticals (about $187,987.78 ), with release of the Cheek
+estate from mortgage claims, having been rendered March 21, 1898, in favor
+of the claimant by the arbitrator, Sir Nicholas John Hannen, British chief
+justice for China and Japan.
+
+An envoy from Siam has been accredited to this Government and has presented
+his credentials.
+
+Immediately upon the outbreak of the war with Spain the Swiss Government,
+fulfilling the high mission it has deservedly assumed as the patron of the
+International Red Cross, proposed to the United States and Spain that they
+should severally recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vivendi,
+during the continuance of hostilities, the additional articles proposed by
+the international conference of Geneva, October 20, 1868, extending the
+effects of the existing Red Cross convention of 1864 to the conduct of
+naval war. Following the example set by France and Germany in 1870 in
+adopting such a modus vivendi, and in view of the accession of the United
+States to those additional articles in 1882, although the exchange of
+ratifications thereof still remained uneffected, the Swiss proposal was
+promptly and cordially accepted by us, and simultaneously by Spain.
+
+This Government feels a keen satisfaction in having thus been enabled to
+testify its adherence to the broadest principles of humanity even amidst
+the clash of war, and it is to be hoped that the extension of the Red Cross
+compact to hostilities by sea as well as on land may soon become an
+accomplished fact through the general promulgation of the additional naval
+Red Cross articles by the maritime powers now parties to the convention of
+1864.
+
+The important question of the claim of Switzerland to the perpetual
+cantonal allegiance of American citizens of Swiss origin has not made
+hopeful progress toward a solution, and controversies in this regard still
+continue.
+
+The newly accredited envoy of the United States to the Ottoman Porte
+carries instructions looking to the disposal of matters in controversy with
+Turkey for a number of years. He is especially charged to press for a just
+settlement of our claims for indemnity by reason of the destruction of the
+property of American missionaries resident in that country during the
+Armenian troubles of 1895, as well as for the recognition of older claims
+of equal justness.
+
+He is also instructed to seek an adjustment of the dispute growing out of
+the refusal of Turkey to recognize the acquired citizenship of Ottoman-born
+persons naturalized in the United States since 1869 without prior imperial
+consent, and in the same general relation he is directed to endeavor to
+bring about a solution of the question which has more or less acutely
+existed since 1869 concerning the jurisdictional rights of the United
+States in matters of criminal procedure and punishment under Article IV of
+the treaty of 1830. This latter difficulty grows out of a verbal
+difference, claimed by Turkey to be essential, between the original Turkish
+text and the promulgated translation.
+
+After more than two years from the appointment of a consul of this country
+to Erzerum, he has received his exequatur.
+
+The arbitral tribunal appointed under the treaty of February 2, 1897,
+between Great Britain and Venezuela, to determine the boundary line between
+the latter and the colony of British Guiana, is to convene at Paris during
+the present month. It is a source of much gratification to this Government
+to see the friendly resort of arbitration applied to the settlement of this
+controversy, not alone because of the earnest part we have had in bringing
+about the result, but also because the two members named on behalf of
+Venezuela, Mr. Chief Justice Fuller and Mr. Justice Brewer, chosen from our
+highest court, appropriately testify the continuing interest we feel in the
+definitive adjustment of the question according to the strictest rules of
+justice. The British members, Lord Herschell and Sir Richard Collins, are
+jurists of no less exalted repute, while the fifth member and president of
+the tribunal, M. F. De Martens, has earned a world-wide reputation as an
+authority upon international law.
+
+The claim of Felipe Scandella against Venezuela for arbitrary expulsion and
+injury to his business has been adjusted by the revocation of the order of
+expulsion and by the payment of the sum of $16,000.
+
+I have the satisfaction of being able to state that the Bureau of the
+American Republics, created in 1890 as the organ for promoting commercial
+intercourse and fraternal relations among the countries of the Western
+Hemisphere, has become a more efficient instrument of the wise purposes of
+its founders, and is receiving the cordial support of the contributing
+members of the international union which are actually represented in its
+board of management. A commercial directory, in two volumes, containing a
+mass of statistical matter descriptive of the industrial and commercial
+interests of the various countries, has been printed in English, Spanish,
+Portuguese, and French, and a monthly bulletin published in these four
+languages and distributed in the Latin-American countries as well as in the
+United States has proved to be a valuable medium for disseminating
+information and furthering the varied interests of the international
+union.
+
+During the past year the important work of collecting information of
+practical benefit to American industries and trade through the agency of
+the diplomatic and consular officers has been steadily advanced, and in
+order to lay such data before the public with the least delay the practice
+was begun in January, 1898, of issuing the commercial reports from day to
+day as they are received by the Department of State. It is believed that
+for promptitude as well as fullness of information the service thus
+supplied to our merchants and manufacturers will be found to show sensible
+improvement and to merit the liberal support of Congress.
+
+The experiences of the last year bring forcibly home to us a sense of the
+burdens and the waste of war. We desire, in common with most civilized
+nations, to reduce to the lowest possible point the damage sustained in
+time of war by peaceable trade and commerce. It is true we may suffer in
+such cases less than other communities, but all nations are damaged more or
+less by the state of uneasiness and apprehension into which an outbreak of
+hostilities throws the entire commercial world. It should be our object,
+therefore, to minimize, so far as practicable, this inevitable loss and
+disturbance. This purpose can probably best be accomplished by an
+international agreement to regard all private property at sea as exempt
+from capture or destruction by the forces of belligerent powers. The United
+States Government has for many years advocated this humane and beneficent
+principle, and is now in position to recommend it to other powers without
+the imputation of selfish motives. I therefore suggest for your
+consideration that the Executive be authorized to correspond with the
+governments of the principal maritime powers with a view of incorporating
+into the permanent law of civilized nations the principle of the exemption
+of all private property at sea, not contraband of war, from capture or
+destruction by belligerent powers.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of the Government
+from all sources during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, including
+$64,751,223 received from sale of Pacific railroads, amounted to
+$405,321,335, and its expenditures to $443,168,582. There was collected
+from customs $149,575,062 and from internal revenue $170,900,641. Our
+dutiable imports amounted to $324,635,479, a decrease of $58,156,690 over
+the preceding year, and importations free of duty amounted to $291,414,175,
+a decrease from the preceding year of $90,524,068. Internal-revenue
+receipts exceeded those of the preceding year by $24,212,067.
+
+The total tax collected on distilled spirits was $92,546,999; on
+manufactured tobacco, $36,230,522, and on fermented liquors, $39,515,421.
+We exported merchandise during the year amounting to $1,231,482,330, an
+increase of $180,488,774 from the preceding year.
+
+It is estimated upon the basis of present revenue laws that the receipts of
+the Government for the year ending June 30, 1899, will be $577,874,647, and
+its expenditures $689,874,647, resulting in a deficiency of $112,000,000.
+
+On the 1st of December, 1898, there was held in the Treasury gold coin
+amounting to $138,441,547, gold bullion amounting to $138,502,545, silver
+bullion amounting to $93,359,250, and other forms of money amounting to
+$451,963,981.
+
+On the same date the amount of money of all kinds in circulation, or not
+included in Treasury holdings, was $1,886,879,504, an increase for the year
+of $165,794,966. Estimating our population at 75,194,000 at the time
+mentioned, the per capita circulation was $25.09. On the same date there
+was in the Treasury gold bullion amounting to $138,502,545.
+
+The provisions made for strengthening the resources of the Treasury in
+connection with the war have given increased confidence in the purpose and
+power of the Government to maintain the present standard, and have
+established more firmly than ever the national credit at home and abroad. A
+marked evidence of this is found in the inflow of gold to the Treasury. Its
+net gold holdings on November 1, 1898, were $239,885,162 as compared with
+$153,573,147 on November 1, 1897, and an increase of net cash of
+$207,756,100, November 1, 1897, to $300,238,275, November 1, 1898. The
+present ratio of net Treasury gold to outstanding Government liabilities,
+including United States notes, Treasury notes of 1890, silver certificates,
+currency certificates, standard silver dollars, and fractional silver coin,
+November 1, 1898, was 25.35 per cent, as compared with 16.96 per cent,
+November 1, 1897.
+
+I renew so much of my recommendation of December, 1897, as follows: That
+when any of the United States notes are presented for redemption in gold
+and are redeemed in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart and only
+paid out in exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty. If the holder of
+the United States note prefers the gold and gets it from the Government, he
+should not receive back from the Government a United States note without
+paying gold in exchange for it. The reason for this is made all the more
+apparent when the Government issues an interest-bearing debt to provide
+gold for the redemption of United States notes--a non-interest-bearing
+debt. Surely it should not pay them out again except on demand and for
+gold. If they are put out in any other way, they may return again, to he
+followed by another bond issue to redeem them--another interest-bearing
+debt to redeem a non-interest-bearing debt. This recommendation was made in
+the belief that such provisions of law would insure to a greater degree the
+safety of the present standard, and better protect our currency from the
+dangers to which it is subjected from a disturbance in the general business
+conditions of the country.
+
+In my judgment the present condition of the Treasury amply justifies the
+immediate enactment of the legislation recommended one year ago, under
+which a portion of the gold holdings should be placed in a trust fund from
+which greenbacks should be redeemed upon presentation, but when once
+redeemed should not thereafter be paid out except for gold.
+
+It is not to be inferred that other legislation relating to our currency is
+not required; on the contrary, there is an obvious demand for it.
+
+The importance of adequate provision which will insure to our future a
+money standard related as our money standard now is to that of our
+commercial rivals is generally recognized.
+
+The companion proposition that our domestic paper currency shall be kept
+safe and yet be so related to the needs of our industries and internal
+commerce as to be adequate and responsive to such needs is a proposition
+scarcely less important. The subject, in all its parts, is commended to the
+wise consideration of the Congress.
+
+The annexation of Hawaii and the changed relations of the United States to
+Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines resulting from the war, compel the
+prompt adoption of a maritime policy by the United States. There should be
+established regular and frequent steamship communication, encouraged by the
+United States, under the American flag, with the newly acquired islands.
+Spain furnished to its colonies, at an annual cost of about $2,000,000,
+steamship lines communicating with a portion of the world's markets, as
+well as with trade centers of the home Government. The United States will
+not undertake to do less. It is our duty to furnish the people of Hawaii
+with facilities, under national control, for their export and import trade.
+It will be conceded that the present situation calls for legislation which
+shall be prompt, durable, and liberal.
+
+The part which American merchant vessels and their seamen performed in the
+war with Spain demonstrates that this service, furnishing both pickets and
+the second line of defense, is a national necessity, and should be
+encouraged in every constitutional way. Details and methods for the
+accomplishment of this purpose are discussed in the report of the Secretary
+of the Treasury, to which the attention of Congress is respectfully
+invited.
+
+In my last annual message I recommended that Congress authorize the
+appointment of a commission for the purpose of making systematic
+investigations with reference to the cause and prevention of yellow fever.
+This matter has acquired an increased importance as a result of the
+military occupation of the island of Cuba and the commercial intercourse
+between this island and the United States which we have every reason to
+expect. The sanitary problems connected with our new relations with the
+island of Cuba and the acquisition of Puerto Rico are no less important
+than those relating to finance, commerce, and administration. It is my
+earnest desire that these problems may be considered by competent experts
+and that everything may be done which the most recent advances in sanitary
+science can offer for the protection of the health of our soldiers in those
+islands and of our citizens who are exposed to the dangers of infection
+from the importation of yellow fever. I therefore renew my recommendation
+that the authority of Congress may be given and a suitable appropriation
+made to provide for a commission of experts to be appointed for the purpose
+indicated.
+
+Under the act of Congress approved April 26, 1898, authorizing the
+President in his discretion, "upon a declaration of war by Congress, or a
+declaration by Congress that war exists," I directed the increase of the
+Regular Army to the maximum of 62,000, authorized in said act.
+
+There are now in the Regular Army 57,862 officers and men. In said act it
+was provided-- That at the end of any war in which the United States may
+become involved the Army shall be reduced to a peace basis by the transfer
+in the same arm of the service or absorption by promotion or honorable
+discharge, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may establish, of
+supernumerary commissioned officers and the honorable discharge or transfer
+of supernumerary enlisted men; and nothing contained in this act shall be
+construed as authorizing the permanent increase of the commissioned or
+enlisted force of the Regular Army beyond that now provided by the law in
+force prior to the passage of this act, except as to the increase of
+twenty-five majors provided for in section 1 hereof. The importance of
+legislation for the permanent increase of the Army is therefore manifest,
+and the recommendation of the Secretary of War for that purpose has my
+unqualified approval. There can be no question that at this time, and
+probably for some time in the future, 100,000 men will be none too many to
+meet the necessities of the situation. At all events, whether that number
+shall be required permanently or not, the power should be given to the
+President to enlist that force if in his discretion it should be necessary;
+and the further discretion should be given him to recruit for the Army
+within the above limit from the inhabitants of the islands with the
+government of which we are charged. It is my purpose to muster out the
+entire Volunteer Army as soon as the Congress shall provide for the
+increase of the regular establishment. This will be only an act of justice
+and will be much appreciated by the brave men who left their homes and
+employments to help the country in its emergency.
+
+In my last annual message I stated: The Union Pacific Railway, main line,
+was sold under the decree of the United States court for the district of
+Nebraska on the 1st and 2d of November of this year. The amount due the
+Government consisted of the principal of the subsidy bonds, $27,236,512,
+and the accrued interest thereon, $31,211,711.75, making the total
+indebtedness $58,448,223.75. The bid at the sale covered the first-mortgage
+lien and the entire mortgage claim of the Government, principal and
+interest. This left the Kansas Pacific case unconcluded. By a decree of the
+court in that case an upset price for the property was fixed at a sum which
+would yield to the Government only $2,500,000 upon its lien. The sale, at
+the instance of the Government, was postponed first to December 15, 1897,
+and later, upon the application of the United States, was postponed to the
+16th day of February, 1898.
+
+Having satisfied myself that the interests of the Government required that
+an effort should be made to obtain a larger sum, I directed the Secretary
+of the Treasury, under the act passed March 3, 1887, to pay out of the
+Treasury to the persons entitled to receive the same the amounts due upon
+all prior mortgages upon the Eastern and Middle divisions of said railroad
+out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, whereupon the
+Attorney-General prepared a petition to be presented to the court, offering
+to redeem said prior liens in such manner as the court might direct, and
+praying that thereupon the United States might be held to be subrogated to
+all the rights of said prior lien holders and that a receiver might be
+appointed to take possession of the mortgaged premises and maintain and
+operate the same until the court or Congress otherwise directed. Thereupon
+the reorganization committee agreed that if said petition was withdrawn and
+the sale allowed to proceed on the 16th of February, 1898, they would bid a
+sum at the sale which would realize to the Government the entire principal
+of its debt, $6,303,000.
+
+Believing that no better price could be obtained and appreciating the
+difficulties under which the Government would labor if it should become the
+purchaser of the road at the sale, in the absence of any authority by
+Congress to take charge of and operate the road I directed that upon the
+guaranty of a minimum bid which should give the Government the principal of
+its debt the sale should proceed. By this transaction the Government
+secured an advance of $3,803,000 over and above the sum which the court had
+fixed as the upset price, and which the reorganization committee had
+declared was the maximum which they would pay for the property.
+
+It is a gratifying fact that the result of these proceedings against the
+Union Pacific system and the Kansas Pacific line is that the Government has
+received on account of its subsidy claim the sum of $64,751,223.75, an
+increase of $18,997,163.76 over the sum which the reorganization committee
+originally agreed to bid for the joint property, the Government receiving
+its whole claim, principal and interest, on the Union Pacific, and the
+principal of its debt on the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
+
+Steps had been taken to foreclose the Government's lien upon the Central
+Pacific Railroad Company, but before action was commenced Congress passed
+an act, approved July 7, 1898, creating a commission consisting of the
+Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary of the
+Interior, and their successors in office, with full power to settle the
+indebtedness to the Government growing out of the issue of bonds in aid of
+the construction of the Central Pacific and Western Pacific bond-aided
+railroads, subject to the approval of the President.
+
+No report has yet been made to me by the commission thus created. Whatever
+action is had looking to a settlement of the indebtedness in accordance
+with the act referred to will be duly submitted to the Congress.
+
+I deem it my duty to call to the attention of Congress the condition of the
+present building occupied by the Department of Justice. The business of
+that Department has increased very greatly since it was established in its
+present quarters. The building now occupied by it is neither large enough
+nor of suitable arrangement for the proper accommodation of the business of
+the Department. The Supervising Architect has pronounced it unsafe and
+unsuited for the use to which it is put. The Attorney-General in his report
+states that the library of the Department is upon the fourth floor, and
+that all the space allotted to it is so crowded with books as to
+dangerously overload the structure. The first floor is occupied by the
+Court of Claims. The building is of an old and dilapidated appearance,
+unsuited to the dignity which should attach to this important Department.
+
+A proper regard for the safety, comfort, and convenience of the officers
+and employees would justify the expenditure of a liberal sum of money in
+the erection of a new building of commodious proportions and handsome
+appearance upon the very advantageous site already secured for that
+purpose, including the ground occupied by the present structure and
+adjoining vacant lot, comprising in all a frontage of 201 feet on
+Pennsylvania avenue and a depth of 136 feet.
+
+In this connection I may likewise refer to the inadequate accommodations
+provided for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wisdom of
+making provision for the erection of a separate building for the court and
+its officers and library upon available ground near the Capitol.
+
+The postal service of the country advances with extraordinary growth.
+Within twenty years both the revenues and the expenditures of the
+Post-Office Department have multiplied threefold. In the last ten years
+they have nearly doubled. Our postal business grows much more rapidly than
+our population. It now involves an expenditure of $100,000,000 a year,
+numbers 73,000 post-offices, and enrolls 200,000 employees. This remarkable
+extension of a service which is an accurate index of the public conditions
+presents gratifying evidence of the advancement of education, of the
+increase of communication and business activity, and of the improvement of
+mail facilities leading to their constantly augmenting use.
+
+The war with Spain laid new and exceptional labors on the Post-Office
+Department. The mustering of the military and naval forces of the United
+States required special mail arrangements for every camp and every
+campaign. The communication between home and camp was naturally eager and
+expectant. In some of the larger places of rendezvous as many as 50,000
+letters a day required handling. This necessity was met by the prompt
+detail and dispatch of experienced men from the established force and by
+directing all the instrumentalities of the railway mail and post-office
+service, so far as necessary, to this new need. Congress passed an act
+empowering the postmaster-General to establish offices or branches at every
+military camp or station, and under this authority the postal machinery was
+speedily put into effective operation.
+
+Under the same authority, when our forces moved upon Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
+the Philippines they were attended and followed by the postal service.
+Though the act of Congress authorized the appointment of postmasters where
+necessary, it was early determined that the public interests would best be
+subserved, not by new designations, but by the detail of experienced men
+familiar with every branch of the service, and this policy was steadily
+followed. When the territory which was the theater of conflict came into
+our possession, it became necessary to reestablish mail facilities for the
+resident population as well as to provide them for our forces of
+occupation, and the former requirement was met through the extension and
+application of the latter obligation. I gave the requisite authority, and
+the same general principle was applied to this as to other branches of
+civil administration under military occupation. The details are more
+particularly given in the report of the postmaster-General, and, while the
+work is only just begun, it is pleasing to be able to say that the service
+in the territory which has come under our control is already materially
+improved.
+
+The following recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy relative to the
+increase of the Navy have my earnest approval:
+
+1. Three seagoing sheathed and coppered battle ships of about 13,500 tons
+trial displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance
+for vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable speed and
+great radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament,
+$3,600,000 each.
+
+2. Three sheathed and coppered armored cruisers of about 12,000 tons trial
+displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance for
+vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable speed and great
+radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament,
+$4,000,000 each.
+
+3. Three sheathed and coppered protected cruisers of about 6,000 tons trial
+displacement, to have the highest practicable speed and great radius of
+action, and to carry the most powerful ordnance suitable for vessels of
+their class. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament, $2,150,000
+each.
+
+4. Six sheathed and coppered cruisers of about 2,500 tons trial dis.
+placement, to have the highest speed compatible with good cruising
+qualities, great radius of action, and to carry the most powerful ordnance
+suited to vessels of their class. Estimated cost, exclusive of armament,
+$1,141,800 each.
+
+I join with the Secretary of the Navy in recommending that grades of
+admiral and vice-admiral be temporarily revived, to be filled by officers
+who have specially distinguished themselves in the war with Spain.
+
+I earnestly urge upon Congress the importance of early legislation
+providing for the taking of the Twelfth Census. This is necessary in view
+of the large amount of work which must be performed in the preparation of
+the schedules preparatory to the enumeration of the population.
+
+There were on the pension rolls on June 30, 1898, 993,714 names, an
+increase of nearly 18,000 over the number on the rolls on the same day of
+the preceding year. The amount appropriated by the act of December 22,
+1896, for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year of 1898 was
+$140,000,000. Eight million seventy thousand eight hundred and seventy-two
+dollars and forty-six cents was appropriated by the act of March 31, 1898,
+to cover deficiencies in army pensions, and repayments in the sum of
+$12,020.33, making a total of $148,082,892.79 available for the payment of
+pensions during the fiscal year 1898. The amount disbursed from that sum
+was $144,651,879.80, leaving a balance of $3,431,012.99 unexpended on the
+30th of June, 1898, which was covered into the Treasury. There were 389
+names added to the rolls during the year by special acts passed at the
+second session of the Fifty-fifth Congress, making a total of 6,486
+pensioners by Congressional enactments since 1861.
+
+The total receipts of the Patent Office during the past year were
+$1,253,948.44. The expenditures were $1,081,633.79, leaving a surplus of
+$172,314.65.
+
+The public lands disposed of by the Government during the year reached
+8,453,896.92 acres, an increase of 614,780.26 acres over the previous year.
+The total receipts from public lands during the fiscal year amounted to
+$2,277,995.18, an increase of $190,063.90 over the preceding year. The
+lands embraced in the eleven forest reservations which were suspended by
+the act of June 4, 1897, again became subject to the operations of the
+proclamations of February 22, 1897, creating them, which added an estimated
+amount of 19,951,360 acres to the area embraced in the reserves previously
+created. In addition thereto two new reserves were created during the
+year--the Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Reserve, in California, embracing
+1,644,594 acres, and the Prescott Reserve, in Arizona, embracing 10,240
+acres--while the Pecos River Reserve, in New Mexico, has been changed and
+enlarged to include 120,000 additional acres.
+
+At the close of the year thirty forest reservations, not including those of
+the Afognak Forest and the Fish-Culture Reserve, in Alaska, had been
+created by Executive proclamations under section 24 of the act of March 3,
+1891, embracing an estimated area of 40,719,474 acres.
+
+The Department of the Interior has inaugurated a forest system, made
+possible by the act of July, 1898, for a graded force of officers in
+control of the reserves. This system has only been in full operation since
+August, but good results have already been secured in many sections. The
+reports received indicate that the system of patrol has not only prevented
+destructive fires from gaining headway, but has diminished the number of
+fires.
+
+The special attention of the Congress is called to that part of the report
+of the Secretary of the Interior in relation to the Five Civilized Tribes.
+It is noteworthy that the general condition of the Indians shows marked
+progress. But one outbreak of a serious character occurred during the year,
+and that among the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, which happily has been
+suppressed.
+
+While it has not yet been practicable to enforce all the provisions of the
+act of June 28, 1898, "for the protection of the people of the Indian
+Territory, and for other purposes," it is having a salutary effect upon the
+nations composing the five tribes. The Dawes Commission reports that the
+most gratifying results and greater advance toward the attainment of the
+objects of the Government have been secured in the past year than in any
+previous year. I can not too strongly indorse the recommendation of the
+commission and of the Secretary of the Interior for the necessity of
+providing for the education of the 30,000 white children resident in the
+Indian Territory.
+
+The Department of Agriculture has been active in the past year. Explorers
+have been sent to many of the countries of the Eastern and Western
+hemispheres for seeds and plants that may be useful to the United States,
+and with the further view of opening up markets for our surplus products.
+The Forestry Division of the Department is giving special attention to the
+treeless regions of our country and is introducing species specially
+adapted to semiarid regions. Forest fires, which seriously interfere with
+production, especially in irrigated regions, are being studied, that losses
+from this cause may be avoided. The Department is inquiring into the use
+and abuse of water in many States of the West, and collating information
+regarding the laws of the States, the decisions of the courts, and the
+customs of the people in this regard, so that uniformity may be secured.
+Experiment stations are becoming more effective every year. The annual
+appropriation of $720,000 by Congress is supplemented by $400,000 from the
+States. Nation-wide experiments have been conducted to ascertain the
+suitableness as to soil and climate and States for growing sugar beets. The
+number of sugar factories has been doubled in the past two years, and the
+ability of the United States to produce its own sugar from this source has
+been clearly demonstrated.
+
+The Weather Bureau forecast and observation stations have been extended
+around the Caribbean Sea, to give early warning of the approach of
+hurricanes from the south seas to our fleets and merchant marine.
+
+In the year 1900 will occur the centennial anniversary of the founding of
+the city of Washington for the permanent capital of the Government of the
+United States by authority of an act of Congress approved July 16, 1790. In
+May, 1800, the archives and general offices of the Federal Government were
+removed to this place. On the 17th of November, 1800, the National Congress
+met here for the first time and assumed exclusive control of the Federal
+district and city. This interesting event assumes all the more significance
+when we recall the circumstances attending the choosing of the site, the
+naming of the capital in honor of the Father of his Country, and the
+interest taken by him in the adoption of plans for its future development
+on a magnificent scale.
+
+These original plans have been wrought out with a constant progress and a
+signal success even beyond anything their framers could have foreseen. The
+people of the country are justly proud of the distinctive beauty and
+government of the capital and of the rare instruments of science and
+education which here find their natural home.
+
+A movement lately inaugurated by the citizens to have the anniversary
+celebrated with fitting ceremonies, including, perhaps, the establishment
+of a handsome permanent memorial to mark so historical an occasion and to
+give it more than local recognition, has met with general favor on the part
+of the public.
+
+I recommend to the Congress the granting of an appropriation for this
+purpose and the appointment of a committee from its respective bodies. It
+might also be advisable to authorize the President to appoint a committee
+from the country at large, which, acting with the Congressional and
+District of Columbia committees, can complete the plans for an appropriate
+national celebration.
+
+The alien contract law is shown by experience to need some amendment; a
+measure providing better protection for seamen is proposed; the rightful
+application of the eight-hour law for the benefit of labor and of the
+principle of arbitration are suggested for consideration; and I commend
+these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.
+
+The several departmental reports will be laid before you. They give in
+great detail the conduct of the affairs of the Government during the past
+year and discuss many questions upon which the Congress may feel called
+upon to act.
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 5, 1899
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+At the threshold of your deliberations you are called to mourn with your
+countrymen the death of Vice-President Hobart, who passed from this life on
+the morning of November 21 last. His great soul now rests in eternal peace.
+His private life was pure and elevated. while his public career was ever
+distinguished by large capacity, stainless integrity, and exalted motives.
+He has been removed from the high office which he honored and dignified,
+but his lofty character, his devotion to duty, his honesty of purpose, and
+noble virtues remain with us as a priceless legacy and example.
+
+The Fifty-sixth Congress convenes in its first regular session with the
+country in a condition of unusual prosperity, of universal good will among
+the people at home, and in relations of peace and friendship with every
+government of the world. Our foreign commerce has shown great increase in
+volume and value. The combined imports and exports for the year are the
+largest ever shown by a single year in all our history. Our exports for
+1899 alone exceeded by more than a billion dollars our imports and exports
+combined in 1870. The imports per capita are 20 per cent less than in 1870,
+while the exports per capita are 58 per cent more than in 1870, showing the
+enlarged capacity of the United States to satisfy the wants of its own
+increasing population, as well as to contribute to those of the peoples of
+other nations.
+
+Exports of agricultural products were $784,776,142. Of manufactured
+products we exported in value $339,592,146, being larger than any previous
+year. It is a noteworthy fact that the only years in all our history when
+the products of our manufactories sold abroad exceeded those bought abroad
+were 1898 and 1899.
+
+Government receipts from all sources for the fiscal year ended June 30,
+1899, including $11,798,314,14, part payment of the Central Pacific
+Railroad indebtedness, aggregated $610,982,004.35. Customs receipts were
+$206,128,481.75, and those from internal revenue $273,437,161.51.
+
+For the fiscal year the expenditures were $700,093,564.02, leaving a
+deficit of $89,111,559.67.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the receipts for the current
+fiscal year will aggregate $640,958,112, and upon the basis of present
+appropriations the expenditures will aggregate $600,958,112, leaving a
+surplus of $40,000,000.
+
+For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1899, the internal-revenue receipts were
+increased about $100,000,000.
+
+The present gratifying strength of the Treasury is shown by the fact that
+on December 1, 1899, the available cash balance was $278,004,837.72, Of
+which $239,744,905.36 was in gold coin and bullion. The conditions of
+confidence which prevail throughout the country have brought gold into more
+general use and customs receipts are now almost entirely paid in that
+coin.
+
+The strong position of the Treasury with respect to cash on band and the
+favorable showing made by the revenues have made it possible for the
+Secretary of the Treasury to take action under the provisions of section
+3694, Revised Statutes, relating to the sinking fund. Receipts exceeded
+expenditures for the first five months of the current fiscal year by
+$13,413,389.91, and, as mentioned above, the Secretary of the Treasury
+estimates that there will be a surplus of approximately $40,000,000 at the
+end of the year. Under such conditions it was deemed advisable and proper
+to resume compliance with the provisions of the sinking-fund law, which for
+eight years has not been done because of deficiencies in the revenues. The
+Treasury Department therefore offered to purchase during November
+$25,000,000 of the 5 per cent loan of 1904, or the 4 per cent funded loan
+of 1907, at the current market price. The amount offered and purchased
+during November was $18,408,600. The premium paid by the Government on such
+purchases was $2,263,521 and the net saving in interest was about
+$2,885,000. The success of this operation was sufficient to induce the
+Government to continue the offer to purchase bonds to and including the 23d
+day of December, instant, unless the remainder of the $25,000,000 called
+for should be presented in the meantime for redemption
+
+Increased activity in industry, with its welcome attendant--a larger
+employment for labor at higher wages--gives to the body of the people a
+larger power to absorb the circulating medium. It is further true that year
+by year, with larger areas of land under cultivation, the increasing volume
+of agricultural products, cotton, corn, and wheat, calls for a larger
+volume of money supply. This is especially noticeable at the
+crop-harvesting and crop-moving period.
+
+In its earlier history the National Banking Act seemed to prove a
+reasonable avenue through which needful additions to the circulation could
+from time to time be made. Changing conditions have apparently rendered it
+now inoperative to that end. The high margin in bond securities required,
+resulting from large premiums which Government bonds command in the market,
+or the tax on note issues, or both operating together, appear to be the
+influences which impair its public utility.
+
+The attention of Congress is respectfully invited to this important matter,
+with the view of ascertaining whether or not such reasonable modifications
+can be made in the National Banking Act as will render its service in the
+particulars here referred to more responsive to the people's needs. I again
+urge that national banks be authorized to organize with a capital of
+$25,000.
+
+I urgently recommend that to support the existing gold standard, and to
+maintain "the parity in value of the coins of the two metals (gold and
+silver) and the equal power of every dollar at all times in the market and
+in the payment of debts," the Secretary of the Treasury be given additional
+power and charged with the duty to sell United States bonds and to employ
+such other effective means as may be necessary to these ends. The authority
+should include the power to sell bonds on long and short time, as
+conditions may require, and should provide for a rate of interest lower
+than that fixed by the act of January 14, 1875. While there is now no
+commercial fright which withdraws gold from the Government, but, on the
+contrary, such widespread confidence that gold seeks the Treasury demanding
+paper money in exchange, yet the very situation points to the present as
+the most fitting time to make adequate provision to insure the continuance
+of the gold standard and of public confidence in the ability and purpose of
+the Government to meet all its obligations in the money which the civilized
+world recognizes as the best. The financial transactions of the Government
+are conducted upon a gold basis. We receive gold when we sell United States
+bonds and use gold for their payment. We are maintaining the parity of all
+the money issued or coined by authority of the Government. We are doing
+these things with the means at hand. Happily at the present time we are not
+compelled to resort to loans to supply gold. It has been done in the past,
+however, and may have to be done in the future. It behooves us, therefore,
+to provide at once the best means to meet the emergency when it arises, and
+the best means are those which are the most certain and economical. Those
+now authorized have the virtue neither of directness nor economy. We have
+already eliminated one of the causes of our financial plight and
+embarrassment during the years 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896. Our receipts now
+equal our expenditures; deficient revenues no longer create alarm Let us
+remove the only remaining cause by conferring the full and necessary power
+on the Secretary of the Treasury and impose upon him the duty to uphold the
+present gold standard and preserve the coins of the two metals on a parity
+with each other, which is the repeatedly declared policy of the United
+States.
+
+In this connection I repeat my former recommendations that a portion of the
+gold holdings shall be placed in a trust fund from which greenbacks shall
+be redeemed upon presentation, but when once redeemed shall not thereafter
+be paid out except for gold.
+
+The value of an American merchant marine to the extension of our commercial
+trade and the strengthening of our power upon the sea invites the immediate
+action of the Congress. Our national development will be one-sided and
+unsatisfactory so long as the remarkable growth of our inland industries
+remains unaccompanied by progress on the seas. There is no lack of
+constitutional authority for legislation which shall give to the country
+maritime strength commensurate with its industrial achievements and with
+its rank among the nations of the earth,
+
+The past year has recorded exceptional activity in our shipyards. and the
+promises of continual prosperity in shipbuilding are abundant. Advanced
+legislation for the protection of our seamen has been enacted. Our coast
+trade, under regulations wisely framed at the beginning of the Government
+and since, shows results for the past fiscal year unequaled in our records
+or those of any other power. We shall fail to realize our opportunities,
+however, if we complacently regard only matters at home and blind ourselves
+to the necessity of securing our share in the valuable carrying trade of
+the world.
+
+Last year American vessels transported a smaller share of our exports and
+imports than during any former year in all our history, and the measure of
+our dependence upon foreign shipping was painfully manifested to our
+people. Without any choice of our own, but from necessity, the Departments
+of the Government charged with military and naval operations in the East
+and West Indies had to obtain from foreign flags merchant vessels essential
+for those operations.
+
+The other great nations have not hesitated to adopt the required means to
+develop their shipping as a factor in national defense and as one of the
+surest and speediest means of obtaining for their producers a share in
+foreign markets. Like vigilance and effort on our part cannot fail to
+improve our situation, which is regarded with humiliation at home and with
+surprise abroad. Even the seeming sacrifices, which at the beginning may be
+involved, will be offset later by more than equivalent gains.
+
+The expense is as nothing compared to the advantage to be achieved. The
+reestablishment of our merchant marine involves in a large measure our
+continued industrial progress and the extension of our commercial triumphs.
+I am satisfied the judgment of the country favors the policy of aid to our
+merchant marine, which will broaden our commerce and markets and upbuild
+our sea-carrying capacity for the products of agriculture and manufacture;
+which, with the increase of our Navy, mean more work and wages to our
+countrymen, as well as a safeguard to American interests in every part of
+the world.
+
+Combinations of capital organized into trusts to control the conditions of
+trade among our citizens, to stifle competition, limit production, and
+determine the prices of products used and consumed by the people, are
+justly provoking public discussion, and should early claim the attention of
+the Congress.
+
+The Industrial Commission, created by the act of the Congress of June 18,
+1898, has been engaged in extended hearings upon the disputed questions
+involved in the subject of combinations in restraint of trade and
+competition. They have not yet completed their investigation of this
+subject, and the conclusions and recommendations at which they may arrive
+are undetermined.
+
+The subject is one giving rise to many divergent views as to the nature and
+variety or cause and extent of the 111juries to the public which may result
+from large combinations concentrating more or less numerous enterprises and
+establishments, which previously to the formation of the combination were
+carried on separately.
+
+It is universally conceded that combinations which engross or control the
+market of any particular kind of merchandise or commodity necessary to the
+general community, by suppressing natural and ordinary competition, whereby
+prices are unduly enhanced to the general consumer, ,,re obnoxious not only
+to the common law but also to the public welfare. There must be a remedy
+for the evils involved in such organizations. If the present law can be
+extended more certainly to control or check these monopolies or trusts, it
+should be done without delay. Whatever power the Congress possesses over
+this most important subject should be promptly ascertained and asserted.
+
+President Harrison in his annual message of December 3, 1889, says: Earnest
+attention should be given by Congress to a consideration of the question
+how far the restraint of those combinations of capital commonly called 11
+trusts" is matter of Federal jurisdiction. When organized, as they often
+are, to crush out all 'healthy competition and to monopolize the production
+or sale of an article of commerce and general necessity they are dangerous
+conspiracies against the public good, and should be made the subject of
+prohibitory and even penal legislation. An act to protect trade and
+commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies was passed by Congress
+on the 2d of July, 1890. The provisions of this statute are comprehensive
+and stringent. It declares every contract or combination, in the form of a
+trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in the restraint of trade or commerce
+among the several States or with foreign nations, to be unlawful. It
+denominates as a criminal every person who makes any such contract or
+engages in any such combination or conspiracy, and provides a punishment by
+fine or imprisonment. It invests the several circuit courts of the United
+States with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of the act, and
+makes it the duty of the several United States district attorneys, under
+the direction of the Attorney General, to institute proceedings in equity
+to prevent and restrain such violations. It further confers upon any person
+who shall be injured in his business or property by any other person or
+corporation by reason of anything forbidden or declared to be unlawful by
+the act, the power to sue therefore in any circuit court of the United
+States without respect to the amount in controversy, and to recover
+threefold the damages by him sustained and the costs of the suit, including
+reasonable attorney fees. It will be perceived that the act is aimed at
+every kind of combination in the nature of a trust or monopoly in restraint
+of interstate or international commerce.
+
+The prosecution by the United States of offenses under the act of 1890 has
+been frequently resorted to in the Federal courts, and notable efforts in
+the restraint of interstate commerce, such as the Trans-Missouri Freight
+Association and the joint Traffic Association, have been successfully
+opposed and suppressed.
+
+President Cleveland in his annual message of December 7, 1896 -- more than
+six years subsequent to the enactment of this law -- after stating the
+evils of these trust combinations, says: Though Congress has attempted to
+deal with this matter by legislation, the laws passed for that purpose thus
+far have proved ineffective, not because of any lack of disposition or
+attempt to enforce them, but simply because the laws themselves as
+interpreted by the courts do not reach the difficulty. If the
+insufficiencies of existing laws can be remedied by further legislation, it
+should be done. The fact must be recognized, however, that all Federal
+legislation on this subject may fall short of its purpose because of
+inherent obstacles, and also because of the complex character of our
+governmental system, which, while making the Federal authority supreme
+within its sphere, has carefully limited that sphere by metes and bounds
+which cannot be transgressed. The decision of our highest court on this
+precise question renders it quite doubtful whether the evils of trusts and
+monopolies may be adequately treated through Federal action, unless they
+seek directly and purposely to include in their objects transportation or
+intercourse between States or between the United States and foreign
+countries. It does not follow, however, that this is the limit of the
+remedy that may be applied. Even though it may be found that Federal
+authority is not broad enough to fully reach the case, there can be no
+doubt of the power of the several States to act effectively in the
+premises, and there should be no reason to doubt their willingness to
+judiciously exercise such power. The State legislation to which President
+Cleveland looked for relief from the evils of trusts has failed to
+accomplish fully that object. This is probably due to a great extent to the
+fact that different States take different views as to the proper way to
+discriminate between evil and injurious combinations and those associations
+which are beneficial and necessary to the business prosperity of the
+country. The great diversity of treatment in different States arising from
+this cause and the intimate relations of all parts of the country to each
+other without regarding State lines in the conduct of business have made
+the enforcement of State laws difficult.
+
+It is apparent that uniformity of legislation upon this subject in the
+several States is much to be desired. It is to be hoped that such
+uniformity founded in a wise and just discrimination between what is
+injurious and what is useful and necessary in business operations may be
+obtained and that means may be found for the Congress within the
+limitations of its constitutional power so to supplement an effective code
+of State legislation as to make a complete system of laws throughout the
+United States adequate to compel a general observance of the salutary rules
+to which I have referred.
+
+The whole question is so important and far-reaching that I am sure no part
+of it will be lightly considered, but every phase of it will have the
+studied deliberation of the Congress, resulting in wise and judicious
+action.
+
+A review of our relations with foreign States is presented with such
+recommendations as are deemed appropriate.
+
+The long-pending boundary dispute between the Argentine Republic and Chile
+was settled in March last by the award of an arbitral commission, on which
+the United States minister at Buenos Ayres served as umpire.
+
+Progress has been made toward the conclusion of a convention of extradition
+with the Argentine Republic. Having been advised and consented to by the
+United States Senate and ratified by Argentina, it only awaits the
+adjustment of some slight changes in the text before exchange.
+
+In my last annual message I adverted to the claim of the Austro-Hungarian
+Government for indemnity for the killing of certain Austrian and Hungarian
+subjects by the authorities of the State of Pennsylvania, at Lattimer,
+while suppressing an unlawful tumult of miners, September 10, 1897. In view
+of the verdict of acquittal rendered by the court before which the sheriff
+and his deputies were tried for murder, and following the established
+doctrine that the Government may not be held accountable for injuries
+suffered by individuals at the hands of the public authorities while acting
+in the line of duty in suppressing disturbance of the public peace, this
+Government, after due consideration of the claim advanced by the
+Austro-Hungarian Government, was constrained to decline liability to
+indemnify the sufferers.
+
+It is gratifying to be able to announce that the Belgian Government has
+mitigated the restrictions on the importation of cattle from the United
+States, to which I referred in my last annual message.
+
+Having been invited by Belgium to participate in a congress, held at
+Brussels, to revise the provisions of the general act Of July 2, 1890, for
+the repression of the African slave trade, to which the United States was a
+signatory party, this Government preferred not to be represented by a
+plenipotentiary, but reserved the right of accession to the result. Notable
+changes were made, those especially concerning this country being in the
+line of the increased restriction of the deleterious trade in spirituous
+liquors with the native tribes, which this Government has from the outset
+urgently advocated. The amended general act will be laid before the Senate,
+with a view to its advice and consent.
+
+Early in the year the peace of Bolivia was disturbed by a successful
+insurrection. The United States minister remained at his post, attending to
+the American interests in that quarter, and using besides his good offices
+for the protection of the interests of British subjects in the absence of
+their national representative. On the establishment of the new Government,
+our minister was directed to enter into relations therewith.
+
+General Pando was elected President of Bolivia on October 23.
+
+Our representative has been instructed to use all permissible friendly
+endeavors to induce the Government of Bolivia to amend its marriage laws so
+as to give legal status to the non-Catholic and civil marriages of aliens
+within its jurisdiction, and strong hopes are entertained that the Bolivian
+law in this regard will be brought, as was that of Peru some years ago,
+into harmony with the general practice of modern States.
+
+A convention of extradition with Brazil, signed May 14, 1897, has been
+rati6ed by the Brazilian Legislature.
+
+During the past summer two national ships of the United States have visited
+Brazilian ports on a friendly mission and been cordially received. The
+voyage of the Wilininglon up the Amazon River gave rise to a passing
+misunderstanding, owing to confusion in obtaining permission to visit the
+interior and make surveys in the general interest of navigation, but the
+incident found a ready adjustment in harmony with the close relations of
+amity which this Government has always sedulously sought to cultivate with
+the commonwealths of the Western Continent.
+
+The claim growing out of the seizure of the American-owned newspaper "The
+Panama Star and Herald" by the authorities of Colombia has been settled,
+after a controversy of several years, by an agreement assessing at $30,000
+the indemnity to be paid by the Colombian Government, in three installments
+of $10,000 each.
+
+The good will of Colombia toward our country has been testified anew by the
+cordial extension of facilities to the Nicaraguan Canal Commission in their
+approaching investigation of the Panama Canal and other projected routes
+across the Isthmus of Darien.
+
+Toward the end of October an insurrectionary disturbance developed in the
+Colombian Republic. This movement has thus far not attained any decisive
+result and is still in progress.
+
+Discussion of the questions raised by the action of Denmark in imposing
+restrictions on the importation of American meats has continued without
+substantial result in our favor.
+
+The neighboring island Republic of Santo Domingo has lately been the scene
+of revolution, following a long period of tranquility. It began with the
+killing of President Heureaux in July last, and culminated in the
+relinquishment by the succeeding Vice-President of the reins of government
+to the insurgents. The first act of the provisional government was the
+calling of a presidential and constituent election. Juan Isidro Jimenez,
+having been elected President, was inaugurated on the 14th of November.
+Relations have been entered into with the newly established Government.
+
+The experimental association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador, tinder
+the title of the Greater Republic of Central America, when apparently on
+the threshold of a complete federal organization by the adoption of a
+constitution and the formation of a national legislature, was disrupted in
+the last days of November, 1898, by the withdrawal of Salvador. Thereupon
+Nicaragua and Honduras abandoned the joint compact, each resuming its
+former independent sovereignty. This was followed by the reception of
+Minister Merry by the Republics of Nicaragua and Salvador, while Minister
+Hunter in turn presented his credentials to the Government of Honduras,
+thus reverting to the old distribution of the diplomatic agencies of the
+United States in Central America for which our existing statutes provide. A
+Nicaraguan envoy has been accredited to the United States.
+
+An insurrectionary movement, under General Reyes, broke out at Eluefields
+in February last, and for a time exercised actual control in the Mosquito
+Territory. The Detroit was promptly sent thither for the protection of
+American interests. After a few weeks the Reyes government renounced the
+conflict, giving place to the restored supremacy of Nicaragua. During the
+interregnum certain public dues accruing under Nicaraguan law were
+collected from American merchants by the authorities for the time being in
+effective administrative control. Upon the titular government regaining
+power, a second payment of these dues was demanded. Controversy arose
+touching the validity of the original payment of the debt to the de facto
+regent of the territory. An arrangement was effected in April last by the
+United States minister and the foreign secretary of Nicaragua whereby the
+amounts of the duplicate payments were deposited with the British consul
+pending an adjustment of the matter by direct agreement between the
+Governments of the United States and Nicaragua. The controversy is still
+unsettled.
+
+The contract of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua was declared
+forfeited by the Nicaraguan Government on the Tenth of October, on the
+ground of nonfulfillment within the ten years' term stipulated in the
+contract. The Maritime Canal Company has lodged a protest against this
+action, alleging rights in the premises which appear worthy of
+consideration. This Government expects that Nicaragua will afford the
+protestants a full and fair hearing upon the merits of the case.
+
+The Nicaragua Canal Commission, which bad been engaged upon the work of
+examination and survey for a ship-canal route across Nicaragua, having
+completed its labors and made its report, was dissolved on May P, and on
+June To a new commission, known as the Isthmian Canal Commission, was
+organized under the terms of the act approved March 3, 1899, for the
+purpose of examining the American Isthmus with a view to determining the
+most practicable and feasible route for a ship canal across that Isthmus,
+with its probable cost, and other essential details.
+
+This Commission, under the presidency of Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, U. S.
+N. (retired), entered promptly upon the work intrusted to it, and is now
+carrying on examinations in Nicaragua along the route of the Panama Canal,
+and in Darien from the Atlantic, in the neighborhood of the Atrato River,
+to the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific side. Good progress has been made, but
+under the law a comprehensive and complete investigation is called for,
+which will require much labor and considerable time for its accomplishment.
+The work will be prosecuted as expeditiously as possible and a report made
+at the earliest practicable date.
+
+The great importance of this work cannot be too often or too strongly
+pressed upon the attention of the Congress. In my message of a year ago I
+expressed my views of the necessity of a canal which would link the two
+great oceans, to which I again invite your consideration. The reasons then
+presented for early action are even stronger now.
+
+A pleasing incident in the relations of this Government with that of Chile
+occurred in the generous assistance given to the war ship Newark when in
+distress in Chilean waters. Not alone in this way has the friendly
+disposition of Chile found expression. That country has acceded to the
+convention for the establishment of the Bureau of the American Republics,
+in which organization every independent State of the continent now shares.
+
+The exchange of ratifications of a convention for the revival of the United
+States and Chilean Claims Commission and for the adjudication of claims
+heretofore presented but not determined during the life of the previous
+Commission has been delayed by reason of the necessity for fresh action by
+the Chilean Senate upon the amendments attached to the ratification of the
+treaty by the United States Senate. This formality is soon to be
+accomplished.
+
+In view of disturbances in the populous provinces of northern China, where
+are many of our citizens, and of the imminence of disorder near the capital
+and toward the seaboard, a guard of marines was landed from the Boston and
+stationed during last winter in the legation compound at Peking. With the
+restoration of order this protection was withdrawn.
+
+The interests of our citizens in that vast Empire have not been neglected
+during the past year. Adequate protection has been secured for our
+missionaries and some injuries to their property have been redressed.
+
+American capital has sought and found various opportunities of competing to
+carry out the internal improvements which the Imperial Government is wisely
+encouraging, and to develop the natural resources of the Empire. Our trade
+with China has continued to grow, and our commercial rights under existing
+treaties have been everywhere maintained during the past year, as they will
+be in the future.
+
+The extension of the area open to international foreign settlement at
+Shanghai and the opening of the ports of Nanking, Tsing-tao (Kiao chao),
+and Ta-lien-wan to foreign trade and settlement will doubtless afford
+American enterprise additional facilities and new fields, of which it will
+not be slow to take advantage.
+
+In my message to Congress of December 5, 1898, 1 urged that the
+recommendation which had been made to the Speaker of the House of
+Representatives by the Secretary of the Treasury on the 14th of June, z898,
+for an appropriation for a commission to study the commercial and
+industrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and report as to the
+opportunities for, and obstacles to, the enlargement of markets in China
+for the raw products and manufactures of the United States, should receive
+at your hands the consideration which its importance and timeliness
+merited, but the Congress failed to take action.
+
+I now renew this recommendation, as the importance of the subject has
+steadily grown since it was first submitted to you, and no time should be
+lost in studying for ourselves the resources of this great field for
+American trade and enterprise.
+
+The death of President Faure in February last called forth those sincere
+expressions of sympathy which befit the relations of two Republics as
+closely allied by unbroken historic ties as are the United States and
+France.
+
+Preparations for the representation of the industries, arts, and products
+of the United States at the World's Exposition to be held in Paris next
+year continue on an elaborate and comprehensive scale, thanks to the
+generous appropriation provided by Congress and to the friendly interest
+the French Government has shown in furthering a typical exhibit of American
+progress.
+
+There has been allotted to the United States a considerable addition of
+space, which, while placing our country in the first rant among exhibitors,
+does not suffice to meet the increasingly urgent demands of our
+manufacturers. The efforts of the Commissioner General are ably directed
+toward a strictly representative display of all that most
+characteristically marks American achievement in the inventive arts, and
+most adequately shows the excellence of our natural productions.
+
+In this age of keen rivalry among nations for mastery in commerce, the
+doctrine of evolution and the rule of the survival of the fittest must be
+as inexorable in their operation as they are positive in the results they
+bring about. The place won in the struggle by an industrial people can only
+be held by unrelaxed endeavor and constant advance in achievement. The
+present extraordinary impetus in every line of American exportation and the
+astounding increase in the volume and value of our share in the world's
+markets may not be attributed to accidental conditions.
+
+The reasons are not far to seek. They lie deep in our national character
+and find expression year by year in every branch of handicraft, in every
+new device whereby the materials we so abundantly produce are subdued to
+the artisan's will and made to yield the largest, most practical, and most
+beneficial return. The American exhibit at Paris should, and I am confident
+will, be an open volume, whose lessons of skillfully directed endeavor,
+unfaltering energy, and consummate performance may be read by all on every
+page, thus spreading abroad a clearer knowledge of the worth of our
+productions and the justice of our claim to an important place in the marts
+of the world. To accomplish this by judicious selection, by recognition of
+paramount merit in whatever walk of trade or manufacture it may appear, and
+by orderly classification and attractive installation is the task of our
+Commission.
+
+The United States Government building is approaching completion, and no
+effort will be spared to make it worthy, in beauty of architectural plan
+and in completeness of display, to represent our nation. It has been
+suggested that a permanent building of similar or appropriate design be
+erected on a convenient site, already given by the municipality, near the
+exposition grounds, to serve in commemoration of the part taken by this
+country in this great enterprise, as an American National Institute, for
+our countrymen resorting to Paris for study.
+
+I am informed by our Commissioner-General that we shall have in the
+American sections at Paris over 7,000 exhibitors, from every State ill our
+country, a number ten times as great as those which were represented at
+Vienna in 1873, six times as many as those in Paris in 1878, and four times
+as many as those who exhibited in Paris in 1889. This statement does not
+include the exhibits from either Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Hawaii, for which
+arrangements have been made.
+
+A number of important international congresses on special topics affecting
+public interests are proposed to be held in Paris next summer in connection
+with the exposition. Effort will be made to have the several technical
+branches of our administration efficiently represented at those
+conferences, each in its special line, and to procure the largest possible
+concourse of State representatives, particularly at the Congresses of
+Public Charity and Medicine.
+
+Our relations with Germany continue to be most cordial. The increasing
+intimacy of direct association has been marked during the year by the
+granting permission in April for the landing on our shores of a cable from
+Borkum Emden, on the North Sea, by way of the Azores, and also by the
+conclusion on September 2 of a Parcels Post Convention with the German
+Empire. In all that promises closer relations of intercourse and commerce
+and a better understanding between two races having so many traits in
+common, Germany can be assured of the most cordial cooperation of this
+Government and people. We may be rivals in many material paths, but our
+rivalry should be generous and open, ever aiming toward the attainment of
+larger results and the mutually beneficial advancement of each in the line
+of its especial adaptabilities.
+
+The several governments of the Empire seem reluctant to admit the natural
+excellence of our food productions and to accept the evidence we constantly
+tender of the care with which their purity is guarded by rigid inspection
+from the farm, through the slaughterhouse and the packing establishments,
+to the port of shipment. Our system of control over exported food staples
+invites examination from any quarter and challenges respect by its
+efficient thoroughness.
+
+It is to be hoped that in time the two Governments will act in common
+accord toward the realization of their common purpose to safeguard the
+public health and to insure the purity and wholesomeness of all food
+products imported by either country from the other. Were the Congress to
+authorize an invitation to Germany, in connection with the pending
+reciprocity negotiations, for the constitution of a joint commission of
+scientific experts and practical men of affairs to conduct a searching
+investigation of food production and exportation in both countries and
+report to their respective legislatures for the adoption of such remedial
+measures as they might recommend for either, the way might be opened for
+the desirable result indicated.
+
+Efforts to obtain for American life insurance companies a full hearing as
+to their business operations in Prussia have, after several years of
+patient representation, happily succeeded, and one of the most important
+American companies has been granted a concession to continue business in
+that Kingdom.
+
+I am also glad to announce that the German insurance companies have been
+readmitted by the superintendent of insurance to do business in the State
+of New York.
+
+Subsequent to the exchange of our peace treaty with Spain, Germany acquired
+the Caroline Islands by purchase, paying therefore $5,000,000. Assurances
+have been received from the German Government that the rights of American
+missionaries and traders there will be considerately observed.
+
+In my last annual message I referred to the pending negotiations with Great
+Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. By means of an executive
+agreement, a joint High Commission had been created for the purpose of
+adjusting all unsettled questions between the United States and Canada,
+embracing twelve subjects, among which were the questions of the fur seals,
+the fisheries of the coast and contiguous inland waters, the Alaskan
+boundary, the transit of merchandise in bond, the alien labor laws, mining
+rights, reciprocity in trade, revision of the agreement respecting naval
+vessels in the Great Lakes, a more complete marking of parts of the
+boundary, provision for the conveyance of criminals, and for wrecking and
+salvage.
+
+Much progress had been made by the Commission toward the adjustment of many
+of these questions, when it became apparent that an irreconcilable
+difference of views was entertained respecting the delimitation of the
+Alaskan, boundary. In the failure of an agreement as to the meaning of
+Articles III and IV of the treaty of 1825 between Russia and Great Britain,
+which defined the boundary between Alaska and Canada, the American
+Commissioners proposed that the subject of the boundary be laid aside, and
+that the remaining questions of difference be proceeded with, some of which
+were so far advanced as to assure the probability of a settlement. This
+being declined by the British Commissioners, an adjournment was taken until
+the boundary should be adjusted by the two Governments. The subject has
+been receiving the careful attention which its importance demands, with the
+result that a modus vivendi for provisional demarcations in the region
+about the head of Lynn Canal has, been agreed upon; and it is hoped that
+the negotiations now in progress between the two Governments will end in an
+agreement for the establishment and delimitation of a permanent boundary.
+
+Apart from these questions growing out of our relationship with our
+northern neighbor, the most friendly disposition and ready agreement have
+marked the discussion of numerous matters arising in the vast and intimate
+intercourse of the United States with Great Britain.
+
+This Government has maintained an attitude of neutrality in the unfortunate
+contest between Great Britain and the Boer States of Africa. We have
+remained faithful to the precept of avoiding entangling 'alliances as to
+affairs not of our direct concern. Had circumstances suggested that the
+parties to the quarrel would have welcomed any kindly expression of the
+hope of the American people that war might be averted, good offices would
+have been gladly tendered. The United States representative at Pretoria was
+early instructed to see that all neutral American interests be respected by
+the combatants. This has been an easy task in view of the positive
+declarations of both British and Boer authorities that the personal and
+property rights of our citizens should be observed.
+
+Upon the withdrawal of the British agent from Pretoria the United States
+consul was authorized, upon the request of the British Government and with
+the assent of the South African and Orange Free State Governments, to
+exercise the customary good offices of a neutral for the care of British
+interests. In the discharge of this function, I am happy to say that
+abundant opportunity has been afforded to show the impartiality of this
+Government toward both the combatants.
+
+For the fourth time in the present decade, question has arisen with the
+Government of Italy in regard to the lynching of Italian subjects. The
+latest of these deplorable events occurred at Tallulah, Louisiana, whereby
+five unfortunates of Italian origin were taken from jail and hanged.
+
+The authorities of the State and a representative of the Italian Embassy
+having separately investigated the occurrence, with discrepant results,
+particularly as to the alleged citizenship of the victims, and it not
+appearing that the State had been able to discover and punish the violators
+of the law, an independent investigation has been set on foot, through the
+agency of the Department of State, and is still in progress. The result
+will enable the Executive to treat the question with the Government of
+Italy it) a spirit of fairness and justice. A satisfactory solution will
+doubtless be reached.
+
+The recurrence of these distressing manifestations of blind mob fury
+directed at dependents or natives of a foreign country suggests that the
+contingency has arisen for action by Congress in the direction of
+conferring upon the Federal courts jurisdiction in this class of
+international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the Federal
+Government may be involved. The suggestion is not new. In his annual
+message of December 9, 1891, my predecessor, President Harrison, said: It
+would, I believe, be entirely competent for Congress to make offenses
+against the treaty rights of foreigners domiciled in the United States
+cognizable in the Federal courts. This has not, however, been done, and the
+Federal officers and courts have no power in such cases to intervene either
+for the protection of a foreign citizen or for the punishment of his
+slayers. It seems to me to follow, in this state of the law, that the
+officers of the State charged with police and judicial powers in such cases
+must, in the consideration of international questions growing out of such
+incidents, be regarded in such sense as Federal agents as to make this
+Government answerable for their acts in cases where it would be answerable
+if the United States had used its constitutional power to define and punish
+crimes against treaty rights. A bill to provide for the punishment of
+violations of treaty rights of aliens was introduced in the Senate March 1,
+1892, and reported favorably March 30. Having doubtless in view the
+language of that part of Article III of the treaty of February 26, 1871,
+between the United States and Italy, which stipulates that " The citizens
+of each of the high contracting parties shall receive, in the States and
+Territories of the other, most constant protection and security for their
+persons and property, and shall enjoy in this respect the same rights and
+privileges as are or shall be granted to the natives, on their submitting
+themselves to the conditions imposed upon the natives," the bill so
+introduced and reported provided that any act committed in any State or
+Territory of the United States in violation of the rights of a citizen or
+subject of a foreign country secured to such citizen or subject by treaty
+between the United States and such foreign country and constituting a crime
+under the laws of the State or Territory shall constitute a like crime
+against the United States and be cognizable in the Federal courts. No
+action was taken by Congress in the matter.
+
+I earnestly recommend that the subject be taken tip anew and acted upon
+during the present session. The necessity for some such provision
+abundantly appears. Precedent for constituting a Federal jurisdiction in
+criminal cases where aliens are sufferers is rationally deducible from the
+existing statute, which gives to the district and circuit courts of the
+United States jurisdiction of civil suits brought by aliens where the
+amount involved exceeds a certain sum. If such jealous solicitude be shown
+for alien rights in cases of mere]y civil and pecuniary import, how much
+greater should be the public duty to take cognizance of matters affecting
+the lives and the rights of aliens tinder the settled principles of
+international law no less than under treaty stipulation, in cases of such
+transcendent wrong. doing as mob murder, especially when experience has
+shown that local justice is too often helpless to punish the offenders.
+
+After many years of endeavor on the part of this Government to that end the
+Italian Government has consented to enter into negotiations for a
+naturalization convention, having for one of its objects the regulation of
+the status of Italians (except those of an age for active military service)
+who, having been naturalized in the United States, may revisit Italy. It is
+hoped that with the mutually conciliatory spirit displayed a successful
+conclusion will be reached.
+
+The treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Japan
+on November 22, 1894, took effect in accordance with the terms of its XIXth
+Article on the 17th of July last, simultaneously with the enforcement of
+like treaties with the other powers, except France, whose convention did
+not go into operation until August 4, the United States being, however,
+granted up to that date all the privileges and rights accorded to French
+citizens under the old French treaty. By this notable conventional reform
+Japan's position as a fully independent sovereign power is assured, control
+being gained of taxation, customs revenues, judicial administration,
+coasting trade, and all other domestic functions of government, and foreign
+extra-territorial rights being renounced.
+
+Comprehensive codes of civil and criminal procedure according to western
+methods, public instruction, patents and copyrights, municipal
+administration, including jurisdiction over the former foreign settlements,
+customs tariffs and procedure, public health, and other administrative
+measures have been proclaimed. The working of the new system has given rise
+to no material complaints on the part of the American citizens or
+interests, a circumstance which attests the ripe consideration with which
+the change has been prepared.
+
+Valuable assistance was rendered by the Japanese authorities to the United
+States transport ship Morgan City while stranded at Kobe. Permission has
+been granted to land and pasture army horses at Japanese ports of call on
+the way to the Philippine Islands. These kindly evidences of good will are
+highly appreciated.
+
+The Japanese Government has shown a lively interest in the proposition of
+the Pacific Cable Company to add to its projected cable lines to Hawaii,
+Guam, and the Philippines a branch connection with the coast of Japan. It
+would be a gratifying consummation were the utility of the contemplated
+scheme enhanced by bringing Japan and the United States into direct
+telegraphic relation.
+
+Without repeating the observations of my special message of February 10,
+1899, concerning the necessity of a cable to Manila. I respectfully invite
+attention to it.
+
+I recommend that, in case the Congress should not take measures to bring
+about this result by direct action of the Government, the Postmaster
+General be authorized to invite competitive bids for the establishment of a
+cable; the company making the best responsible bid to be awarded the
+contract; the successful company to give ample bonds to insure the
+completion of the work within a reasonable time.
+
+The year has been marked by constant increase in the intimacy of our
+relations with Mexico and in the magnitude of mutually advantageous
+interchanges. This Government has omitted no opportunity to show its strong
+desire to develop and perpetuate the ties of cordiality now so long happily
+unbroken.
+
+Following the termination on January 20, 1899, by Mexico of the convention
+of extradition of December 11, 1861, a new treaty more in accordance with
+the ascertained needs of both countries was signed February 22, 1899, and
+exchanged in the City of Mexico on the 22d of April last. Its operation
+thus far has been effective and satisfactory. A recent case has served to
+test the application of its IVth Article, which provides that neither party
+shall be bound to deliver up its own citizens, but that the executive
+authority of each shall have the power to deliver them up if in its
+discretion it be deemed proper to do so.
+
+The extradition of Mrs. Mattie Rich, a citizen of the United States,
+charged with homicide committed in Mexico, was after mature consideration
+directed by me in the conviction that the ends of justice would be thereby
+subserved. Similar action, on appropriate occasion, by the Mexican
+Executive will not only tend to accomplish the desire of both Governments
+that grave crimes go not unpunished, but also to repress lawlessness along
+the border of the two countries. The new treaty stipulates that neither
+Government shall assume jurisdiction in the punishment of crimes committed
+exclusively within the territory of the other. This will obviate in future
+the embarrassing controversies which have heretofore arisen through
+Mexico's assertion of a claim to try and punish an American citizen for an
+offense committed within the jurisdiction of the United States.
+
+The International Water Boundary Commission, organized by the convention of
+March 1, 1889, for the adjustment of questions affecting the Rio Grande
+frontier, has not yet completed its labors. A further extension of its term
+for one year, until December 24, 1899, was effected by a convention signed
+December z, 1898, and exchanged and proclaimed in February last.
+
+An invitation extended to the President of Mexico to visit Chicago in
+October, on the occasion of laying the corner stone of the United States
+Government building in that city, was cordially accepted by him, with the
+necessary consent of the Mexican Congress, but the illness of a member of
+his family prevented his attendance. The Minister of Foreign Relations,
+however, came as the personal representative of President Diaz, and in that
+high character was duly honored.
+
+Claims growing out of the seizure of American sealing vessels in Bering Sea
+have been under discussion with the Government of Russia for several years,
+with the recent happy result of an agreement to submit them to the decision
+of a single arbitrator. By this act Russia affords proof of her adherence
+to the beneficent principle of arbitration which her plenipotentiaries
+conspicuously favored at The Hague Disarmament Conference when it was
+advocated by the representatives of the United States.
+
+A suggestion for a permanent exposition of our products and manufactures in
+Russia, although not yet fully shaped, has been so cordially welcomed by
+the Imperial Government that it may not inaptly take a fitting place in
+whatever legislation the Congress may adopt looking to enlargement of our
+commercial opportunities abroad.
+
+Important events have occurred in the Samoan Islands. The election,
+according to the laws and customs of Samoa, of a successor to the late
+King, Malietoa Laupepa, developed a contest as to the validity of the
+result, which issue, by the terms of the General Act, was to be decided by
+the Chief justice. Upon his rendering a judgment in favor of Malietoa Tanu,
+the rival chief, Mataafa, took up arms. The active intervention of American
+and British war ships became imperative to restore order, at the cost of
+sanguinary encounters. In this emergency a joint commission of
+representatives of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain was sent
+to Samoa to investigate the situation and provide a temporary remedy. By
+its active efforts a peaceful solution was reached for the time being, the
+kingship being abolished and a provisional government established.
+Recommendations unanimously made by the commission for a permanent
+adjustment of the Samoan question were taken under consideration by the
+three powers parties to the General Act. But the more they were examined
+the more evident it became that a radical change was necessary in the
+relations of the powers to Samoa.
+
+The inconveniences and possible perils of the tripartite scheme of
+supervision and control in the Samoan group by powers having little
+interest in common in that quarter beyond commercial rivalry had been once
+more emphasized by the recent events. The suggested remedy of the joint
+Commission, like the scheme it aimed to replace amounted to what has been
+styled a tridominium, being the exercise of the functions of sovereignty by
+an unanimous agreement of three powers. The situation had become far more
+intricate and embarrassing from every point of view than it was when my
+predecessor, in 1894, summed up its perplexities and condemned the
+participation in it of the United States.
+
+The arrangement under which Samoa was administered had proved impracticable
+and unacceptable to all the powers concerned. To withdraw from the
+agreement and abandon the islands to Germany and Great Britain would not be
+compatible with our interests in the archipelago. To relinquish our rights
+in the harbor of Pago Pago, the best anchorage in the Pacific, the
+occupancy of which had been leased to the United States in 1878 by the
+first foreign treaty ever concluded by Samoa, was not to be thought of
+either as regards the needs of our Navy or the interests of our growing
+commerce with the East. We could not have considered any proposition for
+the abrogation of the tripartite control which did not confirm us in all
+our rights and safeguard all our national interests in the islands.
+
+Our views commended themselves to the other powers. A satisfactory
+arrangement was concluded between the Governments of Germany and of
+England, by virtue of which England retired from Samoa in view of
+compensations in other directions, and both powers renounced in favor of
+the United States all their rights and claims over and in respect to that
+portion of the group lying to the east of the one hundred and seventy-first
+degree of west longitude, embracing the islands of Tutuila, Ofoo, Olosenga,
+and Manua. I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
+a convention, which besides the provisions above mentioned also guarantees
+us the same privileges and conditions in respect to commerce and commercial
+vessels in all of the islands of Samoa as those possessed by Germany.
+
+Claims have been preferred by white residents of Samoa on account of
+injuries alleged to have been suffered through the acts of the treaty
+Governments in putting down the late disturbances. A convention has been
+made between the three powers for the investigation and settlement of these
+claims by a neutral arbitrator, to which the attention of the Senate will
+be invited.
+
+My annual message of last year was necessarily devoted, in great part to a
+consideration of the Spanish War and of the results it wrought and the
+conditions it imposed for the future. I am gratified to announce that the
+treaty of peace has restored friendly relations between the two powers.
+Effect has been given to its most important provisions. The evacuation of
+Puerto Rico having already been accomplished on the x8th of October, 1898,
+nothing remained necessary there but to continue the provisional military
+control of the island until the Congress should enact a suitable government
+for the ceded territory. Of the character and scope of the measures to that
+end I shall treat in another part of this message.
+
+The withdrawal of the authority of Spain from the island of Cuba was
+effected by the 1st of January, so that the full re-establishment of peace
+found the relinquished territory held by us in trust for the inhabitants,
+maintaining, under the direction of the Executive, such government and
+control therein as should conserve public order, restore the productive
+conditions of peace so long disturbed by the instability and disorder which
+prevailed for the greater part of the preceding three decades, and build up
+that tranquil development of the domestic state whereby alone can be
+realized the high purpose, as proclaimed in the joint resolution adopted by
+the Congress on the 19th of April, 1898, by which the United States
+disclaimed any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty,
+jurisdiction, or control over Cuba, except for the pacification thereof,
+and asserted its determination when that was accomplished to leave the
+government and control of the island to its people. The pledge contained in
+this resolution is of the highest honorable obligation and must be sacredly
+kept.
+
+I believe that substantial progress has been made in this direction. All
+the administrative measures adopted in Cuba have aimed to fit it for a
+regenerated existence by enforcing the supremacy of law and justice; by
+placing wherever practicable the machinery of administration in the hands
+of the inhabitants; by instituting needed sanitary reforms; by spreading
+education; by fostering industry and trade; by inculcating public morality,
+and, in short, by taking every rational step to aid the Cuban people to
+attain to that plane of self-conscious respect and self-reliant unity which
+fits an enlightened community for self-government within its own sphere,
+while enabling it to fulfill all outward obligation.
+
+This nation has assumed before the world a grave responsibility for the
+future good government of Cuba. We have accepted a trust the fulfillment of
+which calls for the sternest integrity of purpose and the exercise of the
+highest wisdom. The new Cuba yet to arise from the ashes of the past must
+needs be bound to us by ties of singular intimacy and strength if its
+enduring welfare is to be assured. Whether those ties shall be organic or
+conventional, the destinies of Cuba are in some rightful form and manner
+irrevocably linked with our own, but how and how far is for the future to
+determine in the ripeness of events. Whatever be the outcome, we must see
+to it that free Cuba be a reality, not a name, a perfect entity, not a
+hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of failure. Our
+mission, to accomplish which we took up the wager of battle, is not to be
+fulfilled by turning adrift any loosely framed commonwealth to face the
+vicissitudes which too often attend weaker States whose natural wealth and
+abundant resources are offset by the incongruities of their political
+organization and the recurring occasions for internal rivalries to sap
+their strength and dissipate their energies. The greatest blessing which
+can come to Cuba is the restoration of her agricultural and industrial
+prosperity, which will give employment to idle men and re-establish the
+pursuits of peace. This is her chief and immediate need.
+
+On the 19th of August last an order was made for the taking of the census
+in the island, to be completed on the 3oth of November. By the treaty of
+peace the Spanish people on the island have until April 11, 1900, to elect
+whether they will remain citizens of Spain or become citizens of Cuba.
+Until then it cannot be definitely ascertained who shall be entitled to
+participate in the formation of the government of Cuba. By that time the
+results of the census will have been tabulated and we shall proceed to
+provide for elections which will commit the municipal governments of the
+island to the officers elected by the people. The experience thus acquired
+will prove of great value in the formation of a representative convention
+of the people to draft a constitution and establish a general system of
+independent government for the island. In the meantime and so long as we
+exercise control over the island the products of Cuba should have a market
+in the United States on as good terms and with as favorable rates of duty
+as are given to the West India Islands under treaties of reciprocity which
+shall be made.
+
+For the relief of the distressed in the island of Cuba the War Department
+has issued supplies to destitute persons through the officers of the Army,
+which have amounted to 5,493,ooo rations, at a cost Of $1,417,554.07.
+
+To promote the disarmament of the Cuban volunteer army, and in the interest
+of public peace and the welfare of the people, the sum Of $75 was paid to
+each Cuban soldier borne upon the authenticated rolls, on condition that he
+should deposit his arms with the authorities designated by the United
+States. The sum thus disbursed aggregated $2,547,750, which was paid from
+the emergency fund provided by the act of January 5, 1899, for that
+purpose.
+
+Out of the Cuban island revenues during the six months ending June 30,
+1899, $1,712,014.20 was expended for sanitation, $293,881.70 for charities
+and hospitals, and $88,944.03 for aid to the destitute.
+
+Following the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace the two
+Governments accredited ministers to each other, Spain sending to Washington
+the Duke of Arcos, an eminent diplomatist, previously stationed in Mexico,
+while the United States transferred to Madrid Hon. Bellamy Storer, its
+minister at Brussels. This was followed by the respective appointment of
+consuls, thereby fully resuming the relations interrupted by the war. In
+addition to its consular representation in the United States, the Spanish
+Government has appointed consuls for Cuba, who have been provisionally
+recognized during the military administration of the affairs of that
+island.
+
+Judicial intercourse between the courts of Cuba and Puerto Rico and of
+Spain has been established, as provided by the treaty of peace. The Cuban
+political prisoners in Spanish penal stations have been and are being
+released and returned to their homes, in accordance with Article VI of the
+treaty. Negotiations are about to be had for defining the conventional
+relations between the two countries, which fell into abeyance by reason of
+the war. I trust that these will include a favorable arrangement for
+commercial reciprocity under the terms of sections 3 and 4 of the current
+tariff act. In these, as in all matters of international concern, no effort
+will be spared to respond to the good disposition of Spain, and to
+cultivate in all practicable ways the intimacy which should prevail between
+two nations whose past history has so often and in so many ways been marked
+by sincere friendship and by community of interests.
+
+I would recommend appropriate legislation in order to carry into execution
+Article VII of the Treaty of Peace with Spain, by which the United States
+assured the payment of certain claims for indemnity of its citizens against
+Spain.
+
+The United States minister to Turkey continues, under instructions, to
+press for a money payment in satisfaction of the just claims for injuries
+suffered by American citizens in the disorders of several years past and
+for wrongs done to them by the Ottoman authorities. Some of these claims
+are of many years' standing. This Government is hopeful of a general
+agreement in this regard.
+
+In the Turkish Empire the situation of our citizens remains unsatisfactory.
+Our efforts during nearly forty years to bring about a convention of
+naturalization seem to be on the brink of final failure through the
+announced policy of the Ottoman Porte to refuse recognition of the alien
+status of native Turkish subjects naturalized abroad since 1867. Our
+statutes do not allow this Government to admit any distinction between the
+treatment of native and naturalized Americans abroad, so that ceaseless
+controversy arises in cases where persons owing in the eye of international
+law a dual allegiance are prevented from entering Turkey or are expelled
+after entrance. Our law in this regard contrasts with that of the European
+States. The British act, for instance, does not claim effect for the
+naturalization of an alien in the event of his return to his native
+country, unless the change be recognized by the law of that country or
+stipulated by treaty between it and the naturalizing State.
+
+The arbitrary treatment, in some instances, of American productions in
+Turkey has attracted attention of late, notably in regard to our flour.
+Large shipments by the recently opened direct steamship line to Turkish
+ports have been denied entrance on the score that, although of standard
+composition and unquestioned purity, the flour was pernicious to health
+because of deficient "elasticity" as indicated by antiquated and
+untrustworthy tests. Upon due protest by the American minister, and it
+appearing that the act was a virtual discrimination against our product,
+the shipments in question were admitted. In these, as in all instances,
+wherever occurring, when American products may be subjected in a foreign
+country, upon specious pretexts, to discrimination compared with the like
+products of another country, this Government will use its earnest efforts
+to secure fair and equal treatment for its citizens and their goods.
+Failing this, it will not hesitate to apply whatever corrective may be
+provided by the statutes.
+
+The International Commission of Arbitration, appointed under the
+Anglo-Venezuelan treaty of 1897, rendered an award on October 3 last,
+whereby the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana is
+determined, thus ending a controversy which has existed for the greater
+part of the century. The award, as to which the arbitrators were unanimous,
+while not meeting the extreme contention of either party, gives to Great
+Britain a large share of the interior territory in dispute and to Venezuela
+the entire mouth of the Orinoco, including Barima Point and the Caribbean
+littoral for some distance to the eastward. The decision appears to be
+equally satisfactory to both parties.
+
+Venezuela has once more undergone a revolution. The insurgents, under
+General Castro, after a sanguinary engagement in which they suffered much
+loss, rallied in the mountainous interior and advanced toward the capital.
+The bulk of the army having sided with the movement, President Andrade
+quitted Caracas, where General Castro set up a provisional government with
+which our minister and the representatives of other powers entered into
+diplomatic relations on the 20th of November, 1899.
+
+The fourth section of the Tariff Act approved July 24, x897, appears to
+provide only for commercial treaties which should be entered into by the
+President and also ratified by the Senate within two years from its
+passage. Owing to delays inevitable in negotiations of this nature, none of
+the treaties initiated under that section could be concluded in time for
+ratification by the Senate prior to its adjournment on the 4th of March
+last. Some of the pending negotiations, however, were near conclusion at
+that time, and the resulting conventions have since been signed by the
+plenipotentiaries. Others, within both the third and fourth sections of the
+act, are still under consideration. Acting under the constitutional power
+of the Executive in respect to treaties, I have deemed it my duty, while
+observing the limitations of concession provided by the fourth section, to
+bring to a conclusion all pending negotiations, and submit them to the
+Senate for its advice and consent.
+
+Conventions of reciprocity have been signed during the Congressional recess
+with Great Britain for the respective colonies of British Guiana, Barbados,
+Bermuda, Jamaica, and Turks and Caicos Islands, and with the Republic of
+Nicaragua.
+
+Important reciprocal conventions have also been concluded with France and
+with the Argentine Republic.
+
+In my last annual message the progress noted in the work of the diplomatic
+and consular officers in collecting information as to the industries and
+commerce of other countries, and in the care and promptitude with which
+their reports are printed and distributed, has continued during the past
+year, with increasingly valuable results in suggesting new sources of
+demand for American products and in pointing out the obstacles still to be
+overcome in facilitating the remarkable expansion of our foreign trade. It
+will doubtless be gratifying to Congress to learn that the various agencies
+of the Department of State are co-operating in these endeavors with a zeal
+and effectiveness which are not only receiving the cordial recognition of
+our business interests, but are exciting the emulation of other
+Governments. In any rearrangement of the great and complicated work of
+obtaining official data of an economic character which Congress may
+undertake it is most important, in my judgment, that the results already
+secured by the efforts of the Department of State should be carefully
+considered with a view to a judicious development and increased utility to
+our export trade.
+
+The interest taken by the various States forming the International Union of
+American Republics in the work of its organic bureau is evidenced by the
+fact that for the first time since its creation in i8go all the Republics
+of South and Central America are now represented in it.
+
+The unanimous recommendation of the International American Conference,
+providing for the International Union of American Republics, stated that it
+should continue in force during a term of ten years from the date of its
+organization, and no country becoming a member of the union should cease to
+be a member until the end of said period of ten years, and unless twelve
+months before the expiration of said period a majority of the members of
+the union had given to the Secretary of State of the United States official
+notice of their wish to terminate the union at the end of its first period,
+that the union should continue to be maintained for another period of ten
+years, and thereafter, under the same conditions, for successive periods of
+ten years each.
+
+The period for notification expired on July 14, 1899, without any of the
+members having given the necessary notice of withdrawal. Its maintenance is
+therefore assured for the next ten years. In view of this fact and of the
+numerous questions of general interest and common benefit to all of the
+Republics of America, some of which were considered by the first
+International American Conference, but not finally settled, and others
+which have since then grown to importance, it would seem expedient that the
+various Republics constituting the Union should be invited to hold at an
+early date another conference in the capital of one of the countries other
+than the United States, which has already enjoyed this honor.
+
+The purely international character of the work being done by the bureau and
+the appreciation of its value are further emphasized by the active
+co-operation which the various Governments of the Latin. American Republics
+and their diplomatic representatives in this capital are now exhibiting and
+the zealous endeavors they are making to extend its field of usefulness, to
+promote through it commercial intercourse, and strengthen the bonds of
+amity and confidence between its various members and the nations of this
+continent.
+
+The act to encourage the holding of the Pan-Amencan Exposition on the
+Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New
+York, in the year 1901, was approved on March 3, 1899.
+
+This exposition, which will be held in the city of Buffalo, in the near
+vicinity of the great Niagara cataract, and within a day's journey of which
+reside 40, 000, 000 Of our people, will be confined entirely to the Western
+Hemisphere. Satisfactory assurances have already been given by the
+diplomatic representatives of Great Britain, Mexico, the Central and South
+American Republics, and most of the States of the United States that these
+countries and States will make an unique, interesting, and instructive
+exhibit, peculiarly illustrative of their material progress during the
+century which is about to close.
+
+The law provides an appropriation Of $500,000 for the purpose of making an
+exhibit at the exposition by the Government of the United States from its
+Executive Departments and from the Smithsonian Institution and National
+Museum, the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the Department
+of Labor, and the Bureau of the American Republics. To secure a complete
+and harmonious arrangement of this Government exhibit a board of management
+has already been created, and charged with the selection, purchase,
+preparation, transportation, arrangement, and safe-keeping of the articles
+and materials to be exhibited. This board has been organized and has
+already entered upon the performance of its duties, as provided for by the
+law
+
+I have every reason to hope and believe that this exposition will tend more
+firmly to cement the cordial relations between the nations on this
+continent.
+
+In accordance with an act of Congress approved December 21, 1898, and under
+the auspices of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, a most interesting and
+valuable exposition of products and manufactures especially adapted to
+export trade was held in Philadelphia from the 14th of September to the 1st
+of December, 1899. The representative character of the exhibits and the
+widespread interest manifested in the special objects of the undertaking
+afford renewed encouragement to those who look confidently to the steady
+growth of our enlarged exportation of manufactured goods, which has been
+the most remarkable fact in the economic development of the United States
+in recent years. A feature of this exposition which is likely to become of
+permanent and increasing utility to our industries is the collection of
+samples of merchandise produced in various countries with special reference
+to particular markets, providing practical object lessons to United States
+manufacturers as to qualities, styles, and prices of goods such as meet the
+special demands of consumers and may be exported with advantage.
+
+In connection with the exposition an International Commercial Congress was
+held, upon the invitation of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum,
+transmitted by the Department of State to the various foreign Governments,
+for an exchange of information and opinions with the view to the promotion
+of international trade. This invitation met with general and cordial
+acceptance, and the Congress, which began its sessions at the exposition on
+the 13th of October proved to be of great practical importance, from the
+fact that it developed a general recognition of the interdependence of
+nations in trade and a most gratifying spirit of accommodation with
+reference to the gradual removal of existing impediments to reciprocal
+relations, without injury to the industrial interests of either party.
+
+In response to the invitation of His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia,
+delegates from twenty-six countries were assembled at The Hague on the 18th
+of May, as members of a conference in the interest of peace. The commission
+from the United States consisted of the Hon. Andrew D. White, the Hon. Seth
+Low, the Hon. Stanford Newel, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, of the United States
+Navy, Captain William Crozier, of the United States Army, and the Hon.
+Frederick W. Holls, secretary. The occasion seemed to be opportune for the
+serious consideration of a plan for the pacific adjustment of international
+differences, a subject in which the American people have been deeply
+interested for many years, and a definite project for a permanent
+international tribunal was included in the instructions to the delegates of
+the United States.
+
+The final act of the conference includes conventions upon the amelioration
+of the laws and customs of war on land, the adaptation to maritime warfare
+of the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864, and the extension of
+judicial methods to international cases. The Convention for the Pacific
+Settlement of International Conflicts embodies the leading features of the
+American plan, with such modifications as were rendered 'necessary by the
+great diversity of views and interests represented by the delegates. The
+four titles of the convention provide for the maintenance of general peace,
+the exercise of good offices and mediation, the formation of commissions of
+inquiry, and international arbitration.
+
+The mediation provided for by the convention is purely voluntary and
+advisory, and is intended to avoid any invasion or limitation of the
+sovereign rights of the adhering States. The commissions of inquiry
+proposed consists of delegations to be specifically constituted for
+particular purposes by means of conventions between the contesting parties,
+having for their object the clear understanding of international
+differences before resorting to the use of force. The provision for
+arbitration contemplates the formation of a permanent tribunal before which
+disputed cases may be brought for settlement by the mutual consent of the
+litigants in each separate case. The advantages of such a permanent
+tribunal over impromptu commissions of arbitration are conceived to be the
+actual existence of a competent court, prepared to administer justice, the
+greater economy resulting from a well-devised system, and the accumulated
+judicial skill and experience which such a tribunal would soon possess.
+
+While earnestly promoting the idea of establishing a permanent
+international tribunal, the delegation of the United States was not
+unmindful of the inconveniences which might arise from an obtrusive
+exercise of mediation, and in signing the convention carefully guarded the
+historic position of the United States by the following declaration:
+Nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to require
+the United States of America to depart from its traditional policy of not
+intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in the political
+questions or policy or internal administration of any foreign state; nor
+shall anything contained in the said convention be construed to imply a
+relinquishment by the United. States of America of its traditional attitude
+toward purely American questions. Thus interpreted, the Convention for the
+Pacific Settlement of International Conflicts may be regarded as realizing
+the earnest desire of great numbers of American citizens, whose deep sense
+of justice, expressed in numerous resolutions and memorials, has urged them
+to labor for this noble achievement. The general character of this
+convention, already signed by the delegates of more than twenty sovereign
+States, further commends it to the favorable action of the Senate of the
+United States, whose ratification it still awaits.
+
+Since my last annual message, and in obedience to the acts of the Congress
+of April 22 and 26, 1898, the remaining volunteer force enlisted for the
+Spanish War, consisting Of 34,834 regulars and 110,202 volunteers, with
+over 5,000 volunteer officers, has been discharged from the military
+service. Of the volunteers, 667 officers and 14,831 men were serving in the
+Philippines, and 1,650 of the regulars, who were entitled to be mustered
+out after the ratification of the treaty of peace. They voluntarily
+remained at the front until their places could be filled by new troops.
+They were returned home in the order in which they went to Manila, and are
+now all of them out of the service and in the ranks of citizenship. I
+recommend that the Congress provide a special medal of honor for the
+volunteers, regulars, sailors, and marines on duty in the Philippines who
+voluntarily remained in the service after their terms of enlistment had
+expired.
+
+By the act of March 2, 1899, Congress gave authority to increase the
+Regular Army to a maximum not exceeding 65,000 enlisted men, and to enlist
+a force of 5,000 volunteers, to be recruited from the country at large. By
+virtue of this authority the Regular Army has been increased to the number
+of 61,999 enlisted men and 2,248 officers, and new volunteer regiments have
+been organized aggregating 33,05o enlisted men and 1,524 officers. Two of
+these volunteer regiments are madeup of colored men, with colored line
+officers. The new troops to take the places of those returning from the
+Philippines have been transported to Manila to the number of 581 officers
+and 26,322 enlisted men of the Regular Army and 594 officers and 15,388
+enlisted men of the new volunteer force, while 504 officers and 14, 119 men
+of the volunteer force are on the ocean en route to Manila.
+
+The force now in Manila consists Of 905 officers and 30,578 regulars, and
+594 officers and 15,388 of the volunteers, making an aggregate of 1,499
+officers and 45,966 men. When the troops now under orders shall reach
+Manila the force in the archipelago will comprise 2,051 officers and 63,483
+men. The muster out of the great volunteer army organized for the Spanish
+War and the creation of a new army, the transportation from Manila to San
+Francisco of those entitled to discharge and the transportation of the new
+troops to take their places have been a work of great magnitude well and
+ably done, for which too much credit cannot be given the War Department.
+
+During the past year we have reduced our force in Cuba and Puerto Rico, In
+Cuba we now have 334 officers and 10,796 enlisted men; In Puerto Rico, 87
+officers and 2,855 enlisted men and a battalion of 400 men composed of
+native Puerto Ricans; while stationed throughout the United States are 910
+officers and 17,317 men, and in Hawaii 12 officers and 453 enlisted men.
+
+The operations of the Army are fully presented in the report of the
+Secretary of War. I cannot withhold from officers and men the highest
+commendation for their soldierly conduct in trying situations, their
+willing sacrifices for their country, and the integrity and ability with
+which they have performed unusual and difficult duties in our island
+possessions.
+
+In the organization of the volunteer regiments authorized by the act of
+March 2, 1899, it was found that no provision had been made for chaplains.
+This omission was doubtless from inadvertence. I recommend the early
+authorization for the appointment of one chaplain for each of said
+regiments. These regiments are now in the Philippines, and it is important
+that immediate action be had.
+
+In restoring peaceful conditions, orderly rule, and civic progress in Cuba,
+Puerto Rico, and, so far as practicable, in the Philippines, the
+rehabilitation of the postal service has been an essential and important
+part of the work. It became necessary to provide mail facilities both for
+our forces of occupation and for the native population. To meet this
+requirement has involved a substantial reconstruction. The existing systems
+were so fragmentary, defective, and inadequate that a new and comprehensive
+organization had to be created. American trained officials have been
+assigned to the directing and executive positions, while natives have been
+chiefly employed in making up the body of the force. In working out this
+plan the merit rule has been rigorously and faithfully applied.
+
+The appointment of Director-General of Posts of Cuba was given to an expert
+who had been Chief Post-Office Inspector and Assistant Postmaster-General,
+and who united large experience with administrative capacity. For the
+postmastership at Havana the range of skilled and available men was
+scanned, and the choice fell upon one who had been twenty years in the
+service as deputy postmaster and postmaster of a large city. This principle
+governed and determined the selection of the American officials sent not
+only to Cuba, but to Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and they were
+instructed to apply it so far as practicable in the employment of the
+natives as minor postmasters and clerks. The postal system in Cuba, though
+remaining under the general guidance of the Postmaster-General, was made
+essentially independent. It was felt that it should not be a burden upon
+the postal service of the United States, and provision was made that any
+deficit in the postal revenue should be a charge upon the general revenues
+of the island.
+
+Though Puerto Rico and the Philippines hold a different relation to the
+United States, yet, for convenience of administration, the same principle
+of an autonomous system has been extended to them. The development of the
+service in all of the islands has been rapid and successful. It has moved
+forward on American lines, with free delivery, money order, and registry
+systems, and has given the people mail facilities far greater and more
+reliable than any they have ever before enjoyed. It is thus not only a
+vital agency of industrial, social, and business progress, but an important
+influence in diffusing a just understanding of the true spirit and
+character of American administration.
+
+The domestic postal service continues to grow with extraordinary rapidity.
+The expenditures and the revenues will each exceed $100,000,000 during the
+current year. Fortunately, since the revival of prosperous times the
+revenues have grown much faster than the expenditures, and there is every
+indication that a short period will witness the obliteration of the annual
+deficit. In this connection the report of the Postmaster-General embodies a
+statement of some evils which have grown up outside of the contemplation of
+law in the treatment of some classes of mail matter which wrongly exercise
+the privilege of the pound rate, and shows that if this matter had been
+properly classified and had paid the rate which it should have paid,
+instead of a postal deficit for the last fiscal year of $6,610,000, there
+would have been on one basis a surplus of $17,637,570, and on another Of
+$5,733,836. The reform thus suggested, in the opinion of the
+Postmaster-General, would not only put the postal service at once on a
+self-sustaining basis, but would permit great and valuable improvements,
+and I commend the subject to the consideration of the Congress.
+
+The Navy has maintained the spirit and high efficiency which have always
+characterized that service, and has lost none of the gallantry in heroic
+action which has signalized its brilliant and glorious past. The Nation has
+equal pride in its early and later achievements. Its habitual readiness for
+every emergency has won the confidence and admiration of the country. The
+people are interested in the continued preparation and prestige of the Navy
+and will justify liberal appropriations for its maintenance and
+improvement. The officers have shown peculiar adaptation for the
+performance of new and delicate duties which our recent war has imposed.
+
+It cannot be doubted that Congress will at once make necessary provision
+for the armor plate for the vessels now under contract and building. Its
+attention is respectfully called to the report of the Secretary of the
+Navy, in which the subject is fully presented. I unite in his
+recommendation that the Congress enact such special legislation as may be
+necessary to enable the Department to make contracts early in the coming
+year for armor of the best quality that can be obtained in this country for
+the Maine, Ohio, and Missouri, and that the provision of the act of March
+3, 1899, limiting the price of armor to $300 per ton be removed.
+
+In the matter of naval construction Italy and Japan, of the great powers,
+laid down less tonnage in the year 1899 than this country, and Italy alone
+has less tonnage under construction. I heartily concur in the
+recommendations for the increase of the Navy, as suggested by the
+Secretary.
+
+Our future progress and prosperity depend upon our ability to equal, if not
+surpass, other nations in the enlargement and advance of science, industry,
+and commerce. To invention we must turn as one of the most powerful aids to
+the accomplishment of such a result. The attention of the Congress is
+directed to the report of the Commissioner of Patents, in which will be
+found valuable suggestions and recommendations.
+
+On the 30th of June, 1899, the pension roll of the United States numbered
+991,519. These include the pensioners of the Army and Navy in all our wars.
+The number added to the rolls during the year was 40,991. The number
+dropped by reason of death, remarriage, minors by legal limitation, failure
+to claim within three years, and other causes, was 43, 186, and the number
+of claims disallowed was 107,gig. During the year 89,054 pension
+certificates were issued, of which 37,077 were for new or original
+pensions. The amount disbursed for army and navy pensions during the year
+was $138,355,052.95, which was $1,651,461.61 less than the sum of the
+appropriations.
+
+The Grand Army of the Republic at its recent national encampment held in
+Philadelphia has brought to my attention and to that of the Congress the
+wisdom and justice of a modification of the third section of the act of
+June 27, x8go, which provides pensions for the widows of officers and
+enlisted men who served ninety days or more during the War of the Rebellion
+and were honorably discharged, provided that such widows are without other
+means of sup, port than their daily labor and were married to the soldier,
+sailor, or marine on account of whose service they claim pension prior to
+the date of the act.
+
+The present holding of the Department is that if the widow's income aside
+from her daily labor does not exceed in amount what her pension would be,
+to wit, $96 per annum, she would be deemed to be without other means of
+support than her daily labor, and would be entitled to a pension under this
+act; while if the widow's income independent of the amount received by her
+as the result of her daily labor exceeds $96, she would not be pensionable
+under the act. I am advised by the Commissioner of Pensions that the amount
+of the income allowed before title to pension would be barred has varied
+widely under different administrations of the Pension Office, as well as
+during different periods of the same administration, and has been the cause
+of just complaint and criticism.
+
+With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior the Commissioner of
+Pensions recommends that, in order to make the practice at all times
+uniform and to do justice to the dependent widow, the amount of income
+allowed independent of the proceeds of her daily labor should be not less
+than $250 per annum, and he urges that the Congress shall so amend the act
+as to permit the Pension Office to grant pensionable status to widows under
+the terms of the third section of the act of June 27, 1890, whose income
+aside from the proceeds of daily labor is not in excess of $250 per annum.
+I believe this to be a simple act of justice and heartily recommend it.
+
+The Dawes Commission reports that gratifying progress has been made in its
+work during the preceding year. The field-work of enrollment of four of the
+nations has been completed. I recommend that Congress at an early day make
+liberal appropriation for educational purposes in the Indian Territory.
+
+In accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1899. the
+preliminary work in connection with the Twelfth Census is now fully under
+way. The officers required for the proper administration. of the duties
+imposed have been selected. The provision for securing a proper enumeration
+of the population, as well as to secure evidence of the industrial growth
+of the Nation, is broader and more comprehensive than any similar
+legislation in the past. The Director advises that every needful effort is
+being made to push this great work to completion in the time limited by the
+statute. It is believed that the Twelfth Census will emphasize our
+remarkable advance in all that pertains to national progress.
+
+Under the authority of the act of Congress approved July 7, 1898, the
+commission consisting of the Secretary of the Treasury, the
+Attorney-General, and the Secretary of the Interior has made an agreement
+of settlement, which has had my approval, of the indebtedness to the
+Government growing out of the issue of bonds to aid in the construction of
+the Central Pacific and Western Pacific rail. roads. The agreement secures
+to the Government the principal and interest of said bonds, amounting to
+$58,812,715.48. There has been paid thereon $11,762,543.12, which has been
+covered into the Treasury, and the remainder, payable within ten years,
+with interest at the rate Of 3 per cent per annum, payable semiannually, is
+secured by the deposit of an equal amount of first-mortgage bonds of the
+Pacific Railway companies. The amounts paid and secured to be paid to the
+Government on account of the Pacific Railroad subsidy claims are: Union
+Pacific, cash - $58,448,223.75
+
+Kansas Pacific, cash - 6,303,000.00
+
+Central and Western Pacific, cash - 11,798,314.14
+
+Notes, secured - 47,050,172.36
+
+Kansas Pacific--dividends for deficiency due United States, cash -
+821,897.70 -
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 3, 1900
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+At the outgoing of the old and the incoming of the new century you begin
+the last session of the Fifty-sixth Congress with evidences on every hand
+of individual and national prosperity and with proof of the growing
+strength and increasing power for good of Republican institutions. Your
+countrymen will join with you in felicitation that American liberty is more
+firmly established than ever before, and that love for it and the
+determination to preserve it are more universal than at any former period
+of our history.
+
+The Republic was never so strong, because never so strongly entrenched in
+the hearts of the people as now. The Constitution, with few amendments,
+exists as it left the hands of its authors. The additions which have been
+made to it proclaim larger freedom and more extended citizenship. Popular
+government has demonstrated in its one hundred and twenty-four years of
+trial here its stability and security, and its efficiency as the best
+instrument of national development and the best safeguard to human rights.
+
+When the Sixth Congress assembled in November, 1800, the population of the
+United States was 5,308,483.It is now 76,304,799. Then we had sixteen
+States. Now we have forty-five. Then our territory consisted Of 909,050
+square miles. It is now 3,846,595 square miles. Education, religion, and
+morality have kept pace with our advancement in other directions, and while
+extending its power the Government has adhered to its foundation principles
+and abated none of them in dealing with our new peoples and possessions. A
+nation so preserved and blessed gives reverent thanks to God and invokes
+His guidance and the continuance of His care and favor.
+
+In our foreign intercourse the dominant question has been the treatment of
+the Chinese problem. Apart from this our relations with the powers have
+been happy.
+
+The recent troubles in China spring from the antiforeign agitation which
+for the past three years has gained strength in the northern provinces.
+Their origin lies deep in the character of the Chinese races and in the
+traditions of their Government. The Taiping rebellion and the opening of
+Chinese ports to foreign trade and settlement disturbed alike the
+homogeneity and the seclusion of China.
+
+Meanwhile foreign activity made itself felt in all quarters, not alone on
+the coast, but along the great river arteries and in the remoter districts,
+carrying new ideas and introducing new associations among a primitive
+people which had pursued for centuries a national policy of isolation.
+
+The telegraph and the railway spreading over their land, the steamers
+plying on their waterways, the merchant and the missionary penetrating year
+by year farther to the interior, became to the Chinese mind types of an
+alien invasion, changing the course of their national life and fraught with
+vague forebodings of disaster to their beliefs and their self-control.
+
+For several years before the present troubles all the resources of foreign
+diplomacy, backed by moral demonstrations of the physical force of fleets
+and arms, have been needed to secure due respect for the treaty rights of
+foreigners and to obtain satisfaction from the responsible authorities for
+the sporadic outrages upon the persons and property of unoffending
+sojourners, which from time to time occurred at widely separated points in
+the northern provinces, as in the case of the outbreaks in Sze-chuen and
+Shan-tung.
+
+Posting of antiforeign placards became a daily occurrence, which the
+repeated reprobation of the Imperial power failed to check or punish. These
+inflammatory appeals to the ignorance and superstition of the masses,
+mendacious and absurd in their accusations and deeply hostile in their
+spirit, could not but work cumulative harm. They aimed at no particular
+class of foreigners; they were impartial in attacking everything foreign.
+
+An outbreak in Shan-tung, in which German missionaries were slain, was the
+too natural result of these malevolent teachings.
+
+The posting of seditious placards, exhorting to the utter destruction of
+foreigners and of every foreign thing, continued unrebuked. Hostile
+demonstrations toward the stranger gained strength by organization.
+
+The sect, commonly styled the Boxers, developed greatly in the provinces
+north of the Yang-Tse, and with the collusion of many notable officials,
+including some in the immediate councils of the Throne itself, became
+alarmingly aggressive. No foreigner's life, outside of the protected treaty
+ports, was safe. No foreign interest was secure from spoliation.
+
+The diplomatic representatives of the powers in Peking strove in vain to
+check this movement. Protest was followed by demand and demand by renewed
+protest, to be met with perfunctory edicts from the Palace and evasive and
+futile assurances from the Tsung-li Yamen. The circle of the Boxer
+influence narrowed about Peking, and while nominally stigmatized as
+seditious, it was felt that its spirit pervaded the capital itself, that
+the Imperial forces were imbued with its doctrines, and that the immediate
+counselors of the Empress Dowager were in full sympathy with the
+antiforeign movement.
+
+The increasing gravity of the conditions in China and the imminence of
+peril to our own diversified interests in the Empire, as well as to those
+of all the other treaty governments, were soon appreciated by this
+Government, causing it profound solicitude. The United States from the
+earliest days of foreign intercourse with China had followed a policy of
+peace, omitting no occasions to testify good will, to further the extension
+of lawful trade, to respect the sovereignty of its Government, and to
+insure by all legitimate and kindly but earnest means the fullest measure
+of protection for the lives and property of our law-abiding citizens and
+for the exercise of their beneficent callings among the Chinese people.
+
+Mindful of this, it was felt to be appropriate that our purposes should be
+pronounced in favor of such course as would hasten united action of the
+powers at Peking to promote the administrative reforms so greatly needed
+for strengthening the Imperial Government and maintaining the integrity of
+China, in which we believed the whole western world to be alike concerned.
+To these ends I caused to be addressed to the several powers occupying
+territory and maintaining spheres of influence in China the circular
+proposals of 1899, inviting from them declarations of their intentions and
+views as to the desirability of the adoption of measures insuring the
+benefits of equality of treatment of all foreign trade throughout China.
+
+With gratifying unanimity the responses coincided in this common policy,
+enabling me to see in the successful termination of these negotiations
+proof of the friendly spirit which animates the various powers interested
+in the untrammeled development of commerce and industry in the Chinese
+Empire as a source of vast benefit to the whole commercial world.
+
+In this conclusion, which I had the gratification to announce as a
+completed engagement to the interested powers on March 20, 1900, I
+hopefully discerned a potential factor for the abatement of the distrust of
+foreign purposes which for a year past had appeared to inspire the policy
+of the Imperial Government, and for the effective exertion by it of power
+and authority to quell the critical antiforeign movement in the northern
+provinces most immediately influenced by the Manchu sentiment.
+
+Seeking to testify confidence in the willingness and ability of the
+Imperial administration to redress the wrongs and prevent the evils we
+suffered and feared, the marine guard, which had been sent to Peking in the
+autumn of 1899 for the protection of the legation, was withdrawn at the
+earliest practicable moment, and all pending questions were remitted, as
+far as we were concerned, to the ordinary resorts of diplomatic
+intercourse.
+
+The Chinese Government proved, however, unable to check the rising strength
+of the Boxers and appeared to be a prey to internal dissensions. In the
+unequal contest the antiforeign influences soon gained the ascendancy under
+the leadership of Prince Tuan. Organized armies of Boxers, with which the
+Imperial forces affiliated, held the country between Peking and the coast,
+penetrated into Manchuria up to the Russian borders, and through their
+emissaries threatened a like rising throughout northern China.
+
+Attacks upon foreigners, destruction of their property, and slaughter of
+native converts were reported from all sides. The Tsung-li Yamen, already
+permeated with hostile sympathies, could make no effective response to the
+appeals of the legations. At this critical juncture, in the early spring of
+this year, a proposal was made by the other powers that a combined fleet
+should be assembled in Chinese waters as a moral demonstration, under cover
+of which to exact of the Chinese Government respect for foreign treaty
+rights and the suppression of the Boxers.
+
+The United States, while not participating in the joint demonstration,
+promptly sent from the Philippines all ships that could be spared for
+service on the Chinese coast. A small force of marines was landed at Taku
+and sent to Peking for the protection of the American legation. Other
+powers took similar action, until some four hundred men were assembled in
+the capital as legation guards.
+
+Still the peril increased. The legations reported the development of the
+seditious movement in Peking and the need of increased provision for
+defense against it. While preparations were in progress for a larger
+expedition, to strengthen the legation guards and keep the railway open, an
+attempt of the foreign ships to make a landing at Taku was met by a fire
+from the Chinese forts. The forts were thereupon shelled by the foreign
+vessels, the American admiral taking no part in the attack, on the ground
+that we were not at war with China and that a hostile demonstration might
+consolidate the antiforeign elements and strengthen the Boxers to oppose
+the relieving column.
+
+Two days later the Taku forts were captured after a sanguinary conflict.
+Severance of communication with Peking followed, and a combined force of
+additional guards, which was advancing to Peking by the Pei-Ho, was checked
+at Langfang. The isolation of the legations was complete.
+
+The siege and the relief of the legations has passed into undying history.
+In all the stirring chapter which records the heroism of the devoted band,
+clinging to hope in the face of despair, and the undaunted spirit that led
+their relievers through battle and suffering to the goal, it is a memory of
+which my countrymen may be justly proud that the honor of our flag was
+maintained alike in the siege and the rescue, and that stout American
+hearts have again set high, in fervent emulation with true men of other
+race and language, the indomitable courage that ever strives for the cause
+of right and justice.
+
+By June 19 the legations were cut off. An identical note from the, Yamen
+ordered each minister to leave Peking, under a promised escort, within
+twenty-four hours. To gain time they replied, asking prolongation of the
+time, which was afterwards granted, and requesting an interview with the
+Tsung-li Yamen on the following day. No reply being received, on the
+morning of the 2oth the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, set out for
+the Yamen to obtain a response, and oil the way was murdered.
+
+An attempt by the legation guard to recover his body was foiled by the
+Chinese. Armed forces turned out against the legations. Their quarters were
+surrounded and attacked. The mission compounds were abandoned, their
+inmates taking refuge in the British legation, where all the other
+legations and guards gathered for more effective defense. Four hundred
+persons were crowded in its narrow compass. Two thousand native converts
+were assembled in a nearby palace under protection of the foreigners. Lines
+of defense were strengthened, trenches dug, barricades raised, and
+preparations made to stand a siege, which at once began.
+
+From June 20 until July 17, writes Minister Conger, 11 there was scarcely
+an hour during which there was not firing upon some part of our lines and
+into some of the legations, varying from a single shot to a general and
+continuous attack along the whole line." Artillery was placed around the
+legations and on the over-looking palace walls, and thousands Of 3-inch
+shot and shell were fired, destroying some buildings and damaging all. So
+thickly did the balls rain, that, when the ammunition of the besieged ran
+low, five quarts of Chinese bullets were gathered in an hour in one
+compound and recast.
+
+Attempts were made to burn the legations by setting neighboring houses on
+fire, but the flames were successfully fought off, although the Austrian,
+Belgian, Italian. and Dutch legations were then and subsequently burned.
+With the aid of the native converts, directed by the missionaries, to whose
+helpful co-operation Mr. Conger awards unstinted praise, the British
+legation was made a veritable fortress. The British minister, Sir Claude
+MacDonald, was chosen general commander of the defense, with the secretary
+of the American legation, Mr. E. G. Squiers, as chief of staff.
+
+To save life and ammunition the besieged sparingly returned the incessant
+fire of the Chinese soldiery, fighting only to repel attack or make an
+occasional successful sortie for strategic advantage, such as that of
+fifty-five American, British, and Russian marines led by Captain Myers, of
+the United States Marine Corps, which resulted in the capture of a
+formidable barricade on the wall that gravely menaced the American
+position. It was held to the last, and proved an invaluable acquisition,
+because commanding the water gate through which the relief column entered.
+
+During the siege the defenders lost 65 killed, 135 wounded, and 7 by
+disease, the last all children.
+
+On July 14 the besieged bad their first communication with the Tsung-li
+Yamen, from whom a message came inviting to a conference, which was
+declined. Correspondence, however, ensued and a sort of armistice was
+agreed upon, which stopped the bombardment and lessened the rifle fire for
+a time. Even then no protection whatever was afforded, nor any aid given,
+save to send to the legations a small supply of fruit and three sacks of
+flour.
+
+Indeed, the only communication had with the Chinese Government related to
+the occasional delivery or dispatch of a telegram or to the demands of the
+Tsung-li Yamen for the withdrawal of the legations to the coast under
+escort. Not only are the protestations of the Chinese Government that it
+protected and succored the legations positively contradicted, but
+irresistible proof accumulates that the attacks upon them were made by
+Imperial troops, regularly uniformed, armed, and officered, belonging to
+the command of Jung Lu, the Imperial commander in chief. Decrees
+encouraging the Boxers, organizing them tinder prominent Imperial officers,
+provisioning them, and even granting them large sums in the name of the
+Empress Dowager, are known to exist. Members of the Tsung-li Yamen who
+counseled protection of the foreigners were beheaded. Even in the distant
+provinces men suspected of foreign sympathy were put to death, prominent
+among these being Chang Yen-hoon, formerly Chinese minister in Washington.
+
+With the negotiation of the partial armistice of July 14, a proceeding
+which was doubtless promoted by the representations of the Chinese envoy in
+Washington, the way was opened for the conveyance to Mr. Conger of a test
+message sent by the Secretary of State through the kind offices of Minister
+Wu Ting-fang. Mr. Conger's reply, dispatched from Peking on July 18 through
+the same channel, afforded to the outside world the first tidings that the
+inmates of the legations were still alive and hoping for succor.
+
+This news stimulated the preparations for a joint relief expedition in
+numbers sufficient to overcome the resistance which for a month had been
+organizing between Taku and the capital. Reinforcements sent by all the
+co-operating Governments were constantly arriving. The United States
+contingent, hastily assembled from the Philippines or dispatched from this
+country, amounted to some 5,000 men, under the able command first of the
+lamented Colonel Liscurn and afterwards of General Chaffee.
+
+Toward the end of July the movement began. A severe conflict followed at
+Tientsin, in which Colonel Liscurn was killed. The city was stormed and
+partly destroyed. Its capture afforded the base of operations from which to
+make the final advance, which began in the first days of August, the
+expedition being made up of Japanese, Russian, British, and American troops
+at the outset.
+
+Another battle was fought and won at Yangtsun. Thereafter the disheartened
+Chinese troops offered little show of resistance. A few days later the
+important position of Ho-si-woo was taken. A rapid march brought the united
+forces to the populous city of Tung Chow, which capitulated without a
+contest.
+
+On August 14 the capital was reached. After a brief conflict beneath the
+walls the relief column entered and the legations were saved. The United
+States soldiers, sailors, and marines, officers and men alike, in those
+distant climes and unusual surroundings, showed the same valor, discipline,
+and good conduct and gave proof of the same high degree of intelligence and
+efficiency which have distinguished them in every emergency.
+
+The Imperial family and the Government had fled a few days before. The city
+was without visible control. The remaining Imperial soldiery had made on
+the night of the 13th a last attempt to exterminate the besieged, which was
+gallantly repelled. It fell to the occupying forces to restore order and
+organize a provisional administration.
+
+Happily the acute disturbances were confined to the northern provinces. It
+is a relief to recall and a pleasure to record the loyal conduct of the
+viceroys and local authorities of the southern and eastern provinces. Their
+efforts were continuously directed to the pacific control of the vast
+populations under their rule and to the scrupulous observance of foreign
+treaty rights. At critical moments they did not hesitate to memorialize the
+Throne, urging the protection of the legations, the restoration of
+communication, and the assertion of the Imperial authority against the
+subversive elements. They maintained excellent relations with the official
+representatives of foreign powers. To their kindly disposition is largely
+due the success of the consuls in removing many of the missionaries from
+the interior to places of safety. In this relation the action of the
+consuls should be highly commended. In Shan-tung and eastern Chi-li the
+task was difficult, but, thanks to their energy and the cooperation of
+American and foreign naval commanders, hundreds of foreigners, including
+those of other nationalities than ours, were rescued from imminent peril.
+
+The policy of the United States through all this trying period was clearly
+announced and scrupulously carried out. A circular note to the powers dated
+July 3 proclaimed our attitude. Treating the condition in the north as one
+of virtual anarchy, in which the great provinces of the south and southeast
+had no share, we regarded the local authorities in the latter quarters as
+representing the Chinese people with whom we sought to remain in peace and
+friendship. Our declared aims involved no war against the Chinese nation.
+We adhered to the legitimate office of rescuing the imperiled legation,
+obtaining redress for wrongs already suffered, securing wherever possible
+the safety of American life and property in China, and preventing a spread
+of the disorders or their recurrence.
+
+As was then said, " The policy of the Government of the United States is to
+seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace to China,
+preserve Chinese territorial and administrative entity, protect all rights
+guaranteed to friendly powers by treaty and international law, and
+safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all
+parts of the Chinese Empire."
+
+Faithful to those professions which, as it proved, reflected the views and
+purposes of the other co-operating Governments, all our efforts have been
+directed toward ending the anomalous situation in China by negotiations for
+a settlement at the earliest possible moment. As soon as the sacred duty of
+relieving our legation and its dependents was accomplished we withdrew from
+active hostilities, leaving our legation under an adequate guard in Peking
+as a channel of negotiation and settlement--a course adopted by others of
+the interested powers. Overtures of the empowered representatives of the
+Chinese Emperor have been considerately entertained.
+
+The Russian proposition looking to the restoration of the Imperial power in
+Peking has been accepted as in full consonance with our own desires, for we
+have held and hold that effective reparation for wrongs suffered and an
+enduring settlement that will make their recurrence impossible can best be
+brought about under an authority which the Chinese nation reverences and
+obeys. While so doing we forego no jot of our undoubted right to exact
+exemplary and deterrent punishment of the responsible authors and abettors
+of the criminal acts whereby we and other nations have suffered grievous
+injury.
+
+For the real culprits, the evil counselors who have misled the Imperial
+judgment and diverted the sovereign authority to their own guilty ends,,
+full expiation becomes imperative within the rational limits of retributive
+Justice. Regarding this as the initial condition of an acceptable
+settlement between China and the powers, I said in my message of October 18
+to the Chinese Emperor: I trust that negotiations may begin so soon as we
+and the other offended Governments shall be effectively satisfied of Your
+Majesty's ability and power to treat with just sternness the principal
+offenders, who are doubly culpable, not alone toward the foreigners, but
+toward Your Majesty, under whose rule the purpose of China to dwell in
+concord with the world had hitherto found expression in the welcome and
+protection assured to strangers. Taking, as a point of departure, the
+Imperial edict appointing Earl Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching
+plenipotentiaries to arrange a settlement, and the edict of September 25,
+whereby certain high officials were designated for punishment, this
+Government has moved, in concert with the other powers, toward the opening
+of negotiations, which Mr. Conger, assisted by Mr. Rockhill, has been
+authorized to conduct on behalf of the United States.
+
+General bases of negotiation formulated by the Government of the French
+Republic have been accepted with certain reservations as to details, made
+necessary by our own circumstances, but, like similar reservations by other
+powers, open to discussion in the progress of the negotiations. The
+disposition of the Emperor's Government to admit liability for wrongs done
+to foreign Governments and their nationals, and to act upon such additional
+designation of the guilty persons as the foreign ministers at Peking may be
+in a position to make, gives hope of a complete settlement of all questions
+involved, assuring foreign rights of residence and intercourse on terms of
+equality for all the world.
+
+I regard as one of the essential factors of a durable adjustment the
+securement of adequate guarantees for liberty of faith, since insecurity of
+those natives who may embrace alien creeds is a scarcely less effectual
+assault upon the rights of foreign worship and teaching than would be the
+direct invasion thereof.
+
+The matter of indemnity for our wronged citizens is a question of grave
+concern. Measured in money alone, a sufficient reparation may prove to be
+beyond the ability of China to meet. All the powers concur in emphatic
+disclaimers of any purpose of aggrandizement through the dismemberment of
+the Empire. I am disposed to think that due compensation may be made in
+part by increased guarantees of security for foreign rights and immunities,
+and, most important of all, by the opening of China to the equal commerce
+of all the world. These views have been and will be earnestly advocated by
+our representatives.
+
+The Government of Russia has put forward a suggestion, that in the event of
+protracted divergence of views in regard to indemnities the matter may be
+relegated to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. I favorably incline to
+this, believing that high tribunal could not fail to reach a solution no
+less conducive to the stability and enlarged prosperity of China itself
+than immediately beneficial to the powers.
+
+Ratifications of a treaty of extradition with the Argentine Republic were
+exchanged on June 2 last.
+
+While the Austro-Hungarian Government has in the many cases that have been
+reported of the arrest of our naturalized citizens for alleged evasion of
+military service faithfully observed the provisions of the treaty and
+released such persons from military obligations, it has in some instances
+expelled those whose presence in the community of their origin was asserted
+to have a pernicious influence. Representations have been made against this
+course whenever its adoption has appeared unduly onerous.
+
+We have been urgently solicited by Belgium to ratify the International
+Convention of June, 1899, amendatory of the previous Convention of 1890 in
+respect to the regulation of the liquor trade in Africa. Compliance was
+necessarily withheld, in the absence of the advice and consent of the
+Senate thereto. The principle involved has the cordial sympathy of this
+Government, which in the reversionary negotiations advocated more drastic
+measures, and I would gladly see its extension, by international agreement,
+to the restriction of the liquor traffic with all. uncivilized peoples,
+especially in the Western Pacific.
+
+A conference will be held at Brussels December 11, 1900, under the
+Convention for the protection of industrial property, concluded at Paris
+March 20, 1883, to which delegates from this country have been appointed.
+Any lessening of the difficulties that our inventors encounter in obtaining
+patents abroad for their inventions and that our farmers, manufacturers,
+and merchants may have in the protection of their trade-marks is worthy of
+careful consideration, and your attention will be called to the results of
+the conference at the proper time.
+
+In the interest of expanding trade between this country and South America,
+efforts have been made during the past year to conclude conventions with
+the southern republics for the enlargement of postal facilities. Two such
+agreements, signed with Bolivia on April 24, of which that establishing the
+money-order system is undergoing certain changes suggested by the
+Post-Office Department, have not yet been ratified by this Government. A
+treaty of extradition with that country, signed on the same day, is before
+the Senate.
+
+A boundary dispute between Brazil and Bolivia over the territory of Acre is
+in a fair way of friendly adjustment, a protocol signed in December, 1899,
+having agreed on a definite frontier and provided for its demarcation by a
+joint commission.
+
+Conditions in Brazil have weighed heavily on our export trade to that
+country in marked contrast to the favorable conditions upon which Brazilian
+products are admitted into our markets. Urgent representations have been
+made to that Government on the subject and some amelioration has been
+effected. We rely upon the reciprocal justice and good will of that
+Government to assure to us a further improvement in our commercial
+relations.
+
+The Convention signed May 24, 1897, for the final settlement of claims left
+in abeyance upon the dissolution of the Commission of 1893, was at length
+ratified by the Chilean Congress and the supplemental Commission has been
+organized.
+
+It remains for the Congress to appropriate for the necessary expenses of
+the Commission.
+
+The insurrectionary movement which disturbed Colombia in the latter part of
+1899 has been practically suppressed, although guerrillas still operate in
+some departments. The executive power of that Republic changed hands in
+August last by the act of Vice-President Marroquin in assuming the reins of
+government during the absence of President San Clemente from the capital.
+The change met with no serious opposition, and, following the precedents in
+such cases, the United States minister entered into relations with the new
+defacto Government on September 17.
+
+It is gratifying to announce that the residual questions between Costa Rica
+and Nicaragua growing out of the Award of President Cleveland in 1888 have
+been adjusted through the choice of an American engineer, General E. P.
+Alexander, as umpire to run the disputed line. His task has been
+accomplished to the satisfaction of both contestants.
+
+A revolution in the Dominican Republic toward the close of last year
+resulted in the installation of President Jimenez, whose Government was
+formally recognized in January. Since then final payment has been made of
+the American claim in regard to the Ozama bridge.
+
+The year of the exposition has been fruitful in occasions for displaying
+the good will that exists between this country and France. This great
+competition brought together from every nation the best in natural
+productions, industry, science, and the arts, submitted in generous rivalry
+to a judgment made all the more searching because of that rivalry. The
+extraordinary increase of exportations from this country during the past
+three years and the activity with which our inventions and wares bad
+invaded new markets caused much interest to center upon the American
+exhibit, and every encouragement was offered in the way of space and
+facilities to permit of its being comprehensive as a whole and complete in
+every part.
+
+It was, however, not an easy task to assemble exhibits that could fitly
+illustrate our diversified resources and manufactures. Singularly enough,
+our national prosperity lessened. the incentive to exhibit. The dealer in
+raw materials knew that the user must come to him; the great factories were
+contented with the phenomenal demand for their output, not alone at home,
+but also abroad, where merit had already won a profitable trade.
+
+Appeals had to be made to the patriotism of exhibitors to induce them to
+incur outlays promising no immediate return. This was especially the case
+where it became needful to complete an industrial sequence or illustrate a
+class of processes. One manufacturer after another had to be visited and
+importuned, and at times, after a promise to exhibit in a particular
+section bad been obtained, it would be withdrawn, owing to pressure of
+trade orders, and a new quest would have to be made.
+
+The installation of exhibits, too, encountered many obstacles and involved
+unexpected cost. The exposition was far from ready at the date fixed for
+its opening. The French transportation lines were congested with offered
+freight. Belated goods had to be hastily installed in unfinished quarters
+with whatever labor could be obtained in the prevailing confusion. Nor was
+the task of the Commission lightened by the fact that, owing to the scheme
+of classification adopted, it was impossible to have the entire exhibit of
+any one country in the same building or more than one group of exhibits in
+the same part of any building. Our installations were scattered on both
+sides of the Seine and in widely remote suburbs of Paris, so that
+additional assistants were needed for the work of supervision and
+arrangement.
+
+Despite all these drawbacks the contribution of the United States was not
+only the largest foreign display, but was among the earliest in place and
+the most orderly in arrangement. Our exhibits were shown in one hundred and
+one out of one hundred and twenty-one classes, and more completely covered
+the entire classification than those of any other nation. In total number
+they ranked next after those of France, and the attractive form in which
+they were presented secured general attention.
+
+A criterion of the extent and success of our participation and of the
+thoroughness with which our exhibits were organized is seen in the awards
+granted to American exhibitors by the international jury, namely, grand
+prizes, 240; gold medals, 597; silver medals, 776; bronze medals, 541, and
+honorable mentions, 322 -- 2,476 in all, being the greatest total number
+given to the exhibit of any exhibiting nation, as well as the largest
+number in each grade. This significant recognition of merit in competition
+with the chosen exhibits of all other nations and at the hands of juries
+almost wholly made tip of representatives of France and other competing
+countries is not only most gratifying, but is especially valuable, since it
+sets us to the front in international questions of supply and demand, while
+the large proportion of awards in the classes of art and artistic
+manufactures afforded unexpected proof of the stimulation of national
+culture by the prosperity that flows from natural productiveness joined to
+industrial excellence.
+
+Apart from the exposition several occasions for showing international good
+will occurred. The inauguration in Paris of the Lafayette Monument,
+presented by the school children of the United States, and the designing of
+a commemorative coin by our Mint and the presentation of the first piece
+struck to the President of the Republic, were marked by appropriate
+ceremonies, and the Fourth of July was especially observed in the French
+capital.
+
+Good will prevails in our relations with the German Empire. An amicable
+adjustment of the long-pending question of the admission of our
+life-insurance companies to do business in Prussia has been reached. One of
+the principal companies has already been readmitted and the way is opened
+for the others to share the privilege.
+
+The settlement of the Samoan problem, to which I adverted in my last
+message, has accomplished good results. Peace and contentment prevail in
+the islands, especially in Tutuila, where a convenient administration that
+has won the confidence and esteem of the kindly disposed natives has been
+organized under the direction of the commander of the United States naval
+station at Pago-Pago.
+
+An Imperial meat inspection law has been enacted for Germany. While it may
+simplify the inspections, it prohibits certain products heretofore
+admitted. There is still great uncertainty as to whether our well-nigh
+extinguished German trade in meat products can revive tinder its new
+burdens. Much will depend upon regulations not yet promulgated, which we
+confidently hope will be free from the discriminations which attended the
+enforcement of the old statutes.
+
+The remaining link in the new lines of direct telegraphic communication
+between the United States and the German Empire has recently been
+completed, affording a gratifying occasion for exchange of friendly
+congratulations with the German Emperor.
+
+Our friendly relations with Great Britain continue. The war in Southern
+Africa introduced important questions. A condition unusual in international
+wars was presented in that while one belligerent had control of the seas,
+the other had no ports, shipping, or direct trade, but was only accessible
+through the territory of a neutral. Vexatious questions arose through Great
+Britain's action in respect to neutral cargoes, not contraband in their own
+nature, shipped to Portuguese South Africa, on the score of probable or
+suspected ultimate destination to the Boer States.
+
+Such consignments in British ships, by which alone direct trade is kept up
+between our ports and Southern Africa, were seized in application of a
+municipal law prohibiting British vessels from trading with the enemy
+without regard to any contraband character of the goods, while cargoes
+shipped to Delagoa Bay in neutral bottoms were arrested on the ground of
+alleged destination to enemy's country. Appropriate representations on our
+part resulted in the British Government agreeing to purchase outright all
+such goods shown to be the actual property of American citizens, thus
+closing the incident to the satisfaction of the immediately interested
+parties, although, unfortunately, without a broad settlement of the
+question of a neutral's right to send goods not contraband per se to a
+neutral port adjacent to a belligerent area.
+
+The work of marking certain provisional boundary points, for convenience of
+administration, around the head of Lynn Canal, in accordance with the
+temporary arrangement of October, 1899, Was completed by a joint survey in
+July last. The modus vivendi has so far worked without friction, and the
+Dominion Government has provided rules and regulations for securing to our
+citizens the benefit of the reciprocal stipulation that the citizens or
+subjects of either power found by that arrangement within the temporary
+jurisdiction of the other shall suffer no diminution of the rights and
+privileges they have hitherto enjoyed. But however necessary such an
+expedient may have been to tide over the grave emergencies of the
+situation, it is at best but an unsatisfactory makeshift, which should not
+be suffered to delay the speedy and complete establishment of the frontier
+line to which we are entitled under the Russo-American treaty for the
+cession of Alaska.
+
+In this relation I may refer again to the need of definitely marking the
+Alaskan boundary where it follows the one hundred and forty-first meridian.
+A convention to that end has been before the Senate for some two years, but
+as no action has been taken I contemplate negotiating a new convention for
+a joint determination of the meridian by telegraphic observations. These,
+it is believed, will give more accurate and unquestionable results than the
+sidereal methods heretofore independently followed, which, as is known,
+proved discrepant at several points on the line, although not varying at
+any place more than 700 feet
+
+The pending claim of R. H. May against the Guatemalan Government has been
+settled by arbitration, Mr. George F. B. Jenner, British minister at
+Guatemala, who was chosen as sole arbitrator. having awarded $143,750.73 in
+gold to the claimant.
+
+Various American claims against Haiti have been or are being advanced to
+the resort of arbitration.
+
+As the result of negotiations with the Government of Honduras in regard to
+the indemnity demanded for the murder of Frank H. Pears in Honduras, that
+Government has paid $10,000 in settlement of the claim of the heirs.
+
+The assassination of King Humbert called forth sincere expressions of
+sorrow from this Government and people, and occasion was fitly taken to
+testify to the Italian nation the high regard here felt for the memory of
+the lamented ruler.
+
+In my last message I referred at considerable length to the lynching of
+five Italians at Tallulah. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Federal
+Government, the production of evidence tending to inculpate the authors of
+this grievous offense against our civilization, and the repeated inquests
+set on foot by the authorities of the State of Louisiana, no punishments
+have followed. Successive grand juries have failed to indict. The
+representations of the Italian Government in the face of this miscarriage
+have been most temperate and just.
+
+Setting the principle at issue high above all consideration of merely
+pecuniary indemnification, such as this Government made in the three
+previous cases, Italy has solemnly invoked the pledges of existing treaty
+and asked that the justice to which she is entitled shall be meted in
+regard to her unfortunate countrymen in our territory with the same full
+measure she herself would give to any American were his reciprocal treaty
+rights contemned.
+
+I renew the urgent recommendations I made last year that the Congress
+appropriately confer upon the Federal courts jurisdiction in this class of
+international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the Federal
+Government may be involved, and I invite action upon the bills to
+accomplish this which were introduced in the Sen. ate and House. It is
+incumbent upon us to remedy the statutory omission which has led, and may
+again lead, to such untoward results. I have pointed out the necessity and
+the precedent for legislation of this character. Its enactment is a simple
+measure of previsory justice toward the nations with which we as a
+sovereign equal make treaties requiring reciprocal observance.
+
+While the Italian Government naturally regards such action as the primary
+and, indeed, the most essential element in the disposal of the Tallulah
+incident, I advise that, in accordance with precedent, and in view of the
+improbability of that particular case being reached by the bill now
+pending, Congress make gracious provision for indemnity to the Italian
+sufferers in the same form and proportion as heretofore.
+
+In my inaugural address I referred to the general subject of lynching in
+these words: Lynching must not be tolerated in a great and civilized
+country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must execute the
+penalties of the law. The preservation of public order, the right of
+discussion, the integrity of courts, and the orderly administration of
+justice must continue forever the rock of safety upon which our Government
+securely rests. This I most urgently reiterate and again invite the
+attention of my countrymen to this reproach upon our civilization.
+
+The closing year has witnessed a decided strengthening of Japan's relations
+to other states. The development of her independent judicial and
+administrative functions under the treaties which took effect July 17,
+1899, has proceeded without international friction, showing the competence
+of the Japanese to hold a foremost place among modern peoples.
+
+In the treatment of the difficult Chinese problems Japan has acted in
+harmonious concert with the other powers, and her generous cooperation
+materially aided in the joint relief of the beleaguered legations in Peking
+and in bringing about an understanding preliminary to a settlement of the
+issues between the powers and China. Japan's declarations in favor of the
+integrity of the Chinese Empire and the conservation of open world trade
+therewith have been frank and positive. As a factor for promoting the
+general interests of peace, order, and fair commerce in the Far East the
+influence of Japan can hardly be overestimated.
+
+The valuable aid and kindly courtesies extended by the Japanese Government
+and naval officers to the battle ship Oregon are gratefully appreciated.
+
+Complaint was made last summer of the discriminatory enforcement of a
+bubonic quarantine against Japanese on the Pacific coast and of
+interference with their travel in California and Colorado under the health
+laws of those States. The latter restrictions have been adjudged by a
+Federal court to be unconstitutional. No recurrence of either cause of
+complaint is apprehended.
+
+No noteworthy incident has occurred in our relations with our important
+southern neighbor. Commercial intercourse with Mexico continues to thrive,
+and the two Governments neglect no opportunity to foster their mutual
+interests in all practicable ways.
+
+Pursuant to the declaration of the Supreme Court that the awards of the
+late joint Commission in the La Abra and Weil claims were obtained through
+fraud, the sum awarded in the first case, $403,030.08, has been returned to
+Mexico, and the amount of the Weil award will be returned in like manner.
+
+A Convention indefinitely extending the time for the labors of the United
+States and Mexican International (Water) Boundary Commission has been
+signed.
+
+It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce the formal notification
+at The Hague, on September 4, of the deposit of ratifications of the
+Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes by sixteen
+powers, namely, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England,
+France, Germany, Italy, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Spain,
+Sweden and Norway, and the Netherlands. Japan also has since ratified the
+Convention.
+
+The Administrative Council of the Permanent Court of Arbitration has been
+organized and has adopted rules of order and a constitution for the
+International Arbitration Bureau. In accordance with Article XXIII of the
+Convention providing for the appointment by each signatory power of persons
+of known competency in questions of international law as arbitrators, I
+have appointed as members of this Court, Hon. Benjamin Harrison, of
+Indiana, ex-President of the United States; Hon. Melville W. Fuller, of
+Illinois, Chief justice of the United States; Hon. John W. Griggs, of New
+Jersey, Attorney General of the United States; and Hon. George Gray, of
+Delaware, a judge of the circuit court of the United States.
+
+As an incident of the brief revolution in the Mosquito district of
+Nicaragua early in 1899 the insurgents forcibly collected from American
+merchants duties upon imports. On the restoration of order the Nicaraguan
+authorities demanded a second payment of such duties on the ground that
+they were due to the titular Government and that their diversion had aided
+the revolt.
+
+This position was not accepted by us. After prolonged discussion a
+compromise was effected under which the amount of the second payments was
+deposited with the British consul at San Juan del Norte in trust until the
+two Governments should determine whether the first payments had been made
+under compulsion to a de facto authority. Agreement as to this was not
+reached, and the point was waived by the act of the Nicaraguan Government
+in requesting the British consul to return the deposits to the merchants.
+
+Menacing differences between several of the Central American States have
+been accommodated, our ministers rendering good offices toward an
+understanding.
+
+The all-important matter of an interoceanic canal has assumed a new phase.
+Adhering to its refusal to reopen the question of the forfeiture of the
+contract of the Maritime Canal Company, which was terminated for alleged
+nonexecution in October, 1899, the Government of Nicaragua has since
+supplemented that action by declaring the so styled Eyre-Cragin option void
+for nonpayment of the stipulated advance. Protests in relation to these
+acts have been filed in the State Department and are under consideration.
+Deeming itself relieved from existing engagements, the Nicaraguan
+Government shows a disposition to deal freely with the canal question
+either in the way of negotiations with the United States or by taking
+measures to promote the waterway.
+
+Overtures for a convention to effect the building of a canal under the
+auspices of the United States are under consideration. In the meantime, the
+views of the Congress upon the general subject, in the light of the report
+of the Commission appointed to examine the comparative merits of the
+various trans-Isthmian ship-canal projects, may be awaited.
+
+I commend to the early attention of the Senate the Convention with Great
+Britain to facilitate the construction of such a canal and to remove any
+objection which might arise out of the Convention commonly called the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.
+
+The long-standing contention with Portugal, growing out of the seizure of
+the Delagoa Bay Railway, has been at last determined by a favorable award
+of the tribunal of arbitration at Berne, to which it was submitted. The
+amount of the award, which was deposited in London awaiting arrangements by
+the Governments of the United States and Great Britain for its disposal,
+has recently been paid over to the two Governments.
+
+A lately signed Convention of Extradition with Peru as amended by the
+Senate has been ratified by the Peruvian Congress.
+
+Another illustration of the policy of this Government to refer
+international disputes to impartial arbitration is seen in the agreement
+reached with Russia to submit the claims on behalf of American sealing
+vessels seized in Bering Sea to determination by Mr. T. M. C. Asser, a
+distinguished statesman and jurist of the Netherlands.
+
+Thanks are due to the Imperial Russian Government for the kindly aid
+rendered by its authorities in eastern Siberia to American missionaries
+fleeing from Manchuria.
+
+Satisfactory progress has been made toward the conclusion of a general
+treaty of friendship and intercourse with Spain, in replacement of the old
+treaty, which passed into abeyance by reason of the late war. A new
+convention of extradition is approaching completion, and I should be much
+pleased were a commercial arrangement to follow. I feel that we should not
+suffer to pass any opportunity to reaffirm the cordial ties that existed
+between us and Spain from the time of our earliest independence, and to
+enhance the mutual benefits of that commercial intercourse which is natural
+between the two countries.
+
+By the terms of the Treaty of Peace the line bounding the ceded Philippine
+group in the southwest failed to include several small islands lying
+westward of the Sulus, which have always been recognized as under Spanish
+control. The occupation of Sibutd and Cagayan Sulu by our naval forces
+elicited a claim on the part of Spain, the essential equity of which could
+not be gainsaid. In order to cure the defect of the treaty by removing all
+possible ground of future misunderstanding respecting the interpretation of
+its third article, I directed the negotiation of a supplementary treaty,
+which will be forthwith laid before the Senate, whereby Spain quits all
+title and claim of title to the islands named as well as to any and all
+islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago lying outside the lines
+described in said third article, and agrees that all such islands shall be
+comprehended in the cession of the archipelago as fully as if they had been
+expressly included within those lines. In consideration of this cession the
+United States is to pay to Spain the sum of $100,000.
+
+A bill is now pending to effect the recommendation made in my last annual
+message that appropriate legislation be had to carry into execution Article
+VII of the Treaty of Peace with Spain, by which the United States assumed
+the payment of certain claims for indemnity of its citizens against Spain.
+I ask that action be taken to fulfill this obligation.
+
+The King of Sweden and Norway has accepted the joint invitation of the
+United States, Germany, and Great Britain to arbitrate claims growing out
+of losses sustained in the Samoan Islands in the course of military
+operations made necessary by the disturbances in 1899.
+
+Our claims upon the Government of the Sultan for reparation for injuries
+suffered by American citizens in Armenia and elsewhere give promise of
+early and satisfactory settlement. His Majesty's good disposition in this
+regard has been evinced by the issuance of an irade for rebuilding the
+American college at Harpoot.
+
+The failure of action by the Senate at its last session upon the commercial
+conventions then submitted for its consideration and approval, although
+caused by the great pressure of other legislative business, has caused much
+disappointment to the agricultural and industrial interests of the country,
+which hoped to profit by their provisions. The conventional periods for
+their ratification having expired, it became necessary to sign additional
+articles extending the time for that purpose. This was requested on our
+part, and the other Governments interested have concurred with the
+exception of one convention, in respect to which no formal reply has been
+received.
+
+Since my last communication to the Congress on this subject special
+commercial agreements under the third section of the tariff act have been
+proclaimed with Portugal, with Italy, and with Germany. Commercial
+conventions tinder the general limitations of the fourth section of the
+same act have been concluded with
+
+Nicaragua, with Ecuador, with the Dominican Republic, with Great Britain on
+behalf of the island of Trinidad, and with Denmark on behalf of the island
+of St. Croix. These will be early communicated to the Senate. Negotiations
+with other Governments are in progress for the improvement and security of
+our commercial relations.
+
+The policy of reciprocity so manifestly rests upon the principles of
+international equity and has been so repeatedly approved by the people of
+the United States that there ought to be no hesitation in either branch of
+the Congress in giving to it full effect.
+
+This Government desires to preserve the most just and amicable commercial
+relations with all foreign countries, unmoved by the industrial rivalries
+necessarily developed in the expansion of international trade. It is
+believed that the foreign Governments generally entertain the same purpose,
+although in some instances there are clamorous demands upon them for
+legislation specifically hostile to American interests. Should these
+demands prevail I shall communicate with the Congress with the view of
+advising such legislation as may be necessary to meet the emergency.
+
+The exposition of the resources and products of the Western Hemisphere to
+be held at Buffalo next year promises important results not only for the
+United States but for the other participating countries. It is gratifying
+that the Latin-American States have evinced the liveliest interest, and the
+fact that an International American Congress will be held in the City of
+Mexico while the exposition is in progress encourages the hope of a larger
+display at Buffalo than might otherwise be practicable. The work of
+preparing an exhibit of our national resources is making satisfactory
+progress under the direction of different officials of the Federal
+Government, and the various States of the Union have shown a disposition
+toward the most liberal participation in the enterprise.
+
+The Bureau of the American Republics continues to discharge, with the
+happiest results, the important work of promoting cordial relations between
+the United States and the Latin-American countries, all of which are now
+active members of the International Union. The Bureau has been instrumental
+in bringing about the agreement for another International American
+Congress, which is to meet in the City of Mexico in October, 1901. The
+Bureau's future for another term of ten years is assured by the
+international compact, but the congress will doubtless have much to do with
+shaping new lines of work and a general policy. Its usefulness to the
+interests of Latin-American trade is widely appreciated and shows a
+gratifying development.
+
+The practical utility of the consular service in obtaining a wide range of
+information as to the industries and commerce of other countries and the
+opportunities thereby afforded for introducing the sale of our goods have
+kept steadily in advance of the notable expansion of our foreign trade, and
+abundant evidence has been furnished, both at home and abroad, of the fact
+that the Consular Reports, including many from our diplomatic
+representatives, have to a considerable extent pointed out ways and means
+of disposing of a great variety of manufactured goods which otherwise might
+not have found sale abroad.
+
+Testimony of foreign observers to the commercial efficiency of the consular
+corps seems to be conclusive, and our own manufacturers and exporters
+highly appreciate the value of the services rendered not only in the
+printed reports but also in the individual efforts of consular officers to
+promote American trade. An increasing part of the work of the Bureau of
+Foreign Commerce, whose primary duty it is to compile and print the
+reports, is to answer inquiries from trade organizations, business houses,
+etc., as to conditions in various parts of the world, and, notwithstanding
+the smallness of the force employed, the work has been so systematized that
+responses are made with such promptitude and accuracy as to elicit
+flattering encomiums. The experiment of printing the Consular Reports daily
+for immediate use by trade bodies, exporters, and the press, which was
+begun in January, 1898, continues to give general satisfaction.
+
+It is gratifying to be able to state that the surplus revenues for the
+fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, were $79,527,060.18. For the six preceding
+years we had only deficits, the aggregate of which from 1894 to 1899,
+inclusive, amounted to $283,022,991.14. The receipts for the year from all
+sources, exclusive of postal revenues, aggregated $567,240,851.89, and
+expenditures for all purposes, except for the administration of the postal
+department, aggregated $487,713,791.71. The receipts from customs were
+$233,164,871.16, an increase over the preceding year Of $27,036,389.41. The
+receipts from internal revenue were $295,327,926.76, an increase Of
+$21,890,765.25 over 1899. The receipts from miscellaneous sources were
+$38,748,053.97, as against $36,394,976.92 for the previous year.
+
+It is gratifying also to note that during the year a considerable reduction
+is shown in the expenditures of the Government. The War Department
+expenditures for the fiscal year 1900 were $134,774,767.78, a reduction of
+$95,066,486.69 over those of 1899. In the Navy Department the expenditures
+were $55,953,077.72 for the year 1900, as against $63,942,104.25 for the
+preceding year, a decrease of $7,989,026.53. In the expenditures on account
+of Indians there was a decrease in 1900 over 1899 Of $2,630,604.38; and in
+the civil and miscellaneous expenses for 1900 there was a reduction Of
+$13,418,065.74.
+
+Because of the excess of revenues over expenditures the Secretary of the
+Treasury was enabled to apply bonds and other securities to the sinking
+fund to the amount Of $56,544,556.06. The details of the sinking fund are
+set forth in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to which I invite
+attention. The Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the receipts for
+the current fiscal year will aggregate $580,000,000 and the expenditures
+$500,000,000, leaving an excess of revenues over expenditures of
+$80,000,000. The present condition of the Treasury is one of undoubted
+strength. The available cash balance November 30 was $139,303,794.50. Under
+the form of statement prior to the financial law of March 14 last there
+would have been included in the statement of available cash gold coin and
+bullion held for the redemption of United States notes.
+
+If this form were pursued, the cash balance including the present gold
+reserve of $150,000,000, would be $289,303,794.50. Such balance November
+30, 1899, was $296,495,301.55. In the general fund, which is wholly
+separate from the reserve and trust funds, there was on November 30,
+$70,090,073.15 in gold coin and bullion, to which should be added
+$22,957,300 in gold certificates subject to issue, against which there is
+held in the Division of Redemption gold coin and bullion, making a total
+holding of free gold amounting to $93,047,373.15.
+
+It will be the duty as I am sure it will be the disposition of the Congress
+to provide whatever further legislation is needed to insure the continued
+parity under all conditions between our two forms of metallic money, silver
+and gold.
+
+Our surplus revenues have permitted the Secretary of the Treasury since the
+close of the fiscal year to call in the funded loan of 1891 continued at 2
+per cent, in the sum of $25,364,500. To and including November 30,
+$23,458,100 Of these bonds have been paid. This sum, together with the
+amount which may accrue from further redemptions under the call, will be
+applied to the sinking fund.
+
+The law of March 14, 1900, provided for refunding into 2 per cent
+thirty-year bonds, payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
+present standard value, that portion of the public debt represented by the
+3 per cent bonds of 1908, the 4 percents Of 1907, and the 5 percents of
+1904, Of which there was outstanding at the date of said law $839,149,930,
+The holders of the old bonds presented them for exchange between March 14
+and November 30 to the amount of $364,943,750. The net saving to the
+Government on these transactions aggregates $9,106,166.
+
+Another effect of the operation, as stated by the Secretary, is to reduce
+the charge upon the Treasury for the payment of interest from the dates of
+refunding to February 1, 1904, by the sum of more than seven million
+dollars annually. From February 1, 1904, to July 1, 11907, the annual
+interest charge will be reduced by the sum of more than five millions, and
+for the thirteen months ending August 1, 1908, by about one million. The
+full details of the refunding are given in the annual report of the
+Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+The beneficial effect of the financial act of 1900, so far as it relates to
+a modification of the national banking act, is already apparent. The
+provision for the incorporation of national banks with a capital of not
+less than $25,000 in places not exceeding three thousand inhabitants has
+resulted in the extension of banking facilities to many small communities
+hitherto unable to provide themselves with banking institutions under the
+national system. There were organized from the enactment of the law up to
+and including November 30, 369 national banks, of which 266 were with
+capital less than $50,000, and 103 with capital of $50,000 or more.
+
+It is worthy of mention that the greater number of banks being organized
+under the new law are in sections where the need of banking facilities has
+been most pronounced. Iowa stands first, with 30 banks of the smaller
+class, while Texas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and the middle and western
+sections of the country have also availed themselves largely of the
+privileges under the new law.
+
+A large increase in national bank-note circulation has resulted from the
+provision of the act which permits national banks to issue circulating
+notes to the par value of the United States bonds de. posited as security
+instead of only go per cent thereof, as heretofore. The increase in
+circulating notes from March 14 to November 30 is $77,889,570.
+
+The party in power is committed to such legislation as will better make the
+currency responsive to the varying needs of business at all seasons and in
+all sections.
+
+Our foreign trade shows a remarkable record of commercial and industrial
+progress. The total of imports and exports for the first time in the
+history of the country exceeded two billions of dollars. The exports are
+greater than they have ever been before, the total for the fiscal year 1900
+being $1,394,483,082, an increase over 1899 of $167,459,780, an increase
+over 1898 of $163,000,752, over 1897 Of $343,489,526, and greater than 1896
+by $511,876,144.
+
+The growth of manufactures in the United States is evidenced by the fact
+that exports of manufactured products largely exceed those of any previous
+year, their value for 1900 being $433,851,756, against $339,592,146 in
+1899, an increase of 28 per cent.
+
+Agricultural products were also exported during 1900 in greater volume than
+in 1899, the total for the year being $835,858,123, against $784,776,142 in
+1899.
+
+The imports for the year amounted to $849,941,184, an increase over 1899 of
+$152,792,695. This increase is largely in materials for manufacture, and is
+in response to the rapid development of manufacturing in the United States.
+While there was imported for use in manufactures in 1900 material to the
+value of $79,768,972 in excess of 1899, it is reassuring to observe that
+there is a tendency toward decrease in the importation of articles
+manufactured ready for consumption, which in 1900 formed 15.17 per cent of
+the total imports, against 15.54 per cent in 1899 and 21.09 per cent in
+1896.
+
+I recommend that the Congress at its present session reduce the
+internal-revenue taxes imposed to meet the expenses of the war with Spain.
+in the sum of thirty millions of dollars. This reduction should be secured
+by the remission of those taxes which experience has shown to be the most
+burdensome to the industries of the people.
+
+I specially urge that there be included in whatever reduction is made the
+legacy tax on bequests for public uses of a literary, educational, or
+charitable character.
+
+American vessels during the past three years have carried about 9 per cent
+of our exports and imports. Foreign ships should carry the least, not the
+greatest, part of American trade. The remarkable growth of our steel
+industries, the progress of shipbuilding for the domestic trade, and our
+steadily maintained expenditures for the Navy have created an opportunity
+to place the United States in the 6rst rank of commercial maritime powers.
+
+Besides realizing a proper national aspiration this will mean the
+establishment and healthy growth along all our coasts of a distinctive
+national industry, expanding the field for the profitable employment of
+labor and capital. It will increase the transportation facilities and
+reduce freight charges on the vast volume of products brought from the
+interior to the seaboard for export, and will strengthen an arm of the
+national defense upon which the founders of the Government and their
+successors have relied. In again urging immediate action by the Congress on
+measures to promote American shipping and foreign trade, I direct attention
+to the recommendations on the subject in previous messages, and
+particularly to the opinion expressed in the message of 1899: I am
+satisfied the judgment of the country favors the policy of aid to our
+merchant marine, which will broaden our commerce and markets and upbuild
+our sea-carrying capacity for the products of agriculture and manufacture,
+which, with the increase of our Navy, mean more work and wages to our
+countrymen, as well as a safeguard to American interests in every part of
+the world. The attention of the Congress is invited to the recommendation
+of the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report for legislation in
+behalf of the Revenue-Cutter Service, and favorable action is urged.
+
+In my last annual message to the Congress I called attention to the
+necessity for early action to remedy such evils as might be found to exist
+in connection with combinations of capital organized into trusts, and again
+invite attention to my discussion of the subject at that time, which
+concluded with these words: It is apparent that uniformity of legislation
+upon this subject in the several States is much to be desired. It is to be
+hoped that such uniformity, founded in a wise and just discrimination
+between what is injurious and what is useful and necessary in business
+operations, may be obtained, and that means may be found for the Congress,
+within the limitations of its constitutional power, so to supplement an
+effective code of State legislation as to make a complete system of laws
+throughout the United States adequate to compel a general observance of the
+salutary rules to which I have referred.
+
+The whole question is so important and far-reaching that I am sure no part
+of it will be lightly considered, but every phase of it will have the
+studied deliberation of the Congress, resulting in wise and judicious
+action. Restraint upon such combinations as are injurious, and which are
+within Federal jurisdiction, should be promptly applied by the Congress.
+
+In my last annual message I dwelt at some length upon the condition of
+affairs in the Philippines. While seeking to impress upon you that the
+grave responsibility of the future government of those islands rests with
+the Congress of the United States, I abstained from recommending at that
+time a specific and final form of government for the territory actually
+held by the United States forces and in which as long as insurrection
+continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. I stated my
+purpose, until the Congress shall have made the formal expression of its
+will, to use the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
+statutes to uphold the sovereignty of the United States in those distant
+islands as in all other places where our flag rightfully floats, placing,
+to that end, at the disposal of the army and navy all the means which the
+liberality of the Congress and the people have provided. No contrary
+expression of the will of the Congress having been made, I have steadfastly
+pursued the purpose so declared, employing the civil arm as well toward the
+accomplishment of pacification and the institution of local governments
+within the lines of authority and law.
+
+Progress in the hoped-for direction has been favorable. Our forces have
+successfully controlled the greater part of the islands, overcoming the
+organized forces of the insurgents and carrying order and administrative
+regularity to all quarters. What opposition remains is for the most part
+scattered, obeying no concerted plan of strategic action, operating only by
+the methods common to the traditions of guerrilla warfare, which, while
+ineffective to alter the general control now established, are still
+sufficient to beget insecurity among the populations that have felt the
+good results of our control and thus delay the conferment upon them of the
+fuller measures of local self-government, of education, and of industrial
+and agricultural development which we stand ready to give to them.
+
+By the spring of this year the effective opposition of the dissatisfied
+Tagals to the authority of the United States was virtually ended, thus
+opening the door for the extension of a stable administration over much of
+the territory of the Archipelago. Desiring to bring this about, I appointed
+in March last a civil Commission composed of the Hon. William H. Taft, of
+Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; the Hon. Luke I. Wright, of
+Tennessee; the Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard Moses, of
+California. The aims of their mission and the scope of their authority are
+clearly set forth in my instructions of April 7, 1900, addressed to the
+Secretary of War to be transmitted to them:
+
+In the message transmitted to the Congress on the 5th of December, 1899, 1
+said. sneaking of the Philippine Islands: 11 As long as the insurrection
+continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. But there is no
+reason why steps should not be taken from time to time to inaugurate
+governments essentially popular in their form as fast as territory is held
+and controlled by our troops. To this end I am considering the advisability
+of the return of the Commission, or such of the members thereof as can be
+secured, to aid the existing authorities and facilitate this work
+throughout the islands."
+
+To give effect to the intention thus expressed, I have appointed Hon.
+William H. Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; Non. Luke
+I. Wright, of Tennessee; Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard
+Moses, of California, Commissioners to the Philippine Islands to continue
+and perfect the work of organizing and establishing civil government
+already commenced by the military authorities, subject in all respects to
+any laws which Congress may hereafter enact.
+
+The Commissioners named will meet and act as a board, and the Hon. William
+H. Taft t is designated as president of the board. It is probable that the
+transfer of authority from military commanders to civil officers will be
+gradual and will occupy a considerable period. Its successful
+accomplishment and the maintenance of peace and order in the meantime will
+require the most perfect co-operation between the civil and military
+authorities in the islands, and both should be directed during the
+transition period by the same Executive Department. The Commission will
+therefore report to the Secretary of War, and all their action will be
+subject to your approval and control.
+
+You will instruct the Commission to proceed to the city of Manila, where
+they will make their principal office, and to communicate with the Military
+Governor of the Philippine Islands, whom you will at the same time direct
+to render to them every assistance within his power in the performance of
+their duties. Without hampering them by too specific instructions, they
+should in general be enjoined, after making themselves familiar with the
+conditions and needs of the country, to devote their attention in the first
+instance to the establishment of municipal governments, in which the
+natives of the islands, both in the cities and in the rural communities,
+shall be afforded the opportunity to manage their own local affairs to the
+fullest extent of which they are capable and subject to the least degree of
+supervision and control which a careful study of their capacities and
+observation of the workings of native control show to be consistent with
+the maintenance of law, order, and loyalty.
+
+The next subject in order of importance should be the organization of
+government in the larger administrative divisions corresponding to
+counties, departments, or provinces, in which the common interests of many
+or several municipalities failing within the same tribal lines, or the same
+natural geographical limits, may best be subserved by a common
+administration. Whenever the Commission is of the opinion that the
+condition of affairs in the islands is such that the central administration
+may safely be transferred from military to civil control they will report
+that conclusion to you, with their recommendations as to the form of
+central government to be established for the purpose of taking over the
+control.
+
+Beginning with the 1st day of September, 1900, the authority to exercise,
+subject to my approval, through the Secretary of War, that part of the
+power of government in the Philippine Islands which is of a legislative
+nature is to be transferred from the Military Governor of the islands to
+this Commission, to be thereafter exercised by them in the place and stead
+of the Military Governor, under such rules and regulations as you shall
+prescribe, until the establishment of the civil central government for the
+islands contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress
+shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will
+include the making of rules and orders, having the effect of law, for the
+raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties, and imposts; the appropriation
+and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the establishment of an
+educational system throughout t1he islands; the establishment of a system
+to secure an efficient civil service; the organization and establishment of
+courts; the organization and establishment of municipal and departmental
+governments, and all other matters of a civil nature for which the Military
+Governor is now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative
+character.
+
+The Commission will also have power during the same period to appoint to
+office such officers under the judicial, educational, and civil-service
+systems and in the municipal and departmental governments as shall be
+provided for. Until the complete transfer of control the Military Governor
+will remain the chief executive head of the government of the islands, and
+will exercise the executive authority now possessed by him and not herein
+expressly assigned to the Commission, subject, however, to the rules and
+orders enacted by the Commission in the exercise of the legislative powers
+conferred upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental
+governments will continue to report to the Military Governor and be subject
+to his administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but
+that supervision and control will be confined within the narrowest limits
+consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the
+municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively exercised
+and that law and order and individual freedom shall be maintained.
+
+All legislative rules and orders, establishments of government, and
+appointments to office by the Commission will take effect immediately, or
+at such times as they shall designate, subject to your approval and action
+upon the coming in of the Commission's reports, which are to be made from
+time to time as their action is taken. Wherever civil governments are
+constituted under the direction of the Commission such military posts,
+garrisons, and forces will be continued for the suppression of insurrection
+and brigandage and the maintenance of law and order as the Military
+Commander shall deem requisite, and the military forces shall be at all
+times subject, under his orders, to the call of the civil authorities for
+the maintenance of law and order and the enforcement of their authority.
+
+In the establishment of municipal governments the Commission will take as
+the basis of their work the governments established by the Military
+Governor under his order of August 8, 1899. and under the report of the
+board constituted by the Military Governor by his order of January 29,
+1900, to formulate and report a plan of municipal government, of which His
+Honor Cayetano Arellano, President of the Audiencia, was chairman, and they
+will give to the conclusions of that board the weight and consideration
+which the high character and distinguished abilities of its members
+justify.
+
+In the constitution of departmental or provincial governments they will
+give especial attention to the existing government of the island of Negros,
+constituted, with the approval of the people of that island, under the
+order of the Military Governor of July 22, 1899, and after verifying, so
+far as may be practicable, the reports of the successful working of that
+government they will be guided by the experience thus acquired so far as it
+may be applicable to the condition existing in other portions of the
+Philippines. They will avail themselves, to the fullest degree practicable,
+of the conclusions reached by the previous Commission to the Philippines.
+
+In the distribution of powers among the governments organized by the
+Commission, the presumption is always to be in favor of the smaller
+subdivision, so that all the powers which can properly be exercised by the
+municipal government shall be vested in that government, and all the powers
+of a more general character which can be exercised by the departmental
+government shall be vested in that government, and so that in the
+governmental system, which is the result of the process, the central
+government of the islands, following the example of the distribution of the
+powers between the States and the National Government of the United States,
+shall have no direct administration except of matters of purely general
+concern, and shall have only such supervision and control over local
+governments as may be necessary to secure and enforce faithful and
+efficient administration by local officers.
+
+The many Different degrees of civilization and varieties of custom and
+capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very definite
+instruction as to the part which the people shall take in the selection of
+their own officers; but these general rules are to be observed: That in all
+cases the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the
+people, are to be selected by the people, and that wherever officers of
+more extended jurisdiction are to be selected in any way, natives of the
+islands are to be preferred, and if they can be found competent and willing
+to perform the duties, they are to receive the offices in preference to any
+others.
+
+It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with Americans
+which after a time may well be filled by natives of the islands. As soon as
+practicable a system for ascertaining the merit and fitness of candidates
+for civil office should be put in force. An indispensable qualification for
+all offices and positions of trust and authority in the islands must be
+absolute and unconditional loyalty to the United States, and absolute and
+unhampered authority and power to remove and punish any officer deviating
+from that standard must at all times be retained in the bands of the
+central authority of the islands.
+
+In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are
+authorized to prescribe the Commission should bear in mind that the
+government which they are establishing is designed not for our
+satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the
+happiness, peace, and prosperity of tile people of the Philippine Islands,
+and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their
+habits, and even heir prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the
+accomplishment of the Indispensable requisites of just and effective
+government.
+
+At the same time the Commission should bear in mind, and the people of the
+islands should be made plainly to understand, that there are certain great
+principles of government which have been made the basis of our governmental
+system which we deem essential to the rule of law and the maintenance of
+individual freedom, and of which they have, unfortunately, been denied the
+experience possessed by us; that there are also certain practical rules of
+government which we have found to be essential to the preservation of these
+great principles of liberty and law, and that these principles and these
+rules of government must be established and maintained in their islands for
+the sake of their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict
+with the customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar.
+
+It is evident that the most enlightened thought of the Philippine Islands
+fully appreciates the importance of these principles and rules, and they
+will inevitably within a short time command universal assent. Upon every
+division and branch of the government of the Philippines, therefore, must
+be imposed these inviolable rules:
+
+That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
+process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public use
+without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions the accused
+shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the
+nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses
+against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
+favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; that
+excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
+cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice
+in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal case to
+be a witness against himself; that the right to be secure against
+unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; that neither
+slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as a punishment for
+crime; that no bill of attainder or ex-post facto law shall be passed; that
+no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or
+the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government
+for a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an
+establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and
+that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship
+without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed.
+
+It will be the duty of the Commission to make a thorough investigation into
+the titles to the large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by
+religious orders; into the justice of the claims and complaints made
+against Stich landholders by the people of the island or any part of the
+people, and to seek by wise and peaceable measures a just settlement of the
+controversies and redress of wrongs which have caused strife and bloodshed
+in the past. In the performance of this duty the Commission is enjoined to
+see that no injustice is done; to have regard for substantial rights and
+equity, disregarding technicalities so far as substantial right permits,
+and to observe the following rules:
+
+That the provision of the Treaty of Paris pledging the United States to the
+protection of all rights of property in the islands, and as well the
+principle of our own Government which prohibits the taking of private
+property without due process of law, shall not be violated; that the
+welfare of the people of the islands, which should be a paramount
+consideration, shall be attained consistently with this rule of property
+right; that if it becomes necessary for the public interest of the people
+of the islands to dispose of claims to property which the Commission finds
+to be not lawfully acquired and held disposition shall be made thereof by
+due legal procedure, in which there shall be full opportunity for fair and
+impartial hearing and judgment; that if the same public interests require
+the extinguishment of property rights lawfully acquired and held due
+compensation shall be made out of the public treasury therefore; that no
+form of religion and no minister of religion shall be forced upon any
+community or upon any citizen of the islands; that, upon the other hand, no
+minister of religion shall be interfered with or molested in following his
+calling. and that the separation between State and Church shall be real,
+entire, and absolute.
+
+It will be the duty of the Commission to promote and extend, and, as they
+find occasion, to improve the system of education already inaugurated by
+the military authorities. In doing this they should regard as of first
+importance the extension of a system of primary education which shall be
+free to all, and which shall tend to fit the people for the duties of
+citizenship and for the ordinary avocations of a civilized community. This
+instruction should be given in the first instance in every part of the
+islands in the language of the people. In view of the great number of
+languages spoken by the different tribes, it is especially important to the
+prosperity of the islands that a common medium of communication may be
+established, and it is obviously desirable that this medium should be the
+English language. Especial attention should be at once given to affording
+full opportunity to all the people of the islands to acquire the use of the
+English language.
+
+It may be well that the main changes which should be made in the system of
+taxation and in the body of the laws under which the people are governed,
+except such changes as have already been made by the military government,
+should be relegated to the civil government which is to be established
+under the auspices of the Commission. It will, however, be the duty of the
+Commission to inquire diligently as to whether there are any further
+changes which ought not to be delayed, and if so, they are authorized to
+make such changes subject to your approval. In doing so they are to bear in
+mind that taxes which tend 6 penalize or repress industry and enterprise
+are to be avoided; that provisions for taxation should be simple, so that
+they may be understood by the people; that they should affect the fewest
+practicable subjects of taxation which will serve for the general
+distribution of the burden.
+
+The main body of the laws which regulate the rights and obligations of the
+people should be maintained with as little interference as possible.
+Changes made should be mainly in procedure, and in the criminal laws to
+secure speedy and impartial trials, and at the same time effective
+administration and respect for individual rights.
+
+In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the islands the Commission should
+adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our
+North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and
+government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace
+and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to which they are unable or
+unwilling to conform. Such tribal governments should, however, be subjected
+to wise and firm regulation, and, without undue or petty interference,
+constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous
+practices and introduce civilized customs.
+
+Upon all officers and employees of the United States, both civil and
+military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not merely the
+material but the personal and social rights of the people of the islands,
+and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect for their personal
+dignity which the people of the United States are accustomed W require from
+each other.
+
+The articles of capitulation of the city of Manila on the 13th of August,
+1898, concluded with these words:
+
+"This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its
+educational establishments, and its private property of all descriptions,
+are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the
+American Army."
+
+I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred an
+obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give
+protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and wise,
+firm, and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity to all
+the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this Commission to labor for
+the full performance of this obligation, which concerns the honor and
+conscience of their country, in the firm hope that through their labors all
+the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands may come to look back with
+gratitude to the day when God gave victory to American arms at Manila and
+set their land under the sovereignty and the protection of the people of
+the United States.
+
+Coincidently with the entrance of the Commission upon its labors I caused
+to be issued by General MacArthur, the Military Governor of the
+Philippines, on June 21, 1900, a proclamation of amnesty in generous terms,
+of which many of the insurgents took advantage, among them a number of
+important leaders.
+
+This Commission, composed of eminent citizens representing the diverse
+geographical and political interests of the country, and bringing to their
+task the ripe fruits of long and intelligent service in educational,
+administrative, and judicial careers, made great progress from the outset.
+As early as August 21, 1900, it submitted a preliminary report, which will
+be laid before the Congress, and from which it appears that already the
+good effects of returning order are felt; that business, interrupted by
+hostilities, is improving as peace extends; that a larger area is under
+sugar cultivation than ever before; that the customs revenues are greater
+than at any time during the Spanish rule; that economy and efficiency in
+the military administration have created a surplus fund of $6,000,000,
+available for needed public improvements; that a stringent civil-service
+law is in preparation; that railroad communications are expanding, opening
+up rich districts, and that a comprehensive scheme of education is being
+organized.
+
+Later reports from the Commission show yet more encouraging advance toward
+insuring the benefits of liberty and good government to the Filipinos, in
+the interest of humanity and with the aim of building up an enduring,
+self-supporting, and self-administering community in those far eastern
+seas. I would impress upon the Congress that whatever legislation may be
+enacted in respect to the Philippine Islands should be along these generous
+lines. The fortune of war has thrown upon this nation an unsought trust
+which should be unselfishly discharged, and devolved upon this Government a
+moral as well as material responsibility toward these millions whom we have
+freed from an oppressive yoke.
+
+I have on another occasion called the Filipinos the wards of the nation.
+"Our obligation as guardian was not lightly assumed; it must not be
+otherwise than honestly fulfilled, aiming first of all to benefit those who
+have come under our fostering care. It is our duty so to treat them that
+our flag may be no less beloved in the mountains of Luzon and the fertile
+zones of Mindanao and Negros than it is at home, that there as here it
+shall be the revered symbol of liberty, enlightenment, and progress in
+every avenue of development
+
+The Filipinos are a race quick to learn and to profit by knowledge He would
+be rash who, with the teachings of contemporaneous history in view, would
+fix a limit to the degree of culture and advancement yet within the reach
+of these people if our duty toward them be faithfully performed.
+
+The civil government of Puerto Rico provided for by the act of the Congress
+approved April 12, 1900 is in successful operation The courts have been
+established. The Governor and his associates, working intelligently and
+harmoniously, are meeting with Commendable success.
+
+On the 6th of November a general election was held in the island for
+members of the Legislature, and the body elected has been called to convene
+on the first Monday of December.
+
+I recommend that legislation be enacted by the Congress conferring upon the
+Secretary of the Interior supervision over the public lands in Puerto Rico,
+and that he be directed to ascertain the location and quantity of lands the
+title to which remained in the Crown of Spain at the date of cession of
+Puerto Rico to the United States, and that appropriations necessary for
+surveys be made, and that the methods of the disposition of such lands be
+prescribed by law.
+
+On the 25th of July, 1900, I directed that a call be issued for an election
+in Cuba for members of a constitutional convention to frame a constitution
+as a basis for a stable and independent government in the island. In
+pursuance thereof the Military Governor issued the following instructions:
+Whereas the Congress of the United States, by its joint resolution of April
+20, 1898, declared:
+
+"That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free
+and independent.
+
+"That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to
+exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for
+the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is
+accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its
+people;"
+
+And whereas, the people of Cuba have established municipal governments,
+deriving their authority from the suffrages of the people given under just
+and equal
+
+laws, and are now ready, in like manner, to proceed to the establishment of
+a general government which shall assume and exercise sovereignty,
+jurisdiction, and control over the island:
+
+Therefore, it is ordered that a general election be held in the island of
+Cuba on the third Saturday of September, in the year nineteen hundred, to
+elect delegates to a convention to meet in the city of Havana at twelve
+o'clock noon on the first Monday of November, in the year nineteen hundred,
+to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and as a part
+thereof to provide for and agree with the Government of the United States
+upon the relations to exist between that Government and the Government of
+Cuba, and to provide for the election by the people of officers under such
+constitution and the transfer of government to the officers so elected.
+
+The election will be held in the several voting precincts of the island
+under, and pursuant to, the provisions of the electoral law of April 18,
+1900, and the amendments thereof. The election was held on the 15th of
+September, and the convention assembled on the 5th of November, 1900, and
+is now in session.
+
+In calling the convention to order, the Military Governor of Cuba made the
+following statement: As Military Governor of the island, representing the
+President of the United States, I call this convention to order.
+
+It will be your duty, first, to frame and adopt a constitution for Cuba,
+and whet) that has been done to formulate what in your opinion ought to be
+the relations between Cuba and the United States.
+
+The constitution must be adequate to secure a stable, orderly, and free
+government.
+
+When you have formulated the relations which in your opinion ought to exist
+between Cuba and the United States the Government of the United States will
+doubtless take such action on its part as shall lead to a final and
+authoritative agreement between the people of the two countries to the
+promotion of their common interests.
+
+All friends of Cuba will follow your deliberations with the deepest
+interest, earnestly desiring that you shall reach just conclusions, and
+that by the dignity, individual self-restraint, and wise conservatism which
+shall characterize your proceedings the capacity of the Cuban people for
+representative government may be signally illustrated.
+
+The fundamental distinction between true representative government and
+dictatorship is that in the former every representative of the people, in
+whatever office, confines himself strictly within the limits of his defined
+powers. Without such restraint there can be no free constitutional
+government.
+
+Under the order pursuant to which you have been elected and convened you
+have no duty and no authority to take part in the present government of the
+island. Your powers are strictly limited by the terms of that order. When
+the convention concludes its labors I will transmit to the Congress the
+constitution as framed by the convention for its consideration and for such
+action as it may deem advisable.
+
+I renew the recommendation made in my special message of February 10, 1899,
+as to the necessity for cable communication between the United States and
+Hawaii, with extension to Manila. Since then circumstances have strikingly
+emphasized this need. Surveys have shown the entire feasibility of a chain
+of cables which at each stopping place shall touch on American territory,
+so that the system shall be under our own complete control. Manila once
+within telegraphic reach, connection with the systems of the Asiatic coast
+would open increased and profitable opportunities for a more direct cable
+route from our shores to the Orient than is now afforded by the
+trans-Atlantic, continental, and trans-Asian lines. I urge attention to
+this important matter
+
+The present strength of the Army is 100,000 men -- 65,ooo regulars and
+35,000 volunteers. Under the act of March 2, 1899, on the 3oth of June next
+the present volunteer force will be discharged and the Regular Army will be
+reduced to 2,447 officers and 29,025 enlisted men.
+
+In 1888 a Board of Officers convened by President Cleveland adopted a
+comprehensive scheme of coast-defense fortifications which involved the
+outlay of something over one hundred million dollars. This plan received
+the approval of the Congress, and since then regular appropriations have
+been made and the work of fortification has steadily progressed.
+
+More than sixty millions of dollars have been invested in a great number of
+forts and guns, with all the complicated and scientific machinery and
+electrical appliances necessary for their use. The proper care of this
+defensive machinery requires men trained in its use. The number of men
+necessary to perform this duty alone is ascertained by the War Department,
+at a minimum allowance, to be 18,420.
+
+There are fifty-eight or more military posts in the United States other
+than the coast-defense fortifications.
+
+The number of these posts is being constantly increased by the Congress.
+More than $22,000,000 have been expended in building and equipment, and
+they can only be cared for by the Regular Army. The posts now in existence
+and others to be built provide for accommodations for, and if fully
+garrisoned require, 26,000 troops. Many of these posts are along our
+frontier or at important strategic points, the occupation of which is
+necessary.
+
+We have in Cuba between 5,000 and 6,000 troops. For the present our troops
+in that island cannot be withdrawn or materially diminished, and certainly
+not until the conclusion of the labors of the constitutional convention now
+in session and a government provided by the new constitution shall have
+been established and its stability assured.
+
+In Puerto Rico we have reduced the garrisons to 1,636, which includes 879
+native troops. There is no room for further reduction here.
+
+We will be required to keep a considerable force in the Philippine Islands
+for some time to come. From the best information obtainable we will need
+there for the immediate future from 45,000 to 60,000 men. I am sure the
+number may be reduced as the insurgents shall come to acknowledge the
+authority of the United States, of which there are assuring indications.
+
+It must be apparent that we will require an army of about 60,000, and that
+during present conditions in Cuba and the Philippines the President should
+have authority to increase the force to the present number of 100,000.
+Included in this number authority should be given to raise native troops in
+the Philippines up to 15,000, which the Taft Commission believe will be
+more effective in detecting and suppressing guerrillas, assassins, and
+ladrones than our own soldiers.
+
+The full discussion of this subject by the Secretary of War in his annual
+report is called to your earnest attention.
+
+I renew the recommendation made in my last annual message that the Congress
+provide a special medal of honor for the volunteers, regulars, sailors, and
+marines on duty in the Philippines who voluntarily remained in the service
+after their terms of enlistment had expired.
+
+I favor the recommendation of the Secretary of War for the detail oil
+officers from the line of the Army when vacancies occur in the
+Adjutant-General's Department, Inspector-General's Department,
+Quartermaster's Department, Subsistence Department, Pay Department,
+Ordnance Department, and Signal Corps.
+
+The Army cannot be too highly commended for its faithful and effective
+service in active military operations in the field and the difficult work
+of civil administration.
+
+The continued and rapid growth of the postal service is a sure index of the
+great and increasing business activity of the country. Its most striking
+new development is the extension of rural free delivery. This has come
+almost wholly within the last year. At the beginning of the fiscal year
+1899, 1900 the number of routes in operation was only 391, and most of
+these had been running less than twelve months. On the 15th of November,
+1900, the number had increased to 2,614, reaching into forty-four States
+and Territories, and serving a population of 1,801,524. The number of
+applications now pending and awaiting action nearly equals all those
+granted up to the present time, and by the close of the current fiscal year
+about 4,ooo routes will have been established, providing for the daily
+delivery of mails at the scattered homes of about three and a half millions
+of rural population.
+
+This service ameliorates the isolation of farm life, conduces to good
+roads, and quickens and extends the dissemination of general information.
+Experience thus far has tended to allay the apprehension that it would be
+so expensive as to forbid its general adoption or make it a serious burden.
+Its actual application has shown that it increases postal receipts, and can
+be accompanied by reductions in other branches of the service, so that the
+augmented revenues and the accomplished savings together materially reduce
+the net cost. The evidences which point to these conclusions are presented
+in detail in the annual report of the Postmaster-General, which with its
+recommendations is commended to the consideration of the Congress. The full
+development of this special service, however, requires such a large outlay
+of money that it should be undertaken only after a careful study and
+thorough understanding of all that it involves.
+
+Very efficient service has been rendered by the Navy in connection with the
+insurrection in the Philippines and the recent disturbance in China.
+
+A very satisfactory settlement has been made of the long-pending question
+of the manufacture of armor plate. A reasonable price has been secured and
+the necessity for a Government armor plant avoided.
+
+I approve of the recommendations of the Secretary for new vessels and for
+additional officers and men which the required increase of the Navy makes
+necessary. I commend to the favorable action of the Congress the measure
+now pending for the erection of a statue to the memory of the late Admiral
+David D. Porter. I commend also the establishment of a national naval
+reserve and of the grade of vice-admiral. Provision should be made, as
+recommended by the Secretary, for suitable rewards for special merit. Many
+officers who rendered the most distinguished service during the recent war
+with Spain have received in return no recognition from the Congress.
+
+The total area of public lands as given by the Secretary of the Interior is
+approximately 1,071,881,662 acres, of which 917,135,880 acres are
+undisposed of and 154,745,782 acres have been reserved for various
+purposes. The public lands disposed of during the year amount to
+13,453,887.96 acres, including 62,423.09 acres of Indian lands, an increase
+Of 4,271,474.80 over the preceding year. The total receipts from the sale
+of public lands during the fiscal year were $4,379,758.10, an increase of
+$1,309,620.76 over the preceding year.
+
+The results obtained from our forest policy have demonstrated its wisdom
+and the necessity in the interest of the public for its continuance and
+increased appropriations by the Congress for the carrying on of the work.
+On June 30, 1900, there were thirty-seven forest reserves, created by
+Presidential proclamations under section 24 Of the act of March 3, 1891,
+embracing an area Of 46,425,529 acres.
+
+During the past year the Olympic Reserve, in the State of Washington, was
+reduced 265,040 acres, leaving its present area at 1,923,840 acres. The
+Prescott Reserve, in Arizona, was increased from 10,240 acres to 423,680
+acres, and the Big Horn Reserve, in Wyoming, was increased from 1,127,680
+acres to 1,180,800 acres. A new reserve; the Santa Ynez, in California,
+embracing an area of 145,000 acres, was created during this year. On
+October 10, 1900, the Crow Creek Forest Reserve, in Wyoming, was created,
+with an area of 56,320 acres.
+
+At the end of the fiscal year there were on the pension roll 993,529 names,
+a net increase Of 2,010 over the fiscal year 1899. The number added to the
+rolls during the year was 45,344. The amount disbursed for Army pensions
+during the year was $134,700,597.24 and for Navy pensions $3,761,533.41, a
+total of $138,462,130.65, leaving an unexpended balance of $5,542,768.25 to
+be covered into the Treasury, which shows an increase over the previous
+year's expenditure Of $107,077.70. There were 684 names added to the rolls
+during the year by special acts passed at the first session of the
+Fifty-sixth Congress.
+
+The act of May 9, 1900, among other things provides for an extension of
+income to widows pensioned under said act to $250 per annum. The Secretary
+of the Interior believes that by the operations of this act the number of
+persons pensioned under it will increase and the increased annual payment
+for pensions will be between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000.
+
+The Government justly appreciates the services of its soldiers and sailors
+by making pension payments liberal beyond precedent to them, their widows
+and orphans.
+
+There were 26,540 letters patent granted, including reissues and designs,
+during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900; 1,660 trademarks, 682 labels,
+and 93 prints registered. The number of patents which expired was 19,988.
+The total receipts for patents were $1,358,228.35. The expenditures were
+$1,247,827.58, showing a surplus Of $110,400.77
+
+The attention of the Congress is called to the report of the Secretary of
+the Interior touching the necessity for the further establishment of
+schools in the Territory of Alaska, and favorable action is invited
+thereon.
+
+Much interesting information is given in the report of the Governor of
+Hawaii as to the progress and development of the islands during the period
+from July 7, 1898, the date of the approval of the joint resolution of the
+Congress providing for their annexation, up to April 30, 1900, the date of
+the approval of the act providing a government for the Territory, and
+thereafter.
+
+The last Hawaiian census, taken in the year 1896, gives a total population
+of 109,020, Of Which 31,019 were native Hawaiians. The number of Americans
+reported was 8,485. The results of the Federal census, taken this year,
+show the islands to have a total population Of 154,001, showing an increase
+over that reported in 1896 of 44,981, or 41.2 per cent.
+
+There has been marked progress in the educational, agricultural, and
+railroad development of the islands.
+
+In the Territorial act of April 30, 1900, section 7 of said act repeals
+Chapter 34 Of the Civil Laws of Hawaii whereby the Government was to assist
+in encouraging and developing the agricultural resources of the Republic,
+especially irrigation. The Governor of Hawaii recommends legislation
+looking to the development of such water supply as may exist on the public
+lands, with a view of promoting land settlement. The earnest consideration
+of the Congress is invited to this important recommendation and others, as
+embodied in the report of the Secretary of the Interior.
+
+The Director of the Census states that the work in connection with the
+Twelfth Census is progressing favorably. This national undertaking, ordered
+by the Congress each decade, has finally resulted in the collection of an
+aggregation of statistical facts to determine the industrial growth of the
+country, its manufacturing and mechanical resources, its richness in mines
+and forests, the number of its agriculturists, their farms and products,
+its educational and religious opportunities, as well as questions
+pertaining to sociological conditions.
+
+The labors of the officials in charge of the Bureau indicate that the four
+important and most desired subjects, namely, population, agricultural,
+manufacturing, and vital statistics, will be completed within the limit
+prescribed by the law of March 3, 1899.
+
+The field work incident to the above inquiries is now practically finished,
+and as a result the population of the States and Territories, including the
+Hawaiian Islands and Alaska, has been announced. The growth of population
+during the last decade amounts to over 13,000,000, a greater numerical
+increase than in any previous census in the history of the country.
+
+Bulletins will be issued as rapidly as possible giving the population by
+States and Territories, by minor civil divisions. Several announcements of
+this kind have already been made, and it is hoped that the list will be
+completed by January 1. Other bulletins giving the results of the
+manufacturing and agricultural inquiries will be given to the public as
+rapidly as circumstances will admit.
+
+The Director, while confident of his ability to complete the different
+branches of the undertaking in the allotted time, finds himself embarrassed
+by the lack of a trained force properly equipped for statistical work, thus
+raising the question whether in the interest of economy and a thorough
+execution of the census work there should not be retained in the Government
+employ a certain number of experts not only to aid in the preliminary
+organization prior to the taking of the decennial census,, but in addition
+to have the advantage in the field and office work of the Bureau of trained
+assistants to facilitate the early completion of this enormous
+undertaking.
+
+I recommend that the Congress at its present session apportion
+representation among the several States as provided by the Constitution.
+
+The Department of Agriculture has been extending its work during the past
+year, reaching farther for new varieties of seeds and plants; co-operating
+more fully with the States and Territories in research along useful lines;
+making progress in meteorological work relating to lines of wireless
+telegraphy and forecasts for ocean-going vessels; continuing inquiry as to
+animal disease; looking into the extent and character of food adulteration;
+outlining plans for the care, preservation, and intelligent harvesting of
+our woodlands; studying soils that producers may cultivate with better
+knowledge of conditions, and helping to clothe desert places with grasses
+suitable to our and regions. Our island possessions are being considered
+that their peoples may be helped to produce the tropical products now so
+extensively brought into the United States. Inquiry into methods of
+improving our roads has been active during the year; help has been given to
+many localities, and scientific investigation of material in the States and
+Territories has been inaugurated. Irrigation
+
+problems in our semiarid regions are receiving careful and increased
+consideration.
+
+An extensive exhibit at Paris of the products of agriculture has made the
+peoples of many countries more familiar with the varied products of our
+fields and their comparative excellence.
+
+The collection of statistics regarding our crops is being improved and
+sources of information are being enlarged, to the end that producers may
+have the earliest advices regarding crop conditions. There has never been a
+time when those for whom it was established have shown more appreciation of
+the services of the Department.
+
+In my annual message of December 5, 1898, 1 called attention to the
+necessity for some amendment of the alien contract law. There still remain
+important features of the rightful application of the eight-hour law for
+the benefit of labor and of the principle of arbitration, and I again
+commend these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.
+
+That there may be secured the best service possible in the Philippine
+Islands, I have issued, under date of November 30, 1900, the following
+order: The United States Civil Service Commission is directed to render
+such assistance as may be practicable to the Civil Service Board, created
+under the act of the United States Philippine Commission, for the
+establishment and maintenance of an honest and efficient civil service in
+the Philippine Islands, and for that purpose to conduct examinations for
+the civil service of the Philippine islands, upon the request of the Civil
+Service Board of said islands, under such regulations as may be agreed upon
+by the said Board and the said United States Civil Service Commission. The
+Civil Service Commission is greatly embarrassed in its work for want of an
+adequate permanent force for clerical and other assistance. Its needs are
+fully set forth in its report. I invite attention to the report, and
+especially urge upon the Congress that this important bureau of the public
+service, which passes upon the qualifications and character of so large a
+number of the officers and employees of the Government, should be supported
+by all needed appropriations to secure promptness and efficiency.
+
+I am very much impressed with the statement made by the heads of all the
+Departments of the urgent necessity of a hall of public records. In every
+departmental building in Washington, so far as I am informed, the space for
+official records is not only exhausted, but the walls of rooms are lined
+with shelves, the middle floor space of many rooms is tilled with tile
+cases, and garrets and basements, which were never intended and are
+unfitted for their accommodation, are crowded with them. Aside from the
+inconvenience there is great danger, not only from fire, but from the
+weight of these records upon timbers not intended for their support. There
+should be a separate building especially designed for the purpose of
+receiving and preserving the annually accumulating archives of the several
+Executive Departments. Such a hall need not be a costly structure, but
+should be so arranged as to admit of enlargement from time to time. I
+urgently recommend that the Congress take early action in this matter.
+
+I transmit to the Congress a resolution adopted at a recent meeting of the
+American Bar Association concerning the proposed celebration of John
+Marshall Day, February 4, 1901. Fitting exercises have been arranged, and
+it is earnestly desired by the committee that the Congress may participate
+in this movement to honor the memory of the great jurist.
+
+The transfer of the Government to this city is a fact of great historical
+interest. Among the people there is a feeling of genuine pride in the
+Capital of the Republic.
+
+It is a matter of interest in this connection that in 1800 the population
+of the District of Columbia was 14,093; to-day it is 278,718. The
+population of the city of Washington was then 3,210; to-day it is 218,196.
+
+The Congress having provided for "an appropriate national celebration of
+the Centennial Anniversary of the Establishment of the Seat of the
+Government in the District of Columbia," the committees authorized by it
+have prepared a programme for the 12th of December, 1900, which date has
+been selected as the anniversary day. Deep interest has been shown in the
+arrangements for the celebration by the members of the committees of the
+Senate and House of Representatives, the committee of Governors appointed
+by the President, and the committees appointed by the citizens and
+inhabitants of the District of Columbia generally. The programme, in
+addition to a reception and other exercises at the Executive Mansion,
+provides commemorative exercises to be held jointly by the Senate and House
+of Representatives in the Hall of the House of Representatives, and a
+reception in the evening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in honor of the
+Governors of the States and Territories.
+
+In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of
+extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the chosen
+representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an example in
+their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of plenty husbands
+for the future. In this era of great business activity and opportunity
+caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but strengthen, confidence. It
+will not retard, but promote, legitimate industrial and commercial
+expansion. Our growing power brings with it temptations and perils
+requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must not be used to invite
+conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more effective maintenance of
+those principles of equality and justice upon which our institutions and
+happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind that the foundation of our
+Government is liberty; its superstructure peace.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY WILLIAM MCKINLEY ***
+
+This file should be named sumck10.txt or sumck10.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of State of the Union Addresses
+by William McKinley
+(#22 in our series of US Presidential State of the Union Addresses)
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+Title: State of the Union Addresses of William McKinley
+
+Author: William McKinley
+
+Release Date: February, 2004  [EBook #5031]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on April 11, 2002]
+[Date last updated: December 16, 2004]
+
+Edition: 11
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY WILLIAM MCKINLEY ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by James Linden.
+
+The addresses are separated by three asterisks: ***
+
+Dates of addresses by William McKinley in this eBook:
+  December 6, 1897
+  December 5, 1898
+  December 5, 1899
+  December 3, 1900
+
+
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 6, 1897
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+It gives me pleasure to extend greeting to the Fifty-fifth Congress,
+assembled in regular session at the seat of Government, with many of whose
+Senators and Representatives I have been associated in the legislative
+service. Their meeting occurs under felicitous conditions, justifying
+sincere congratulation and calling for our grateful acknowledgment to a
+beneficent Providence which has so signally blessed and prospered us as a
+nation. Peace and good will with all the nations of the earth continue
+unbroken.
+
+A matter of genuine satisfaction is the growing feeling of fraternal regard
+and unification of all sections of our country, the incompleteness of which
+has too long delayed realization of the highest blessings of the Union. The
+spirit of patriotism is universal and is ever increasing in fervor. The
+public questions which now most engross us are lifted far above either
+partisanship, prejudice, or former sectional differences. They affect every
+part of our common country alike and permit of no division on ancient
+lines. Questions of foreign policy, of revenue, the soundness of the
+currency, the inviolability of national obligations, the improvement of the
+public service, appeal to the individual conscience of every earnest
+citizen to whatever party he belongs or in whatever section of the country
+he may reside.
+
+The extra session of this Congress which closed during July last enacted
+important legislation, and while its full effect has not yet been realized,
+what it has already accomplished assures us of its timeliness and wisdom.
+To test its permanent value further time will be required, and the people,
+satisfied with its operation and results thus far, are in no mind to
+withhold from it a fair trial.
+
+Tariff legislation having been settled by the extra session of Congress,
+the question next pressing for consideration is that of the currency.
+
+The work of putting our finances upon a sound basis, difficult as it may
+seem, will appear easier when we recall the financial operations of the
+Government since 1866. On the 30th day of June of that year we had
+outstanding demand liabilities in the sum of $728,868,447.41. On the 1st of
+January, 1879, these liabilities had been reduced to $443,889,495.88. Of our
+interest-bearing obligations, the figures are even more striking. On July
+1, 1866, the principal of the interest-bearing debt of the Government was
+$2,332,331,208. On the 1st day of July, 1893, this sum had been reduced to
+$585,137,100, or an aggregate reduction of $1,747,294,108. The
+interest-bearing debt of the United States on the 1st day of December,
+1897, was $847,365,620. The Government money now outstanding (December 1)
+consists of $346,681,016 of United States notes, $107,793,280 of Treasury
+notes issued by authority of the law of 1890, $384,963,504 of silver
+certificates, and $61,280,761 of standard silver dollars.
+
+With the great resources of the Government, and with the honorable example
+of the past before us, we ought not to hesitate to enter upon a currency
+revision which will make our demand obligations less onerous to the
+Government and relieve our financial laws from ambiguity and doubt.
+
+The brief review of what was accomplished from the close of the war to
+1893, makes unreasonable and groundless any distrust either of our
+financial ability or soundness; while the situation from 1893 to 1897 must
+admonish Congress of the immediate necessity of so legislating as to make
+the return of the conditions then prevailing impossible.
+
+There are many plans proposed as a remedy for the evil. Before we can find
+the true remedy we must appreciate the real evil. It is not that our
+currency of every kind is not good, for every dollar of it is good; good
+because the Government's pledge is out to keep it so, and that pledge will
+not be broken. However, the guaranty of our purpose to keep the pledge will
+be best shown by advancing toward its fulfillment.
+
+The evil of the present system is found in the great cost to the Government
+of maintaining the parity of our different forms of money, that is, keeping
+all of them at par with gold. We surely cannot be longer heedless of the
+burden this imposes upon the people, even under fairly prosperous
+conditions, while the past four years have demonstrated that it is not only
+an expensive charge upon the Government, but a dangerous menace to the
+National credit.
+
+It is manifest that we must devise some plan to protect the Government
+against bond issues for repeated redemptions. We must either curtail the
+opportunity for speculation, made easy by the multiplied redemptions of our
+demand obligations, or increase the gold reserve for their redemption. We
+have $900,000,000 of currency which the Government by solemn enactment has
+undertaken to keep at par with gold. Nobody is obliged to redeem in gold
+but the Government. The banks are not required to redeem in gold. The
+Government is obliged to keep equal with gold all its outstanding currency
+and coin obligations, while its receipts are not required to be paid in
+gold. They are paid in every kind of money but gold, and the only means by
+which the Government can with certainty get gold is by borrowing. It can
+get it in no other way when it most needs it. The Government without any
+fixed gold revenue is pledged to maintain gold redemption, which it has
+steadily and faithfully done, and which, under the authority now given, it
+will continue to do.
+
+The law which requires the Government, after having redeemed its United
+States notes, to pay them out again as current funds, demands a constant
+replenishment of the gold reserve. This is especially so in times of
+business panic and when the revenues are insufficient to meet the expenses
+of the Government. At such times the Government has no other way to supply
+its deficit and maintain redemption but through the increase of its bonded
+debt, as during the Administration of my predecessor, when $262,315,400 of
+four-and-a-half per cent bonds were issued and sold and the proceeds used
+to pay the expenses of the Government in excess of the revenues and sustain
+the gold reserve. While it is true that the greater part of the proceeds of
+these bonds were used to supply deficient revenues, a considerable portion
+was required to maintain the gold reserve.
+
+With our revenues equal to our expenses, there would be no deficit
+requiring the issuance of bonds. But if the gold reserve falls below
+$100,000,000, how will it be replenished except by selling more bonds? Is
+there any other way practicable under existing law? The serious question
+then is, Shall we continue the policy that has been pursued in the past;
+that is, when the gold reserve reaches the point of danger, issue more
+bonds and supply the needed gold, or shall we provide other means to
+prevent these recurring drains upon the gold reserve? If no further
+legislation is had and the policy of selling bonds is to be continued, then
+Congress should give the Secretary of the Treasury authority to sell bonds
+at long or short periods, bearing a less rate of interest than is now
+authorized by law.
+
+I earnestly recommend, as soon as the receipts of the Government are quite
+sufficient to pay all the expenses of the Government, that when any of the
+United States notes are presented for redemption in gold and are redeemed
+in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart, and only paid out in
+exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty. If the holder of the United
+States note prefers the gold and gets it from the Government, he should not
+receive back from the Government a United States note without paying gold
+in exchange for it. The reason for this is made all the more apparent when
+the Government issues an interest-bearing debt to provide gold for the
+redemption of United States notes--a non-interest-bearing debt. Surely it
+should not pay them out again except on demand and for gold. If they are
+put out in any other way, they may return again to be followed by another
+bond issue to redeem them--another interest-bearing debt to redeem a
+non-interest-bearing debt.
+
+In my view, it is of the utmost importance that the Government should be
+relieved from the burden of providing all the gold required for exchanges
+and export. This responsibility is alone borne by the Government, without
+any of the usual and necessary banking powers to help itself. The banks do
+not feel the strain of gold redemption. The whole strain rests upon the
+Government, and the size of the gold reserve in the Treasury has come to
+be, with or without reason, the signal of danger or of security. This ought
+to be stopped.
+
+If we are to have an era of prosperity in the country, with sufficient
+receipts for the expenses of the Government, we may feel no immediate
+embarrassment from our present currency; but the danger still exists, and
+will be ever present, menacing us so long as the existing system continues.
+And, besides, it is in times of adequate revenues and business tranquillity
+that the Government should prepare for the worst. We cannot avoid, without
+serious consequences, the wise consideration and prompt solution of this
+question.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury has outlined a plan, in great detail, for the
+purpose of removing the threatened recurrence of a depleted gold reserve
+and save us from future embarrassment on that account. To this plan I
+invite your careful consideration.
+
+I concur with the Secretary of the Treasury in his recommendation that
+National banks be allowed to issue notes to the face value of the bonds
+which they have deposited for circulation, and that the tax on circulating
+notes secured by deposit of such bonds be reduced to one-half of one per
+cent per annum. I also join him in recommending that authority be given for
+the establishment of National banks with a minimum capital of $25,000. This
+will enable the smaller villages and agricultural regions of the country to
+be supplied with currency to meet their needs.
+
+I recommend that the issue of National bank notes be restricted to the
+denomination of ten dollars and upwards. If the suggestions I have herein
+made shall have the approval of Congress, then I would recommend that
+National banks be required to redeem their notes in gold.
+
+The most important problem with which this Government is now called upon to
+deal pertaining to its foreign relations concerns its duty toward Spain and
+the Cuban insurrection. Problems and conditions more or less in common with
+those now existing have confronted this Government at various times in the
+past. The story of Cuba for many years has been one of unrest, growing
+discontent, an effort toward a larger enjoyment of liberty and
+self-control, of organized resistance to the mother country, of depression
+after distress and warfare, and of ineffectual settlement to be followed by
+renewed revolt. For no enduring period since the enfranchisement of the
+continental possessions of Spain in the Western Continent has the condition
+of Cuba or the policy of Spain toward Cuba not caused concern to the United
+States.
+
+The prospect from time to time that the weakness of Spain's hold upon the
+island and the political vicissitudes and embarrassments of the home
+Government might lead to the transfer of Cuba to a continental power called
+forth between 1823 and 1860 various emphatic declarations of the policy of
+the United States to permit no disturbance of Cuba's connection with Spain
+unless in the direction of independence or acquisition by us through
+purchase, nor has there been any change of this declared policy since upon
+the part of the Government.
+
+The revolution which began in 1868 lasted for ten years despite the
+strenuous efforts of the successive peninsular governments to suppress it.
+Then as now the Government of the United States testified its grave concern
+and offered its aid to put an end to bloodshed in Cuba. The overtures made
+by General Grant were refused and the war dragged on, entailing great loss
+of life and treasure and increased injury to American interests, besides
+throwing enhanced burdens of neutrality upon this Government. In 1878 peace
+was brought about by the truce of Zanjon, obtained by negotiations between
+the Spanish commander, Martinez de Campos, and the insurgent leaders.
+
+The present insurrection broke out in February, 1895. It is not my purpose
+at this time to recall its remarkable increase or to characterize its
+tenacious resistance against the enormous forces massed against it by
+Spain. The revolt and the efforts to subdue it carried destruction to every
+quarter of the island, developing wide proportions and defying the efforts
+of Spain for its suppression. The civilized code of war has been
+disregarded, no less so by the Spaniards than by the Cubans.
+
+The existing conditions can not but fill this Government and the American
+people with the gravest apprehension. There is no desire on the part of our
+people to profit by the misfortunes of Spain. We have only the desire to
+see the Cubans prosperous and contented, enjoying that measure of
+self-control which is the inalienable right of man, protected in their
+right to reap the benefit of the exhaustless treasures of their country.
+
+The offer made by my predecessor in April, 1896, tendering the friendly
+offices of this Government, failed. Any mediation on our part was not
+accepted. In brief, the answer read: "There is no effectual way to pacify
+Cuba unless it begins with the actual submission of the rebels to the
+mother country." Then only could Spain act in the promised direction, of
+her own motion and after her own plans.
+
+The cruel policy of concentration was initiated February 16, 1896. The
+productive districts controlled by the Spanish armies were depopulated. The
+agricultural inhabitants were herded in and about the garrison towns, their
+lands laid waste and their dwellings destroyed. This policy the late
+cabinet of Spain justified as a necessary measure of war and as a means of
+cutting off supplies from the insurgents. It has utterly failed as a war
+measure. It was not civilized warfare. It was extermination.
+
+Against this abuse of the rights of war I have felt constrained on repeated
+occasions to enter the firm and earnest protest of this Government. There
+was much of public condemnation of the treatment of American citizens by
+alleged illegal arrests and long imprisonment awaiting trial or pending
+protracted judicial proceedings. I felt it my first duty to make instant
+demand for the release or speedy trial of all American citizens under
+arrest. Before the change of the Spanish cabinet in October last twenty-two
+prisoners, citizens of the United States, had been given their freedom.
+
+For the relief of our own citizens suffering because of the conflict the
+aid of Congress was sought in a special message, and under the
+appropriation of May 24, 1897, effective aid has been given to American
+citizens in Cuba, many of them at their own request having been returned to
+the United States.
+
+The instructions given to our new minister to Spain before his departure
+for his post directed him to impress upon that Government the sincere wish
+of the United States to lend its aid toward the ending of the war in Cuba
+by reaching a peaceful and lasting result, just and honorable alike to
+Spain and to the Cuban people. These instructions recited the character and
+duration of the contest, the widespread losses it entails, the burdens and
+restraints it imposes upon us, with constant disturbance of national
+interests, and the injury resulting from an indefinite continuance of this
+state of things. It was stated that at this juncture our Government was
+constrained to seriously inquire if the time was not ripe when Spain of her
+own volition, moved by her own interests and every sentiment of humanity,
+should put a stop to this destructive war and make proposals of settlement
+honorable to herself and just to her Cuban colony. It was urged that as a
+neighboring nation, with large interests in Cuba, we could be required to
+wait only a reasonable time for the mother country to establish its
+authority and restore peace and order within the borders of the island;
+that we could not contemplate an indefinite period for the accomplishment
+of this result.
+
+No solution was proposed to which the slightest idea of humiliation to
+Spain could attach, and, indeed, precise proposals were withheld to avoid
+embarrassment to that Government. All that was asked or expected was that
+some safe way might be speedily provided and permanent peace restored. It
+so chanced that the consideration of this offer, addressed to the same
+Spanish administration which had declined the tenders of my predecessor,
+and which for more than two years had poured men and treasure into Cuba in
+the fruitless effort to suppress the revolt, fell to others. Between the
+departure of General Woodford, the new envoy, and his arrival in Spain the
+statesman who had shaped the policy of his country fell by the hand of an
+assassin, and although the cabinet of the late premier still held office
+and received from our envoy the proposals he bore, that cabinet gave place
+within a few days thereafter to a new administration, under the leadership
+of Sagasta.
+
+The reply to our note was received on the 23d day of October. It is in the
+direction of a better understanding. It appreciates the friendly purposes
+of this Government. It admits that our country is deeply affected by the
+war in Cuba and that its desires for peace are just. It declares that the
+present Spanish government is bound by every consideration to a change of
+policy that should satisfy the United States and pacify Cuba within a
+reasonable time. To this end Spain has decided to put into effect the
+political reforms heretofore advocated by the present premier, without
+halting for any consideration in the path which in its judgment leads to
+peace. The military operations, it is said, will continue, but will be
+humane and conducted with all regard for private rights, being accompanied
+by political action leading to the autonomy of Cuba while guarding Spanish
+sovereignty. This, it is claimed, will result in investing Cuba with a
+distinct personality, the island to be governed by an executive and by a
+local council or chamber, reserving to Spain the control of the foreign
+relations, the army and navy, and the judicial administration. To
+accomplish this the present government proposes to modify existing
+legislation by decree, leaving the Spanish Cortes, with the aid of Cuban
+senators and deputies, to solve the economic problem and properly
+distribute the existing debt.
+
+In the absence of a declaration of the measures that this Government
+proposes to take in carrying out its proffer of good offices, it suggests
+that Spain be left free to conduct military operations and grant political
+reforms, while the United States for its part shall enforce its neutral
+obligations and cut off the assistance which it is asserted the insurgents
+receive from this country. The supposition of an indefinite prolongation of
+the war is denied. It is asserted that the western provinces are already
+well-nigh reclaimed, that the planting of cane and tobacco therein has been
+resumed, and that by force of arms and new and ample reforms very early and
+complete pacification is hoped for.
+
+The immediate amelioration of existing conditions under the new
+administration of Cuban affairs is predicted, and therewithal the
+disturbance and all occasion for any change of attitude on the part of the
+United States. Discussion of the question of the international duties and
+responsibilities of the United States as Spain understands them is
+presented, with an apparent disposition to charge us with failure in this
+regard. This charge is without any basis in fact. It could not have been
+made if Spain had been cognizant of the constant efforts this Government
+has made, at the cost of millions and by the employment of the
+administrative machinery of the nation at command, to perform its full duty
+according to the law of nations. That it has successfully prevented the
+departure of a single military expedition or armed vessel from our shores
+in violation of our laws would seem to be a sufficient answer. But of this
+aspect of the Spanish note it is not necessary to speak further now. Firm
+in the conviction of a wholly performed obligation, due response to this
+charge has been made in diplomatic course.
+
+Throughout all these horrors and dangers to our own peace this Government
+has never in any way abrogated its sovereign prerogative of reserving to
+itself the determination of its policy and course according to its own high
+sense of right and in consonance with the dearest interests and convictions
+of our own people should the prolongation of the strife so demand.
+
+Of the untried measures there remain only: Recognition of the insurgents as
+belligerents; recognition of the independence of Cuba; neutral intervention
+to end the war by imposing a rational compromise between the contestants,
+and intervention in favor of one or the other party. I speak not of
+forcible annexation, for that can not be thought of. That, by our code of
+morality, would be criminal aggression.
+
+Recognition of the belligerency of the Cuban insurgents has often been
+canvassed as a possible, if not inevitable, step both in regard to the
+previous ten years' struggle and during the present war. I am not unmindful
+that the two Houses of Congress in the spring of 1896 expressed the opinion
+by concurrent resolution that a condition of public war existed requiring
+or justifying the recognition of a state of belligerency in Cuba, and
+during the extra session the Senate voted a joint resolution of like
+import, which, however, was not brought to a vote in the House of
+Representatives. In the presence of these significant expressions of the
+sentiment of the legislative branch it behooves the Executive to soberly
+consider the conditions under which so important a measure must needs rest
+for justification. It is to be seriously considered whether the Cuban
+insurrection possesses beyond dispute the attributes of statehood, which
+alone can demand the recognition of belligerency in its favor. Possession,
+in short, of the essential qualifications of sovereignty by the insurgents
+and the conduct of the war by them according to the received code of war
+are no less important factors toward the determination of the problem of
+belligerency than are the influences and consequences of the struggle upon
+the internal polity of the recognizing state.
+
+The wise utterances of President Grant in his memorable message of December
+7, 1875, are signally relevant to the present situation in Cuba, and it may
+be wholesome now to recall them. At that time a ruinous conflict had for
+seven years wasted the neighboring island. During all those years an utter
+disregard of the laws of civilized warfare and of the just demands of
+humanity, which called forth expressions of condemnation from the nations
+of Christendom, continued unabated. Desolation and ruin pervaded that
+productive region, enormously affecting the commerce of all commercial
+nations, but that of the United States more than any other by reason of
+proximity and larger trade and intercourse. At that juncture General Grant
+uttered these words, which now, as then, sum up the elements of the
+problem: A recognition of the independence of Cuba being, in my opinion,
+impracticable and indefensible, the question which next presents itself is
+that of the recognition of belligerent rights in the parties to the
+contest.
+
+In a former message to Congress I had occasion to consider this question,
+and reached the conclusion that the conflict in Cuba, dreadful and
+devastating as were its incidents, did not rise to the fearful dignity of
+war. It is possible that the acts of foreign powers, and even acts of Spain
+herself, of this very nature, might be pointed to in defense of such
+recognition. But now, as in its past history, the United States should
+carefully avoid the false lights which might lead it into the mazes of
+doubtful law and of questionable propriety, and adhere rigidly and sternly
+to the rule, which has been its guide, of doing only that which is right
+and honest and of good report. The question of according or of withholding
+rights of belligerency must be judged in every case in view of the
+particular attending facts. Unless justified by necessity, it is always,
+and justly, regarded as an unfriendly act and a gratuitous demonstration of
+moral support to the rebellion. It is necessary, and it is required, when
+the interests and rights of another government or of its people are so far
+affected by a pending civil conflict as to require a definition of its
+relations to the parties thereto. But this conflict must be one which will
+be recognized in the sense of international law as war. Belligerence, too,
+is a fact. The mere existence of contending armed bodies and their
+occasional conflicts do not constitute war in the sense referred to.
+Applying to the existing condition of affairs in Cuba the tests recognized
+by publicists and writers on international law, and which have been
+observed by nations of dignity, honesty, and power when free from sensitive
+or selfish and unworthy motives, I fail to find in the insurrection the
+existence of such a substantial political organization, real, palpable, and
+manifest to the world, having the forms and capable of the ordinary
+functions of government toward its own people and to other states, with
+courts for the administration of justice, with a local habitation,
+possessing such organization of force, such material, such occupation of
+territory, as to take the contest out of the category of a mere rebellious
+insurrection or occasional skirmishes and place it on the terrible footing
+of war, to which a recognition of belligerency would aim to elevate it. The
+contest, moreover, is solely on land; the insurrection has not possessed
+itself of a single seaport whence it may send forth its flag, nor has it
+any means of communication with foreign powers except through the military
+lines of its adversaries. No apprehension of any of those sudden and
+difficult complications which a war upon the ocean is apt to precipitate
+upon the vessels, both commercial and national, and upon the consular
+officers of other powers calls for the definition of their relations to the
+parties to the contest. Considered as a question of expediency, I regard
+the accordance of belligerent rights still to be as unwise and premature as
+I regard it to be, at present, indefensible as a measure of right. Such
+recognition entails upon the country according the rights which flow from
+it difficult and complicated duties, and requires the exaction from the
+contending parties of the strict observance of their rights and
+obligations. It confers the right of search upon the high seas by vessels
+of both parties; it would subject the carrying of arms and munitions of
+war, which now may be transported freely and without interruption in the
+vessels of the United States, to detention and to possible seizure; it
+would give rise to countless vexatious questions, would release the parent
+Government from responsibility for acts done by the insurgents, and would
+invest Spain with the right to exercise the supervision recognized by our
+treaty of 1795 over our commerce on the high seas, a very large part of
+which, in its traffic between the Atlantic and the Gulf States and between
+all of them and the States on the Pacific, passes through the waters which
+wash the shores of Cuba. The exercise of this supervision could scarce fail
+to lead, if not to abuses, certainly to collisions perilous to the peaceful
+relations of the two States. There can be little doubt to what result such
+supervision would before long draw this nation. It would be unworthy of the
+United States to inaugurate the possibilities of such result by measures of
+questionable right or expediency or by any indirection. Turning to the
+practical aspects of a recognition of belligerency and reviewing its
+inconveniences and positive dangers, still further pertinent considerations
+appear. In the code of nations there is no such thing as a naked
+recognition of belligerency, unaccompanied by the assumption of
+international neutrality. Such recognition, without more, will not confer
+upon either party to a domestic conflict a status not theretofore actually
+possessed or affect the relation of either party to other states. The act
+of recognition usually takes the form of a solemn proclamation of
+neutrality, which recites the de facto condition of belligerency as its
+motive. It announces a domestic law of neutrality in the declaring state.
+It assumes the international obligations of a neutral in the presence of a
+public state of war. It warns all citizens and others within the
+jurisdiction of the proclaimant that they violate those rigorous
+obligations at their own peril and can not expect to be shielded from the
+consequences. The right of visit and search on the seas and seizure of
+vessels and cargoes and contraband of war and good prize under admiralty
+law must under international law be admitted as a legitimate consequence of
+a proclamation of belligerency. While according the equal belligerent
+rights defined by public law to each party in our ports disfavors would be
+imposed on both, which, while nominally equal, would weigh heavily in
+behalf of Spain herself. Possessing a navy and controlling the ports of
+Cuba, her maritime rights could be asserted not only for the military
+investment of the island, but up to the margin of our own territorial
+waters, and a condition of things would exist for which the Cubans within
+their own domain could not hope to create a parallel, while its creation
+through aid or sympathy from within our domain would be even more
+impossible than now, with the additional obligations of international
+neutrality we would perforce assume.
+
+The enforcement of this enlarged and onerous code of neutrality would only
+be influential within our own jurisdiction by land and sea and applicable
+by our own instrumentalities. It could impart to the United States no
+jurisdiction between Spain and the insurgents. It would give the United
+States no right of intervention to enforce the conduct of the strife within
+the paramount authority of Spain according to the international code of
+war.
+
+For these reasons I regard the recognition of the belligerency of the Cuban
+insurgents as now unwise, and therefore inadmissible. Should that step
+hereafter be deemed wise as a measure of right and duty, the Executive will
+take it.
+
+Intervention upon humanitarian grounds has been frequently suggested and
+has not failed to receive my most anxious and earnest consideration. But
+should such a step be now taken, when it is apparent that a hopeful change
+has supervened in the policy of Spain toward Cuba? A new government has
+taken office in the mother country. It is pledged in advance to the
+declaration that all the effort in the world can not suffice to maintain
+peace in Cuba by the bayonet; that vague promises of reform after
+subjugation afford no solution of the insular problem; that with a
+substitution of commanders must come a change of the past system of warfare
+for one in harmony with a new policy, which shall no longer aim to drive
+the Cubans to the "horrible alternative of taking to the thicket or
+succumbing in misery;" that reforms must be instituted in accordance with
+the needs and circumstances of the time, and that these reforms, while
+designed to give full autonomy to the colony and to create a virtual entity
+and self-controlled administration, shall yet conserve and affirm the
+sovereignty of Spain by a just distribution of powers and burdens upon a
+basis of mutual interest untainted by methods of selfish expediency.
+
+The first acts of the new government lie in these honorable paths. The
+policy of cruel rapine and extermination that so long shocked the universal
+sentiment of humanity has been reversed. Under the new military commander a
+broad clemency is proffered. Measures have already been set on foot to
+relieve the horrors of starvation. The power of the Spanish armies, it is
+asserted, is to be used not to spread ruin and desolation, but to protect
+the resumption of peaceful agricultural pursuits and productive industries.
+That past methods are futile to force a peace by subjugation is freely
+admitted, and that ruin without conciliation must inevitably fail to win
+for Spain the fidelity of a contented dependency.
+
+Decrees in application of the foreshadowed reforms have already been
+promulgated. The full text of these decrees has not been received, but as
+furnished in a telegraphic summary from our minister are: All civil and
+electoral rights of peninsular Spaniards are, in virtue of existing
+constitutional authority, forthwith extended to colonial Spaniards. A
+scheme of autonomy has been proclaimed by decree, to become effective upon
+ratification by the Cortes. It creates a Cuban parliament, which, with the
+insular executive, can consider and vote upon all subjects affecting local
+order and interests, possessing unlimited powers save as to matters of
+state, war, and the navy, as to which the Governor-General acts by his own
+authority as the delegate of the central Government. This parliament
+receives the oath of the Governor-General to preserve faithfully the
+liberties and privileges of the colony, and to it the colonial secretaries
+are responsible. It has the right to propose to the central Government,
+through the Governor-General, modifications of the national charter and to
+invite new projects of law or executive measures in the interest of the
+colony.
+
+Besides its local powers, it is competent, first, to regulate electoral
+registration and procedure and prescribe the qualifications of electors and
+the manner of exercising suffrage; second, to organize courts of justice
+with native judges from members of the local bar; third, to frame the
+insular budget, both as to expenditures and revenues, without limitation of
+any kind, and to set apart the revenues to meet the Cuban share of the
+national budget, which latter will be voted by the national Cortes with the
+assistance of Cuban senators and deputies; fourth, to initiate or take part
+in the negotiations of the national Government for commercial treaties
+which may affect Cuban interests; fifth, to accept or reject commercial
+treaties which the national Government may have concluded without the
+participation of the Cuban government; sixth, to frame the colonial tariff,
+acting in accord with the peninsular Government in scheduling articles of
+mutual commerce between the mother country and the colonies. Before
+introducing or voting upon a bill the Cuban government or the chambers will
+lay the project before the central Government and hear its opinion thereon,
+all the correspondence in such regard being made public. Finally, all
+conflicts of jurisdiction arising between the different municipal,
+provincial, and insular assemblies, or between the latter and the insular
+executive power, and which from their nature may not be referable to the
+central Government for decision, shall be submitted to the courts.
+
+That the government of Sagasta has entered upon a course from which
+recession with honor is impossible can hardly be questioned; that in the
+few weeks it has existed it has made earnest of the sincerity of its
+professions is undeniable. I shall not impugn its sincerity, nor should
+impatience be suffered to embarrass it in the task it has undertaken. It is
+honestly due to Spain and to our friendly relations with Spain that she
+should be given a reasonable chance to realize her expectations and to
+prove the asserted efficacy of the new order of things to which she stands
+irrevocably committed. She has recalled the commander whose brutal orders
+inflamed the American mind and shocked the civilized world. She has
+modified the horrible order of concentration and has undertaken to care for
+the helpless and permit those who desire to resume the cultivation of their
+fields to do so, and assures them of the protection of the Spanish
+Government in their lawful occupations. She has just released the
+Competitor prisoners, heretofore sentenced to death, and who have been the
+subject of repeated diplomatic correspondence during both this and the
+preceding Administration.
+
+Not a single American citizen is now in arrest or confinement in Cuba of
+whom this Government has any knowledge. The near future will demonstrate
+whether the indispensable condition of a righteous peace, just alike to the
+Cubans and to Spain as well as equitable to all our interests so intimately
+involved in the welfare of Cuba, is likely to be attained. If not, the
+exigency of further and other action by the United States will remain to be
+taken. When that time comes that action will be determined in the line of
+indisputable right and duty. It will be faced, without misgiving or
+hesitancy in the light of the obligation this Government owes to itself, to
+the people who have confided to it the protection of their interests and
+honor, and to humanity.
+
+Sure of the right, keeping free from all offense ourselves, actuated only
+by upright and patriotic considerations, moved neither by passion nor
+selfishness, the Government will continue its watchful care over the rights
+and property of American citizens and will abate none of its efforts to
+bring about by peaceful agencies a peace which shall be honorable and
+enduring. If it shall hereafter appear to be a duty imposed by our
+obligations to ourselves, to civilization and humanity to intervene with
+force, it shall be without fault on our part and only because the necessity
+for such action will be so clear as to command the support and approval of
+the civilized world.
+
+By a special message dated the 16th day of June last, I laid before the
+Senate a treaty signed that day by the plenipotentiaries of the United
+States and of the Republic of Hawaii, having for its purpose the
+incorporation of the Hawaiian Islands as an integral part of the United
+States and under its sovereignty. The Senate having removed the injunction
+of secrecy, although the treaty is still pending before that body, the
+subject may be properly referred to in this Message because the necessary
+action of the Congress is required to determine by legislation many details
+of the eventual union should the fact of annexation be accomplished, as I
+believe it should be.
+
+While consistently disavowing from a very early period any aggressive
+policy of absorption in regard to the Hawaiian group, a long series of
+declarations through three-quarters of a century has proclaimed the vital
+interest of the United States in the independent life of the Islands and
+their intimate commercial dependence upon this country. At the same time it
+has been repeatedly asserted that in no event could the entity of Hawaiian
+statehood cease by the passage of the Islands under the domination or
+influence of another power than the United States. Under these
+circumstances, the logic of events required that annexation, heretofore
+offered but declined, should in the ripeness of time come about as the
+natural result of the strengthening ties that bind us to those Islands, and
+be realized by the free will of the Hawaiian State.
+
+That treaty was unanimously ratified without amendment by the Senate and
+President of the Republic of Hawaii on the 10th of September last, and only
+awaits the favorable action of the American Senate to effect the complete
+absorption of the Islands into the domain of the United States. What the
+conditions of such a union shall be, the political relation thereof to the
+United States, the character of the local administration, the quality and
+degree of the elective franchise of the inhabitants, the extension of the
+federal laws to the territory or the enactment of special laws to fit the
+peculiar condition thereof, the regulation if need be of the labor system
+therein, are all matters which the treaty has wisely relegated to the
+Congress.
+
+If the treaty is confirmed as every consideration of dignity and honor
+requires, the wisdom of Congress will see to it that, avoiding abrupt
+assimilation of elements perhaps hardly yet fitted to share in the highest
+franchises of citizenship, and having due regard to the geographical
+conditions, the most just provisions for self-rule in local matters with
+the largest political liberties as an integral part of our Nation will be
+accorded to the Hawaiians. No less is due to a people who, after nearly
+five years of demonstrated capacity to fulfill the obligations of
+self-governing statehood, come of their free will to merge their destinies
+in our body-politic.
+
+The questions which have arisen between Japan and Hawaii by reason of the
+treatment of Japanese laborers emigrating to the Islands under the
+Hawaiian-Japanese convention of 1888, are in a satisfactory stage of
+settlement by negotiation. This Government has not been invited to mediate,
+and on the other hand has sought no intervention in that matter, further
+than to evince its kindliest disposition toward such a speedy and direct
+adjustment by the two sovereign States in interest as shall comport with
+equity and honor. It is gratifying to learn that the apprehensions at first
+displayed on the part of Japan lest the cessation of Hawaii's national life
+through annexation might impair privileges to which Japan honorably laid
+claim, have given place to confidence in the uprightness of this
+Government, and in the sincerity of its purpose to deal with all possible
+ulterior questions in the broadest spirit of friendliness.
+
+As to the representation of this Government to Nicaragua, Salvador, and
+Costa Rica, I have concluded that Mr. William L. Merry, confirmed as
+minister of the United States to the States of Nicaragua, Salvador and
+Costa Rica, shall proceed to San Jose, Costa Rica, and there temporarily
+establish the headquarters of the United States to those three States. I
+took this action for what I regarded as the paramount interests of this
+country. It was developed upon an investigation by the Secretary of State
+that the Government of Nicaragua, while not unwilling to receive Mr. Merry
+in his diplomatic quality, was unable to do so because of the compact
+concluded June 20, 1895, whereby that Republic and those of Salvador and
+Honduras, forming what is known as the Greater Republic of Central America,
+had surrendered to the representative Diet thereof their right to receive
+and send diplomatic agents. The Diet was not willing to accept him because
+he was not accredited to that body. I could not accredit him to that body
+because the appropriation law of Congress did not permit it. Mr. Baker, the
+present minister at Managua, has been directed to present his letters of
+recall.
+
+Mr. W. Godfrey Hunter has likewise been accredited to the Governments of
+Guatemala and Honduras, the same as his predecessor. Guatemala is not a
+member of the Greater Republic of Central America, but Honduras is. Should
+this latter Government decline to receive him, he has been instructed to
+report this fact to his Government and await its further instructions.
+
+A subject of large importance to our country, and increasing appreciation
+on the part of the people, is the completion of the great highway of trade
+between the Atlantic and Pacific, known as the Nicaragua Canal. Its utility
+and value to American commerce is universally admitted. The Commission
+appointed under date of July 24 last "to continue the surveys and
+examinations authorized by the act approved March 2, 1895," in regard to
+"the proper route, feasibility, and cost of construction of the Nicaragua
+Canal, with a view of making complete plans for the entire work of
+construction of such canal," is now employed in the undertaking. In the
+future I shall take occasion to transmit to Congress the report of this
+Commission, making at the same time such further suggestions as may then
+seem advisable.
+
+Under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1897, for the
+promotion of an international agreement respecting bimetallism, I appointed
+on the 14th day of April, 1897, Hon. Edward O. Wolcott of Colorado, Hon.
+Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, and Hon. Charles J. Paine of Massachusetts,
+as special envoys to represent the United States. They have been diligent
+in their efforts to secure the concurrence and cooperation of European
+countries in the international settlement of the question, but up to this
+time have not been able to secure an agreement contemplated by their
+mission.
+
+The gratifying action of our great sister Republic of France in joining
+this country in the attempt to bring about an agreement among the principal
+commercial nations of Europe, whereby a fixed and relative value between
+gold and silver shall be secured, furnishes assurance that we are not alone
+among the larger nations of the world in realizing the international
+character of the problem and in the desire of reaching some wise and
+practical solution of it. The British Government has published a resume of
+the steps taken jointly by the French ambassador in London and the special
+envoys of the United States, with whom our ambassador at London actively
+co-operated in the presentation of this subject to Her Majesty's
+Government. This will be laid before Congress.
+
+Our special envoys have not made their final report, as further
+negotiations between the representatives of this Government and the
+Governments of other countries are pending and in contemplation. They
+believe that doubts which have been raised in certain quarters respecting
+the position of maintaining the stability of the parity between the metals
+and kindred questions may yet be solved by further negotiations.
+
+Meanwhile it gives me satisfaction to state that the special envoys have
+already demonstrated their ability and fitness to deal with the subject,
+and it is to be earnestly hoped that their labors may result in an
+international agreement which will bring about recognition of both gold and
+silver as money upon such terms, and with such safeguards as will secure
+the use of both metals upon a basis which shall work no injustice to any
+class of our citizens.
+
+In order to execute as early as possible the provisions of the third and
+fourth sections of the Revenue Act, approved July 24, 1897, I appointed the
+Hon. John A. Kasson of Iowa, a special commissioner plenipotentiary to
+undertake the requisite negotiations with foreign countries desiring to
+avail themselves of these provisions. The negotiations are now proceeding
+with several Governments, both European and American. It is believed that
+by a careful exercise of the powers conferred by that Act some grievances
+of our own and of other countries in our mutual trade relations may be
+either removed, or largely alleviated, and that the volume of our
+commercial exchanges may be enlarged, with advantage to both contracting
+parties.
+
+Most desirable from every standpoint of national interest and patriotism is
+the effort to extend our foreign commerce. To this end our merchant marine
+should be improved and enlarged. We should do our full share of the
+carrying trade of the world. We do not do it now. We should be the laggard
+no longer. The inferiority of our merchant marine is justly humiliating to
+the national pride. The Government by every proper constitutional means,
+should aid in making our ships familiar visitors at every commercial port
+of the world, thus opening up new and valuable markets to the surplus
+products of the farm and the factory.
+
+The efforts which had been made during the two previous years by my
+predecessor to secure better protection to the fur seals in the North
+Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, were renewed at an early date by this
+Administration, and have been pursued with earnestness. Upon my invitation,
+the Governments of Japan and Russia sent delegates to Washington, and an
+international conference was held during the months of October and November
+last, wherein it was unanimously agreed that under the existing regulations
+this species of useful animals was threatened with extinction, and that an
+international agreement of all the interested powers was necessary for
+their adequate protection.
+
+The Government of Great Britain did not see proper to be represented at
+this conference, but subsequently sent to Washington, as delegates, the
+expert commissioners of Great Britain and Canada who had, during the past
+two years, visited the Pribilof Islands, and who met in conference similar
+commissioners on the part of the United States. The result of this
+conference was an agreement on important facts connected with the condition
+of the seal herd, heretofore in dispute, which should place beyond
+controversy the duty of the Governments concerned to adopt measures without
+delay for the preservation and restoration of the herd. Negotiations to
+this end are now in progress, the result of which I hope to be able to
+report to Congress at an early day.
+
+International arbitration cannot be omitted from the list of subjects
+claiming our consideration. Events have only served to strengthen the
+general views on this question expressed in my inaugural address. The best
+sentiment of the civilized world is moving toward the settlement of
+differences between nations without resorting to the horrors of war.
+Treaties embodying these humane principles on broad lines, without in any
+way imperiling our interests or our honor, shall have my constant
+encouragement.
+
+The acceptance by this Government of the invitation of the Republic of
+France to participate in the Universal Exposition of 1900, at Paris, was
+immediately followed by the appointment of a special commissioner to
+represent the United States in the proposed exposition, with special
+reference to the securing of space for an adequate exhibit on behalf of the
+United States.
+
+The special commissioner delayed his departure for Paris long enough to
+ascertain the probable demand for space by American exhibitors. His
+inquiries developed an almost unprecedented interest in the proposed
+exposition, and the information thus acquired enabled him to justify an
+application for a much larger allotment of space for the American section
+than had been reserved by the exposition authorities. The result was
+particularly gratifying, in view of the fact that the United States was one
+of the last countries to accept the invitation of France.
+
+The reception accorded our special commissioner was most cordial, and he
+was given every reasonable assurance that the United States would receive a
+consideration commensurate with the proportions of our exhibit. The report
+of the special commissioner as to the magnitude and importance of the
+coming exposition, and the great demand for space by American exhibitors,
+supplies new arguments for a liberal and judicious appropriation by
+Congress, to the end that an exhibit fairly representative of the
+industries and resources of our country may be made in an exposition which
+will illustrate the world's progress during the nineteenth century. That
+exposition is intended to be the most important and comprehensive of the
+long series of international exhibitions, of which our own at Chicago was a
+brilliant example, and it is desirable that the United States should make a
+worthy exhibit of American genius and skill and their unrivaled
+achievements in every branch of industry.
+
+The present immediately effective force of the Navy consists of four battle
+ships of the first class, two of the second, and forty-eight other vessels,
+ranging from armored cruisers to torpedo boats. There are under
+construction five battle ships of the first class, sixteen torpedo boats,
+and one submarine boat. No provision has yet been made for the armor of
+three of the five battle ships, as it has been impossible to obtain it at
+the price fixed by Congress. It is of great importance that Congress
+provide this armor, as until then the ships are of no fighting value.
+
+The present naval force, especially in view of its increase by the ships
+now under construction, while not as large as that of a few other powers,
+is a formidable force; its vessels are the very best of each type; and with
+the increase that should be made to it from time to time in the future, and
+careful attention to keeping it in a high state of efficiency and repair,
+it is well adapted to the necessities of the country.
+
+The great increase of the Navy which has taken place in recent years was
+justified by the requirements for national defense, and has received public
+approbation. The time has now arrived, however, when this increase, to
+which the country is committed, should, for a time, take the form of
+increased facilities commensurate with the increase of our naval vessels.
+It is an unfortunate fact that there is only one dock on the Pacific Coast
+capable of docking our largest ships, and only one on the Atlantic Coast,
+and that the latter has for the last six or seven months been under repair
+and therefore incapable of use. Immediate steps should be taken to provide
+three or four docks of this capacity on the Atlantic Coast, at least one on
+the Pacific Coast, and a floating dock in the Gulf. This is the
+recommendation of a very competent Board, appointed to investigate the
+subject. There should also be ample provision made for powder and
+projectiles, and other munitions of war, and for an increased number of
+officers and enlisted men. Some additions are also necessary to our
+navy-yards, for the repair and care of our large number of vessels. As
+there are now on the stocks five battle ships of the largest class, which
+cannot be completed for a year or two, I concur with the recommendation of
+the Secretary of the Navy for an appropriation authorizing the construction
+of one battle ship for the Pacific Coast, where, at present, there is only
+one in commission and one under construction, while on the Atlantic Coast
+there are three in commission and four under construction; and also that
+several torpedo boats be authorized in connection with our general system
+of coast defense.
+
+The Territory of Alaska requires the prompt and early attention of
+Congress. The conditions now existing demand material changes in the laws
+relating to the Territory. The great influx of population during the past
+summer and fall and the prospect of a still larger immigration in the
+spring will not permit us to longer neglect the extension of civil
+authority within the Territory or postpone the establishment of a more
+thorough government.
+
+A general system of public surveys has not yet been extended to Alaska and
+all entries thus far made in that district are upon special surveys. The
+act of Congress extending to Alaska the mining laws of the United States
+contained the reservation that it should not be construed to put in force
+the general land laws of the country. By act approved March 3, 1891,
+authority was given for entry of lands for town-site purposes and also for
+the purchase of not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres then or
+thereafter occupied for purposes of trade and manufacture. The purpose of
+Congress as thus far expressed has been that only such rights should apply
+to that Territory as should be specifically named.
+
+It will be seen how much remains to be done for that vast and remote and
+yet promising portion of our country. Special authority was given to the
+President by the Act of Congress approved July 24, 1897, to divide that
+Territory into two land districts and to designate the boundaries thereof
+and to appoint registers and receivers of said land offices, and the
+President was also authorized to appoint a surveyor-general for the entire
+district. Pursuant to this authority, a surveyor-general and receiver have
+been appointed, with offices at Sitka. If in the ensuing year the
+conditions justify it, the additional land district authorized by law will
+be established, with an office at some point in the Yukon Valley. No
+appropriation, however, was made for this purpose, and that is now
+necessary to be done for the two land districts into which the Territory is
+to be divided.
+
+I concur with the Secretary of War in his suggestions as to the necessity
+for a military force in the Territory of Alaska for the protection of
+persons and property. Already a small force, consisting of twenty-five men,
+with two officers, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Randall, of the
+Eighth Infantry, has been sent to St. Michael to establish a military
+post.
+
+As it is to the interest of the Government to encourage the development and
+settlement of the country and its duty to follow up its citizens there with
+the benefits of legal machinery, I earnestly urge upon Congress the
+establishment of a system of government with such flexibility as will
+enable it to adjust itself to the future areas of greatest population.
+
+The startling though possibly exaggerated reports from the Yukon River
+country, of the probable shortage of food for the large number of people
+who are wintering there without the means of leaving the country are
+confirmed in such measure as to justify bringing the matter to the
+attention of Congress. Access to that country in winter can be had only by
+the passes from Dyea and vicinity, which is a most difficult and perhaps an
+impossible task. However, should these reports of the suffering of our
+fellow-citizens be further verified, every effort at any cost should be
+made to carry them relief.
+
+For a number of years past it has been apparent that the conditions under
+which the Five Civilized Tribes were established in the Indian Territory
+under treaty provisions with the United States, with the right of
+self-government and the exclusion of all white persons from within their
+borders, have undergone so complete a change as to render the continuance
+of the system thus inaugurated practically impossible. The total number of
+the Five Civilized Tribes, as shown by the last census, is 45,494, and this
+number has not materially increased; while the white population is
+estimated at from 200,000 to 250,000 which, by permission of the Indian
+Government has settled in the Territory. The present area of the Indian
+Territory contains 25,694,564 acres, much of which is very fertile land.
+The United States citizens residing in the Territory, most of whom have
+gone there by invitation or with the consent of the tribal authorities,
+have made permanent homes for themselves. Numerous towns have been built in
+which from 500 to 5,000 white people now reside. Valuable residences and
+business houses have been erected in many of them. Large business
+enterprises are carried on in which vast sums of money are employed, and
+yet these people, who have invested their capital in the development of the
+productive resources of the country, are without title to the land they
+occupy, and have no voice whatever in the government either of the Nations
+or Tribes. Thousands of their children who were born in the Territory are
+of school age, but the doors of the schools of the Nations are shut against
+them, and what education they get is by private contribution. No provision
+for the protection of the life or property of these white citizens is made
+by the Tribal Governments and Courts.
+
+The Secretary of the Interior reports that leading Indians have absorbed
+great tracts of land to the exclusion of the common people, and government
+by an Indian aristocracy has been practically established, to the detriment
+of the people. It has been found impossible for the United States to keep
+its citizens out of the Territory, and the executory conditions contained
+in the treaties with these Nations have for the most part become impossible
+of execution. Nor has it been possible for the Tribal Governments to secure
+to each individual Indian his full enjoyment in common with Other Indians
+of the common property of the Nations. Friends of the Indians have long
+believed that the best interests of the Indians of the Five Civilized
+Tribes would be found in American citizenship, with all the rights and
+privileges which belong to that condition.
+
+By section 16, of the act of March 3, 1893, the President was authorized to
+appoint three commissioners to enter into negotiations with the Cherokee,
+Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (or Creek), and Seminole Nations, commonly
+known as the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory. Briefly, the
+purposes of the negotiations were to be: The extinguishment of Tribal
+titles to any lands within that Territory now held by any and all such
+Nations or Tribes, either by cession of the same or some part thereof to
+the United States, or by allotment and division of the same in severalty
+among the Indians of such Nations or Tribes respectively as may be entitled
+to the same, or by such other method as may be agreed upon between the
+several Nations and Tribes aforesaid, or each of them, with the United
+States, with a view to such an adjustment upon the basis of justice and
+equity as may, with the consent of the said Nations of Indians so far as
+may be necessary, be requisite and suitable to enable the ultimate creation
+of a State or States of the Union which shall embrace the lands within said
+Indian Territory.
+
+The Commission met much opposition from the beginning. The Indians were
+very slow to act, and those in control manifested a decided disinclination
+to meet with favor the propositions submitted to them. A little more than
+three years after this organization the Commission effected an agreement
+with the Choctaw Nation alone. The Chickasaws, however, refused to agree to
+its terms, and as they have a common interest with the Choctaws in the
+lands of said Nations, the agreement with the latter Nation could have no
+effect without the consent of the former. On April 23, 1897, the Commission
+effected an agreement with both tribes--the Choctaws and Chickasaws. This
+agreement, it is understood, has been ratified by the constituted
+authorities of the respective Tribes or Nations parties thereto, and only
+requires ratification by Congress to make it binding.
+
+On the 27th of September, 1897, an agreement was effected with the Creek
+Nation, but it is understood that the National Council of said Nation has
+refused to ratify the same. Negotiations are yet to be had with the
+Cherokees, the most populous of the Five Civilized Tribes, and with the
+Seminoles, the smallest in point of numbers and territory.
+
+The provision in the Indian Appropriation Act, approved June 10, 1896,
+makes it the duty of the Commission to investigate and determine the rights
+of applicants for citizenship in the Five Civilized Tribes, and to make
+complete census rolls of the citizens of said Tribes. The Commission is at
+present engaged in this work among the Creeks, and has made appointments
+for taking the census of these people up to and including the 30th of the
+present month.
+
+Should the agreement between the Choctaws and Chickasaws be ratified by
+Congress and should the other Tribes fail to make an agreement with the
+Commission, then it will be necessary that some legislation shall be had by
+Congress, which, while just and honorable to the Indians, shall be
+equitable to the white people who have settled upon these lands by
+invitation of the Tribal Nations.
+
+Hon. Henry L. Dawes, Chairman of the Commission, in a letter to the
+Secretary of the Interior, under date of October 11, 1897, says:
+"Individual ownership is, in their (the Commission's) opinion, absolutely
+essential to any permanent improvement in present conditions, and the lack
+of it is the root of nearly all the evils which so grievously afflict these
+people. Allotment by agreement is the only possible method, unless the
+United States Courts are clothed with the authority to apportion the lands
+among the citizen Indians for whose use it was originally granted."
+
+I concur with the Secretary of the Interior that there can be no cure for
+the evils engendered by the perversion of these great trusts, excepting by
+their resumption by the Government which created them.
+
+The recent prevalence of yellow fever in a number of cities and towns
+throughout the South has resulted in much disturbance of commerce, and
+demonstrated the necessity of such amendments to our quarantine laws as
+will make the regulations of the national quarantine authorities paramount.
+The Secretary of the Treasury, in the portion of his report relating to the
+operation of the Marine Hospital Service, calls attention to the defects in
+the present quarantine laws, and recommends amendments thereto which will
+give the Treasury Department the requisite authority to prevent the
+invasion of epidemic diseases from foreign countries, and in times of
+emergency, like that of the past summer, will add to the efficiency of the
+sanitary measures for the protection of the people, and at the same time
+prevent unnecessary restriction of commerce. I concur in his
+recommendation.
+
+In further effort to prevent the invasion of the United States by yellow
+fever, the importance of the discovery of the exact cause of the disease,
+which up to the present time has been undetermined, is obvious, and to this
+end a systematic bacteriological investigation should be made. I therefore
+recommend that Congress authorize the appointment of a commission by the
+President, to consist of four expert bacteriologists, one to be selected
+from the medical officers of the Marine Hospital Service, one to be
+appointed from civil life, one to be detailed from the medical officers of
+the Army, and one from the medical officers of the Navy.
+
+The Union Pacific Railway, Main Line, was sold under the decree of the
+United States Court for the District of Nebraska, on the 1st and 2d of
+November of this year. The amount due the Government consisted of the
+principal of the subsidy bonds, $27,236,512, and the accrued interest
+thereon, $31,211,711.75, making the total indebtedness, $58,448,223.75. The
+bid at the sale covered the first mortgage lien and the entire mortgage
+claim of the Government, principal and interest.
+
+The sale of the subsidized portion of the Kansas Pacific Line, upon which
+the Government holds a second mortgage lien, has been postponed at the
+instance of the Government to December 16, 1897. The debt of this division
+of the Union Pacific Railway to the Government on November 1, 1897, was the
+principal of the subsidy bonds, $6,303,000, and the unpaid and accrued
+interest thereon, $6,626,690.33, making a total of $12,929,690.33.
+
+The sale of this road was originally advertised for November 4, but for the
+purpose of securing the utmost public notice of the event it was postponed
+until December 16, and a second advertisement of the sale was made. By the
+decree of the Court, the upset price on the sale of the Kansas Pacific will
+yield to the Government the sum of $2,500,000 over all prior liens, costs,
+and charges. If no other or better bid is made, this sum is all that the
+Government will receive on its claim of nearly $13,000,000. The Government
+has no information as to whether there will be other bidders or a better
+bid than the minimum amount herein stated. The question presented therefore
+is: Whether the Government shall, under the authority given it by the act
+of March 3, 1887, purchase or redeem the road in the event that a bid is
+not made by private parties covering the entire Government claim. To
+qualify the Government to bid at the sales will require a deposit of
+$900,000, as follows: In the Government cause $500,000 and in each of the
+first mortgage causes $200,000, and in the latter the deposit must be in
+cash. Payments at the sale are as follows: Upon the acceptance of the bid a
+sum which with the amount already deposited shall equal fifteen per cent of
+the bid; the balance in installments of twenty-five per cent thirty, forty,
+and fifty days after the confirmation of the sale. The lien on the Kansas
+Pacific prior to that of the Government on the 30th July, 1897, principal
+and interest, amounted to $7,281,048.11. The Government, therefore, should
+it become the highest bidder, will have to pay the amount of the first
+mortgage lien.
+
+I believe that under the act of 1887 it has the authority to do this and in
+absence of any action by Congress I shall direct the Secretary of the
+Treasury to make the necessary deposit as required by the Court's decree to
+qualify as a bidder and to bid at the sale a sum which will at least equal
+the principal of the debt due to the Government; but suggest in order to
+remove all controversy that an amendment of the law be immediately passed
+explicitly giving such powers and appropriating in general terms whatever
+sum is sufficient therefor.
+
+In so important a matter as the Government becoming the possible owner of
+railroad property which it perforce must conduct and operate, I feel
+constrained to lay before Congress these facts for its consideration and
+action before the consummation of the sale. It is clear to my mind that the
+Government should not permit the property to be sold at a price which will
+yield less than one-half of the principal of its debt and less than
+one-fifth of its entire debt, principal and interest. But whether the
+Government, rather than accept less than its claim, should become a bidder
+and thereby the owner of the property, I submit to the Congress for
+action.
+
+The Library building provided for by the act of Congress approved April 15,
+1886, has been completed and opened to the public. It should be a matter of
+congratulation that through the foresight and munificence of Congress the
+nation possesses this noble treasure-house of knowledge. It is earnestly to
+be hoped that having done so much toward the cause of education, Congress
+will continue to develop the Library in every phase of research to the end
+that it may be not only one of the most magnificent but among the richest
+and most useful libraries in the world.
+
+The important branch of our Government known as the Civil Service, the
+practical improvement of which has long been a subject of earnest
+discussion, has of late years received increased legislative and Executive
+approval. During the past few months the service has been placed upon a
+still firmer basis of business methods and personal merit. While the right
+of our veteran soldiers to reinstatement in deserving cases has been
+asserted, dismissals for merely political reasons have been carefully
+guarded against, the examinations for admittance to the service enlarged
+and at the same time rendered less technical and more practical; and a
+distinct advance has been made by giving a hearing before dismissal upon
+all cases where incompetency is charged or demand made for the removal of
+officials in any of the Departments. This order has been made to give to
+the accused his right to be heard but without in anyway impairing the power
+of removal, which should always be exercised in cases of inefficiency and
+incompetency, and which is one of the vital safeguards of the civil service
+reform system, preventing stagnation and deadwood and keeping every
+employee keenly alive to the fact that the security of his tenure depends
+not on favor but on his own tested and carefully watched record of
+service.
+
+Much of course still remains to be accomplished before the system can be
+made reasonably perfect for our needs. There are places now in the
+classified service which ought to be exempted and others not classified may
+properly be included. I shall not hesitate to exempt cases which I think
+have been improperly included in the classified service or include those
+which in my judgment will best promote the public service. The system has
+the approval of the people and it will be my endeavor to uphold and extend
+it.
+
+I am forced by the length of this Message to omit many important references
+to affairs of the Government with which Congress will have to deal at the
+present session. They are fully discussed in the departmental reports, to
+all of which I invite your earnest attention.
+
+The estimates of the expenses of the Government by the several Departments
+will, I am sure, have your careful scrutiny. While the Congress may not
+find it an easy task to reduce the expenses of the Government, it should
+not encourage their increase. These expenses will in my judgment admit of a
+decrease in many branches of the Government without injury to the public
+service. It is a commanding duty to keep the appropriations within the
+receipts of the Government, and thus avoid a deficit.
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 5, 1898
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+Notwithstanding the added burdens rendered necessary by the war, our people
+rejoice in a very satisfactory and steadily increasing degree of
+prosperity, evidenced by the largest volume of business ever recorded.
+Manufacture has been productive, agricultural pursuits have yielded
+abundant returns, labor in all fields of industry is better rewarded,
+revenue legislation passed by the present Congress has increased the
+Treasury's receipts to the amount estimated by its authors, the finances of
+the Government have been successfully administered and its credit advanced
+to the first rank, while its currency has been maintained at the world's
+highest standard. Military service under a common flag and for a righteous
+cause has strengthened the national spirit and served to cement more
+closely than ever the fraternal bonds between every section of the
+country.
+
+A review of the relation of the United States to other powers, always
+appropriate, is this year of primary importance in view of the momentous
+issues which have arisen, demanding in one instance the ultimate
+determination by arms and involving far-reaching consequences which will
+require the earnest attention of the Congress.
+
+In my last annual message very full consideration was given to the question
+of the duty of the Government of the United States toward Spain and the
+Cuban insurrection as being by far the most important problem with which we
+were then called upon to deal. The considerations then advanced and the
+exposition of the views therein expressed disclosed my sense of the extreme
+gravity of the situation. Setting aside as logically unfounded or
+practically inadmissible the recognition of the Cuban insurgents as
+belligerents, the recognition of the independence of Cuba, neutral
+intervention to end the war by imposing a rational compromise between the
+contestants, intervention in favor of one or the other party, and forcible
+annexation of the island, I concluded it was honestly due to our friendly
+relations with Spain that she should be given a reasonable chance to
+realize her expectations of reform to which she had become irrevocably
+committed. Within a few weeks previously she had announced comprehensive
+plans which it was confidently asserted would be efficacious to remedy the
+evils so deeply affecting our own country, so injurious to the true
+interests of the mother country as well as to those of Cuba, and so
+repugnant to the universal sentiment of humanity.
+
+The ensuing month brought little sign of real progress toward the
+pacification of Cuba. The autonomous administrations set up in the capital
+and some of the principal cities appeared not to gain the favor of the
+inhabitants nor to be able to extend their influence to the large extent of
+territory held by the insurgents, while the military arm, obviously unable
+to cope with the still active rebellion, continued many of the most
+objectionable and offensive policies of the government that had preceded
+it. No tangible relief was afforded the vast numbers of unhappy
+reconcentrados, despite the reiterated professions made in that regard and
+the amount appropriated by Spain to that end. The proffered expedient of
+zones of cultivation proved illusory. Indeed no less practical nor more
+delusive promises of succor could well have been tendered to the exhausted
+and destitute people, stripped of all that made life and home dear and
+herded in a strange region among unsympathetic strangers hardly less
+necessitous than themselves.
+
+By the end of December the mortality among them had frightfully increased.
+Conservative estimates from Spanish sources placed the deaths among these
+distressed people at over 40 per cent from the time General Weyler's decree
+of reconcentration was enforced. With the acquiescence of the Spanish
+authorities, a scheme was adopted for relief by charitable contributions
+raised in this country and distributed, under the direction of the
+consul-general and the several consuls, by noble and earnest individual
+effort through the organized agencies of the American Red Cross. Thousands
+of lives were thus saved, but many thousands more were inaccessible to such
+forms of aid.
+
+The war continued on the old footing, without comprehensive plan,
+developing only the same spasmodic encounters, barren of strategic result,
+that had marked the course of the earlier ten years' rebellion as well as
+the present insurrection from its start. No alternative save physical
+exhaustion of either combatant, and therewithal the practical ruin of the
+island, lay in sight, but how far distant no one could venture to
+conjecture.
+
+At this juncture, on the 15th of February last, occurred the destruction of
+the battle ship Maine while rightfully lying in the harbor of Havana on a
+mission of international courtesy and good will--a catastrophe the
+suspicious nature and horror of which stirred the nation's heart
+profoundly. It is a striking evidence of the poise and sturdy good sense
+distinguishing our national character that this shocking blow, falling upon
+a generous people already deeply touched by preceding events in Cuba, did
+not move them to an instant desperate resolve to tolerate no longer the
+existence of a condition of danger and disorder at our doors that made
+possible such a deed, by whomsoever wrought. Yet the instinct of justice
+prevailed, and the nation anxiously awaited the result of the searching
+investigation at once set on foot. The finding of the naval board of
+inquiry established that the origin of the explosion was external, by a
+submarine mine, and only halted through lack of positive testimony to fix
+the responsibility of its authorship.
+
+All these things carried conviction to the most thoughtful, even before the
+finding of the naval court, that a crisis in our relations with Spain and
+toward Cuba was at hand. So strong was this belief that it needed but a
+brief Executive suggestion to the Congress to receive immediate answer to
+the duty of making instant provision for the possible and perhaps speedily
+probable emergency of war, and the remarkable, almost unique, spectacle was
+presented of a unanimous vote of both Houses, on the 9th of March,
+appropriating $50,000,000 "for the national defense and for each and every
+purpose connected therewith, to be expended at the discretion of the
+President." That this act of prevision came none too soon was disclosed
+when the application of the fund was undertaken. Our coasts were
+practically undefended. Our Navy needed large provision for increased
+ammunition and supplies, and even numbers to cope with any sudden attack
+from the navy of Spain, which comprised modern vessels of the highest type
+of continental perfection. Our Army also required enlargement of men and
+munitions. The details of the hurried preparation for the dreaded
+contingency are told in the reports of the Secretaries of War and of the
+Navy, and need not be repeated here. It is sufficient to say that the
+outbreak of war when it did come found our nation not unprepared to meet
+the conflict.
+
+Nor was the apprehension of coming strife confined to our own country. It
+was felt by the continental powers, which on April 6, through their
+ambassadors and envoys, addressed to the Executive an expression of hope
+that humanity and moderation might mark the course of this Government and
+people, and that further negotiations would lead to an agreement which,
+while securing the maintenance of peace, would afford all necessary
+guaranties for the reestablishment of order in Cuba. In responding to that
+representation I said I shared the hope the envoys had expressed that peace
+might be preserved in a manner to terminate the chronic condition of
+disturbance in Cuba, so injurious and menacing to our interests and
+tranquillity, as well as shocking to our sentiments of humanity; and while
+appreciating the humanitarian and disinterested character of the
+communication they had made on behalf of the powers, I stated the
+confidence of this Government, for its part, that equal appreciation would
+be shown for its own earnest and unselfish endeavors to fulfill a duty to
+humanity by ending a situation the indefinite prolongation of which had
+become insufferable.
+
+Still animated by the hope of a peaceful solution and obeying the dictates
+of duty, no effort was relaxed to bring about a speedy ending of the Cuban
+struggle. Negotiations to this object continued actively with the
+Government of Spain, looking to the immediate conclusion of a six months'
+armistice in Cuba, with a view to effect the recognition of her people's
+right to independence. Besides this, the instant revocation of the order of
+reconcentration was asked, so that the sufferers, returning to their homes
+and aided by united American and Spanish effort, might be put in a way to
+support themselves and, by orderly resumption of the well-nigh destroyed
+productive energies of the island, contribute to the restoration of its
+tranquillity and well-being. Negotiations continued for some little time at
+Madrid, resulting in offers by the Spanish Government which could not but
+be regarded as inadequate. It was proposed to confide the preparation of
+peace to the insular parliament, yet to be convened under the autonomous
+decrees of November, 1897, but without impairment in any wise of the
+constitutional powers of the Madrid Government, which to that end would
+grant an armistice, if solicited by the insurgents, for such time as the
+general in chief might see fit to fix. How and with what scope of
+discretionary powers the insular parliament was expected to set about the
+"preparation" of peace did not appear. If it were to be by negotiation with
+the insurgents, the issue seemed to rest on the one side with a body chosen
+by a fraction of the electors in the districts under Spanish control, and
+on the other with the insurgent population holding the interior country,
+unrepresented in the so-called parliament and defiant at the suggestion of
+suing for peace.
+
+Grieved and disappointed at this barren outcome of my sincere endeavors to
+reach a practicable solution, I felt it my duty to remit the whole question
+to the Congress. In the message of April 11, 1898, I announced that with
+this last overture in the direction of immediate peace in Cuba and its
+disappointing reception by Spain the effort of the Executive was brought to
+an end. I again reviewed the alternative courses of action which had been
+proposed, concluding that the only one consonant with international policy
+and compatible with our firm-set historical traditions was intervention as
+a neutral to stop the war and check the hopeless sacrifice of life, even
+though that resort involved "hostile constraint upon both the parties to
+the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual
+settlement." The grounds justifying that step were the interests of
+humanity, the duty to protect the life and property of our citizens in
+Cuba, the right to check injury to our commerce and people through the
+devastation of the island, and, most important, the need of removing at
+once and forever the constant menace and the burdens entailed upon our
+Government by the uncertainties and perils of the situation caused by the
+unendurable disturbance in Cuba. I said: The long trial has proved that the
+object for which Spain has waged the war can not be attained. The fire of
+insurrection may flame or may smolder with varying seasons, but it has not
+been and it is plain that it can not be extinguished by present methods.
+The only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be
+endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in
+the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests which
+give us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must
+stop. In view of all this the Congress was asked to authorize and empower
+the President to take measures to secure a full and final termination of
+hostilities between Spain and the people of Cuba and to secure in the
+island the establishment of a stable government, capable of maintaining
+order and observing its international obligations, insuring peace and
+tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well as our own, and for
+the accomplishment of those ends to use the military and naval forces of
+the United States as might be necessary, with added authority to continue
+generous relief to the starving people of Cuba.
+
+The response of the Congress, after nine days of earnest deliberation,
+during which the almost unanimous sentiment of your body was developed on
+every point save as to the expediency of coupling the proposed action with
+a formal recognition of the Republic of Cuba as the true and lawful
+government of that island--a proposition which failed of adoption--the
+Congress, after conference, on the 19th of April, by a vote of 42 to 35 in
+the Senate and 311 to 6 in the House of Representatives, passed the
+memorable joint resolution declaring--
+
+First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be,
+free and independent.
+
+Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
+Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of
+Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba
+and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters.
+
+Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
+directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
+United States and to call into the actual service of the United States the
+militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to carry
+these resolutions into effect.
+
+Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
+intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said
+island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination
+when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island
+to its people. This resolution was approved by the Executive on the next
+day, April 20. A copy was at once communicated to the Spanish minister at
+this capital, who forthwith announced that his continuance in Washington
+had thereby become impossible, and asked for his passports, which were
+given him. He thereupon withdrew from Washington, leaving the protection of
+Spanish interests in the United States to the French ambassador and the
+Austro-Hungarian minister. Simultaneously with its communication to the
+Spanish minister here, General Woodford, the American minister at Madrid,
+was telegraphed confirmation of the text of the joint resolution and
+directed to communicate it to the Government of Spain with the formal
+demand that it at once relinquish its authority and government in the
+island of Cuba and withdraw its forces therefrom, coupling this demand with
+announcement of the intentions of this Government as to the future of the
+island, in conformity with the fourth clause of the resolution, and giving
+Spain until noon of April 23 to reply.
+
+That demand, although, as above shown, officially made known to the Spanish
+envoy here, was not delivered at Madrid. After the instruction reached
+General Woodford on the morning of April 21, but before he could present
+it, the Spanish minister of state notified him that upon the President's
+approval of the joint resolution the Madrid Government, regarding the act
+as "equivalent to an evident declaration of war," had ordered its minister
+in Washington to withdraw, thereby breaking off diplomatic relations
+between the two countries and ceasing all official communication between
+their respective representatives. General Woodford thereupon demanded his
+passports and quitted Madrid the same day.
+
+Spain having thus denied the demand of the United States and initiated that
+complete form of rupture of relations which attends a state of war, the
+executive powers authorized by the resolution were at once used by me to
+meet the enlarged contingency of actual war between sovereign states. On
+April 22 I proclaimed a blockade of the north coast of Cuba, including
+ports on said coast between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and the port of
+Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, and on the 23d I called for
+volunteers to execute the purpose of the resolution. By my message of April
+25 the Congress was informed of the situation, and I recommended formal
+declaration of the existence of a state of war between the United States
+and Spain. The Congress accordingly voted on the same day the act approved
+April 25, 1898, declaring the existence of such war from and including the
+21st day of April, and reenacted the provision of the resolution of April
+20 directing the President to use all the armed forces of the nation to
+carry that act into effect. Due notification of the existence of war as
+aforesaid was given April 25 by telegraph to all the governments with which
+the United States maintain relations, in order that their neutrality might
+be assured during the war. The various governments responded with
+proclamations of neutrality, each after its own methods. It is not among
+the least gratifying incidents of the struggle that the obligations of
+neutrality were impartially discharged by all, often under delicate and
+difficult circumstances.
+
+In further fulfillment of international duty I issued, April 26, 1893, a
+proclamation announcing the treatment proposed to be accorded to vessels
+and their cargoes as to blockade, contraband, the exercise of the right of
+search, and the immunity of neutral flags and neutral goods under enemy's
+flag. A similar proclamation was made by the Spanish Government. In the
+conduct of hostilities the rules of the Declaration of Paris, including
+abstention from resort to privateering, have accordingly been observed by
+both belligerents, although neither was a party to that declaration.
+
+Our country thus, after an interval of half a century of peace with all
+nations, found itself engaged in deadly conflict with a foreign enemy.
+Every nerve was strained to meet the emergency. The response to the initial
+call for 125,000 volunteers was instant and complete, as was also the
+result of the second call, of May 25, for 75,000 additional volunteers. The
+ranks of the Regular Army were increased to the limits provided by the act
+of April 26, 1898.
+
+The enlisted force of the Navy on the 15th day of August, when it reached
+its maximum, numbered 24,123 men and apprentices. One hundred and three
+vessels were added to the Navy by purchase, 1 was presented to the
+Government, 1 leased, and the 4 vessels of the International Navigation
+Company--the St. Paul, St. Louis, New York, and Paris--were chartered. In
+addition to these the revenue cutters and lighthouse tenders were turned
+over to the Navy Department and became temporarily a part of the auxiliary
+Navy.
+
+The maximum effective fighting force of the Navy during the war, separated
+into classes, was as follows:
+
+Four battle ships of the first class, 1 battle ship of the second class, 2
+armored cruisers, 6 coast-defense monitors, 1 armored ram, 12 protected
+cruisers, 3 unprotected cruisers, 18 gunboats, 1 dynamite cruiser, 11
+torpedo boats; vessels of the old Navy, including monitors, 14. Auxiliary
+Navy: 11 auxiliary cruisers, 28 converted yachts, 27 converted tugs, 19
+converted colliers, 15 revenue cutters, 4 light-house tenders, and 19
+miscellaneous vessels.
+
+Much alarm was felt along our entire Atlantic seaboard lest some attack
+might be made by the enemy. Every precaution was taken to prevent possible
+injury to our great cities lying along the coast. Temporary garrisons were
+provided, drawn from the State militia; infantry and light batteries were
+drawn from the volunteer force. About 12,000 troops were thus employed. The
+coast signal service was established for observing the approach of an
+enemy's ships to the coast of the United States, and the Life-Saving and
+Light-House services cooperated, which enabled the Navy Department to have
+all portions of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Texas, under
+observation.
+
+The auxiliary Navy was created under the authority of Congress and was
+officered and manned by the Naval Militia of the several States. This
+organization patrolled the coast and performed the duty of a second line of
+defense. Under the direction of the Chief of Engineers submarine mines were
+placed at the most exposed points. Before the outbreak of the war permanent
+mining casemates and cable galleries had been constructed at nearly all
+important harbors. Most of the torpedo material was not to be found in the
+market, and had to be specially manufactured. Under date of April 19
+district officers were directed to take all preliminary measures short of
+the actual attaching of the loaded mines to the cables, and on April 22
+telegraphic orders were issued to place the loaded mines in position.
+
+The aggregate number of mines placed was 1,535, at the principal harbors
+from Maine to California. Preparations were also made for the planting of
+mines at certain other harbors, but owing to the early destruction of the
+Spanish fleet these mines were not placed.
+
+The Signal Corps was promptly organized, and performed service of the most
+difficult and important character. Its operations during the war covered
+the electrical connection of all coast fortifications, the establishment of
+telephonic and telegraphic facilities for the camps at Manila, Santiago,
+and in Puerto Rico. There were constructed 300 miles of line at ten great
+camps, thus facilitating military movements from those points in a manner
+heretofore unknown in military administration. Field telegraph lines were
+established and maintained under the enemy's fire at Manila, and later the
+Manila-Hongkong cable was reopened.
+
+In Puerto Rico cable communications were opened over a discontinued route,
+and on land the headquarters of the commanding officer was kept in
+telegraphic or telephonic communication with the division commanders on
+four different lines of operations.
+
+There was placed in Cuban waters a completely outfitted cable ship, with
+war cables and cable gear, suitable both for the destruction of
+communications belonging to the enemy and the establishment of our own. Two
+ocean cables were destroyed under the enemy's batteries at Santiago. The
+day previous to the landing of General Shafter's corps, at Caimanera,
+within 20 miles of the landing place, cable communications were established
+and a cable station opened giving direct communication with the Government
+at Washington. This service was invaluable to the Executive in directing
+the operations of the Army and Navy. With a total force of over 1,300, the
+loss was by disease in camp and field, officers and men included, only 5.
+
+The national-defense fund of $50,000,000 was expended in large part by the
+Army and Navy, and the objects for which it was used are fully shown in the
+reports of the several Secretaries. It was a most timely appropriation,
+enabling the Government to strengthen its defenses and make preparations
+greatly needed in case of war.
+
+This fund being inadequate to the requirements of equipment and for the
+conduct of the war, the patriotism of the Congress provided the means in
+the war-revenue act of June 13 by authorizing a 3 per cent popular loan not
+to exceed $400,000,000 and by levying additional imposts and taxes. Of the
+authorized loan $200,000,000 were offered and promptly taken the
+subscriptions so far exceeding the call as to cover it many times over,
+while, preference being given to the smaller bids, no single allotment
+exceeded $5,000. This was a most encouraging and significant result,
+showing the vast resources of the nation and the determination of the
+people to uphold their country's honor.
+
+It is not within the province of this message to narrate the history of the
+extraordinary war that followed the Spanish declaration of April 21, but a
+brief recital of its more salient features is appropriate.
+
+The first encounter of the war in point of date took place April 27, when a
+detachment of the blockading squadron made a reconnoissance in force at
+Matanzas, shelled the harbor forts, and demolished several new works in
+construction.
+
+The next engagement was destined to mark a memorable epoch in maritime
+warfare. The Pacific fleet, under Commodore George Dewey, had lain for some
+weeks at Hongkong. Upon the colonial proclamation of neutrality being
+issued and the customary twenty-four hours' notice being given, it repaired
+to Mirs Bay, near Hongkong, whence it proceeded to the Philippine Islands
+under telegraphed orders to capture or destroy the formidable Spanish fleet
+then assembled at Manila. At daybreak on the 1st of May the American force
+entered Manila Bay, and after a few hours' engagement effected the total
+destruction of the Spanish fleet, consisting of ten war ships and a
+transport, besides capturing the naval station and forts at Cavite, thus
+annihilating the Spanish naval power in the Pacific Ocean and completely
+controlling the bay of Manila, with the ability to take the city at will.
+Not a life was lost on our ships, the wounded only numbering seven, while
+not a vessel was materially injured. For this gallant achievement the
+Congress, upon my recommendation, fitly bestowed upon the actors preferment
+and substantial reward.
+
+The effect of this remarkable victory upon the spirit of our people and
+upon the fortunes of the war was instant. A prestige of invincibility
+thereby attached to our arms which continued throughout the struggle.
+Reenforcements were hurried to Manila under the command of Major-General
+Merritt and firmly established within sight of the capital, which lay
+helpless before our guns.
+
+On the 7th day of May the Government was advised officially of the victory
+at Manila, and at once inquired of the commander of our fleet what troops
+would be required. The information was received on the 15th day of May, and
+the first army expedition sailed May 25 and arrived off Manila June 30.
+Other expeditions soon followed, the total force consisting of 641 officers
+and 15,058 enlisted men.
+
+Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life and property prevented the
+early storming and capture of the city, and therewith the absolute military
+occupancy of the whole group. The insurgents meanwhile had resumed the
+active hostilities suspended by the uncompleted truce of December, 1897.
+Their forces invested Manila from the northern and eastern sides, but were
+constrained by Admiral Dewey and General Merrill from attempting an
+assault. It was fitting that whatever was to be done in the way of decisive
+operations in that quarter should be accomplished by the strong arm of the
+United States alone. Obeying the stern precept of war which enjoins the
+overcoming of the adversary and the extinction of his power wherever
+assailable as the speedy and sure means to win a peace, divided victory was
+not permissible, for no partition of the rights and responsibilities
+attending the enforcement of a just and advantageous peace could be thought
+of.
+
+Following the comprehensive scheme of general attack, powerful forces were
+assembled at various points on our coast to invade Cuba and Puerto Rico.
+Meanwhile naval demonstrations were made at several exposed points. On May
+11 the cruiser Wilmington and torpedo boat Winslow were unsuccessful in an
+attempt to silence the batteries at Cardenas, a gallant ensign, Worth
+Bagley, and four seamen falling. These grievous fatalities were, strangely
+enough, among the very few which occurred during our naval operations in
+this extraordinary conflict.
+
+Meanwhile the Spanish naval preparations had been pushed with great vigor.
+A powerful squadron under Admiral Cervera, which had assembled at the Cape
+Verde Islands before the outbreak of hostilities, had crossed the ocean,
+and by its erratic movements in the Caribbean Sea delayed our military
+plans while baffling the pursuit of our fleets. For a time fears were felt
+lest the Oregon and Marietta, then nearing home after their long voyage
+from San Francisco of over 15,000 miles, might be surprised by Admiral
+Cervera's fleet, but their fortunate arrival dispelled these apprehensions
+and lent much-needed reenforcement. Not until Admiral Cervera took refuge
+in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, about May 19, was it practicable to plan
+a systematic naval and military attack upon the Antillean possessions of
+Spain.
+
+Several demonstrations occurred on the coasts of Cuba and Puerto Rico in
+preparation for the larger event. On May 13 the North Atlantic Squadron
+shelled San Juan de Puerto Rico. On May 30 Commodore Schley's squadron
+bombarded the forts guarding the mouth of Santiago Harbor. Neither attack
+had any material result. It was evident that well-ordered land operations
+were indispensable to achieve a decisive advantage.
+
+The next act in the war thrilled not alone the hearts of our countrymen but
+the world by its exceptional heroism. On the night of June 3 Lieutenant
+Hobson, aided by seven devoted volunteers, blocked the narrow outlet from
+Santiago Harbor by sinking the collier Merrimac in the channel, under a
+fierce fire from the shore batteries, escaping with their lives as by a
+miracle, but falling into the hands of the Spaniards. It is a most
+gratifying incident of the war that the bravery of this little band of
+heroes was cordially appreciated by the Spanish admiral, who sent a flag of
+truce to notify Admiral Sampson of their safety and to compliment them on
+their daring act. They were subsequently exchanged July 7.
+
+By June 7 the cutting of the last Cuban cable isolated the island.
+Thereafter the invasion was vigorously prosecuted. On June 10, under a
+heavy protecting fire, a landing of 600 marines from the Oregon,
+Marblehead, and Yankee was effected in Guantanamo Bay, where it had been
+determined to establish a naval station.
+
+This important and essential port was taken from the enemy, after severe
+fighting, by the marines, who were the first organized force of the United
+States to land in Cuba.
+
+The position so won was held despite desperate attempts to dislodge our
+forces. By June 16 additional forces were landed and strongly in-trenched.
+On June 22 the advance of the invading army under Major-General Shafter
+landed at Daiquiri, about 15 miles east of Santiago. This was accomplished
+under great difficulties, but with marvelous dispatch. On June 23 the
+movement against Santiago was begun. On the 24th the first serious
+engagement took place, in which the First and Tenth Cavalry and the First
+United States Volunteer Cavalry, General Young's brigade of General
+Wheeler's division, participated, losing heavily. By nightfall, however,
+ground within 5 miles of Santiago was won. The advantage was steadily
+increased. On July 1 a severe battle took place, our forces gaining the
+outworks of Santiago; on the 2d El Caney and San Juan were taken after a
+desperate charge, and the investment of the city was completed. The Navy
+cooperated by shelling the town and the coast forts.
+
+On the day following this brilliant achievement of our land forces, the 3d
+of July, occurred the decisive naval combat of the war. The Spanish fleet,
+attempting to leave the harbor, was met by the American squadron under
+command of Commodore Sampson. In less than three hours all the Spanish
+ships were destroyed, the two torpedo boats being sunk and the Maria
+Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya, and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. The
+Spanish admiral and over 1,300 men were taken prisoners. While the enemy's
+loss of life was deplorably large, some 600 perishing, on our side but one
+man was killed, on the Brooklyn, and one man seriously wounded. Although
+our ships were repeatedly struck, not one was seriously injured. Where all
+so conspicuously distinguished themselves, from the commanders to the
+gunners and the unnamed heroes in the boiler rooms, each and all
+contributing toward the achievement of this astounding victory, for which
+neither ancient nor modern history affords a parallel in the completeness
+of the event and the marvelous disproportion of casualties, it would be
+invidious to single out any for especial honor. Deserved promotion has
+rewarded the more conspicuous actors. The nation's profoundest gratitude is
+due to all of these brave men who by their skill and devotion in a few
+short hours crushed the sea power of Spain and wrought a triumph whose
+decisiveness and far-reaching consequences can scarcely be measured. Nor
+can we be unmindful of the achievements of our builders, mechanics, and
+artisans for their skill in the construction of our war ships.
+
+With the catastrophe of Santiago Spain's effort upon the ocean virtually
+ceased. A spasmodic effort toward the end of June to send her Mediterranean
+fleet, under Admiral Camara, to relieve Manila was abandoned, the
+expedition being recalled after it had passed through the Suez Canal.
+
+The capitulation of Santiago followed. The city was closely besieged by
+land, while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off all relief on
+that side. After a truce to allow of the removal of noncombatants
+protracted negotiations continued from July 3 until July 15, when, under
+menace of immediate assault, the preliminaries of surrender were agreed
+upon. On the 17th General Shafter occupied the city. The capitulation
+embraced the entire eastern end of Cuba. The number of Spanish soldiers
+surrendering was 22,000, all of whom were subsequently conveyed to Spain at
+the charge of the United States. The story of this successful campaign is
+told in the report of the Secretary of War, which will be laid before you.
+The individual valor of officers and soldiers was never more strikingly
+shown than in the several engagements leading to the surrender of Santiago,
+while the prompt movements and successive victories won instant and
+universal applause. To those who gained this complete triumph, which
+established the ascendency of the United States upon land as the fight off
+Santiago had fixed our supremacy on the seas, the earnest and lasting
+gratitude of the nation is unsparingly due. Nor should we alone remember
+the gallantry of the living; the dead claim our tears, and our losses by
+battle and disease must cloud any exultation at the result and teach us to
+weigh the awful cost of war, however rightful the cause or signal the
+victory.
+
+With the fall of Santiago the occupation of Puerto Rico became the next
+strategic necessity. General Miles had previously been assigned to organize
+an expedition for that purpose. Fortunately he was already at Santiago,
+where he had arrived on the 11th of July with reenforcements for General
+Shafter's army.
+
+With these troops, consisting of 3,415 infantry and artillery, two
+companies of engineers, and one company of the Signal Corps, General Miles
+left Guantanamo on July 21, having nine transports convoyed by the fleet
+under Captain Higginson with the Massachusetts (flagship), Dixie,
+Gloucester, Columbia, and Yale, the two latter carrying troops. The
+expedition landed at Guanica July 25, which port was entered with little
+opposition. Here the fleet was joined by the Annapolis and the Wasp, while
+the Puritan and Amphitrite went to San Juan and joined the New Orleans,
+which was engaged in blockading that port. The Major-General Commanding was
+subsequently reenforced by General Schwan's brigade of the Third Army
+Corps, by General Wilson with a part of his division, and also by General
+Brooke with a part of his corps, numbering in all 16,973 officers and men.
+
+On July 27 he entered Ponce, one of the most important ports in the island,
+from which he thereafter directed operations for the capture of the
+island.
+
+With the exception of encounters with the enemy at Guayama, Hormigueros,
+Coamo, and Yauco and an attack on a force landed at Cape San Juan, there
+was no serious resistance. The campaign was prosecuted with great vigor,
+and by the 12th of August much of the island was in our possession and the
+acquisition of the remainder was only a matter of a short time. At most of
+the points in the island our troops were enthusiastically welcomed.
+Protestations of loyalty to the flag and gratitude for delivery from
+Spanish rule met our commanders at every stage. As a potent influence
+toward peace the outcome of the Puerto Rican expedition was of great
+consequence, and generous commendation is due to those who participated in
+it.
+
+The last scene of the war was enacted at Manila, its starting place. On
+August 15, after a brief assault upon the works by the land forces, in
+which the squadron assisted, the capital surrendered unconditionally. The
+casualties were comparatively few. By this the conquest of the Philippine
+Islands, virtually accomplished when the Spanish capacity for resistance
+was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's victory of the 1st of May, was formally
+sealed. To General Merrill, his officers and men, for their uncomplaining
+and devoted service and for their gallantry in action, the nation is
+sincerely grateful. Their long voyage was made with singular success, and
+the soldierly conduct of the men, most of whom were without previous
+experience in the military service, deserves unmeasured praise.
+
+The total casualties in killed and wounded in the Army during the war with
+Spain were: Officers killed, 23; enlisted men killed, 257; total, 280;
+officers wounded, 113; enlisted men wounded, 1,464; total, 1,577. Of the
+Navy: Killed, 17; wounded, 67; died as result of wounds, 1; invalided from
+service, 6; total, 91.
+
+It will be observed that while our Navy was engaged in two great battles
+and in numerous perilous undertakings in blockade and bombardment, and more
+than 50,000 of our troops were transported to distant lands and were
+engaged in assault and siege and battle and many skirmishes in unfamiliar
+territory, we lost in both arms of the service a total of 1,668 killed and
+wounded; and in the entire campaign by land and sea we did not lose a gun
+or a flag or a transport or a ship, and, with the exception of the crew of
+the Merrimac, not a soldier or sailor was taken prisoner.
+
+On August 7, forty-six days from the date of the landing of General
+Shafter's army in Cuba and twenty-one days from the surrender of Santiago,
+the United States troops commenced embarkation for home, and our entire
+force was returned to the United States as early as August 24. They were
+absent from the United States only two months.
+
+It is fitting that I should bear testimony to the patriotism and devotion
+of that large portion of our Army which, although eager to be ordered to
+the post of greatest exposure, fortunately was not required outside of the
+United States. They did their whole duty, and, like their comrades at the
+front, have earned the gratitude of the nation. In like manner, the
+officers and men of the Army and of the Navy who remained in their
+departments and stations faithfully performing most important duties
+connected with the war, and whose requests for assignment in the field and
+at sea I was compelled to refuse because their services were indispensable
+here, are entitled to the highest commendation. It is my regret that there
+seems to be no provision for their suitable recognition.
+
+In this connection it is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial
+appreciation the timely and useful work of the American National Red Cross,
+both in relief measures preparatory to the campaigns, in sanitary
+assistance at several of the camps of assemblage, and later, under the able
+and experienced leadership of the president of the society, Miss Clara
+Barton, on the fields of battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba.
+Working in conjunction with the governmental authorities and under their
+sanction and approval, and with the enthusiastic cooperation of many
+patriotic women and societies in the various States, the Red Cross has
+fully maintained its already high reputation for intense earnestness and
+ability to exercise the noble purposes of its international organization,
+thus justifying the confidence and support which it has received at the
+hands of the American people. To the members and officers of this society
+and all who aided them in their philanthropic work the sincere and lasting
+gratitude of the soldiers and the public is due and is freely accorded.
+
+In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obligations to
+the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe guidance, for
+which the nation makes reverent acknowledgment and offers humble prayer for
+the continuance of His favor.
+
+The annihilation of Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the capitulation
+of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish Government a realizing sense of
+the hopelessness of continuing a struggle now become wholly unequal, it
+made overtures of peace through the French ambassador, who, with the assent
+of his Government, had acted as the friendly representative of Spanish
+interests during the war. On the 26th of July M. Cambon presented a
+communication signed by the Duke of Almodovar, the Spanish minister of
+state, inviting the United States to state the terms upon which it would be
+willing to make peace. On the 30th of July, by a communication addressed to
+the Duke of Almodovar and handed to M. Cambon, the terms of this Government
+were announced substantially as in the protocol afterwards signed. On the
+10th of August the Spanish reply, dated August 7, was handed by M. Cambon
+to the Secretary of State. It accepted unconditionally the terms imposed as
+to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and an island of the Ladrones group, but appeared to
+seek to introduce inadmissible reservations in regard to our demand as to
+the Philippine Islands. Conceiving that discussion on this point could
+neither be practical nor profitable, I directed that in order to avoid
+misunderstanding the matter should be forthwith closed by proposing the
+embodiment in a formal protocol of the terms upon which the negotiations
+for peace were to be undertaken. The vague and inexplicit suggestions of
+the Spanish note could not be accepted, the only reply being to present as
+a virtual ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying the precise terms
+tendered to Spain in our note of July 30, with added stipulations of detail
+as to the appointment of commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the
+Spanish Antilles. On August 12 M. Cambon announced his receipt of full
+powers to sign the protocol so submitted. Accordingly, on the afternoon of
+August 12, M. Cambon, as the plenipotentiary of Spain, and the Secretary of
+State, as the plenipotentiary of the United States, signed a protocol
+providing--
+
+ARTICLE I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title
+to Cuba.
+
+ART. II. Spain will cede to the United States the island of Puerto Rico and
+other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an
+island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States.
+
+ART. III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor
+of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine
+the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. The fourth
+article provided for the appointment of joint commissions on the part of
+the United States and Spain, to meet in Havana and San Juan, respectively,
+for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of the stipulated
+evacuation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West
+Indies.
+
+The fifth article provided for the appointment of not more than five
+commissioners on each side, to meet at Paris not later than October 1 and
+to proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, subject
+to ratification according to the respective constitutional forms of the two
+countries.
+
+The sixth and last article provided that upon the signature of the protocol
+hostilities between the two countries should be suspended and that notice
+to that effect should be given as soon as possible by each Government to
+the commanders of its military and naval forces.
+
+Immediately upon the conclusion of the protocol I issued a proclamation, of
+August 12, suspending hostilities on the part of the United States. The
+necessary orders to that end were at once given by telegraph. The blockade
+of the ports of Cuba and San Juan de Puerto Rico was in like manner raised.
+On the 18th of August the muster out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that
+number as was found to be practicable, was ordered.
+
+On the 1st of December 101,165 officers and men had been mustered out and
+discharged from the service, and 9,002 more will be mustered out by the
+10th of this month; also a corresponding number of general and general
+staff officers have been honorably discharged the service.
+
+The military commissions to superintend the evacuation of Cuba, Puerto
+Rico, and the adjacent islands were forthwith appointed--for Cuba,
+Major-General James F. Wade, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, Major-General
+Matthew C. Butler; for Puerto Rico, Major--General John R. Brooke,
+Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, Brigadier-General William W. Gordon--who
+soon afterwards met the Spanish commissioners at Havana and San Juan,
+respectively. The Puerto Rican Joint Commission speedily accomplished its
+task, and by the 18th of October the evacuation of the island was
+completed. The United States flag was raised over the island at noon on
+that day. The administration of its affairs has been provisionally
+intrusted to a military governor until the Congress shall otherwise
+provide. The Cuban Joint Commission has not yet terminated its labors.
+Owing to the difficulties in the way of removing the large numbers of
+Spanish troops still in Cuba, the evacuation can not be completed before
+the 1st of January next.
+
+Pursuant to the fifth article of the protocol, I appointed William R. Day,
+lately Secretary of State; Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, and George
+Gray, Senators of the United States, and Whitelaw Reid to be the peace
+commissioners on the part of the United States. Proceeding in due season to
+Paris, they there met on the 1st of October five commissioners similarly
+appointed on the part of Spain. Their negotiations have made hopeful
+progress, so that I trust soon to be able to lay a definitive treaty of
+peace before the Senate, with a review of the steps leading to its
+signature.
+
+I do not discuss at this time the government or the future of the new
+possessions which will come to us as the result of the war with Spain. Such
+discussion will be appropriate after the treaty of peace shall be ratified.
+In the meantime and until the Congress has legislated otherwise it will be
+my duty to continue the military governments which have existed since our
+occupation and give to the people security in life and property and
+encouragement under a just and beneficent rule.
+
+As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and have pacified the island it
+will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form a
+government for themselves. This should be undertaken at the earliest moment
+consistent with safety and assured success. It is important that our
+relations with this people shall be of the most friendly character and our
+commercial relations close and reciprocal. It should be our duty to assist
+in every proper way to build up the waste places of the island, encourage
+the industry of the people, and assist them to form a government which
+shall be free and independent, thus realizing the best aspirations of the
+Cuban people.
+
+Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent, and humane government,
+created by the people of Cuba, capable of performing all international
+obligations, and which shall encourage thrift, industry, and prosperity and
+promote peace and good will among all of the inhabitants, whatever may have
+been their relations in the past. Neither revenge nor passion should have a
+place in the new government. Until there is complete tranquillity in the
+island and a stable government inaugurated military occupation will be
+continued.
+
+With the one exception of the rupture with Spain, the intercourse of the
+United States with the great family of nations has been marked with
+cordiality, and the close of the eventful year finds most of the issues
+that necessarily arise in the complex relations of sovereign states
+adjusted or presenting no serious obstacle to a just and honorable solution
+by amicable agreement.
+
+A long unsettled dispute as to the extended boundary between the Argentine
+Republic and Chile, stretching along the Andean crests from the southern
+border of the Atacama Desert to Magellan Straits, nearly a third of the
+length of the South American continent, assumed an acute stage in the early
+part of the year, and afforded to this Government occasion to express the
+hope that the resort to arbitration, already contemplated by existing
+conventions between the parties, might prevail despite the grave
+difficulties arising in its application. I am happy to say that
+arrangements to this end have been perfected, the questions of fact upon
+which the respective commissioners were unable to agree being in course of
+reference to Her Britannic Majesty for determination. A residual difference
+touching the northern boundary line across the Atacama Desert, for which
+existing treaties provided no adequate adjustment, bids fair to be settled
+in like manner by a joint commission, upon which the United States minister
+at Buenos Ayres has been invited to serve as umpire in the last resort.
+
+I have found occasion to approach the Argentine Government with a view to
+removing differences of rate charges imposed upon the cables of an American
+corporation in the transmission between Buenos Ayres and the cities of
+Uruguay and Brazil of through messages passing from and to the United
+States. Although the matter is complicated by exclusive concessions by
+Uruguay and Brazil to foreign companies, there is strong hope that a good
+understanding will be reached and that the important channels of commercial
+communication between the United States and the Atlantic cities of South
+America may be freed from an almost prohibitory discrimination.
+
+In this relation I may be permitted to express my sense of the fitness of
+an international agreement whereby the interchange of messages over
+connecting cables may be regulated on a fair basis of uniformity. The world
+has seen the postal system developed from a congeries of independent and
+exclusive services into a well-ordered union, of which all countries enjoy
+the manifold benefits. It would be strange were the nations not in time
+brought to realize that modern civilization, which owes so much of its
+progress to the annihilation of space by the electric force, demands that
+this all-important means of communication be a heritage of all peoples, to
+be administered and regulated in their common behoof. A step in this
+direction was taken when the international convention of 1884 for the
+protection of submarine cables was signed, and the day is, I trust, not far
+distant when this medium for the transmission of thought from land to land
+may be brought within the domain of international concert as completely as
+is the material carriage of commerce and correspondence upon the face of
+the waters that divide them.
+
+The claim of Thomas Jefferson Page against Argentina, which has been
+pending many years, has been adjusted. The sum awarded by the Congress of
+Argentina was $4,242.35.
+
+The sympathy of the American people has justly been offered to the ruler
+and the people of Austria-Hungary by reason of the affliction that has
+lately befallen them in the assassination of the Empress-Queen of that
+historic realm.
+
+On the 10th of September, 1897, a conflict took place at Lattimer, Pa.,
+between a body of striking miners and the sheriff of Luzerne County and his
+deputies, in which 22 miners were killed and 44 wounded, of whom 10 of the
+killed and 12 of the wounded were Austrian and Hungarian subjects. This
+deplorable event naturally aroused the solicitude of the Austro-Hungarian
+Government, which, on the assumption that the killing and wounding involved
+the unjustifiable misuse of authority, claimed reparation for the
+sufferers. Apart from the searching investigation and peremptory action of
+the authorities of Pennsylvania, the Federal Executive took appropriate
+steps to learn the merits of the case, in order to be in a position to meet
+the urgent complaint of a friendly power. The sheriff and his deputies,
+having been indicted for murder, were tried, and acquitted, after
+protracted proceedings and the hearing of hundreds of witnesses, on the
+ground that the killing was in the line of their official duty to uphold
+law and preserve public order in the State. A representative of the
+Department of Justice attended the trial and reported its course fully.
+With all the facts in its possession, this Government expects to reach a
+harmonious understanding on the subject with that of Austria-Hungary,
+notwithstanding the renewed claim of the latter, after learning the result
+of the trial, for indemnity for its injured subjects.
+
+Despite the brief time allotted for preparation, the exhibits of this
+country at the Universal Exposition at Brussels in 1897 enjoyed the
+singular distinction of a larger proportion of awards, having regard to the
+number and classes of articles entered than those of other countries. The
+worth of such a result in making known our national capacity to supply the
+world's markets is obvious.
+
+Exhibitions of this international character are becoming more frequent as
+the exchanges of commercial countries grow more intimate and varied. Hardly
+a year passes that this Government is not invited to national participation
+at some important foreign center, but often on too short notice to permit
+of recourse to Congress for the power and means to do so. My predecessors
+have suggested the advisability of providing by a general enactment and a
+standing appropriation for accepting such invitations and for
+representation of this country by a commission. This plan has my cordial
+approval.
+
+I trust that the Belgian restrictions on the importation of cattle from the
+United States, originally adopted as a sanitary precaution, will at an
+early day be relaxed as to their present features of hardship and
+discrimination, so as to admit live cattle under due regulation of their
+slaughter after landing. I am hopeful, too, of favorable change in the
+Belgian treatment of our preserved and salted meats. The growth of direct
+trade between the two countries, not alone for Belgian consumption and
+Belgian products, but by way of transit from and to other continental
+states, has been both encouraging and beneficial. No effort will be spared
+to enlarge its advantages by seeking the removal of needless impediments
+and by arrangements for increased commercial exchanges.
+
+The year's events in Central America deserve more than passing mention.
+
+A menacing rupture between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was happily composed by
+the signature of a convention between the parties, with the concurrence of
+the Guatemalan representative as a mediator, the act being negotiated and
+signed on board the United States steamer Alert, then lying in Central
+American waters. It is believed that the good offices of our envoy and of
+the commander of that vessel contributed toward this gratifying outcome.
+
+In my last annual message the situation was presented with respect to the
+diplomatic representation of this Government in Central America created by
+the association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador under the title of the
+Greater Republic of Central America, and the delegation of their
+international functions to the Diet thereof. While the representative
+character of the Diet was recognized by my predecessor and has been
+confirmed during my Administration by receiving its accredited envoy and
+granting exequaturs to consuls commissioned under its authority, that
+recognition was qualified by the distinct understanding that the
+responsibility of each of the component sovereign Republics toward the
+United States remained wholly unaffected.
+
+This proviso was needful inasmuch as the compact of the three Republics was
+at the outset an association whereby certain representative functions were
+delegated to a tripartite commission rather than a federation possessing
+centralized powers of government and administration. In this view of their
+relation and of the relation of the United States to the several Republics,
+a change in the representation of this country in Central America was
+neither recommended by the Executive nor initiated by Congress, thus
+leaving one of our envoys accredited, as heretofore, separately to two
+States of the Greater Republic, Nicaragua and Salvador, and to a third
+State, Costa Rica, which was not a party to the compact, while our other
+envoy was similarly accredited to a union State, Honduras, and a nonunion
+State, Guatemala. The result has been that the one has presented
+credentials only to the President of Costa Rica, the other having been
+received only by the Government of Guatemala.
+
+Subsequently the three associated Republics entered into negotiations for
+taking the steps forecast in the original compact. A convention of their
+delegates framed for them a federal constitution under the name of the
+United States of Central America, and provided for a central federal
+government and legislature. Upon ratification by the constituent States,
+the 1st of November last was fixed for the new system to go into operation.
+Within a few weeks thereafter the plan was severely tested by revolutionary
+movements arising, with a consequent demand for unity of action on the part
+of the military power of the federal States to suppress them. Under this
+strain the new union seems to have been weakened through the withdrawal of
+its more important members. This Government was not officially advised of
+the installation of the federation and has maintained an attitude of
+friendly expectancy, while in no wise relinquishing the position held from
+the outset that the responsibilities of the several States toward us
+remained unaltered by their tentative relations among themselves.
+
+The Nicaragua Canal Commission, under the chairmanship of Rear-Admiral John
+G. Walker, appointed July 24, 1897, under the authority of a provision in
+the sundry civil act of June 4 of that year, has nearly completed its
+labors, and the results of its exhaustive inquiry into the proper route,
+the feasibility, and the cost of construction of an interoceanic canal by a
+Nicaraguan route will be laid before you. In the performance of its task
+the commission received all possible courtesy and assistance from the
+Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which thus testified their
+appreciation of the importance of giving a speedy and practical outcome to
+the great project that has for so many years engrossed the attention of the
+respective countries.
+
+As the scope of the recent inquiry embraced the whole subject, with the aim
+of making plans and surveys for a canal by the most convenient route, it
+necessarily included a review of the results of previous surveys and plans,
+and in particular those adopted by the Maritime Canal Company under its
+existing concessions from Nicaragua and Costa Rica, so that to this extent
+those grants necessarily hold as essential a part in the deliberations and
+conclusions of the Canal Commission as they have held and must needs hold
+in the discussion of the matter by the Congress. Under these circumstances
+and in view of overtures made to the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa
+Rica by other parties for a new canal concession predicated on the assumed
+approaching lapse of the contracts of the Maritime Canal Company with those
+States, I have not hesitated to express my conviction that considerations
+of expediency and international policy as between the several governments
+interested in the construction and control of an interoceanic canal by this
+route require the maintenance of the status quo until the Canal Commission
+shall have reported and the United States Congress shall have had the
+opportunity to pass finally upon the whole matter during the present
+session, without prejudice by reason of any change in the existing
+conditions.
+
+Nevertheless, it appears that the Government of Nicaragua, as one of its
+last sovereign acts before merging its powers in those of the newly formed
+United States of Central America, has granted an optional concession to
+another association, to become effective on the expiration of the present
+grant. It does not appear what surveys have been made or what route is
+proposed under this contingent grant, so that an examination of the
+feasibility of its plans is necessarily not embraced in the report of the
+Canal Commission. All these circumstances suggest the urgency of some
+definite action by the Congress at this session if the labors of the past
+are to be utilized and the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a
+practical waterway is to be realized. That the construction of such a
+maritime highway is now more than ever indispensable to that intimate and
+ready intercommunication between our eastern and western seaboards demanded
+by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the prospective expansion of
+our influence and commerce in the Pacific, and that our national policy now
+more imperatively than ever calls for its control by this Government, are
+propositions which I doubt not the Congress will duly appreciate and wisely
+act upon.
+
+A convention providing for the revival of the late United States and
+Chilean Claims Commission and the consideration of claims which were duly
+presented to the late commission, but not considered because of the
+expiration of the time limited for the duration of the commission, was
+signed May 24, 1897, and has remained unacted upon by the Senate. The term
+therein fixed for effecting the exchange of ratifications having elapsed,
+the convention falls unless the time be extended by amendment, which I am
+endeavoring to bring about, with the friendly concurrence of the Chilean
+Government.
+
+The United States has not been an indifferent spectator of the
+extraordinary events transpiring in the Chinese Empire, whereby portions of
+its maritime provinces are passing under the control of various European
+powers; but the prospect that the vast commerce which the energy of our
+citizens and the necessity of our staple productions for Chinese uses has
+built up in those regions may not be prejudiced through any exclusive
+treatment by the new occupants has obviated the need of our country
+becoming an actor in the scene. Our position among nations, having a large
+Pacific coast and a constantly expanding direct trade with the farther
+Orient, gives us the equitable claim to consideration and friendly
+treatment in this regard, and it will be my aim to subserve our large
+interests in that quarter by all means appropriate to the constant policy
+of our Government. The territories of Kiao-chow, of Wei-hai-wei, and of
+Port Arthur and Talienwan, leased to Germany, Great Britain, and Russia,
+respectively, for terms of years, will, it is announced, be open to
+international commerce during such alien occupation; and if no
+discriminating treatment of American citizens and their trade be found to
+exist or be hereafter developed, the desire of this Government would appear
+to be realized.
+
+In this relation, as showing the volume and value of our exchanges with
+China and the peculiarly favorable conditions which exist for their
+expansion in the normal course of trade, I refer to the communication
+addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the Secretary
+of the Treasury on the 14th of last June, with its accompanying letter of
+the Secretary of State, recommending an appropriation for a commission to
+study the commercial and industrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and
+report as to the opportunities for and obstacles to the enlargement of
+markets in China for the raw products and manufactures of the United
+States. Action was not taken thereon during the late session. I cordially
+urge that the recommendation receive at your hands the consideration which
+its importance and timeliness merit.
+
+Meanwhile there may be just ground for disquietude in view of the unrest
+and revival of the old sentiment of opposition and prejudice to alien
+people which pervades certain of the Chinese provinces. As in the case of
+the attacks upon our citizens in Szechuen and at Kutien in 1895, the United
+States minister has been instructed to secure the fullest measure of
+protection, both local and imperial, for any menaced American interests,
+and to demand, in case of lawless injury to person or property, instant
+reparation appropriate to the case. War ships have been stationed at
+Tientsin for more ready observation of the disorders which have invaded
+even the Chinese capital, so as to be in a position to act should need
+arise, while a guard of marines has been sent to Peking to afford the
+minister the same measure of authoritative protection as the
+representatives of other nations have been constrained to employ.
+
+Following close upon the rendition of the award of my predecessor as
+arbitrator of the claim of the Italian subject Cerruti against the Republic
+of Colombia, differences arose between the parties to the arbitration in
+regard to the scope and extension of the award, of which certain articles
+were contested by Colombia, while Italy claimed their literal fulfillment.
+The award having been made by the President of the United States, as an act
+of friendly consideration and with the sole view to an impartial
+composition of the matter in dispute, I could not but feel deep concern at
+such a miscarriage, and while unable to accept the Colombian theory that I,
+in my official capacity, possessed continuing functions as arbitrator, with
+power to interpret or revise the terms of the award, my best efforts were
+lent to bring the parties to a harmonious agreement as to the execution of
+its provisions.
+
+A naval demonstration by Italy resulted in an engagement to pay the
+liabilities claimed upon their ascertainment; but this apparent disposition
+of the controversy was followed by a rupture of diplomatic intercourse
+between Colombia and Italy, which still continues, although, fortunately,
+without acute symptoms having supervened. Notwithstanding this, efforts are
+reported to be continuing for the ascertainment of Colombia's contingent
+liability on account of Cerruti's debts under the fifth article of the
+award.
+
+A claim of an American citizen against the Dominican Republic for a public
+bridge over the Ozama River, which has been in diplomatic controversy for
+several years, has been settled by expert arbitration and an award in favor
+of the claimant amounting to about $90,000. It, however, remains unpaid,
+despite urgent demands for its settlement according to the terms of the
+compact.
+
+There is now every prospect that the participation of the United States in
+the Universal Exposition to be held in Paris in 1900 will be on a scale
+commensurate with the advanced position held by our products and industries
+in the world's chief marts.
+
+The preliminary report of Mr. Moses P. Handy, who, under the act approved
+July 19, 1897, was appointed special commissioner with a view to securing
+all attainable information necessary to a full and complete understanding
+by Congress in regard to the participation of this Government in the Paris
+Exposition, was laid before you by my message of December 6, 1897, and
+showed the large opportunities opened to make known our national progress
+in arts, science, and manufactures, as well as the urgent need of immediate
+and adequate provision to enable due advantage thereof to be taken. Mr.
+Handy's death soon afterwards rendered it necessary for another to take up
+and complete his unfinished work, and on January 11 last Mr. Thomas W.
+Cridler, Third Assistant Secretary of State, was designated to fulfill that
+task. His report was laid before you by my message of June 14, 1898, with
+the gratifying result of awakening renewed interest in the projected
+display. By a provision in the sundry civil appropriation act of July 1,
+1898, a sum not to exceed $650,000 was allotted for the organization of a
+commission to care for the proper preparation and installation of American
+exhibits and for the display of suitable exhibits by the several Executive
+Departments, particularly by the Department of Agriculture, the Fish
+Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution, in representation of the
+Government of the United States.
+
+Pursuant to that enactment I appointed Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago,
+commissioner-general, with an assistant commissioner-general and a
+secretary. Mr. Peck at once proceeded to Paris, where his success in
+enlarging the scope and variety of the United States exhibit has been most
+gratifying. Notwithstanding the comparatively limited area of the
+exposition site--less than one-half that of the World's Fair at
+Chicago--the space assigned to the United States has been increased from
+the absolute allotment of 157,403 square feet reported by Mr. Handy to some
+202,000 square feet, with corresponding augmentation of the field for a
+truly characteristic representation of the various important branches of
+our country's development. Mr. Peck's report will be laid before you. In my
+judgment its recommendations will call for your early consideration,
+especially as regards an increase of the appropriation to at least one
+million dollars in all, so that not only may the assigned space be fully
+taken up by the best possible exhibits in every class, but the preparation
+and installation be on so perfect a scale as to rank among the first in
+that unparalleled competition of artistic and inventive production, and
+thus counterbalance the disadvantage with which we start as compared with
+other countries whose appropriations are on a more generous scale and whose
+preparations are in a state of much greater forwardness than our own.
+
+Where our artisans have the admitted capacity to excel, where our inventive
+genius has initiated many of the grandest discoveries of these later days
+of the century, and where the native resources of our land are as limitless
+as they are valuable to supply the world's needs, it is our province, as it
+should be our earnest care, to lead in the march of human progress, and not
+rest content with any secondary place. Moreover, if this be due to
+ourselves, it is no less due to the great French nation whose guests we
+become, and which has in so many ways testified its wish and hope that our
+participation shall befit the place the two peoples have won in the field
+of universal development.
+
+The commercial arrangement made with France on the 28th of May, 1898, under
+the provisions of section 3 of the tariff act of 1897, went into effect on
+the 1st day of June following. It has relieved a portion of our export
+trade from serious embarrassment. Further negotiations are now pending
+under section 4 of the same act with a view to the increase of trade
+between the two countries to their mutual advantage. Negotiations with
+other governments, in part interrupted by the war with Spain, are in
+progress under both sections of the tariff act. I hope to be able to
+announce some of the results of these negotiations during the present
+session of Congress.
+
+Negotiations to the same end with Germany have been set on foot. Meanwhile
+no effort has been relaxed to convince the Imperial Government of the
+thoroughness of our inspection of pork products for exportation, and it is
+trusted that the efficient administration of this measure by the Department
+of Agriculture will be recognized as a guaranty of the healthfulness of the
+food staples we send abroad to countries where their use is large and
+necessary.
+
+I transmitted to the Senate on the 10th of February last information
+touching the prohibition against the importation of fresh fruits from this
+country, which had then recently been decreed by Germany on the ground of
+danger of disseminating the San Jose scale insect. This precautionary
+measure was justified by Germany on the score of the drastic steps taken in
+several States of the Union against the spread of the pest, the elaborate
+reports of the Department of Agriculture being put in evidence to show the
+danger to German fruit-growing interests should the scale obtain a lodgment
+in that country. Temporary relief was afforded in the case of large
+consignments of fruit then on the way by inspection and admission when
+found noninfected. Later the prohibition was extended to dried fruits of
+every kind, but was relaxed so as to apply only to unpeeled fruit and fruit
+waste. As was to be expected, the alarm reached to other countries, and
+Switzerland has adopted a similar inhibition. Efforts are in progress to
+induce the German and Swiss Governments to relax the prohibition in favor
+of dried fruits shown to have been cured under circumstances rendering the
+existence of animal life impossible.
+
+Our relations with Great Britain have continued on the most friendly
+footing. Assenting to our request, the protection of Americans and their
+interests in Spanish jurisdiction was assumed by the diplomatic and
+consular representatives of Great Britain, who fulfilled their delicate and
+arduous trust with tact and zeal, eliciting high commendation. I may be
+allowed to make fitting allusion to the instance of Mr. Ramsden, Her
+Majesty's consul at Santiago de Cuba, whose untimely death after
+distinguished service and untiring effort during the siege of that city was
+sincerely lamented.
+
+In the early part of April last, pursuant to a request made at the instance
+of the Secretary of State by the British ambassador at this capital, the
+Canadian government granted facilities for the passage of four United
+States revenue cutters from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast by way of
+the Canadian canals and the St. Lawrence River. The vessels had reached
+Lake Ontario and were there awaiting the opening of navigation when war was
+declared between the United States and Spain. Her Majesty's Government
+thereupon, by a communication of the latter part of April, stated that the
+permission granted before the outbreak of hostilities would not be
+withdrawn provided the United States Government gave assurance that the
+vessels in question would proceed direct to a United States port without
+engaging in any hostile operation. This Government promptly agreed to the
+stipulated condition, it being understood that the vessels would not be
+prohibited from resisting any hostile attack.
+
+It will give me especial satisfaction if I shall be authorized to
+communicate to you a favorable conclusion of the pending negotiations with
+Great Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. It is the earnest wish
+of this Government to remove all sources of discord and irritation in our
+relations with the neighboring Dominion. The trade between the two
+countries is constantly increasing, and it is important to both countries
+that all reasonable facilities should be granted for its development.
+
+The Government of Greece strongly urges the onerousness of the duty here
+imposed upon the currants of that country, amounting to 100 per cent or
+more of their market value. This fruit is stated to be exclusively a Greek
+product, not coming into competition with any domestic product. The
+question of reciprocal commercial relations with Greece, including the
+restoration of currants to the free list, is under consideration.
+
+The long-standing claim of Bernard Campbell for damages for injuries
+sustained from a violent assault committed against him by military
+authorities in the island of Haiti has been settled by the agreement of
+that Republic to pay him $10,000 in American gold. Of this sum $5,000 has
+already been paid. It is hoped that other pending claims of American
+citizens against that Republic may be amicably adjusted.
+
+Pending the consideration by the Senate of the treaty signed June 1897, by
+the plenipotentiaries of the United States and of the Republic of Hawaii,
+providing for the annexation of the islands, a joint resolution to
+accomplish the same purpose by accepting the offered cession and
+incorporating the ceded territory into the Union was adopted by the
+Congress and approved July 7, 1898. I thereupon directed the United States
+steamship Philadelphia to convey Rear-Admiral Miller to Honolulu, and
+intrusted to his hands this important legislative act, to be delivered to
+the President of the Republic of Hawaii, with whom the Admiral and the
+United States minister were authorized to make appropriate arrangements for
+transferring the sovereignty of the islands to the United States. This was
+simply but impressively accomplished on the 12th of August last by the
+delivery of a certified copy of the resolution to President Dole, who
+thereupon yielded up to the representative of the Government of the United
+States the sovereignty and public property of the Hawaiian Islands.
+
+Pursuant to the terms of the joint resolution and in exercise of the
+authority thereby conferred upon me, I directed that the civil, judicial,
+and military powers theretofore exercised by the officers of the Government
+of the Republic of Hawaii should continue to be exercised by those officers
+until Congress shall provide a government for the incorporated territory,
+subject to my power to remove such officers and to fill vacancies. The
+President, officers, and troops of the Republic thereupon took the oath of
+allegiance to the United States, thus providing for the uninterrupted
+continuance of all the administrative and municipal functions of the
+annexed territory until Congress shall otherwise enact.
+
+Following the further provision of the joint resolution, I appointed the
+Hons. Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, John T. Morgan, of Alabama, Robert R.
+Hitt, of Illinois, Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii, and Walter F. Frear, of
+Hawaii, as commissioners to confer and recommend to Congress such
+legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands as they should deem necessary
+or proper. The commissioners having fulfilled the mission confided to them,
+their report will be laid before you at an early day. It is believed that
+their recommendations will have the earnest consideration due to the
+magnitude of the responsibility resting upon you to give such shape to the
+relationship of those mid-Pacific lands to our home Union as will benefit
+both in the highest degree, realizing the aspirations of the community that
+has cast its lot with us and elected to share our political heritage, while
+at the same time justifying the foresight of those who for three-quarters
+of a century have looked to the assimilation of Hawaii as a natural and
+inevitable consummation, in harmony with our needs and in fulfillment of
+our cherished traditions.
+
+The questions heretofore pending between Hawaii and Japan growing out of
+the alleged mistreatment of Japanese treaty immigrants were, I am pleased
+to say, adjusted before the act of transfer by the payment of a reasonable
+indemnity to the Government of Japan.
+
+Under the provisions of the joint resolution, the existing customs
+relations of the Hawaiian Islands with the United States and with other
+countries remain unchanged until legislation shall otherwise provide. The
+consuls of Hawaii here and in foreign countries continue to fulfill their
+commercial agencies, while the United States consulate at Honolulu is
+maintained for all appropriate services pertaining to trade and the
+revenue. It would be desirable that all foreign consuls in the Hawaiian
+Islands should receive new exequaturs from this Government.
+
+The attention of Congress is called to the fact that, our consular offices
+having ceased to exist in Hawaii and being about to cease in other
+countries coming under the sovereignty of the United States, the provisions
+for the relief and transportation of destitute American seamen in these
+countries under our consular regulations will in consequence terminate. It
+is proper, therefore, that new legislation should be enacted upon this
+subject in order to meet the changed conditions.
+
+The interpretation of certain provisions of the extradition convention of
+December 11, 1861, has been at various times the occasion of controversy
+with the Government of Mexico. An acute difference arose in the case of the
+Mexican demand for the delivery of Jesus Guerra, who, having led a
+marauding expedition near the border with the proclaimed purpose of
+initiating an insurrection against President Diaz, escaped into Texas.
+Extradition was refused on the ground that the alleged offense was
+political in its character, and therefore came within the treaty proviso of
+nonsurrender. The Mexican contention was that the exception only related to
+purely political offenses, and that as Guerra's acts were admixed with the
+common crime of murder, arson, kidnaping, and robbery, the option of
+nondelivery became void, a position which this Government was unable to
+admit in view of the received international doctrine and practice in the
+matter. The Mexican Government, in view of this, gave notice January 24,
+1898, of the termination of the convention, to take effect twelve months
+from that date, at the same time inviting the conclusion of a new
+convention, toward which negotiations are on foot.
+
+In this relation I may refer to the necessity of some amendment of our
+existing extradition statute. It is a common stipulation of such treaties
+that neither party shall be bound to give up its own citizens, with the
+added proviso in one of our treaties, that with Japan, that it may
+surrender if it see fit. It is held in this country by an almost uniform
+course of decisions that where a treaty negatives the obligation to
+surrender the President is not invested with legal authority to act. The
+conferment of such authority would be in the line of that sound morality
+which shrinks from affording secure asylum to the author of a heinous
+crime. Again, statutory provision might well be made for what is styled
+extradition by way of transit, whereby a fugitive surrendered by one
+foreign government to another may be conveyed across the territory of the
+United States to the jurisdiction of the demanding state. A recommendation
+in this behalf made in the President's message of 1886 was not acted upon.
+The matter is presented for your consideration.
+
+The problem of the Mexican free zone has been often discussed with regard
+to its inconvenience as a provocative of smuggling into the United States
+along an extensive and thinly guarded land border. The effort made by the
+joint resolution of March 1, 1895, to remedy the abuse charged by
+suspending the privilege of free transportation in bond across the
+territory of the United States to Mexico failed of good result, as is
+stated in Report No. 702 of the House of Representatives, submitted in the
+last session, March 11, 1898. As the question is one to be conveniently met
+by wise concurrent legislation of the two countries looking to the
+protection of the revenues by harmonious measures operating equally on
+either side of the boundary, rather than by conventional arrangements, I
+suggest that Congress consider the advisability of authorizing and inviting
+a conference of representatives of the Treasury Departments of the United
+States and Mexico to consider the subject in all its complex bearings, and
+make report with pertinent recommendations to the respective Governments
+for the information and consideration of their Congresses.
+
+The Mexican Water Boundary Commission has adjusted all matters submitted to
+it to the satisfaction of both Governments save in three important
+cases--that of the "Chamizal" at El Paso, Tex., where the two commissioners
+failed to agree, and wherein, for this case only, this Government has
+proposed to Mexico the addition of a third member; the proposed elimination
+of what are known as "Bancos," small isolated islands formed by the cutting
+off of bends in the Rio Grande, from the operation of the treaties of 1884
+and 1889, recommended by the commissioners and approved by this Government,
+but still under consideration by Mexico; and the subject of the "Equitable
+distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande," for which the commissioners
+recommended an international dam and reservoir, approved by Mexico, but
+still under consideration by this Government. Pending these questions it is
+necessary to extend the life of the commission, which expires December 23
+next.
+
+The coronation of the young Queen of the Netherlands was made the occasion
+of fitting congratulations.
+
+The claim of Victor H. McCord against Peru, which for a number of years has
+been pressed by this Government and has on several occasions attracted the
+attention of the Congress, has been satisfactorily adjusted. A protocol was
+signed May 17, 1898, whereby, the fact of liability being admitted, the
+question of the amount to be awarded was submitted to the chief justice of
+Canada as sole arbitrator. His award sets the indemnity due the claimant at
+$40,000.
+
+The Government of Peru has given the prescribed notification of its
+intention to abrogate the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation
+concluded with this country August 31, 1887. As that treaty contains many
+important provisions necessary to the maintenance of commerce and good
+relations, which could with difficulty be replaced by the negotiation of
+renewed provisions within the brief twelve months intervening before the
+treaty terminates, I have invited suggestions by Peru as to the particular
+provisions it is desired to annul, in the hope of reaching an arrangement
+whereby the remaining articles may be provisionally saved.
+
+His Majesty the Czar having announced his purpose to raise the Imperial
+Russian mission at this capital to the rank of an embassy, I responded,
+under the authority conferred by the act of March 3, 1893, by commissioning
+and accrediting the actual representative at St. Petersburg in the capacity
+of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The Russian ambassador to
+this country has since presented his credentials.
+
+The proposal of the Czar for a general reduction of the vast military
+establishments that weigh so heavily upon many peoples in time of peace was
+communicated to this Government with an earnest invitation to be
+represented in the conference which it is contemplated to assemble with a
+view to discussing the means of accomplishing so desirable a result. His
+Majesty was at once informed of the cordial sympathy of this Government
+with the principle involved in his exalted proposal and of the readiness of
+the United States to take part in the conference. The active military force
+of the United States, as measured by our population, territorial area, and
+taxable wealth, is, and under any conceivable prospective conditions must
+continue to be, in time of peace so conspicuously less than that of the
+armed powers to whom the Czar's appeal is especially addressed that the
+question can have for us no practical importance save as marking an
+auspicious step toward the betterment of the condition of the modern
+peoples and the cultivation of peace and good will among them; but in this
+view it behooves us as a nation to lend countenance and aid to the
+beneficent project.
+
+The claims of owners of American sealing vessels for seizure by Russian
+cruisers in Bering Sea are being pressed to a settlement. The equities of
+the cases justify the expectation that a measure of reparation will
+eventually be accorded in harmony with precedent and in the light of the
+proven facts.
+
+The recommendation made in my special message of April 27 last is renewed,
+that appropriation be made to reimburse the master and owners of the
+Russian bark Hans for wrongful arrest of the master and detention of the
+vessel in February, 1896, by officers of the United States district court
+for the southern district of Mississippi. The papers accompanying my said
+message make out a most meritorious claim and justify the urgency with
+which it has been presented by the Government of Russia.
+
+Malietoa Laupepa, King of Samoa, died on August 22 last. According to
+Article I of the general act of Berlin, "his successor shall be duly
+elected according to the laws and customs of Samoa."
+
+Arrangements having been agreed upon between the signatories of the general
+act for the return of Mataafa and the other exiled Samoan chiefs, they were
+brought from Jaluit by a German war vessel and landed at Apia on September
+18 last.
+
+Whether the death of Malietoa and the return of his old-time rival Mataafa
+will add to the undesirable complications which the execution of the
+tripartite general act has heretofore developed remains to be seen. The
+efforts of this Government will, as heretofore, be addressed toward a
+harmonious and exact fulfillment of the terms of the international
+engagement to which the United States became a party in 1889.
+
+The Cheek claim against Siam, after some five years of controversy, has
+been adjusted by arbitration under an agreement signed July 6, 1897, an
+award of 706,721 ticals (about $187,987.78 ), with release of the Cheek
+estate from mortgage claims, having been rendered March 21, 1898, in favor
+of the claimant by the arbitrator, Sir Nicholas John Hannen, British chief
+justice for China and Japan.
+
+An envoy from Siam has been accredited to this Government and has presented
+his credentials.
+
+Immediately upon the outbreak of the war with Spain the Swiss Government,
+fulfilling the high mission it has deservedly assumed as the patron of the
+International Red Cross, proposed to the United States and Spain that they
+should severally recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vivendi,
+during the continuance of hostilities, the additional articles proposed by
+the international conference of Geneva, October 20, 1868, extending the
+effects of the existing Red Cross convention of 1864 to the conduct of
+naval war. Following the example set by France and Germany in 1870 in
+adopting such a modus vivendi, and in view of the accession of the United
+States to those additional articles in 1882, although the exchange of
+ratifications thereof still remained uneffected, the Swiss proposal was
+promptly and cordially accepted by us, and simultaneously by Spain.
+
+This Government feels a keen satisfaction in having thus been enabled to
+testify its adherence to the broadest principles of humanity even amidst
+the clash of war, and it is to be hoped that the extension of the Red Cross
+compact to hostilities by sea as well as on land may soon become an
+accomplished fact through the general promulgation of the additional naval
+Red Cross articles by the maritime powers now parties to the convention of
+1864.
+
+The important question of the claim of Switzerland to the perpetual
+cantonal allegiance of American citizens of Swiss origin has not made
+hopeful progress toward a solution, and controversies in this regard still
+continue.
+
+The newly accredited envoy of the United States to the Ottoman Porte
+carries instructions looking to the disposal of matters in controversy with
+Turkey for a number of years. He is especially charged to press for a just
+settlement of our claims for indemnity by reason of the destruction of the
+property of American missionaries resident in that country during the
+Armenian troubles of 1895, as well as for the recognition of older claims
+of equal justness.
+
+He is also instructed to seek an adjustment of the dispute growing out of
+the refusal of Turkey to recognize the acquired citizenship of Ottoman-born
+persons naturalized in the United States since 1869 without prior imperial
+consent, and in the same general relation he is directed to endeavor to
+bring about a solution of the question which has more or less acutely
+existed since 1869 concerning the jurisdictional rights of the United
+States in matters of criminal procedure and punishment under Article IV of
+the treaty of 1830. This latter difficulty grows out of a verbal
+difference, claimed by Turkey to be essential, between the original Turkish
+text and the promulgated translation.
+
+After more than two years from the appointment of a consul of this country
+to Erzerum, he has received his exequatur.
+
+The arbitral tribunal appointed under the treaty of February 2, 1897,
+between Great Britain and Venezuela, to determine the boundary line between
+the latter and the colony of British Guiana, is to convene at Paris during
+the present month. It is a source of much gratification to this Government
+to see the friendly resort of arbitration applied to the settlement of this
+controversy, not alone because of the earnest part we have had in bringing
+about the result, but also because the two members named on behalf of
+Venezuela, Mr. Chief Justice Fuller and Mr. Justice Brewer, chosen from our
+highest court, appropriately testify the continuing interest we feel in the
+definitive adjustment of the question according to the strictest rules of
+justice. The British members, Lord Herschell and Sir Richard Collins, are
+jurists of no less exalted repute, while the fifth member and president of
+the tribunal, M. F. De Martens, has earned a world-wide reputation as an
+authority upon international law.
+
+The claim of Felipe Scandella against Venezuela for arbitrary expulsion and
+injury to his business has been adjusted by the revocation of the order of
+expulsion and by the payment of the sum of $16,000.
+
+I have the satisfaction of being able to state that the Bureau of the
+American Republics, created in 1890 as the organ for promoting commercial
+intercourse and fraternal relations among the countries of the Western
+Hemisphere, has become a more efficient instrument of the wise purposes of
+its founders, and is receiving the cordial support of the contributing
+members of the international union which are actually represented in its
+board of management. A commercial directory, in two volumes, containing a
+mass of statistical matter descriptive of the industrial and commercial
+interests of the various countries, has been printed in English, Spanish,
+Portuguese, and French, and a monthly bulletin published in these four
+languages and distributed in the Latin-American countries as well as in the
+United States has proved to be a valuable medium for disseminating
+information and furthering the varied interests of the international
+union.
+
+During the past year the important work of collecting information of
+practical benefit to American industries and trade through the agency of
+the diplomatic and consular officers has been steadily advanced, and in
+order to lay such data before the public with the least delay the practice
+was begun in January, 1898, of issuing the commercial reports from day to
+day as they are received by the Department of State. It is believed that
+for promptitude as well as fullness of information the service thus
+supplied to our merchants and manufacturers will be found to show sensible
+improvement and to merit the liberal support of Congress.
+
+The experiences of the last year bring forcibly home to us a sense of the
+burdens and the waste of war. We desire, in common with most civilized
+nations, to reduce to the lowest possible point the damage sustained in
+time of war by peaceable trade and commerce. It is true we may suffer in
+such cases less than other communities, but all nations are damaged more or
+less by the state of uneasiness and apprehension into which an outbreak of
+hostilities throws the entire commercial world. It should be our object,
+therefore, to minimize, so far as practicable, this inevitable loss and
+disturbance. This purpose can probably best be accomplished by an
+international agreement to regard all private property at sea as exempt
+from capture or destruction by the forces of belligerent powers. The United
+States Government has for many years advocated this humane and beneficent
+principle, and is now in position to recommend it to other powers without
+the imputation of selfish motives. I therefore suggest for your
+consideration that the Executive be authorized to correspond with the
+governments of the principal maritime powers with a view of incorporating
+into the permanent law of civilized nations the principle of the exemption
+of all private property at sea, not contraband of war, from capture or
+destruction by belligerent powers.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of the Government
+from all sources during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, including
+$64,751,223 received from sale of Pacific railroads, amounted to
+$405,321,335, and its expenditures to $443,168,582. There was collected
+from customs $149,575,062 and from internal revenue $170,900,641. Our
+dutiable imports amounted to $324,635,479, a decrease of $58,156,690 over
+the preceding year, and importations free of duty amounted to $291,414,175,
+a decrease from the preceding year of $90,524,068. Internal-revenue
+receipts exceeded those of the preceding year by $24,212,067.
+
+The total tax collected on distilled spirits was $92,546,999; on
+manufactured tobacco, $36,230,522, and on fermented liquors, $39,515,421.
+We exported merchandise during the year amounting to $1,231,482,330, an
+increase of $180,488,774 from the preceding year.
+
+It is estimated upon the basis of present revenue laws that the receipts of
+the Government for the year ending June 30, 1899, will be $577,874,647, and
+its expenditures $689,874,647, resulting in a deficiency of $112,000,000.
+
+On the 1st of December, 1898, there was held in the Treasury gold coin
+amounting to $138,441,547, gold bullion amounting to $138,502,545, silver
+bullion amounting to $93,359,250, and other forms of money amounting to
+$451,963,981.
+
+On the same date the amount of money of all kinds in circulation, or not
+included in Treasury holdings, was $1,886,879,504, an increase for the year
+of $165,794,966. Estimating our population at 75,194,000 at the time
+mentioned, the per capita circulation was $25.09. On the same date there
+was in the Treasury gold bullion amounting to $138,502,545.
+
+The provisions made for strengthening the resources of the Treasury in
+connection with the war have given increased confidence in the purpose and
+power of the Government to maintain the present standard, and have
+established more firmly than ever the national credit at home and abroad. A
+marked evidence of this is found in the inflow of gold to the Treasury. Its
+net gold holdings on November 1, 1898, were $239,885,162 as compared with
+$153,573,147 on November 1, 1897, and an increase of net cash of
+$207,756,100, November 1, 1897, to $300,238,275, November 1, 1898. The
+present ratio of net Treasury gold to outstanding Government liabilities,
+including United States notes, Treasury notes of 1890, silver certificates,
+currency certificates, standard silver dollars, and fractional silver coin,
+November 1, 1898, was 25.35 per cent, as compared with 16.96 per cent,
+November 1, 1897.
+
+I renew so much of my recommendation of December, 1897, as follows: That
+when any of the United States notes are presented for redemption in gold
+and are redeemed in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart and only
+paid out in exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty. If the holder of
+the United States note prefers the gold and gets it from the Government, he
+should not receive back from the Government a United States note without
+paying gold in exchange for it. The reason for this is made all the more
+apparent when the Government issues an interest-bearing debt to provide
+gold for the redemption of United States notes--a non-interest-bearing
+debt. Surely it should not pay them out again except on demand and for
+gold. If they are put out in any other way, they may return again, to he
+followed by another bond issue to redeem them--another interest-bearing
+debt to redeem a non-interest-bearing debt. This recommendation was made in
+the belief that such provisions of law would insure to a greater degree the
+safety of the present standard, and better protect our currency from the
+dangers to which it is subjected from a disturbance in the general business
+conditions of the country.
+
+In my judgment the present condition of the Treasury amply justifies the
+immediate enactment of the legislation recommended one year ago, under
+which a portion of the gold holdings should be placed in a trust fund from
+which greenbacks should be redeemed upon presentation, but when once
+redeemed should not thereafter be paid out except for gold.
+
+It is not to be inferred that other legislation relating to our currency is
+not required; on the contrary, there is an obvious demand for it.
+
+The importance of adequate provision which will insure to our future a
+money standard related as our money standard now is to that of our
+commercial rivals is generally recognized.
+
+The companion proposition that our domestic paper currency shall be kept
+safe and yet be so related to the needs of our industries and internal
+commerce as to be adequate and responsive to such needs is a proposition
+scarcely less important. The subject, in all its parts, is commended to the
+wise consideration of the Congress.
+
+The annexation of Hawaii and the changed relations of the United States to
+Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines resulting from the war, compel the
+prompt adoption of a maritime policy by the United States. There should be
+established regular and frequent steamship communication, encouraged by the
+United States, under the American flag, with the newly acquired islands.
+Spain furnished to its colonies, at an annual cost of about $2,000,000,
+steamship lines communicating with a portion of the world's markets, as
+well as with trade centers of the home Government. The United States will
+not undertake to do less. It is our duty to furnish the people of Hawaii
+with facilities, under national control, for their export and import trade.
+It will be conceded that the present situation calls for legislation which
+shall be prompt, durable, and liberal.
+
+The part which American merchant vessels and their seamen performed in the
+war with Spain demonstrates that this service, furnishing both pickets and
+the second line of defense, is a national necessity, and should be
+encouraged in every constitutional way. Details and methods for the
+accomplishment of this purpose are discussed in the report of the Secretary
+of the Treasury, to which the attention of Congress is respectfully
+invited.
+
+In my last annual message I recommended that Congress authorize the
+appointment of a commission for the purpose of making systematic
+investigations with reference to the cause and prevention of yellow fever.
+This matter has acquired an increased importance as a result of the
+military occupation of the island of Cuba and the commercial intercourse
+between this island and the United States which we have every reason to
+expect. The sanitary problems connected with our new relations with the
+island of Cuba and the acquisition of Puerto Rico are no less important
+than those relating to finance, commerce, and administration. It is my
+earnest desire that these problems may be considered by competent experts
+and that everything may be done which the most recent advances in sanitary
+science can offer for the protection of the health of our soldiers in those
+islands and of our citizens who are exposed to the dangers of infection
+from the importation of yellow fever. I therefore renew my recommendation
+that the authority of Congress may be given and a suitable appropriation
+made to provide for a commission of experts to be appointed for the purpose
+indicated.
+
+Under the act of Congress approved April 26, 1898, authorizing the
+President in his discretion, "upon a declaration of war by Congress, or a
+declaration by Congress that war exists," I directed the increase of the
+Regular Army to the maximum of 62,000, authorized in said act.
+
+There are now in the Regular Army 57,862 officers and men. In said act it
+was provided--
+
+That at the end of any war in which the United States may become
+involved the Army shall be reduced to a peace basis by the transfer
+in the same arm of the service or absorption by promotion or honorable
+discharge, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may establish, of
+supernumerary commissioned officers and the honorable discharge or transfer
+of supernumerary enlisted men; and nothing contained in this act shall be
+construed as authorizing the permanent increase of the commissioned or
+enlisted force of the Regular Army beyond that now provided by the law in
+force prior to the passage of this act, except as to the increase of
+twenty-five majors provided for in section 1 hereof. The importance of
+legislation for the permanent increase of the Army is therefore manifest,
+and the recommendation of the Secretary of War for that purpose has my
+unqualified approval. There can be no question that at this time, and
+probably for some time in the future, 100,000 men will be none too many to
+meet the necessities of the situation. At all events, whether that number
+shall be required permanently or not, the power should be given to the
+President to enlist that force if in his discretion it should be necessary;
+and the further discretion should be given him to recruit for the Army
+within the above limit from the inhabitants of the islands with the
+government of which we are charged. It is my purpose to muster out the
+entire Volunteer Army as soon as the Congress shall provide for the
+increase of the regular establishment. This will be only an act of justice
+and will be much appreciated by the brave men who left their homes and
+employments to help the country in its emergency.
+
+In my last annual message I stated: The Union Pacific Railway, main line,
+was sold under the decree of the United States court for the district of
+Nebraska on the 1st and 2d of November of this year. The amount due the
+Government consisted of the principal of the subsidy bonds, $27,236,512,
+and the accrued interest thereon, $31,211,711.75, making the total
+indebtedness $58,448,223.75. The bid at the sale covered the first-mortgage
+lien and the entire mortgage claim of the Government, principal and
+interest. This left the Kansas Pacific case unconcluded. By a decree of the
+court in that case an upset price for the property was fixed at a sum which
+would yield to the Government only $2,500,000 upon its lien. The sale, at
+the instance of the Government, was postponed first to December 15, 1897,
+and later, upon the application of the United States, was postponed to the
+16th day of February, 1898.
+
+Having satisfied myself that the interests of the Government required that
+an effort should be made to obtain a larger sum, I directed the Secretary
+of the Treasury, under the act passed March 3, 1887, to pay out of the
+Treasury to the persons entitled to receive the same the amounts due upon
+all prior mortgages upon the Eastern and Middle divisions of said railroad
+out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, whereupon the
+Attorney-General prepared a petition to be presented to the court, offering
+to redeem said prior liens in such manner as the court might direct, and
+praying that thereupon the United States might be held to be subrogated to
+all the rights of said prior lien holders and that a receiver might be
+appointed to take possession of the mortgaged premises and maintain and
+operate the same until the court or Congress otherwise directed. Thereupon
+the reorganization committee agreed that if said petition was withdrawn and
+the sale allowed to proceed on the 16th of February, 1898, they would bid a
+sum at the sale which would realize to the Government the entire principal
+of its debt, $6,303,000.
+
+Believing that no better price could be obtained and appreciating the
+difficulties under which the Government would labor if it should become the
+purchaser of the road at the sale, in the absence of any authority by
+Congress to take charge of and operate the road I directed that upon the
+guaranty of a minimum bid which should give the Government the principal of
+its debt the sale should proceed. By this transaction the Government
+secured an advance of $3,803,000 over and above the sum which the court had
+fixed as the upset price, and which the reorganization committee had
+declared was the maximum which they would pay for the property.
+
+It is a gratifying fact that the result of these proceedings against the
+Union Pacific system and the Kansas Pacific line is that the Government has
+received on account of its subsidy claim the sum of $64,751,223.75, an
+increase of $18,997,163.76 over the sum which the reorganization committee
+originally agreed to bid for the joint property, the Government receiving
+its whole claim, principal and interest, on the Union Pacific, and the
+principal of its debt on the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
+
+Steps had been taken to foreclose the Government's lien upon the Central
+Pacific Railroad Company, but before action was commenced Congress passed
+an act, approved July 7, 1898, creating a commission consisting of the
+Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary of the
+Interior, and their successors in office, with full power to settle the
+indebtedness to the Government growing out of the issue of bonds in aid of
+the construction of the Central Pacific and Western Pacific bond-aided
+railroads, subject to the approval of the President.
+
+No report has yet been made to me by the commission thus created. Whatever
+action is had looking to a settlement of the indebtedness in accordance
+with the act referred to will be duly submitted to the Congress.
+
+I deem it my duty to call to the attention of Congress the condition of the
+present building occupied by the Department of Justice. The business of
+that Department has increased very greatly since it was established in its
+present quarters. The building now occupied by it is neither large enough
+nor of suitable arrangement for the proper accommodation of the business of
+the Department. The Supervising Architect has pronounced it unsafe and
+unsuited for the use to which it is put. The Attorney-General in his report
+states that the library of the Department is upon the fourth floor, and
+that all the space allotted to it is so crowded with books as to
+dangerously overload the structure. The first floor is occupied by the
+Court of Claims. The building is of an old and dilapidated appearance,
+unsuited to the dignity which should attach to this important Department.
+
+A proper regard for the safety, comfort, and convenience of the officers
+and employees would justify the expenditure of a liberal sum of money in
+the erection of a new building of commodious proportions and handsome
+appearance upon the very advantageous site already secured for that
+purpose, including the ground occupied by the present structure and
+adjoining vacant lot, comprising in all a frontage of 201 feet on
+Pennsylvania avenue and a depth of 136 feet.
+
+In this connection I may likewise refer to the inadequate accommodations
+provided for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wisdom of
+making provision for the erection of a separate building for the court and
+its officers and library upon available ground near the Capitol.
+
+The postal service of the country advances with extraordinary growth.
+Within twenty years both the revenues and the expenditures of the
+Post-Office Department have multiplied threefold. In the last ten years
+they have nearly doubled. Our postal business grows much more rapidly than
+our population. It now involves an expenditure of $100,000,000 a year,
+numbers 73,000 post-offices, and enrolls 200,000 employees. This remarkable
+extension of a service which is an accurate index of the public conditions
+presents gratifying evidence of the advancement of education, of the
+increase of communication and business activity, and of the improvement of
+mail facilities leading to their constantly augmenting use.
+
+The war with Spain laid new and exceptional labors on the Post-Office
+Department. The mustering of the military and naval forces of the United
+States required special mail arrangements for every camp and every
+campaign. The communication between home and camp was naturally eager and
+expectant. In some of the larger places of rendezvous as many as 50,000
+letters a day required handling. This necessity was met by the prompt
+detail and dispatch of experienced men from the established force and by
+directing all the instrumentalities of the railway mail and post-office
+service, so far as necessary, to this new need. Congress passed an act
+empowering the postmaster-General to establish offices or branches at every
+military camp or station, and under this authority the postal machinery was
+speedily put into effective operation.
+
+Under the same authority, when our forces moved upon Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
+the Philippines they were attended and followed by the postal service.
+Though the act of Congress authorized the appointment of postmasters where
+necessary, it was early determined that the public interests would best be
+subserved, not by new designations, but by the detail of experienced men
+familiar with every branch of the service, and this policy was steadily
+followed. When the territory which was the theater of conflict came into
+our possession, it became necessary to reestablish mail facilities for the
+resident population as well as to provide them for our forces of
+occupation, and the former requirement was met through the extension and
+application of the latter obligation. I gave the requisite authority, and
+the same general principle was applied to this as to other branches of
+civil administration under military occupation. The details are more
+particularly given in the report of the postmaster-General, and, while the
+work is only just begun, it is pleasing to be able to say that the service
+in the territory which has come under our control is already materially
+improved.
+
+The following recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy relative to the
+increase of the Navy have my earnest approval:
+
+1. Three seagoing sheathed and coppered battle ships of about 13,500 tons
+trial displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance
+for vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable speed and
+great radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament,
+$3,600,000 each.
+
+2. Three sheathed and coppered armored cruisers of about 12,000 tons trial
+displacement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance for
+vessels of their class, and to have the highest practicable speed and great
+radius of action. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament,
+$4,000,000 each.
+
+3. Three sheathed and coppered protected cruisers of about 6,000 tons trial
+displacement, to have the highest practicable speed and great radius of
+action, and to carry the most powerful ordnance suitable for vessels of
+their class. Estimated cost, exclusive of armor and armament, $2,150,000
+each.
+
+4. Six sheathed and coppered cruisers of about 2,500 tons trial
+displacement, to have the highest speed compatible with good cruising
+qualities, great radius of action, and to carry the most powerful ordnance
+suited to vessels of their class. Estimated cost, exclusive of armament,
+$1,141,800 each.
+
+I join with the Secretary of the Navy in recommending that grades of
+admiral and vice-admiral be temporarily revived, to be filled by officers
+who have specially distinguished themselves in the war with Spain.
+
+I earnestly urge upon Congress the importance of early legislation
+providing for the taking of the Twelfth Census. This is necessary in view
+of the large amount of work which must be performed in the preparation of
+the schedules preparatory to the enumeration of the population.
+
+There were on the pension rolls on June 30, 1898, 993,714 names, an
+increase of nearly 18,000 over the number on the rolls on the same day of
+the preceding year. The amount appropriated by the act of December 22,
+1896, for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year of 1898 was
+$140,000,000. Eight million seventy thousand eight hundred and seventy-two
+dollars and forty-six cents was appropriated by the act of March 31, 1898,
+to cover deficiencies in army pensions, and repayments in the sum of
+$12,020.33, making a total of $148,082,892.79 available for the payment of
+pensions during the fiscal year 1898. The amount disbursed from that sum
+was $144,651,879.80, leaving a balance of $3,431,012.99 unexpended on the
+30th of June, 1898, which was covered into the Treasury. There were 389
+names added to the rolls during the year by special acts passed at the
+second session of the Fifty-fifth Congress, making a total of 6,486
+pensioners by Congressional enactments since 1861.
+
+The total receipts of the Patent Office during the past year were
+$1,253,948.44. The expenditures were $1,081,633.79, leaving a surplus of
+$172,314.65.
+
+The public lands disposed of by the Government during the year reached
+8,453,896.92 acres, an increase of 614,780.26 acres over the previous year.
+The total receipts from public lands during the fiscal year amounted to
+$2,277,995.18, an increase of $190,063.90 over the preceding year. The
+lands embraced in the eleven forest reservations which were suspended by
+the act of June 4, 1897, again became subject to the operations of the
+proclamations of February 22, 1897, creating them, which added an estimated
+amount of 19,951,360 acres to the area embraced in the reserves previously
+created. In addition thereto two new reserves were created during the
+year--the Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Reserve, in California, embracing
+1,644,594 acres, and the Prescott Reserve, in Arizona, embracing 10,240
+acres--while the Pecos River Reserve, in New Mexico, has been changed and
+enlarged to include 120,000 additional acres.
+
+At the close of the year thirty forest reservations, not including those of
+the Afognak Forest and the Fish-Culture Reserve, in Alaska, had been
+created by Executive proclamations under section 24 of the act of March 3,
+1891, embracing an estimated area of 40,719,474 acres.
+
+The Department of the Interior has inaugurated a forest system, made
+possible by the act of July, 1898, for a graded force of officers in
+control of the reserves. This system has only been in full operation since
+August, but good results have already been secured in many sections. The
+reports received indicate that the system of patrol has not only prevented
+destructive fires from gaining headway, but has diminished the number of
+fires.
+
+The special attention of the Congress is called to that part of the report
+of the Secretary of the Interior in relation to the Five Civilized Tribes.
+It is noteworthy that the general condition of the Indians shows marked
+progress. But one outbreak of a serious character occurred during the year,
+and that among the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, which happily has been
+suppressed.
+
+While it has not yet been practicable to enforce all the provisions of the
+act of June 28, 1898, "for the protection of the people of the Indian
+Territory, and for other purposes," it is having a salutary effect upon the
+nations composing the five tribes. The Dawes Commission reports that the
+most gratifying results and greater advance toward the attainment of the
+objects of the Government have been secured in the past year than in any
+previous year. I can not too strongly indorse the recommendation of the
+commission and of the Secretary of the Interior for the necessity of
+providing for the education of the 30,000 white children resident in the
+Indian Territory.
+
+The Department of Agriculture has been active in the past year. Explorers
+have been sent to many of the countries of the Eastern and Western
+hemispheres for seeds and plants that may be useful to the United States,
+and with the further view of opening up markets for our surplus products.
+The Forestry Division of the Department is giving special attention to the
+treeless regions of our country and is introducing species specially
+adapted to semiarid regions. Forest fires, which seriously interfere with
+production, especially in irrigated regions, are being studied, that losses
+from this cause may be avoided. The Department is inquiring into the use
+and abuse of water in many States of the West, and collating information
+regarding the laws of the States, the decisions of the courts, and the
+customs of the people in this regard, so that uniformity may be secured.
+Experiment stations are becoming more effective every year. The annual
+appropriation of $720,000 by Congress is supplemented by $400,000 from the
+States. Nation-wide experiments have been conducted to ascertain the
+suitableness as to soil and climate and States for growing sugar beets. The
+number of sugar factories has been doubled in the past two years, and the
+ability of the United States to produce its own sugar from this source has
+been clearly demonstrated.
+
+The Weather Bureau forecast and observation stations have been extended
+around the Caribbean Sea, to give early warning of the approach of
+hurricanes from the south seas to our fleets and merchant marine.
+
+In the year 1900 will occur the centennial anniversary of the founding of
+the city of Washington for the permanent capital of the Government of the
+United States by authority of an act of Congress approved July 16, 1790. In
+May, 1800, the archives and general offices of the Federal Government were
+removed to this place. On the 17th of November, 1800, the National Congress
+met here for the first time and assumed exclusive control of the Federal
+district and city. This interesting event assumes all the more significance
+when we recall the circumstances attending the choosing of the site, the
+naming of the capital in honor of the Father of his Country, and the
+interest taken by him in the adoption of plans for its future development
+on a magnificent scale.
+
+These original plans have been wrought out with a constant progress and a
+signal success even beyond anything their framers could have foreseen. The
+people of the country are justly proud of the distinctive beauty and
+government of the capital and of the rare instruments of science and
+education which here find their natural home.
+
+A movement lately inaugurated by the citizens to have the anniversary
+celebrated with fitting ceremonies, including, perhaps, the establishment
+of a handsome permanent memorial to mark so historical an occasion and to
+give it more than local recognition, has met with general favor on the part
+of the public.
+
+I recommend to the Congress the granting of an appropriation for this
+purpose and the appointment of a committee from its respective bodies. It
+might also be advisable to authorize the President to appoint a committee
+from the country at large, which, acting with the Congressional and
+District of Columbia committees, can complete the plans for an appropriate
+national celebration.
+
+The alien contract law is shown by experience to need some amendment; a
+measure providing better protection for seamen is proposed; the rightful
+application of the eight-hour law for the benefit of labor and of the
+principle of arbitration are suggested for consideration; and I commend
+these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.
+
+The several departmental reports will be laid before you. They give in
+great detail the conduct of the affairs of the Government during the past
+year and discuss many questions upon which the Congress may feel called
+upon to act.
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 5, 1899
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+At the threshold of your deliberations you are called to mourn with your
+countrymen the death of Vice-President Hobart, who passed from this life on
+the morning of November 21 last. His great soul now rests in eternal peace.
+His private life was pure and elevated, while his public career was ever
+distinguished by large capacity, stainless integrity, and exalted motives.
+He has been removed from the high office which he honored and dignified,
+but his lofty character, his devotion to duty, his honesty of purpose, and
+noble virtues remain with us as a priceless legacy and example.
+
+The Fifty-sixth Congress convenes in its first regular session with the
+country in a condition of unusual prosperity, of universal good will among
+the people at home, and in relations of peace and friendship with every
+government of the world. Our foreign commerce has shown great increase in
+volume and value. The combined imports and exports for the year are the
+largest ever shown by a single year in all our history. Our exports for
+1899 alone exceeded by more than a billion dollars our imports and exports
+combined in 1870. The imports per capita are 20 per cent less than in 1870,
+while the exports per capita are 58 per cent more than in 1870, showing the
+enlarged capacity of the United States to satisfy the wants of its own
+increasing population, as well as to contribute to those of the peoples of
+other nations.
+
+Exports of agricultural products were $784,776,142. Of manufactured
+products we exported in value $339,592,146, being larger than any previous
+year. It is a noteworthy fact that the only years in all our history when
+the products of our manufactories sold abroad exceeded those bought abroad
+were 1898 and 1899.
+
+Government receipts from all sources for the fiscal year ended June 30,
+1899, including $11,798,314,14, part payment of the Central Pacific
+Railroad indebtedness, aggregated $610,982,004.35. Customs receipts were
+$206,128,481.75, and those from internal revenue $273,437,161.51.
+
+For the fiscal year the expenditures were $700,093,564.02, leaving a
+deficit of $89,111,559.67.
+
+The Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the receipts for the current
+fiscal year will aggregate $640,958,112, and upon the basis of present
+appropriations the expenditures will aggregate $600,958,112, leaving a
+surplus of $40,000,000.
+
+For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1899, the internal-revenue receipts were
+increased about $100,000,000.
+
+The present gratifying strength of the Treasury is shown by the fact that
+on December 1, 1899, the available cash balance was $278,004,837.72, Of
+which $239,744,905.36 was in gold coin and bullion. The conditions of
+confidence which prevail throughout the country have brought gold into more
+general use and customs receipts are now almost entirely paid in that
+coin.
+
+The strong position of the Treasury with respect to cash on hand and the
+favorable showing made by the revenues have made it possible for the
+Secretary of the Treasury to take action under the provisions of section
+3694, Revised Statutes, relating to the sinking fund. Receipts exceeded
+expenditures for the first five months of the current fiscal year by
+$13,413,389.91, and, as mentioned above, the Secretary of the Treasury
+estimates that there will be a surplus of approximately $40,000,000 at the
+end of the year. Under such conditions it was deemed advisable and proper
+to resume compliance with the provisions of the sinking-fund law, which for
+eight years has not been done because of deficiencies in the revenues. The
+Treasury Department therefore offered to purchase during November
+$25,000,000 of the 5 per cent loan of 1904, or the 4 per cent funded loan
+of 1907, at the current market price. The amount offered and purchased
+during November was $18,408,600. The premium paid by the Government on such
+purchases was $2,263,521 and the net saving in interest was about
+$2,885,000. The success of this operation was sufficient to induce the
+Government to continue the offer to purchase bonds to and including the 23d
+day of December, instant, unless the remainder of the $25,000,000 called
+for should be presented in the meantime for redemption.
+
+Increased activity in industry, with its welcome attendant--a larger
+employment for labor at higher wages--gives to the body of the people a
+larger power to absorb the circulating medium. It is further true that year
+by year, with larger areas of land under cultivation, the increasing volume
+of agricultural products, cotton, corn, and wheat, calls for a larger
+volume of money supply. This is especially noticeable at the
+crop-harvesting and crop-moving period.
+
+In its earlier history the National Banking Act seemed to prove a
+reasonable avenue through which needful additions to the circulation could
+from time to time be made. Changing conditions have apparently rendered it
+now inoperative to that end. The high margin in bond securities required,
+resulting from large premiums which Government bonds command in the market,
+or the tax on note issues, or both operating together, appear to be the
+influences which impair its public utility.
+
+The attention of Congress is respectfully invited to this important matter,
+with the view of ascertaining whether or not such reasonable modifications
+can be made in the National Banking Act as will render its service in the
+particulars here referred to more responsive to the people's needs. I again
+urge that national banks be authorized to organize with a capital of
+$25,000.
+
+I urgently recommend that to support the existing gold standard, and to
+maintain "the parity in value of the coins of the two metals (gold and
+silver) and the equal power of every dollar at all times in the market and
+in the payment of debts," the Secretary of the Treasury be given additional
+power and charged with the duty to sell United States bonds and to employ
+such other effective means as may be necessary to these ends. The authority
+should include the power to sell bonds on long and short time, as
+conditions may require, and should provide for a rate of interest lower
+than that fixed by the act of January 14, 1875. While there is now no
+commercial fright which withdraws gold from the Government, but, on the
+contrary, such widespread confidence that gold seeks the Treasury demanding
+paper money in exchange, yet the very situation points to the present as
+the most fitting time to make adequate provision to insure the continuance
+of the gold standard and of public confidence in the ability and purpose of
+the Government to meet all its obligations in the money which the civilized
+world recognizes as the best. The financial transactions of the Government
+are conducted upon a gold basis. We receive gold when we sell United States
+bonds and use gold for their payment. We are maintaining the parity of all
+the money issued or coined by authority of the Government. We are doing
+these things with the means at hand. Happily at the present time we are not
+compelled to resort to loans to supply gold. It has been done in the past,
+however, and may have to be done in the future. It behooves us, therefore,
+to provide at once the best means to meet the emergency when it arises, and
+the best means are those which are the most certain and economical. Those
+now authorized have the virtue neither of directness nor economy. We have
+already eliminated one of the causes of our financial plight and
+embarrassment during the years 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896. Our receipts now
+equal our expenditures; deficient revenues no longer create alarm Let us
+remove the only remaining cause by conferring the full and necessary power
+on the Secretary of the Treasury and impose upon him the duty to uphold the
+present gold standard and preserve the coins of the two metals on a parity
+with each other, which is the repeatedly declared policy of the United
+States.
+
+In this connection I repeat my former recommendations that a portion of the
+gold holdings shall be placed in a trust fund from which greenbacks shall
+be redeemed upon presentation, but when once redeemed shall not thereafter
+be paid out except for gold.
+
+The value of an American merchant marine to the extension of our commercial
+trade and the strengthening of our power upon the sea invites the immediate
+action of the Congress. Our national development will be one-sided and
+unsatisfactory so long as the remarkable growth of our inland industries
+remains unaccompanied by progress on the seas. There is no lack of
+constitutional authority for legislation which shall give to the country
+maritime strength commensurate with its industrial achievements and with
+its rank among the nations of the earth,
+
+The past year has recorded exceptional activity in our shipyards, and the
+promises of continual prosperity in shipbuilding are abundant. Advanced
+legislation for the protection of our seamen has been enacted. Our coast
+trade, under regulations wisely framed at the beginning of the Government
+and since, shows results for the past fiscal year unequaled in our records
+or those of any other power. We shall fail to realize our opportunities,
+however, if we complacently regard only matters at home and blind ourselves
+to the necessity of securing our share in the valuable carrying trade of
+the world.
+
+Last year American vessels transported a smaller share of our exports and
+imports than during any former year in all our history, and the measure of
+our dependence upon foreign shipping was painfully manifested to our
+people. Without any choice of our own, but from necessity, the Departments
+of the Government charged with military and naval operations in the East
+and West Indies had to obtain from foreign flags merchant vessels essential
+for those operations.
+
+The other great nations have not hesitated to adopt the required means to
+develop their shipping as a factor in national defense and as one of the
+surest and speediest means of obtaining for their producers a share in
+foreign markets. Like vigilance and effort on our part cannot fail to
+improve our situation, which is regarded with humiliation at home and with
+surprise abroad. Even the seeming sacrifices, which at the beginning may be
+involved, will be offset later by more than equivalent gains.
+
+The expense is as nothing compared to the advantage to be achieved. The
+reestablishment of our merchant marine involves in a large measure our
+continued industrial progress and the extension of our commercial triumphs.
+I am satisfied the judgment of the country favors the policy of aid to our
+merchant marine, which will broaden our commerce and markets and upbuild
+our sea-carrying capacity for the products of agriculture and manufacture;
+which, with the increase of our Navy, mean more work and wages to our
+countrymen, as well as a safeguard to American interests in every part of
+the world.
+
+Combinations of capital organized into trusts to control the conditions of
+trade among our citizens, to stifle competition, limit production, and
+determine the prices of products used and consumed by the people, are
+justly provoking public discussion, and should early claim the attention of
+the Congress.
+
+The Industrial Commission, created by the act of the Congress of June 18,
+1898, has been engaged in extended hearings upon the disputed questions
+involved in the subject of combinations in restraint of trade and
+competition. They have not yet completed their investigation of this
+subject, and the conclusions and recommendations at which they may arrive
+are undetermined.
+
+The subject is one giving rise to many divergent views as to the nature and
+variety or cause and extent of the injuries to the public which may result
+from large combinations concentrating more or less numerous enterprises and
+establishments, which previously to the formation of the combination were
+carried on separately.
+
+It is universally conceded that combinations which engross or control the
+market of any particular kind of merchandise or commodity necessary to the
+general community, by suppressing natural and ordinary competition, whereby
+prices are unduly enhanced to the general consumer, are obnoxious not only
+to the common law but also to the public welfare. There must be a remedy
+for the evils involved in such organizations. If the present law can be
+extended more certainly to control or check these monopolies or trusts, it
+should be done without delay. Whatever power the Congress possesses over
+this most important subject should be promptly ascertained and asserted.
+
+President Harrison in his annual message of December 3, 1889, says: Earnest
+attention should be given by Congress to a consideration of the question
+how far the restraint of those combinations of capital commonly called
+"trusts" is matter of Federal jurisdiction. When organized, as they often
+are, to crush out all healthy competition and to monopolize the production
+or sale of an article of commerce and general necessity they are dangerous
+conspiracies against the public good, and should be made the subject of
+prohibitory and even penal legislation. An act to protect trade and
+commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies was passed by Congress
+on the 2d of July, 1890. The provisions of this statute are comprehensive
+and stringent. It declares every contract or combination, in the form of a
+trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in the restraint of trade or commerce
+among the several States or with foreign nations, to be unlawful. It
+denominates as a criminal every person who makes any such contract or
+engages in any such combination or conspiracy, and provides a punishment by
+fine or imprisonment. It invests the several circuit courts of the United
+States with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of the act, and
+makes it the duty of the several United States district attorneys, under
+the direction of the Attorney General, to institute proceedings in equity
+to prevent and restrain such violations. It further confers upon any person
+who shall be injured in his business or property by any other person or
+corporation by reason of anything forbidden or declared to be unlawful by
+the act, the power to sue therefore in any circuit court of the United
+States without respect to the amount in controversy, and to recover
+threefold the damages by him sustained and the costs of the suit, including
+reasonable attorney fees. It will be perceived that the act is aimed at
+every kind of combination in the nature of a trust or monopoly in restraint
+of interstate or international commerce.
+
+The prosecution by the United States of offenses under the act of 1890 has
+been frequently resorted to in the Federal courts, and notable efforts in
+the restraint of interstate commerce, such as the Trans-Missouri Freight
+Association and the joint Traffic Association, have been successfully
+opposed and suppressed.
+
+President Cleveland in his annual message of December 7, 1896--more than
+six years subsequent to the enactment of this law--after stating the
+evils of these trust combinations, says: Though Congress has attempted to
+deal with this matter by legislation, the laws passed for that purpose thus
+far have proved ineffective, not because of any lack of disposition or
+attempt to enforce them, but simply because the laws themselves as
+interpreted by the courts do not reach the difficulty. If the
+insufficiencies of existing laws can be remedied by further legislation, it
+should be done. The fact must be recognized, however, that all Federal
+legislation on this subject may fall short of its purpose because of
+inherent obstacles, and also because of the complex character of our
+governmental system, which, while making the Federal authority supreme
+within its sphere, has carefully limited that sphere by metes and bounds
+which cannot be transgressed. The decision of our highest court on this
+precise question renders it quite doubtful whether the evils of trusts and
+monopolies may be adequately treated through Federal action, unless they
+seek directly and purposely to include in their objects transportation or
+intercourse between States or between the United States and foreign
+countries. It does not follow, however, that this is the limit of the
+remedy that may be applied. Even though it may be found that Federal
+authority is not broad enough to fully reach the case, there can be no
+doubt of the power of the several States to act effectively in the
+premises, and there should be no reason to doubt their willingness to
+judiciously exercise such power. The State legislation to which President
+Cleveland looked for relief from the evils of trusts has failed to
+accomplish fully that object. This is probably due to a great extent to the
+fact that different States take different views as to the proper way to
+discriminate between evil and injurious combinations and those associations
+which are beneficial and necessary to the business prosperity of the
+country. The great diversity of treatment in different States arising from
+this cause and the intimate relations of all parts of the country to each
+other without regarding State lines in the conduct of business have made
+the enforcement of State laws difficult.
+
+It is apparent that uniformity of legislation upon this subject in the
+several States is much to be desired. It is to be hoped that such
+uniformity founded in a wise and just discrimination between what is
+injurious and what is useful and necessary in business operations may be
+obtained and that means may be found for the Congress within the
+limitations of its constitutional power so to supplement an effective code
+of State legislation as to make a complete system of laws throughout the
+United States adequate to compel a general observance of the salutary rules
+to which I have referred.
+
+The whole question is so important and far-reaching that I am sure no part
+of it will be lightly considered, but every phase of it will have the
+studied deliberation of the Congress, resulting in wise and judicious
+action.
+
+A review of our relations with foreign States is presented with such
+recommendations as are deemed appropriate.
+
+The long-pending boundary dispute between the Argentine Republic and Chile
+was settled in March last by the award of an arbitral commission, on which
+the United States minister at Buenos Ayres served as umpire.
+
+Progress has been made toward the conclusion of a convention of extradition
+with the Argentine Republic. Having been advised and consented to by the
+United States Senate and ratified by Argentina, it only awaits the
+adjustment of some slight changes in the text before exchange.
+
+In my last annual message I adverted to the claim of the Austro-Hungarian
+Government for indemnity for the killing of certain Austrian and Hungarian
+subjects by the authorities of the State of Pennsylvania, at Lattimer,
+while suppressing an unlawful tumult of miners, September 10, 1897. In view
+of the verdict of acquittal rendered by the court before which the sheriff
+and his deputies were tried for murder, and following the established
+doctrine that the Government may not be held accountable for injuries
+suffered by individuals at the hands of the public authorities while acting
+in the line of duty in suppressing disturbance of the public peace, this
+Government, after due consideration of the claim advanced by the
+Austro-Hungarian Government, was constrained to decline liability to
+indemnify the sufferers.
+
+It is gratifying to be able to announce that the Belgian Government has
+mitigated the restrictions on the importation of cattle from the United
+States, to which I referred in my last annual message.
+
+Having been invited by Belgium to participate in a congress, held at
+Brussels, to revise the provisions of the general act Of July 2, 1890, for
+the repression of the African slave trade, to which the United States was a
+signatory party, this Government preferred not to be represented by a
+plenipotentiary, but reserved the right of accession to the result. Notable
+changes were made, those especially concerning this country being in the
+line of the increased restriction of the deleterious trade in spirituous
+liquors with the native tribes, which this Government has from the outset
+urgently advocated. The amended general act will be laid before the Senate,
+with a view to its advice and consent.
+
+Early in the year the peace of Bolivia was disturbed by a successful
+insurrection. The United States minister remained at his post, attending to
+the American interests in that quarter, and using besides his good offices
+for the protection of the interests of British subjects in the absence of
+their national representative. On the establishment of the new Government,
+our minister was directed to enter into relations therewith.
+
+General Pando was elected President of Bolivia on October 23.
+
+Our representative has been instructed to use all permissible friendly
+endeavors to induce the Government of Bolivia to amend its marriage laws so
+as to give legal status to the non-Catholic and civil marriages of aliens
+within its jurisdiction, and strong hopes are entertained that the Bolivian
+law in this regard will be brought, as was that of Peru some years ago,
+into harmony with the general practice of modern States.
+
+A convention of extradition with Brazil, signed May 14, 1897, has been
+ratified by the Brazilian Legislature.
+
+During the past summer two national ships of the United States have visited
+Brazilian ports on a friendly mission and been cordially received. The
+voyage of the Wilmington up the Amazon River gave rise to a passing
+misunderstanding, owing to confusion in obtaining permission to visit the
+interior and make surveys in the general interest of navigation, but the
+incident found a ready adjustment in harmony with the close relations of
+amity which this Government has always sedulously sought to cultivate with
+the commonwealths of the Western Continent.
+
+The claim growing out of the seizure of the American-owned newspaper "The
+Panama Star and Herald" by the authorities of Colombia has been settled,
+after a controversy of several years, by an agreement assessing at $30,000
+the indemnity to be paid by the Colombian Government, in three installments
+of $10,000 each.
+
+The good will of Colombia toward our country has been testified anew by the
+cordial extension of facilities to the Nicaraguan Canal Commission in their
+approaching investigation of the Panama Canal and other projected routes
+across the Isthmus of Darien.
+
+Toward the end of October an insurrectionary disturbance developed in the
+Colombian Republic. This movement has thus far not attained any decisive
+result and is still in progress.
+
+Discussion of the questions raised by the action of Denmark in imposing
+restrictions on the importation of American meats has continued without
+substantial result in our favor.
+
+The neighboring island Republic of Santo Domingo has lately been the scene
+of revolution, following a long period of tranquility. It began with the
+killing of President Heureaux in July last, and culminated in the
+relinquishment by the succeeding Vice-President of the reins of government
+to the insurgents. The first act of the provisional government was the
+calling of a presidential and constituent election. Juan Isidro Jimenez,
+having been elected President, was inaugurated on the 14th of November.
+Relations have been entered into with the newly established Government.
+
+The experimental association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador, tinder
+the title of the Greater Republic of Central America, when apparently on
+the threshold of a complete federal organization by the adoption of a
+constitution and the formation of a national legislature, was disrupted in
+the last days of November, 1898, by the withdrawal of Salvador. Thereupon
+Nicaragua and Honduras abandoned the joint compact, each resuming its
+former independent sovereignty. This was followed by the reception of
+Minister Merry by the Republics of Nicaragua and Salvador, while Minister
+Hunter in turn presented his credentials to the Government of Honduras,
+thus reverting to the old distribution of the diplomatic agencies of the
+United States in Central America for which our existing statutes provide. A
+Nicaraguan envoy has been accredited to the United States.
+
+An insurrectionary movement, under General Reyes, broke out at Bluefields
+in February last, and for a time exercised actual control in the Mosquito
+Territory. The Detroit was promptly sent thither for the protection of
+American interests. After a few weeks the Reyes government renounced the
+conflict, giving place to the restored supremacy of Nicaragua. During the
+interregnum certain public dues accruing under Nicaraguan law were
+collected from American merchants by the authorities for the time being in
+effective administrative control. Upon the titular government regaining
+power, a second payment of these dues was demanded. Controversy arose
+touching the validity of the original payment of the debt to the de facto
+regent of the territory. An arrangement was effected in April last by the
+United States minister and the foreign secretary of Nicaragua whereby the
+amounts of the duplicate payments were deposited with the British consul
+pending an adjustment of the matter by direct agreement between the
+Governments of the United States and Nicaragua. The controversy is still
+unsettled.
+
+The contract of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua was declared
+forfeited by the Nicaraguan Government on the Tenth of October, on the
+ground of nonfulfillment within the ten years' term stipulated in the
+contract. The Maritime Canal Company has lodged a protest against this
+action, alleging rights in the premises which appear worthy of
+consideration. This Government expects that Nicaragua will afford the
+protestants a full and fair hearing upon the merits of the case.
+
+The Nicaragua Canal Commission, which had been engaged upon the work of
+examination and survey for a ship-canal route across Nicaragua, having
+completed its labors and made its report, was dissolved on May P, and on
+June To a new commission, known as the Isthmian Canal Commission, was
+organized under the terms of the act approved March 3, 1899, for the
+purpose of examining the American Isthmus with a view to determining the
+most practicable and feasible route for a ship canal across that Isthmus,
+with its probable cost, and other essential details.
+
+This Commission, under the presidency of Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, U. S.
+N. (retired), entered promptly upon the work intrusted to it, and is now
+carrying on examinations in Nicaragua along the route of the Panama Canal,
+and in Darien from the Atlantic, in the neighborhood of the Atrato River,
+to the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific side. Good progress has been made, but
+under the law a comprehensive and complete investigation is called for,
+which will require much labor and considerable time for its accomplishment.
+The work will be prosecuted as expeditiously as possible and a report made
+at the earliest practicable date.
+
+The great importance of this work cannot be too often or too strongly
+pressed upon the attention of the Congress. In my message of a year ago I
+expressed my views of the necessity of a canal which would link the two
+great oceans, to which I again invite your consideration. The reasons then
+presented for early action are even stronger now.
+
+A pleasing incident in the relations of this Government with that of Chile
+occurred in the generous assistance given to the war ship Newark when in
+distress in Chilean waters. Not alone in this way has the friendly
+disposition of Chile found expression. That country has acceded to the
+convention for the establishment of the Bureau of the American Republics,
+in which organization every independent State of the continent now shares.
+
+The exchange of ratifications of a convention for the revival of the United
+States and Chilean Claims Commission and for the adjudication of claims
+heretofore presented but not determined during the life of the previous
+Commission has been delayed by reason of the necessity for fresh action by
+the Chilean Senate upon the amendments attached to the ratification of the
+treaty by the United States Senate. This formality is soon to be
+accomplished.
+
+In view of disturbances in the populous provinces of northern China, where
+are many of our citizens, and of the imminence of disorder near the capital
+and toward the seaboard, a guard of marines was landed from the Boston and
+stationed during last winter in the legation compound at Peking. With the
+restoration of order this protection was withdrawn.
+
+The interests of our citizens in that vast Empire have not been neglected
+during the past year. Adequate protection has been secured for our
+missionaries and some injuries to their property have been redressed.
+
+American capital has sought and found various opportunities of competing to
+carry out the internal improvements which the Imperial Government is wisely
+encouraging, and to develop the natural resources of the Empire. Our trade
+with China has continued to grow, and our commercial rights under existing
+treaties have been everywhere maintained during the past year, as they will
+be in the future.
+
+The extension of the area open to international foreign settlement at
+Shanghai and the opening of the ports of Nanking, Tsing-tao (Kiao chao),
+and Ta-lien-wan to foreign trade and settlement will doubtless afford
+American enterprise additional facilities and new fields, of which it will
+not be slow to take advantage.
+
+In my message to Congress of December 5, 1898, I urged that the
+recommendation which had been made to the Speaker of the House of
+Representatives by the Secretary of the Treasury on the 14th of June, 1898,
+for an appropriation for a commission to study the commercial and
+industrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and report as to the
+opportunities for, and obstacles to, the enlargement of markets in China
+for the raw products and manufactures of the United States, should receive
+at your hands the consideration which its importance and timeliness
+merited, but the Congress failed to take action.
+
+I now renew this recommendation, as the importance of the subject has
+steadily grown since it was first submitted to you, and no time should be
+lost in studying for ourselves the resources of this great field for
+American trade and enterprise.
+
+The death of President Faure in February last called forth those sincere
+expressions of sympathy which befit the relations of two Republics as
+closely allied by unbroken historic ties as are the United States and
+France.
+
+Preparations for the representation of the industries, arts, and products
+of the United States at the World's Exposition to be held in Paris next
+year continue on an elaborate and comprehensive scale, thanks to the
+generous appropriation provided by Congress and to the friendly interest
+the French Government has shown in furthering a typical exhibit of American
+progress.
+
+There has been allotted to the United States a considerable addition of
+space, which, while placing our country in the first rant among exhibitors,
+does not suffice to meet the increasingly urgent demands of our
+manufacturers. The efforts of the Commissioner General are ably directed
+toward a strictly representative display of all that most
+characteristically marks American achievement in the inventive arts, and
+most adequately shows the excellence of our natural productions.
+
+In this age of keen rivalry among nations for mastery in commerce, the
+doctrine of evolution and the rule of the survival of the fittest must be
+as inexorable in their operation as they are positive in the results they
+bring about. The place won in the struggle by an industrial people can only
+be held by unrelaxed endeavor and constant advance in achievement. The
+present extraordinary impetus in every line of American exportation and the
+astounding increase in the volume and value of our share in the world's
+markets may not be attributed to accidental conditions.
+
+The reasons are not far to seek. They lie deep in our national character
+and find expression year by year in every branch of handicraft, in every
+new device whereby the materials we so abundantly produce are subdued to
+the artisan's will and made to yield the largest, most practical, and most
+beneficial return. The American exhibit at Paris should, and I am confident
+will, be an open volume, whose lessons of skillfully directed endeavor,
+unfaltering energy, and consummate performance may be read by all on every
+page, thus spreading abroad a clearer knowledge of the worth of our
+productions and the justice of our claim to an important place in the marts
+of the world. To accomplish this by judicious selection, by recognition of
+paramount merit in whatever walk of trade or manufacture it may appear, and
+by orderly classification and attractive installation is the task of our
+Commission.
+
+The United States Government building is approaching completion, and no
+effort will be spared to make it worthy, in beauty of architectural plan
+and in completeness of display, to represent our nation. It has been
+suggested that a permanent building of similar or appropriate design be
+erected on a convenient site, already given by the municipality, near the
+exposition grounds, to serve in commemoration of the part taken by this
+country in this great enterprise, as an American National Institute, for
+our countrymen resorting to Paris for study.
+
+I am informed by our Commissioner-General that we shall have in the
+American sections at Paris over 7,000 exhibitors, from every State ill our
+country, a number ten times as great as those which were represented at
+Vienna in 1873, six times as many as those in Paris in 1878, and four times
+as many as those who exhibited in Paris in 1889. This statement does not
+include the exhibits from either Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Hawaii, for which
+arrangements have been made.
+
+A number of important international congresses on special topics affecting
+public interests are proposed to be held in Paris next summer in connection
+with the exposition. Effort will be made to have the several technical
+branches of our administration efficiently represented at those
+conferences, each in its special line, and to procure the largest possible
+concourse of State representatives, particularly at the Congresses of
+Public Charity and Medicine.
+
+Our relations with Germany continue to be most cordial. The increasing
+intimacy of direct association has been marked during the year by the
+granting permission in April for the landing on our shores of a cable from
+Borkum Emden, on the North Sea, by way of the Azores, and also by the
+conclusion on September 2 of a Parcels Post Convention with the German
+Empire. In all that promises closer relations of intercourse and commerce
+and a better understanding between two races having so many traits in
+common, Germany can be assured of the most cordial cooperation of this
+Government and people. We may be rivals in many material paths, but our
+rivalry should be generous and open, ever aiming toward the attainment of
+larger results and the mutually beneficial advancement of each in the line
+of its especial adaptabilities.
+
+The several governments of the Empire seem reluctant to admit the natural
+excellence of our food productions and to accept the evidence we constantly
+tender of the care with which their purity is guarded by rigid inspection
+from the farm, through the slaughterhouse and the packing establishments,
+to the port of shipment. Our system of control over exported food staples
+invites examination from any quarter and challenges respect by its
+efficient thoroughness.
+
+It is to be hoped that in time the two Governments will act in common
+accord toward the realization of their common purpose to safeguard the
+public health and to insure the purity and wholesomeness of all food
+products imported by either country from the other. Were the Congress to
+authorize an invitation to Germany, in connection with the pending
+reciprocity negotiations, for the constitution of a joint commission of
+scientific experts and practical men of affairs to conduct a searching
+investigation of food production and exportation in both countries and
+report to their respective legislatures for the adoption of such remedial
+measures as they might recommend for either, the way might be opened for
+the desirable result indicated.
+
+Efforts to obtain for American life insurance companies a full hearing as
+to their business operations in Prussia have, after several years of
+patient representation, happily succeeded, and one of the most important
+American companies has been granted a concession to continue business in
+that Kingdom.
+
+I am also glad to announce that the German insurance companies have been
+readmitted by the superintendent of insurance to do business in the State
+of New York.
+
+Subsequent to the exchange of our peace treaty with Spain, Germany acquired
+the Caroline Islands by purchase, paying therefore $5,000,000. Assurances
+have been received from the German Government that the rights of American
+missionaries and traders there will be considerately observed.
+
+In my last annual message I referred to the pending negotiations with Great
+Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. By means of an executive
+agreement, a joint High Commission had been created for the purpose of
+adjusting all unsettled questions between the United States and Canada,
+embracing twelve subjects, among which were the questions of the fur seals,
+the fisheries of the coast and contiguous inland waters, the Alaskan
+boundary, the transit of merchandise in bond, the alien labor laws, mining
+rights, reciprocity in trade, revision of the agreement respecting naval
+vessels in the Great Lakes, a more complete marking of parts of the
+boundary, provision for the conveyance of criminals, and for wrecking and
+salvage.
+
+Much progress had been made by the Commission toward the adjustment of many
+of these questions, when it became apparent that an irreconcilable
+difference of views was entertained respecting the delimitation of the
+Alaskan, boundary. In the failure of an agreement as to the meaning of
+Articles III and IV of the treaty of 1825 between Russia and Great Britain,
+which defined the boundary between Alaska and Canada, the American
+Commissioners proposed that the subject of the boundary be laid aside, and
+that the remaining questions of difference be proceeded with, some of which
+were so far advanced as to assure the probability of a settlement. This
+being declined by the British Commissioners, an adjournment was taken until
+the boundary should be adjusted by the two Governments. The subject has
+been receiving the careful attention which its importance demands, with the
+result that a modus vivendi for provisional demarcations in the region
+about the head of Lynn Canal has, been agreed upon; and it is hoped that
+the negotiations now in progress between the two Governments will end in an
+agreement for the establishment and delimitation of a permanent boundary.
+
+Apart from these questions growing out of our relationship with our
+northern neighbor, the most friendly disposition and ready agreement have
+marked the discussion of numerous matters arising in the vast and intimate
+intercourse of the United States with Great Britain.
+
+This Government has maintained an attitude of neutrality in the unfortunate
+contest between Great Britain and the Boer States of Africa. We have
+remained faithful to the precept of avoiding entangling alliances as to
+affairs not of our direct concern. Had circumstances suggested that the
+parties to the quarrel would have welcomed any kindly expression of the
+hope of the American people that war might be averted, good offices would
+have been gladly tendered. The United States representative at Pretoria was
+early instructed to see that all neutral American interests be respected by
+the combatants. This has been an easy task in view of the positive
+declarations of both British and Boer authorities that the personal and
+property rights of our citizens should be observed.
+
+Upon the withdrawal of the British agent from Pretoria the United States
+consul was authorized, upon the request of the British Government and with
+the assent of the South African and Orange Free State Governments, to
+exercise the customary good offices of a neutral for the care of British
+interests. In the discharge of this function, I am happy to say that
+abundant opportunity has been afforded to show the impartiality of this
+Government toward both the combatants.
+
+For the fourth time in the present decade, question has arisen with the
+Government of Italy in regard to the lynching of Italian subjects. The
+latest of these deplorable events occurred at Tallulah, Louisiana, whereby
+five unfortunates of Italian origin were taken from jail and hanged.
+
+The authorities of the State and a representative of the Italian Embassy
+having separately investigated the occurrence, with discrepant results,
+particularly as to the alleged citizenship of the victims, and it not
+appearing that the State had been able to discover and punish the violators
+of the law, an independent investigation has been set on foot, through the
+agency of the Department of State, and is still in progress. The result
+will enable the Executive to treat the question with the Government of
+Italy in a spirit of fairness and justice. A satisfactory solution will
+doubtless be reached.
+
+The recurrence of these distressing manifestations of blind mob fury
+directed at dependents or natives of a foreign country suggests that the
+contingency has arisen for action by Congress in the direction of
+conferring upon the Federal courts jurisdiction in this class of
+international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the Federal
+Government may be involved. The suggestion is not new. In his annual
+message of December 9, 1891, my predecessor, President Harrison, said: It
+would, I believe, be entirely competent for Congress to make offenses
+against the treaty rights of foreigners domiciled in the United States
+cognizable in the Federal courts. This has not, however, been done, and the
+Federal officers and courts have no power in such cases to intervene either
+for the protection of a foreign citizen or for the punishment of his
+slayers. It seems to me to follow, in this state of the law, that the
+officers of the State charged with police and judicial powers in such cases
+must, in the consideration of international questions growing out of such
+incidents, be regarded in such sense as Federal agents as to make this
+Government answerable for their acts in cases where it would be answerable
+if the United States had used its constitutional power to define and punish
+crimes against treaty rights. A bill to provide for the punishment of
+violations of treaty rights of aliens was introduced in the Senate March 1,
+1892, and reported favorably March 30. Having doubtless in view the
+language of that part of Article III of the treaty of February 26, 1871,
+between the United States and Italy, which stipulates that "The citizens
+of each of the high contracting parties shall receive, in the States and
+Territories of the other, most constant protection and security for their
+persons and property, and shall enjoy in this respect the same rights and
+privileges as are or shall be granted to the natives, on their submitting
+themselves to the conditions imposed upon the natives," the bill so
+introduced and reported provided that any act committed in any State or
+Territory of the United States in violation of the rights of a citizen or
+subject of a foreign country secured to such citizen or subject by treaty
+between the United States and such foreign country and constituting a crime
+under the laws of the State or Territory shall constitute a like crime
+against the United States and be cognizable in the Federal courts. No
+action was taken by Congress in the matter.
+
+I earnestly recommend that the subject be taken up anew and acted upon
+during the present session. The necessity for some such provision
+abundantly appears. Precedent for constituting a Federal jurisdiction in
+criminal cases where aliens are sufferers is rationally deducible from the
+existing statute, which gives to the district and circuit courts of the
+United States jurisdiction of civil suits brought by aliens where the
+amount involved exceeds a certain sum. If such jealous solicitude be shown
+for alien rights in cases of merely civil and pecuniary import, how much
+greater should be the public duty to take cognizance of matters affecting
+the lives and the rights of aliens tinder the settled principles of
+international law no less than under treaty stipulation, in cases of such
+transcendent wrong-doing as mob murder, especially when experience has
+shown that local justice is too often helpless to punish the offenders.
+
+After many years of endeavor on the part of this Government to that end the
+Italian Government has consented to enter into negotiations for a
+naturalization convention, having for one of its objects the regulation of
+the status of Italians (except those of an age for active military service)
+who, having been naturalized in the United States, may revisit Italy. It is
+hoped that with the mutually conciliatory spirit displayed a successful
+conclusion will be reached.
+
+The treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Japan
+on November 22, 1894, took effect in accordance with the terms of its XIXth
+Article on the 17th of July last, simultaneously with the enforcement of
+like treaties with the other powers, except France, whose convention did
+not go into operation until August 4, the United States being, however,
+granted up to that date all the privileges and rights accorded to French
+citizens under the old French treaty. By this notable conventional reform
+Japan's position as a fully independent sovereign power is assured, control
+being gained of taxation, customs revenues, judicial administration,
+coasting trade, and all other domestic functions of government, and foreign
+extra-territorial rights being renounced.
+
+Comprehensive codes of civil and criminal procedure according to western
+methods, public instruction, patents and copyrights, municipal
+administration, including jurisdiction over the former foreign settlements,
+customs tariffs and procedure, public health, and other administrative
+measures have been proclaimed. The working of the new system has given rise
+to no material complaints on the part of the American citizens or
+interests, a circumstance which attests the ripe consideration with which
+the change has been prepared.
+
+Valuable assistance was rendered by the Japanese authorities to the United
+States transport ship Morgan City while stranded at Kobe. Permission has
+been granted to land and pasture army horses at Japanese ports of call on
+the way to the Philippine Islands. These kindly evidences of good will are
+highly appreciated.
+
+The Japanese Government has shown a lively interest in the proposition of
+the Pacific Cable Company to add to its projected cable lines to Hawaii,
+Guam, and the Philippines a branch connection with the coast of Japan. It
+would be a gratifying consummation were the utility of the contemplated
+scheme enhanced by bringing Japan and the United States into direct
+telegraphic relation.
+
+Without repeating the observations of my special message of February 10,
+1899, concerning the necessity of a cable to Manila. I respectfully invite
+attention to it.
+
+I recommend that, in case the Congress should not take measures to bring
+about this result by direct action of the Government, the Postmaster
+General be authorized to invite competitive bids for the establishment of a
+cable; the company making the best responsible bid to be awarded the
+contract; the successful company to give ample bonds to insure the
+completion of the work within a reasonable time.
+
+The year has been marked by constant increase in the intimacy of our
+relations with Mexico and in the magnitude of mutually advantageous
+interchanges. This Government has omitted no opportunity to show its strong
+desire to develop and perpetuate the ties of cordiality now so long happily
+unbroken.
+
+Following the termination on January 20, 1899, by Mexico of the convention
+of extradition of December 11, 1861, a new treaty more in accordance with
+the ascertained needs of both countries was signed February 22, 1899, and
+exchanged in the City of Mexico on the 22d of April last. Its operation
+thus far has been effective and satisfactory. A recent case has served to
+test the application of its IVth Article, which provides that neither party
+shall be bound to deliver up its own citizens, but that the executive
+authority of each shall have the power to deliver them up if in its
+discretion it be deemed proper to do so.
+
+The extradition of Mrs. Mattie Rich, a citizen of the United States,
+charged with homicide committed in Mexico, was after mature consideration
+directed by me in the conviction that the ends of justice would be thereby
+subserved. Similar action, on appropriate occasion, by the Mexican
+Executive will not only tend to accomplish the desire of both Governments
+that grave crimes go not unpunished, but also to repress lawlessness along
+the border of the two countries. The new treaty stipulates that neither
+Government shall assume jurisdiction in the punishment of crimes committed
+exclusively within the territory of the other. This will obviate in future
+the embarrassing controversies which have heretofore arisen through
+Mexico's assertion of a claim to try and punish an American citizen for an
+offense committed within the jurisdiction of the United States.
+
+The International Water Boundary Commission, organized by the convention of
+March 1, 1889, for the adjustment of questions affecting the Rio Grande
+frontier, has not yet completed its labors. A further extension of its term
+for one year, until December 24, 1899, was effected by a convention signed
+December z, 1898, and exchanged and proclaimed in February last.
+
+An invitation extended to the President of Mexico to visit Chicago in
+October, on the occasion of laying the corner stone of the United States
+Government building in that city, was cordially accepted by him, with the
+necessary consent of the Mexican Congress, but the illness of a member of
+his family prevented his attendance. The Minister of Foreign Relations,
+however, came as the personal representative of President Diaz, and in that
+high character was duly honored.
+
+Claims growing out of the seizure of American sealing vessels in Bering Sea
+have been under discussion with the Government of Russia for several years,
+with the recent happy result of an agreement to submit them to the decision
+of a single arbitrator. By this act Russia affords proof of her adherence
+to the beneficent principle of arbitration which her plenipotentiaries
+conspicuously favored at The Hague Disarmament Conference when it was
+advocated by the representatives of the United States.
+
+A suggestion for a permanent exposition of our products and manufactures in
+Russia, although not yet fully shaped, has been so cordially welcomed by
+the Imperial Government that it may not inaptly take a fitting place in
+whatever legislation the Congress may adopt looking to enlargement of our
+commercial opportunities abroad.
+
+Important events have occurred in the Samoan Islands. The election,
+according to the laws and customs of Samoa, of a successor to the late
+King, Malietoa Laupepa, developed a contest as to the validity of the
+result, which issue, by the terms of the General Act, was to be decided by
+the Chief justice. Upon his rendering a judgment in favor of Malietoa Tanu,
+the rival chief, Mataafa, took up arms. The active intervention of American
+and British war ships became imperative to restore order, at the cost of
+sanguinary encounters. In this emergency a joint commission of
+representatives of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain was sent
+to Samoa to investigate the situation and provide a temporary remedy. By
+its active efforts a peaceful solution was reached for the time being, the
+kingship being abolished and a provisional government established.
+Recommendations unanimously made by the commission for a permanent
+adjustment of the Samoan question were taken under consideration by the
+three powers parties to the General Act. But the more they were examined
+the more evident it became that a radical change was necessary in the
+relations of the powers to Samoa.
+
+The inconveniences and possible perils of the tripartite scheme of
+supervision and control in the Samoan group by powers having little
+interest in common in that quarter beyond commercial rivalry had been once
+more emphasized by the recent events. The suggested remedy of the joint
+Commission, like the scheme it aimed to replace amounted to what has been
+styled a tridominium, being the exercise of the functions of sovereignty by
+an unanimous agreement of three powers. The situation had become far more
+intricate and embarrassing from every point of view than it was when my
+predecessor, in 1894, summed up its perplexities and condemned the
+participation in it of the United States.
+
+The arrangement under which Samoa was administered had proved impracticable
+and unacceptable to all the powers concerned. To withdraw from the
+agreement and abandon the islands to Germany and Great Britain would not be
+compatible with our interests in the archipelago. To relinquish our rights
+in the harbor of Pago Pago, the best anchorage in the Pacific, the
+occupancy of which had been leased to the United States in 1878 by the
+first foreign treaty ever concluded by Samoa, was not to be thought of
+either as regards the needs of our Navy or the interests of our growing
+commerce with the East. We could not have considered any proposition for
+the abrogation of the tripartite control which did not confirm us in all
+our rights and safeguard all our national interests in the islands.
+
+Our views commended themselves to the other powers. A satisfactory
+arrangement was concluded between the Governments of Germany and of
+England, by virtue of which England retired from Samoa in view of
+compensations in other directions, and both powers renounced in favor of
+the United States all their rights and claims over and in respect to that
+portion of the group lying to the east of the one hundred and seventy-first
+degree of west longitude, embracing the islands of Tutuila, Ofoo, Olosenga,
+and Manua. I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
+a convention, which besides the provisions above mentioned also guarantees
+us the same privileges and conditions in respect to commerce and commercial
+vessels in all of the islands of Samoa as those possessed by Germany.
+
+Claims have been preferred by white residents of Samoa on account of
+injuries alleged to have been suffered through the acts of the treaty
+Governments in putting down the late disturbances. A convention has been
+made between the three powers for the investigation and settlement of these
+claims by a neutral arbitrator, to which the attention of the Senate will
+be invited.
+
+My annual message of last year was necessarily devoted, in great part to a
+consideration of the Spanish War and of the results it wrought and the
+conditions it imposed for the future. I am gratified to announce that the
+treaty of peace has restored friendly relations between the two powers.
+Effect has been given to its most important provisions. The evacuation of
+Puerto Rico having already been accomplished on the XIVth of October, 1898,
+nothing remained necessary there but to continue the provisional military
+control of the island until the Congress should enact a suitable government
+for the ceded territory. Of the character and scope of the measures to that
+end I shall treat in another part of this message.
+
+The withdrawal of the authority of Spain from the island of Cuba was
+effected by the 1st of January, so that the full re-establishment of peace
+found the relinquished territory held by us in trust for the inhabitants,
+maintaining, under the direction of the Executive, such government and
+control therein as should conserve public order, restore the productive
+conditions of peace so long disturbed by the instability and disorder which
+prevailed for the greater part of the preceding three decades, and build up
+that tranquil development of the domestic state whereby alone can be
+realized the high purpose, as proclaimed in the joint resolution adopted by
+the Congress on the 19th of April, 1898, by which the United States
+disclaimed any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty,
+jurisdiction, or control over Cuba, except for the pacification thereof,
+and asserted its determination when that was accomplished to leave the
+government and control of the island to its people. The pledge contained in
+this resolution is of the highest honorable obligation and must be sacredly
+kept.
+
+I believe that substantial progress has been made in this direction. All
+the administrative measures adopted in Cuba have aimed to fit it for a
+regenerated existence by enforcing the supremacy of law and justice; by
+placing wherever practicable the machinery of administration in the hands
+of the inhabitants; by instituting needed sanitary reforms; by spreading
+education; by fostering industry and trade; by inculcating public morality,
+and, in short, by taking every rational step to aid the Cuban people to
+attain to that plane of self-conscious respect and self-reliant unity which
+fits an enlightened community for self-government within its own sphere,
+while enabling it to fulfill all outward obligation.
+
+This nation has assumed before the world a grave responsibility for the
+future good government of Cuba. We have accepted a trust the fulfillment of
+which calls for the sternest integrity of purpose and the exercise of the
+highest wisdom. The new Cuba yet to arise from the ashes of the past must
+needs be bound to us by ties of singular intimacy and strength if its
+enduring welfare is to be assured. Whether those ties shall be organic or
+conventional, the destinies of Cuba are in some rightful form and manner
+irrevocably linked with our own, but how and how far is for the future to
+determine in the ripeness of events. Whatever be the outcome, we must see
+to it that free Cuba be a reality, not a name, a perfect entity, not a
+hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of failure. Our
+mission, to accomplish which we took up the wager of battle, is not to be
+fulfilled by turning adrift any loosely framed commonwealth to face the
+vicissitudes which too often attend weaker States whose natural wealth and
+abundant resources are offset by the incongruities of their political
+organization and the recurring occasions for internal rivalries to sap
+their strength and dissipate their energies. The greatest blessing which
+can come to Cuba is the restoration of her agricultural and industrial
+prosperity, which will give employment to idle men and re-establish the
+pursuits of peace. This is her chief and immediate need.
+
+On the 19th of August last an order was made for the taking of the census
+in the island, to be completed on the 30th of November. By the treaty of
+peace the Spanish people on the island have until April 11, 1900, to elect
+whether they will remain citizens of Spain or become citizens of Cuba.
+Until then it cannot be definitely ascertained who shall be entitled to
+participate in the formation of the government of Cuba. By that time the
+results of the census will have been tabulated and we shall proceed to
+provide for elections which will commit the municipal governments of the
+island to the officers elected by the people. The experience thus acquired
+will prove of great value in the formation of a representative convention
+of the people to draft a constitution and establish a general system of
+independent government for the island. In the meantime and so long as we
+exercise control over the island the products of Cuba should have a market
+in the United States on as good terms and with as favorable rates of duty
+as are given to the West India Islands under treaties of reciprocity which
+shall be made.
+
+For the relief of the distressed in the island of Cuba the War Department
+has issued supplies to destitute persons through the officers of the Army,
+which have amounted to 5,493,000 rations, at a cost Of $1,417,554.07.
+
+To promote the disarmament of the Cuban volunteer army, and in the interest
+of public peace and the welfare of the people, the sum Of $75 was paid to
+each Cuban soldier borne upon the authenticated rolls, on condition that he
+should deposit his arms with the authorities designated by the United
+States. The sum thus disbursed aggregated $2,547,750, which was paid from
+the emergency fund provided by the act of January 5, 1899, for that
+purpose.
+
+Out of the Cuban island revenues during the six months ending June 30,
+1899, $1,712,014.20 was expended for sanitation, $293,881.70 for charities
+and hospitals, and $88,944.03 for aid to the destitute.
+
+Following the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace the two
+Governments accredited ministers to each other, Spain sending to Washington
+the Duke of Arcos, an eminent diplomatist, previously stationed in Mexico,
+while the United States transferred to Madrid Hon. Bellamy Storer, its
+minister at Brussels. This was followed by the respective appointment of
+consuls, thereby fully resuming the relations interrupted by the war. In
+addition to its consular representation in the United States, the Spanish
+Government has appointed consuls for Cuba, who have been provisionally
+recognized during the military administration of the affairs of that
+island.
+
+Judicial intercourse between the courts of Cuba and Puerto Rico and of
+Spain has been established, as provided by the treaty of peace. The Cuban
+political prisoners in Spanish penal stations have been and are being
+released and returned to their homes, in accordance with Article VI of the
+treaty. Negotiations are about to be had for defining the conventional
+relations between the two countries, which fell into abeyance by reason of
+the war. I trust that these will include a favorable arrangement for
+commercial reciprocity under the terms of sections 3 and 4 of the current
+tariff act. In these, as in all matters of international concern, no effort
+will be spared to respond to the good disposition of Spain, and to
+cultivate in all practicable ways the intimacy which should prevail between
+two nations whose past history has so often and in so many ways been marked
+by sincere friendship and by community of interests.
+
+I would recommend appropriate legislation in order to carry into execution
+Article VII of the Treaty of Peace with Spain, by which the United States
+assured the payment of certain claims for indemnity of its citizens against
+Spain.
+
+The United States minister to Turkey continues, under instructions, to
+press for a money payment in satisfaction of the just claims for injuries
+suffered by American citizens in the disorders of several years past and
+for wrongs done to them by the Ottoman authorities. Some of these claims
+are of many years' standing. This Government is hopeful of a general
+agreement in this regard.
+
+In the Turkish Empire the situation of our citizens remains unsatisfactory.
+Our efforts during nearly forty years to bring about a convention of
+naturalization seem to be on the brink of final failure through the
+announced policy of the Ottoman Porte to refuse recognition of the alien
+status of native Turkish subjects naturalized abroad since 1867. Our
+statutes do not allow this Government to admit any distinction between the
+treatment of native and naturalized Americans abroad, so that ceaseless
+controversy arises in cases where persons owing in the eye of international
+law a dual allegiance are prevented from entering Turkey or are expelled
+after entrance. Our law in this regard contrasts with that of the European
+States. The British act, for instance, does not claim effect for the
+naturalization of an alien in the event of his return to his native
+country, unless the change be recognized by the law of that country or
+stipulated by treaty between it and the naturalizing State.
+
+The arbitrary treatment, in some instances, of American productions in
+Turkey has attracted attention of late, notably in regard to our flour.
+Large shipments by the recently opened direct steamship line to Turkish
+ports have been denied entrance on the score that, although of standard
+composition and unquestioned purity, the flour was pernicious to health
+because of deficient "elasticity" as indicated by antiquated and
+untrustworthy tests. Upon due protest by the American minister, and it
+appearing that the act was a virtual discrimination against our product,
+the shipments in question were admitted. In these, as in all instances,
+wherever occurring, when American products may be subjected in a foreign
+country, upon specious pretexts, to discrimination compared with the like
+products of another country, this Government will use its earnest efforts
+to secure fair and equal treatment for its citizens and their goods.
+Failing this, it will not hesitate to apply whatever corrective may be
+provided by the statutes.
+
+The International Commission of Arbitration, appointed under the
+Anglo-Venezuelan treaty of 1897, rendered an award on October 3 last,
+whereby the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana is
+determined, thus ending a controversy which has existed for the greater
+part of the century. The award, as to which the arbitrators were unanimous,
+while not meeting the extreme contention of either party, gives to Great
+Britain a large share of the interior territory in dispute and to Venezuela
+the entire mouth of the Orinoco, including Barima Point and the Caribbean
+littoral for some distance to the eastward. The decision appears to be
+equally satisfactory to both parties.
+
+Venezuela has once more undergone a revolution. The insurgents, under
+General Castro, after a sanguinary engagement in which they suffered much
+loss, rallied in the mountainous interior and advanced toward the capital.
+The bulk of the army having sided with the movement, President Andrade
+quitted Caracas, where General Castro set up a provisional government with
+which our minister and the representatives of other powers entered into
+diplomatic relations on the 20th of November, 1899.
+
+The fourth section of the Tariff Act approved July 24, 1897, appears to
+provide only for commercial treaties which should be entered into by the
+President and also ratified by the Senate within two years from its
+passage. Owing to delays inevitable in negotiations of this nature, none of
+the treaties initiated under that section could be concluded in time for
+ratification by the Senate prior to its adjournment on the 4th of March
+last. Some of the pending negotiations, however, were near conclusion at
+that time, and the resulting conventions have since been signed by the
+plenipotentiaries. Others, within both the third and fourth sections of the
+act, are still under consideration. Acting under the constitutional power
+of the Executive in respect to treaties, I have deemed it my duty, while
+observing the limitations of concession provided by the fourth section, to
+bring to a conclusion all pending negotiations, and submit them to the
+Senate for its advice and consent.
+
+Conventions of reciprocity have been signed during the Congressional recess
+with Great Britain for the respective colonies of British Guiana, Barbados,
+Bermuda, Jamaica, and Turks and Caicos Islands, and with the Republic of
+Nicaragua.
+
+Important reciprocal conventions have also been concluded with France and
+with the Argentine Republic.
+
+In my last annual message the progress noted in the work of the diplomatic
+and consular officers in collecting information as to the industries and
+commerce of other countries, and in the care and promptitude with which
+their reports are printed and distributed, has continued during the past
+year, with increasingly valuable results in suggesting new sources of
+demand for American products and in pointing out the obstacles still to be
+overcome in facilitating the remarkable expansion of our foreign trade. It
+will doubtless be gratifying to Congress to learn that the various agencies
+of the Department of State are co-operating in these endeavors with a zeal
+and effectiveness which are not only receiving the cordial recognition of
+our business interests, but are exciting the emulation of other
+Governments. In any rearrangement of the great and complicated work of
+obtaining official data of an economic character which Congress may
+undertake it is most important, in my judgment, that the results already
+secured by the efforts of the Department of State should be carefully
+considered with a view to a judicious development and increased utility to
+our export trade.
+
+The interest taken by the various States forming the International Union of
+American Republics in the work of its organic bureau is evidenced by the
+fact that for the first time since its creation in 1890 all the Republics
+of South and Central America are now represented in it.
+
+The unanimous recommendation of the International American Conference,
+providing for the International Union of American Republics, stated that it
+should continue in force during a term of ten years from the date of its
+organization, and no country becoming a member of the union should cease to
+be a member until the end of said period of ten years, and unless twelve
+months before the expiration of said period a majority of the members of
+the union had given to the Secretary of State of the United States official
+notice of their wish to terminate the union at the end of its first period,
+that the union should continue to be maintained for another period of ten
+years, and thereafter, under the same conditions, for successive periods of
+ten years each.
+
+The period for notification expired on July 14, 1899, without any of the
+members having given the necessary notice of withdrawal. Its maintenance is
+therefore assured for the next ten years. In view of this fact and of the
+numerous questions of general interest and common benefit to all of the
+Republics of America, some of which were considered by the first
+International American Conference, but not finally settled, and others
+which have since then grown to importance, it would seem expedient that the
+various Republics constituting the Union should be invited to hold at an
+early date another conference in the capital of one of the countries other
+than the United States, which has already enjoyed this honor.
+
+The purely international character of the work being done by the bureau and
+the appreciation of its value are further emphasized by the active
+co-operation which the various Governments of the Latin. American Republics
+and their diplomatic representatives in this capital are now exhibiting and
+the zealous endeavors they are making to extend its field of usefulness, to
+promote through it commercial intercourse, and strengthen the bonds of
+amity and confidence between its various members and the nations of this
+continent.
+
+The act to encourage the holding of the Pan-American Exposition on the
+Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New
+York, in the year 1901, was approved on March 3, 1899.
+
+This exposition, which will be held in the city of Buffalo, in the near
+vicinity of the great Niagara cataract, and within a day's journey of which
+reside 40, 000, 000 Of our people, will be confined entirely to the Western
+Hemisphere. Satisfactory assurances have already been given by the
+diplomatic representatives of Great Britain, Mexico, the Central and South
+American Republics, and most of the States of the United States that these
+countries and States will make an unique, interesting, and instructive
+exhibit, peculiarly illustrative of their material progress during the
+century which is about to close.
+
+The law provides an appropriation Of $500,000 for the purpose of making an
+exhibit at the exposition by the Government of the United States from its
+Executive Departments and from the Smithsonian Institution and National
+Museum, the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the Department
+of Labor, and the Bureau of the American Republics. To secure a complete
+and harmonious arrangement of this Government exhibit a board of management
+has already been created, and charged with the selection, purchase,
+preparation, transportation, arrangement, and safe-keeping of the articles
+and materials to be exhibited. This board has been organized and has
+already entered upon the performance of its duties, as provided for by the
+law.
+
+I have every reason to hope and believe that this exposition will tend more
+firmly to cement the cordial relations between the nations on this
+continent.
+
+In accordance with an act of Congress approved December 21, 1898, and under
+the auspices of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, a most interesting and
+valuable exposition of products and manufactures especially adapted to
+export trade was held in Philadelphia from the 14th of September to the 1st
+of December, 1899. The representative character of the exhibits and the
+widespread interest manifested in the special objects of the undertaking
+afford renewed encouragement to those who look confidently to the steady
+growth of our enlarged exportation of manufactured goods, which has been
+the most remarkable fact in the economic development of the United States
+in recent years. A feature of this exposition which is likely to become of
+permanent and increasing utility to our industries is the collection of
+samples of merchandise produced in various countries with special reference
+to particular markets, providing practical object lessons to United States
+manufacturers as to qualities, styles, and prices of goods such as meet the
+special demands of consumers and may be exported with advantage.
+
+In connection with the exposition an International Commercial Congress was
+held, upon the invitation of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum,
+transmitted by the Department of State to the various foreign Governments,
+for an exchange of information and opinions with the view to the promotion
+of international trade. This invitation met with general and cordial
+acceptance, and the Congress, which began its sessions at the exposition on
+the 13th of October proved to be of great practical importance, from the
+fact that it developed a general recognition of the interdependence of
+nations in trade and a most gratifying spirit of accommodation with
+reference to the gradual removal of existing impediments to reciprocal
+relations, without injury to the industrial interests of either party.
+
+In response to the invitation of His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia,
+delegates from twenty-six countries were assembled at The Hague on the 18th
+of May, as members of a conference in the interest of peace. The commission
+from the United States consisted of the Hon. Andrew D. White, the Hon. Seth
+Low, the Hon. Stanford Newel, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, of the United States
+Navy, Captain William Crozier, of the United States Army, and the Hon.
+Frederick W. Holls, secretary. The occasion seemed to be opportune for the
+serious consideration of a plan for the pacific adjustment of international
+differences, a subject in which the American people have been deeply
+interested for many years, and a definite project for a permanent
+international tribunal was included in the instructions to the delegates of
+the United States.
+
+The final act of the conference includes conventions upon the amelioration
+of the laws and customs of war on land, the adaptation to maritime warfare
+of the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864, and the extension of
+judicial methods to international cases. The Convention for the Pacific
+Settlement of International Conflicts embodies the leading features of the
+American plan, with such modifications as were rendered necessary by the
+great diversity of views and interests represented by the delegates. The
+four titles of the convention provide for the maintenance of general peace,
+the exercise of good offices and mediation, the formation of commissions of
+inquiry, and international arbitration.
+
+The mediation provided for by the convention is purely voluntary and
+advisory, and is intended to avoid any invasion or limitation of the
+sovereign rights of the adhering States. The commissions of inquiry
+proposed consists of delegations to be specifically constituted for
+particular purposes by means of conventions between the contesting parties,
+having for their object the clear understanding of international
+differences before resorting to the use of force. The provision for
+arbitration contemplates the formation of a permanent tribunal before which
+disputed cases may be brought for settlement by the mutual consent of the
+litigants in each separate case. The advantages of such a permanent
+tribunal over impromptu commissions of arbitration are conceived to be the
+actual existence of a competent court, prepared to administer justice, the
+greater economy resulting from a well-devised system, and the accumulated
+judicial skill and experience which such a tribunal would soon possess.
+
+While earnestly promoting the idea of establishing a permanent
+international tribunal, the delegation of the United States was not
+unmindful of the inconveniences which might arise from an obtrusive
+exercise of mediation, and in signing the convention carefully guarded the
+historic position of the United States by the following declaration:
+Nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to require
+the United States of America to depart from its traditional policy of not
+intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in the political
+questions or policy or internal administration of any foreign state; nor
+shall anything contained in the said convention be construed to imply a
+relinquishment by the United. States of America of its traditional attitude
+toward purely American questions. Thus interpreted, the Convention for the
+Pacific Settlement of International Conflicts may be regarded as realizing
+the earnest desire of great numbers of American citizens, whose deep sense
+of justice, expressed in numerous resolutions and memorials, has urged them
+to labor for this noble achievement. The general character of this
+convention, already signed by the delegates of more than twenty sovereign
+States, further commends it to the favorable action of the Senate of the
+United States, whose ratification it still awaits.
+
+Since my last annual message, and in obedience to the acts of the Congress
+of April 22 and 26, 1898, the remaining volunteer force enlisted for the
+Spanish War, consisting Of 34,834 regulars and 110,202 volunteers, with
+over 5,000 volunteer officers, has been discharged from the military
+service. Of the volunteers, 667 officers and 14,831 men were serving in the
+Philippines, and 1,650 of the regulars, who were entitled to be mustered
+out after the ratification of the treaty of peace. They voluntarily
+remained at the front until their places could be filled by new troops.
+They were returned home in the order in which they went to Manila, and are
+now all of them out of the service and in the ranks of citizenship. I
+recommend that the Congress provide a special medal of honor for the
+volunteers, regulars, sailors, and marines on duty in the Philippines who
+voluntarily remained in the service after their terms of enlistment had
+expired.
+
+By the act of March 2, 1899, Congress gave authority to increase the
+Regular Army to a maximum not exceeding 65,000 enlisted men, and to enlist
+a force of 5,000 volunteers, to be recruited from the country at large. By
+virtue of this authority the Regular Army has been increased to the number
+of 61,999 enlisted men and 2,248 officers, and new volunteer regiments have
+been organized aggregating 33,050 enlisted men and 1,524 officers. Two of
+these volunteer regiments are made up of colored men, with colored line
+officers. The new troops to take the places of those returning from the
+Philippines have been transported to Manila to the number of 581 officers
+and 26,322 enlisted men of the Regular Army and 594 officers and 15,388
+enlisted men of the new volunteer force, while 504 officers and 14, 119 men
+of the volunteer force are on the ocean en route to Manila.
+
+The force now in Manila consists Of 905 officers and 30,578 regulars, and
+594 officers and 15,388 of the volunteers, making an aggregate of 1,499
+officers and 45,966 men. When the troops now under orders shall reach
+Manila the force in the archipelago will comprise 2,051 officers and 63,483
+men. The muster out of the great volunteer army organized for the Spanish
+War and the creation of a new army, the transportation from Manila to San
+Francisco of those entitled to discharge and the transportation of the new
+troops to take their places have been a work of great magnitude well and
+ably done, for which too much credit cannot be given the War Department.
+
+During the past year we have reduced our force in Cuba and Puerto Rico, In
+Cuba we now have 334 officers and 10,796 enlisted men; In Puerto Rico, 87
+officers and 2,855 enlisted men and a battalion of 400 men composed of
+native Puerto Ricans; while stationed throughout the United States are 910
+officers and 17,317 men, and in Hawaii 12 officers and 453 enlisted men.
+
+The operations of the Army are fully presented in the report of the
+Secretary of War. I cannot withhold from officers and men the highest
+commendation for their soldierly conduct in trying situations, their
+willing sacrifices for their country, and the integrity and ability with
+which they have performed unusual and difficult duties in our island
+possessions.
+
+In the organization of the volunteer regiments authorized by the act of
+March 2, 1899, it was found that no provision had been made for chaplains.
+This omission was doubtless from inadvertence. I recommend the early
+authorization for the appointment of one chaplain for each of said
+regiments. These regiments are now in the Philippines, and it is important
+that immediate action be had.
+
+In restoring peaceful conditions, orderly rule, and civic progress in Cuba,
+Puerto Rico, and, so far as practicable, in the Philippines, the
+rehabilitation of the postal service has been an essential and important
+part of the work. It became necessary to provide mail facilities both for
+our forces of occupation and for the native population. To meet this
+requirement has involved a substantial reconstruction. The existing systems
+were so fragmentary, defective, and inadequate that a new and comprehensive
+organization had to be created. American trained officials have been
+assigned to the directing and executive positions, while natives have been
+chiefly employed in making up the body of the force. In working out this
+plan the merit rule has been rigorously and faithfully applied.
+
+The appointment of Director-General of Posts of Cuba was given to an expert
+who had been Chief Post-Office Inspector and Assistant Postmaster-General,
+and who united large experience with administrative capacity. For the
+postmastership at Havana the range of skilled and available men was
+scanned, and the choice fell upon one who had been twenty years in the
+service as deputy postmaster and postmaster of a large city. This principle
+governed and determined the selection of the American officials sent not
+only to Cuba, but to Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and they were
+instructed to apply it so far as practicable in the employment of the
+natives as minor postmasters and clerks. The postal system in Cuba, though
+remaining under the general guidance of the Postmaster-General, was made
+essentially independent. It was felt that it should not be a burden upon
+the postal service of the United States, and provision was made that any
+deficit in the postal revenue should be a charge upon the general revenues
+of the island.
+
+Though Puerto Rico and the Philippines hold a different relation to the
+United States, yet, for convenience of administration, the same principle
+of an autonomous system has been extended to them. The development of the
+service in all of the islands has been rapid and successful. It has moved
+forward on American lines, with free delivery, money order, and registry
+systems, and has given the people mail facilities far greater and more
+reliable than any they have ever before enjoyed. It is thus not only a
+vital agency of industrial, social, and business progress, but an important
+influence in diffusing a just understanding of the true spirit and
+character of American administration.
+
+The domestic postal service continues to grow with extraordinary rapidity.
+The expenditures and the revenues will each exceed $100,000,000 during the
+current year. Fortunately, since the revival of prosperous times the
+revenues have grown much faster than the expenditures, and there is every
+indication that a short period will witness the obliteration of the annual
+deficit. In this connection the report of the Postmaster-General embodies a
+statement of some evils which have grown up outside of the contemplation of
+law in the treatment of some classes of mail matter which wrongly exercise
+the privilege of the pound rate, and shows that if this matter had been
+properly classified and had paid the rate which it should have paid,
+instead of a postal deficit for the last fiscal year of $6,610,000, there
+would have been on one basis a surplus of $17,637,570, and on another Of
+$5,733,836. The reform thus suggested, in the opinion of the
+Postmaster-General, would not only put the postal service at once on a
+self-sustaining basis, but would permit great and valuable improvements,
+and I commend the subject to the consideration of the Congress.
+
+The Navy has maintained the spirit and high efficiency which have always
+characterized that service, and has lost none of the gallantry in heroic
+action which has signalized its brilliant and glorious past. The Nation has
+equal pride in its early and later achievements. Its habitual readiness for
+every emergency has won the confidence and admiration of the country. The
+people are interested in the continued preparation and prestige of the Navy
+and will justify liberal appropriations for its maintenance and
+improvement. The officers have shown peculiar adaptation for the
+performance of new and delicate duties which our recent war has imposed.
+
+It cannot be doubted that Congress will at once make necessary provision
+for the armor plate for the vessels now under contract and building. Its
+attention is respectfully called to the report of the Secretary of the
+Navy, in which the subject is fully presented. I unite in his
+recommendation that the Congress enact such special legislation as may be
+necessary to enable the Department to make contracts early in the coming
+year for armor of the best quality that can be obtained in this country for
+the Maine, Ohio, and Missouri, and that the provision of the act of March
+3, 1899, limiting the price of armor to $300 per ton be removed.
+
+In the matter of naval construction Italy and Japan, of the great powers,
+laid down less tonnage in the year 1899 than this country, and Italy alone
+has less tonnage under construction. I heartily concur in the
+recommendations for the increase of the Navy, as suggested by the
+Secretary.
+
+Our future progress and prosperity depend upon our ability to equal, if not
+surpass, other nations in the enlargement and advance of science, industry,
+and commerce. To invention we must turn as one of the most powerful aids to
+the accomplishment of such a result. The attention of the Congress is
+directed to the report of the Commissioner of Patents, in which will be
+found valuable suggestions and recommendations.
+
+On the 30th of June, 1899, the pension roll of the United States numbered
+991,519. These include the pensioners of the Army and Navy in all our wars.
+The number added to the rolls during the year was 40,991. The number
+dropped by reason of death, remarriage, minors by legal limitation, failure
+to claim within three years, and other causes, was 43, 186, and the number
+of claims disallowed was 107,919. During the year 89,054 pension
+certificates were issued, of which 37,077 were for new or original
+pensions. The amount disbursed for army and navy pensions during the year
+was $138,355,052.95, which was $1,651,461.61 less than the sum of the
+appropriations.
+
+The Grand Army of the Republic at its recent national encampment held in
+Philadelphia has brought to my attention and to that of the Congress the
+wisdom and justice of a modification of the third section of the act of
+June 27, 1890, which provides pensions for the widows of officers and
+enlisted men who served ninety days or more during the War of the Rebellion
+and were honorably discharged, provided that such widows are without other
+means of sup, port than their daily labor and were married to the soldier,
+sailor, or marine on account of whose service they claim pension prior to
+the date of the act.
+
+The present holding of the Department is that if the widow's income aside
+from her daily labor does not exceed in amount what her pension would be,
+to wit, $96 per annum, she would be deemed to be without other means of
+support than her daily labor, and would be entitled to a pension under this
+act; while if the widow's income independent of the amount received by her
+as the result of her daily labor exceeds $96, she would not be pensionable
+under the act. I am advised by the Commissioner of Pensions that the amount
+of the income allowed before title to pension would be barred has varied
+widely under different administrations of the Pension Office, as well as
+during different periods of the same administration, and has been the cause
+of just complaint and criticism.
+
+With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior the Commissioner of
+Pensions recommends that, in order to make the practice at all times
+uniform and to do justice to the dependent widow, the amount of income
+allowed independent of the proceeds of her daily labor should be not less
+than $250 per annum, and he urges that the Congress shall so amend the act
+as to permit the Pension Office to grant pensionable status to widows under
+the terms of the third section of the act of June 27, 1890, whose income
+aside from the proceeds of daily labor is not in excess of $250 per annum.
+I believe this to be a simple act of justice and heartily recommend it.
+
+The Dawes Commission reports that gratifying progress has been made in its
+work during the preceding year. The field-work of enrollment of four of the
+nations has been completed. I recommend that Congress at an early day make
+liberal appropriation for educational purposes in the Indian Territory.
+
+In accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1899. the
+preliminary work in connection with the Twelfth Census is now fully under
+way. The officers required for the proper administration of the duties
+imposed have been selected. The provision for securing a proper enumeration
+of the population, as well as to secure evidence of the industrial growth
+of the Nation, is broader and more comprehensive than any similar
+legislation in the past. The Director advises that every needful effort is
+being made to push this great work to completion in the time limited by the
+statute. It is believed that the Twelfth Census will emphasize our
+remarkable advance in all that pertains to national progress.
+
+Under the authority of the act of Congress approved July 7, 1898, the
+commission consisting of the Secretary of the Treasury, the
+Attorney-General, and the Secretary of the Interior has made an agreement
+of settlement, which has had my approval, of the indebtedness to the
+Government growing out of the issue of bonds to aid in the construction of
+the Central Pacific and Western Pacific railroads. The agreement secures
+to the Government the principal and interest of said bonds, amounting to
+$58,812,715.48. There has been paid thereon $11,762,543.12, which has been
+covered into the Treasury, and the remainder, payable within ten years,
+with interest at the rate Of 3 per cent per annum, payable semiannually, is
+secured by the deposit of an equal amount of first-mortgage bonds of the
+Pacific Railway companies. The amounts paid and secured to be paid to the
+Government on account of the Pacific Railroad subsidy claims are: Union
+Pacific, cash - $58,448,223.75
+
+Kansas Pacific, cash - 6,303,000.00
+
+Central and Western Pacific, cash - 11,798,314.14
+
+Notes, secured - 47,050,172.36
+
+Kansas Pacific--dividends for deficiency due United States, cash -
+821,897.70 -
+
+***
+
+State of the Union Address
+William McKinley
+December 3, 1900
+
+To the Senate and House of Representatives:
+
+At the outgoing of the old and the incoming of the new century you begin
+the last session of the Fifty-sixth Congress with evidences on every hand
+of individual and national prosperity and with proof of the growing
+strength and increasing power for good of Republican institutions. Your
+countrymen will join with you in felicitation that American liberty is more
+firmly established than ever before, and that love for it and the
+determination to preserve it are more universal than at any former period
+of our history.
+
+The Republic was never so strong, because never so strongly entrenched in
+the hearts of the people as now. The Constitution, with few amendments,
+exists as it left the hands of its authors. The additions which have been
+made to it proclaim larger freedom and more extended citizenship. Popular
+government has demonstrated in its one hundred and twenty-four years of
+trial here its stability and security, and its efficiency as the best
+instrument of national development and the best safeguard to human rights.
+
+When the Sixth Congress assembled in November, 1800, the population of the
+United States was 5,308,483. It is now 76,304,799. Then we had sixteen
+States. Now we have forty-five. Then our territory consisted Of 909,050
+square miles. It is now 3,846,595 square miles. Education, religion, and
+morality have kept pace with our advancement in other directions, and while
+extending its power the Government has adhered to its foundation principles
+and abated none of them in dealing with our new peoples and possessions. A
+nation so preserved and blessed gives reverent thanks to God and invokes
+His guidance and the continuance of His care and favor.
+
+In our foreign intercourse the dominant question has been the treatment of
+the Chinese problem. Apart from this our relations with the powers have
+been happy.
+
+The recent troubles in China spring from the antiforeign agitation which
+for the past three years has gained strength in the northern provinces.
+Their origin lies deep in the character of the Chinese races and in the
+traditions of their Government. The Taiping rebellion and the opening of
+Chinese ports to foreign trade and settlement disturbed alike the
+homogeneity and the seclusion of China.
+
+Meanwhile foreign activity made itself felt in all quarters, not alone on
+the coast, but along the great river arteries and in the remoter districts,
+carrying new ideas and introducing new associations among a primitive
+people which had pursued for centuries a national policy of isolation.
+
+The telegraph and the railway spreading over their land, the steamers
+plying on their waterways, the merchant and the missionary penetrating year
+by year farther to the interior, became to the Chinese mind types of an
+alien invasion, changing the course of their national life and fraught with
+vague forebodings of disaster to their beliefs and their self-control.
+
+For several years before the present troubles all the resources of foreign
+diplomacy, backed by moral demonstrations of the physical force of fleets
+and arms, have been needed to secure due respect for the treaty rights of
+foreigners and to obtain satisfaction from the responsible authorities for
+the sporadic outrages upon the persons and property of unoffending
+sojourners, which from time to time occurred at widely separated points in
+the northern provinces, as in the case of the outbreaks in Sze-chuen and
+Shan-tung.
+
+Posting of antiforeign placards became a daily occurrence, which the
+repeated reprobation of the Imperial power failed to check or punish. These
+inflammatory appeals to the ignorance and superstition of the masses,
+mendacious and absurd in their accusations and deeply hostile in their
+spirit, could not but work cumulative harm. They aimed at no particular
+class of foreigners; they were impartial in attacking everything foreign.
+
+An outbreak in Shan-tung, in which German missionaries were slain, was the
+too natural result of these malevolent teachings.
+
+The posting of seditious placards, exhorting to the utter destruction of
+foreigners and of every foreign thing, continued unrebuked. Hostile
+demonstrations toward the stranger gained strength by organization.
+
+The sect, commonly styled the Boxers, developed greatly in the provinces
+north of the Yang-Tse, and with the collusion of many notable officials,
+including some in the immediate councils of the Throne itself, became
+alarmingly aggressive. No foreigner's life, outside of the protected treaty
+ports, was safe. No foreign interest was secure from spoliation.
+
+The diplomatic representatives of the powers in Peking strove in vain to
+check this movement. Protest was followed by demand and demand by renewed
+protest, to be met with perfunctory edicts from the Palace and evasive and
+futile assurances from the Tsung-li Yamen. The circle of the Boxer
+influence narrowed about Peking, and while nominally stigmatized as
+seditious, it was felt that its spirit pervaded the capital itself, that
+the Imperial forces were imbued with its doctrines, and that the immediate
+counselors of the Empress Dowager were in full sympathy with the
+antiforeign movement.
+
+The increasing gravity of the conditions in China and the imminence of
+peril to our own diversified interests in the Empire, as well as to those
+of all the other treaty governments, were soon appreciated by this
+Government, causing it profound solicitude. The United States from the
+earliest days of foreign intercourse with China had followed a policy of
+peace, omitting no occasions to testify good will, to further the extension
+of lawful trade, to respect the sovereignty of its Government, and to
+insure by all legitimate and kindly but earnest means the fullest measure
+of protection for the lives and property of our law-abiding citizens and
+for the exercise of their beneficent callings among the Chinese people.
+
+Mindful of this, it was felt to be appropriate that our purposes should be
+pronounced in favor of such course as would hasten united action of the
+powers at Peking to promote the administrative reforms so greatly needed
+for strengthening the Imperial Government and maintaining the integrity of
+China, in which we believed the whole western world to be alike concerned.
+To these ends I caused to be addressed to the several powers occupying
+territory and maintaining spheres of influence in China the circular
+proposals of 1899, inviting from them declarations of their intentions and
+views as to the desirability of the adoption of measures insuring the
+benefits of equality of treatment of all foreign trade throughout China.
+
+With gratifying unanimity the responses coincided in this common policy,
+enabling me to see in the successful termination of these negotiations
+proof of the friendly spirit which animates the various powers interested
+in the untrammeled development of commerce and industry in the Chinese
+Empire as a source of vast benefit to the whole commercial world.
+
+In this conclusion, which I had the gratification to announce as a
+completed engagement to the interested powers on March 20, 1900, I
+hopefully discerned a potential factor for the abatement of the distrust of
+foreign purposes which for a year past had appeared to inspire the policy
+of the Imperial Government, and for the effective exertion by it of power
+and authority to quell the critical antiforeign movement in the northern
+provinces most immediately influenced by the Manchu sentiment.
+
+Seeking to testify confidence in the willingness and ability of the
+Imperial administration to redress the wrongs and prevent the evils we
+suffered and feared, the marine guard, which had been sent to Peking in the
+autumn of 1899 for the protection of the legation, was withdrawn at the
+earliest practicable moment, and all pending questions were remitted, as
+far as we were concerned, to the ordinary resorts of diplomatic
+intercourse.
+
+The Chinese Government proved, however, unable to check the rising strength
+of the Boxers and appeared to be a prey to internal dissensions. In the
+unequal contest the antiforeign influences soon gained the ascendancy under
+the leadership of Prince Tuan. Organized armies of Boxers, with which the
+Imperial forces affiliated, held the country between Peking and the coast,
+penetrated into Manchuria up to the Russian borders, and through their
+emissaries threatened a like rising throughout northern China.
+
+Attacks upon foreigners, destruction of their property, and slaughter of
+native converts were reported from all sides. The Tsung-li Yamen, already
+permeated with hostile sympathies, could make no effective response to the
+appeals of the legations. At this critical juncture, in the early spring of
+this year, a proposal was made by the other powers that a combined fleet
+should be assembled in Chinese waters as a moral demonstration, under cover
+of which to exact of the Chinese Government respect for foreign treaty
+rights and the suppression of the Boxers.
+
+The United States, while not participating in the joint demonstration,
+promptly sent from the Philippines all ships that could be spared for
+service on the Chinese coast. A small force of marines was landed at Taku
+and sent to Peking for the protection of the American legation. Other
+powers took similar action, until some four hundred men were assembled in
+the capital as legation guards.
+
+Still the peril increased. The legations reported the development of the
+seditious movement in Peking and the need of increased provision for
+defense against it. While preparations were in progress for a larger
+expedition, to strengthen the legation guards and keep the railway open, an
+attempt of the foreign ships to make a landing at Taku was met by a fire
+from the Chinese forts. The forts were thereupon shelled by the foreign
+vessels, the American admiral taking no part in the attack, on the ground
+that we were not at war with China and that a hostile demonstration might
+consolidate the antiforeign elements and strengthen the Boxers to oppose
+the relieving column.
+
+Two days later the Taku forts were captured after a sanguinary conflict.
+Severance of communication with Peking followed, and a combined force of
+additional guards, which was advancing to Peking by the Pei-Ho, was checked
+at Langfang. The isolation of the legations was complete.
+
+The siege and the relief of the legations has passed into undying history.
+In all the stirring chapter which records the heroism of the devoted band,
+clinging to hope in the face of despair, and the undaunted spirit that led
+their relievers through battle and suffering to the goal, it is a memory of
+which my countrymen may be justly proud that the honor of our flag was
+maintained alike in the siege and the rescue, and that stout American
+hearts have again set high, in fervent emulation with true men of other
+race and language, the indomitable courage that ever strives for the cause
+of right and justice.
+
+By June 19 the legations were cut off. An identical note from the, Yamen
+ordered each minister to leave Peking, under a promised escort, within
+twenty-four hours. To gain time they replied, asking prolongation of the
+time, which was afterwards granted, and requesting an interview with the
+Tsung-li Yamen on the following day. No reply being received, on the
+morning of the 20th the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, set out for
+the Yamen to obtain a response, and oil the way was murdered.
+
+An attempt by the legation guard to recover his body was foiled by the
+Chinese. Armed forces turned out against the legations. Their quarters were
+surrounded and attacked. The mission compounds were abandoned, their
+inmates taking refuge in the British legation, where all the other
+legations and guards gathered for more effective defense. Four hundred
+persons were crowded in its narrow compass. Two thousand native converts
+were assembled in a nearby palace under protection of the foreigners. Lines
+of defense were strengthened, trenches dug, barricades raised, and
+preparations made to stand a siege, which at once began.
+
+From June 20 until July 17, writes Minister Conger, "there was scarcely
+an hour during which there was not firing upon some part of our lines and
+into some of the legations, varying from a single shot to a general and
+continuous attack along the whole line." Artillery was placed around the
+legations and on the over-looking palace walls, and thousands Of 3-inch
+shot and shell were fired, destroying some buildings and damaging all. So
+thickly did the balls rain, that, when the ammunition of the besieged ran
+low, five quarts of Chinese bullets were gathered in an hour in one
+compound and recast.
+
+Attempts were made to burn the legations by setting neighboring houses on
+fire, but the flames were successfully fought off, although the Austrian,
+Belgian, Italian. and Dutch legations were then and subsequently burned.
+With the aid of the native converts, directed by the missionaries, to whose
+helpful co-operation Mr. Conger awards unstinted praise, the British
+legation was made a veritable fortress. The British minister, Sir Claude
+MacDonald, was chosen general commander of the defense, with the secretary
+of the American legation, Mr. E. G. Squiers, as chief of staff.
+
+To save life and ammunition the besieged sparingly returned the incessant
+fire of the Chinese soldiery, fighting only to repel attack or make an
+occasional successful sortie for strategic advantage, such as that of
+fifty-five American, British, and Russian marines led by Captain Myers, of
+the United States Marine Corps, which resulted in the capture of a
+formidable barricade on the wall that gravely menaced the American
+position. It was held to the last, and proved an invaluable acquisition,
+because commanding the water gate through which the relief column entered.
+
+During the siege the defenders lost 65 killed, 135 wounded, and 7 by
+disease, the last all children.
+
+On July 14 the besieged had their first communication with the Tsung-li
+Yamen, from whom a message came inviting to a conference, which was
+declined. Correspondence, however, ensued and a sort of armistice was
+agreed upon, which stopped the bombardment and lessened the rifle fire for
+a time. Even then no protection whatever was afforded, nor any aid given,
+save to send to the legations a small supply of fruit and three sacks of
+flour.
+
+Indeed, the only communication had with the Chinese Government related to
+the occasional delivery or dispatch of a telegram or to the demands of the
+Tsung-li Yamen for the withdrawal of the legations to the coast under
+escort. Not only are the protestations of the Chinese Government that it
+protected and succored the legations positively contradicted, but
+irresistible proof accumulates that the attacks upon them were made by
+Imperial troops, regularly uniformed, armed, and officered, belonging to
+the command of Jung Lu, the Imperial commander in chief. Decrees
+encouraging the Boxers, organizing them tinder prominent Imperial officers,
+provisioning them, and even granting them large sums in the name of the
+Empress Dowager, are known to exist. Members of the Tsung-li Yamen who
+counseled protection of the foreigners were beheaded. Even in the distant
+provinces men suspected of foreign sympathy were put to death, prominent
+among these being Chang Yen-hoon, formerly Chinese minister in Washington.
+
+With the negotiation of the partial armistice of July 14, a proceeding
+which was doubtless promoted by the representations of the Chinese envoy in
+Washington, the way was opened for the conveyance to Mr. Conger of a test
+message sent by the Secretary of State through the kind offices of Minister
+Wu Ting-fang. Mr. Conger's reply, dispatched from Peking on July 18 through
+the same channel, afforded to the outside world the first tidings that the
+inmates of the legations were still alive and hoping for succor.
+
+This news stimulated the preparations for a joint relief expedition in
+numbers sufficient to overcome the resistance which for a month had been
+organizing between Taku and the capital. Reinforcements sent by all the
+co-operating Governments were constantly arriving. The United States
+contingent, hastily assembled from the Philippines or dispatched from this
+country, amounted to some 5,000 men, under the able command first of the
+lamented Colonel Liscurn and afterwards of General Chaffee.
+
+Toward the end of July the movement began. A severe conflict followed at
+Tientsin, in which Colonel Liscurn was killed. The city was stormed and
+partly destroyed. Its capture afforded the base of operations from which to
+make the final advance, which began in the first days of August, the
+expedition being made up of Japanese, Russian, British, and American troops
+at the outset.
+
+Another battle was fought and won at Yangtsun. Thereafter the disheartened
+Chinese troops offered little show of resistance. A few days later the
+important position of Ho-si-woo was taken. A rapid march brought the united
+forces to the populous city of Tung Chow, which capitulated without a
+contest.
+
+On August 14 the capital was reached. After a brief conflict beneath the
+walls the relief column entered and the legations were saved. The United
+States soldiers, sailors, and marines, officers and men alike, in those
+distant climes and unusual surroundings, showed the same valor, discipline,
+and good conduct and gave proof of the same high degree of intelligence and
+efficiency which have distinguished them in every emergency.
+
+The Imperial family and the Government had fled a few days before. The city
+was without visible control. The remaining Imperial soldiery had made on
+the night of the 13th a last attempt to exterminate the besieged, which was
+gallantly repelled. It fell to the occupying forces to restore order and
+organize a provisional administration.
+
+Happily the acute disturbances were confined to the northern provinces. It
+is a relief to recall and a pleasure to record the loyal conduct of the
+viceroys and local authorities of the southern and eastern provinces. Their
+efforts were continuously directed to the pacific control of the vast
+populations under their rule and to the scrupulous observance of foreign
+treaty rights. At critical moments they did not hesitate to memorialize the
+Throne, urging the protection of the legations, the restoration of
+communication, and the assertion of the Imperial authority against the
+subversive elements. They maintained excellent relations with the official
+representatives of foreign powers. To their kindly disposition is largely
+due the success of the consuls in removing many of the missionaries from
+the interior to places of safety. In this relation the action of the
+consuls should be highly commended. In Shan-tung and eastern Chi-li the
+task was difficult, but, thanks to their energy and the cooperation of
+American and foreign naval commanders, hundreds of foreigners, including
+those of other nationalities than ours, were rescued from imminent peril.
+
+The policy of the United States through all this trying period was clearly
+announced and scrupulously carried out. A circular note to the powers dated
+July 3 proclaimed our attitude. Treating the condition in the north as one
+of virtual anarchy, in which the great provinces of the south and southeast
+had no share, we regarded the local authorities in the latter quarters as
+representing the Chinese people with whom we sought to remain in peace and
+friendship. Our declared aims involved no war against the Chinese nation.
+We adhered to the legitimate office of rescuing the imperiled legation,
+obtaining redress for wrongs already suffered, securing wherever possible
+the safety of American life and property in China, and preventing a spread
+of the disorders or their recurrence.
+
+As was then said, "The policy of the Government of the United States is to
+seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace to China,
+preserve Chinese territorial and administrative entity, protect all rights
+guaranteed to friendly powers by treaty and international law, and
+safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all
+parts of the Chinese Empire."
+
+Faithful to those professions which, as it proved, reflected the views and
+purposes of the other co-operating Governments, all our efforts have been
+directed toward ending the anomalous situation in China by negotiations for
+a settlement at the earliest possible moment. As soon as the sacred duty of
+relieving our legation and its dependents was accomplished we withdrew from
+active hostilities, leaving our legation under an adequate guard in Peking
+as a channel of negotiation and settlement--a course adopted by others of
+the interested powers. Overtures of the empowered representatives of the
+Chinese Emperor have been considerately entertained.
+
+The Russian proposition looking to the restoration of the Imperial power in
+Peking has been accepted as in full consonance with our own desires, for we
+have held and hold that effective reparation for wrongs suffered and an
+enduring settlement that will make their recurrence impossible can best be
+brought about under an authority which the Chinese nation reverences and
+obeys. While so doing we forego no jot of our undoubted right to exact
+exemplary and deterrent punishment of the responsible authors and abettors
+of the criminal acts whereby we and other nations have suffered grievous
+injury.
+
+For the real culprits, the evil counselors who have misled the Imperial
+judgment and diverted the sovereign authority to their own guilty ends,
+full expiation becomes imperative within the rational limits of retributive
+Justice. Regarding this as the initial condition of an acceptable
+settlement between China and the powers, I said in my message of October 18
+to the Chinese Emperor: I trust that negotiations may begin so soon as we
+and the other offended Governments shall be effectively satisfied of Your
+Majesty's ability and power to treat with just sternness the principal
+offenders, who are doubly culpable, not alone toward the foreigners, but
+toward Your Majesty, under whose rule the purpose of China to dwell in
+concord with the world had hitherto found expression in the welcome and
+protection assured to strangers. Taking, as a point of departure, the
+Imperial edict appointing Earl Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching
+plenipotentiaries to arrange a settlement, and the edict of September 25,
+whereby certain high officials were designated for punishment, this
+Government has moved, in concert with the other powers, toward the opening
+of negotiations, which Mr. Conger, assisted by Mr. Rockhill, has been
+authorized to conduct on behalf of the United States.
+
+General bases of negotiation formulated by the Government of the French
+Republic have been accepted with certain reservations as to details, made
+necessary by our own circumstances, but, like similar reservations by other
+powers, open to discussion in the progress of the negotiations. The
+disposition of the Emperor's Government to admit liability for wrongs done
+to foreign Governments and their nationals, and to act upon such additional
+designation of the guilty persons as the foreign ministers at Peking may be
+in a position to make, gives hope of a complete settlement of all questions
+involved, assuring foreign rights of residence and intercourse on terms of
+equality for all the world.
+
+I regard as one of the essential factors of a durable adjustment the
+securement of adequate guarantees for liberty of faith, since insecurity of
+those natives who may embrace alien creeds is a scarcely less effectual
+assault upon the rights of foreign worship and teaching than would be the
+direct invasion thereof.
+
+The matter of indemnity for our wronged citizens is a question of grave
+concern. Measured in money alone, a sufficient reparation may prove to be
+beyond the ability of China to meet. All the powers concur in emphatic
+disclaimers of any purpose of aggrandizement through the dismemberment of
+the Empire. I am disposed to think that due compensation may be made in
+part by increased guarantees of security for foreign rights and immunities,
+and, most important of all, by the opening of China to the equal commerce
+of all the world. These views have been and will be earnestly advocated by
+our representatives.
+
+The Government of Russia has put forward a suggestion, that in the event of
+protracted divergence of views in regard to indemnities the matter may be
+relegated to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. I favorably incline to
+this, believing that high tribunal could not fail to reach a solution no
+less conducive to the stability and enlarged prosperity of China itself
+than immediately beneficial to the powers.
+
+Ratifications of a treaty of extradition with the Argentine Republic were
+exchanged on June 2 last.
+
+While the Austro-Hungarian Government has in the many cases that have been
+reported of the arrest of our naturalized citizens for alleged evasion of
+military service faithfully observed the provisions of the treaty and
+released such persons from military obligations, it has in some instances
+expelled those whose presence in the community of their origin was asserted
+to have a pernicious influence. Representations have been made against this
+course whenever its adoption has appeared unduly onerous.
+
+We have been urgently solicited by Belgium to ratify the International
+Convention of June, 1899, amendatory of the previous Convention of 1890 in
+respect to the regulation of the liquor trade in Africa. Compliance was
+necessarily withheld, in the absence of the advice and consent of the
+Senate thereto. The principle involved has the cordial sympathy of this
+Government, which in the reversionary negotiations advocated more drastic
+measures, and I would gladly see its extension, by international agreement,
+to the restriction of the liquor traffic with all uncivilized peoples,
+especially in the Western Pacific.
+
+A conference will be held at Brussels December 11, 1900, under the
+Convention for the protection of industrial property, concluded at Paris
+March 20, 1883, to which delegates from this country have been appointed.
+Any lessening of the difficulties that our inventors encounter in obtaining
+patents abroad for their inventions and that our farmers, manufacturers,
+and merchants may have in the protection of their trade-marks is worthy of
+careful consideration, and your attention will be called to the results of
+the conference at the proper time.
+
+In the interest of expanding trade between this country and South America,
+efforts have been made during the past year to conclude conventions with
+the southern republics for the enlargement of postal facilities. Two such
+agreements, signed with Bolivia on April 24, of which that establishing the
+money-order system is undergoing certain changes suggested by the
+Post-Office Department, have not yet been ratified by this Government. A
+treaty of extradition with that country, signed on the same day, is before
+the Senate.
+
+A boundary dispute between Brazil and Bolivia over the territory of Acre is
+in a fair way of friendly adjustment, a protocol signed in December, 1899,
+having agreed on a definite frontier and provided for its demarcation by a
+joint commission.
+
+Conditions in Brazil have weighed heavily on our export trade to that
+country in marked contrast to the favorable conditions upon which Brazilian
+products are admitted into our markets. Urgent representations have been
+made to that Government on the subject and some amelioration has been
+effected. We rely upon the reciprocal justice and good will of that
+Government to assure to us a further improvement in our commercial
+relations.
+
+The Convention signed May 24, 1897, for the final settlement of claims left
+in abeyance upon the dissolution of the Commission of 1893, was at length
+ratified by the Chilean Congress and the supplemental Commission has been
+organized.
+
+It remains for the Congress to appropriate for the necessary expenses of
+the Commission.
+
+The insurrectionary movement which disturbed Colombia in the latter part of
+1899 has been practically suppressed, although guerrillas still operate in
+some departments. The executive power of that Republic changed hands in
+August last by the act of Vice-President Marroquin in assuming the reins of
+government during the absence of President San Clemente from the capital.
+The change met with no serious opposition, and, following the precedents in
+such cases, the United States minister entered into relations with the new
+defacto Government on September 17.
+
+It is gratifying to announce that the residual questions between Costa Rica
+and Nicaragua growing out of the Award of President Cleveland in 1888 have
+been adjusted through the choice of an American engineer, General E. P.
+Alexander, as umpire to run the disputed line. His task has been
+accomplished to the satisfaction of both contestants.
+
+A revolution in the Dominican Republic toward the close of last year
+resulted in the installation of President Jimenez, whose Government was
+formally recognized in January. Since then final payment has been made of
+the American claim in regard to the Ozama bridge.
+
+The year of the exposition has been fruitful in occasions for displaying
+the good will that exists between this country and France. This great
+competition brought together from every nation the best in natural
+productions, industry, science, and the arts, submitted in generous rivalry
+to a judgment made all the more searching because of that rivalry. The
+extraordinary increase of exportations from this country during the past
+three years and the activity with which our inventions and wares had
+invaded new markets caused much interest to center upon the American
+exhibit, and every encouragement was offered in the way of space and
+facilities to permit of its being comprehensive as a whole and complete in
+every part.
+
+It was, however, not an easy task to assemble exhibits that could fitly
+illustrate our diversified resources and manufactures. Singularly enough,
+our national prosperity lessened the incentive to exhibit. The dealer in
+raw materials knew that the user must come to him; the great factories were
+contented with the phenomenal demand for their output, not alone at home,
+but also abroad, where merit had already won a profitable trade.
+
+Appeals had to be made to the patriotism of exhibitors to induce them to
+incur outlays promising no immediate return. This was especially the case
+where it became needful to complete an industrial sequence or illustrate a
+class of processes. One manufacturer after another had to be visited and
+importuned, and at times, after a promise to exhibit in a particular
+section had been obtained, it would be withdrawn, owing to pressure of
+trade orders, and a new quest would have to be made.
+
+The installation of exhibits, too, encountered many obstacles and involved
+unexpected cost. The exposition was far from ready at the date fixed for
+its opening. The French transportation lines were congested with offered
+freight. Belated goods had to be hastily installed in unfinished quarters
+with whatever labor could be obtained in the prevailing confusion. Nor was
+the task of the Commission lightened by the fact that, owing to the scheme
+of classification adopted, it was impossible to have the entire exhibit of
+any one country in the same building or more than one group of exhibits in
+the same part of any building. Our installations were scattered on both
+sides of the Seine and in widely remote suburbs of Paris, so that
+additional assistants were needed for the work of supervision and
+arrangement.
+
+Despite all these drawbacks the contribution of the United States was not
+only the largest foreign display, but was among the earliest in place and
+the most orderly in arrangement. Our exhibits were shown in one hundred and
+one out of one hundred and twenty-one classes, and more completely covered
+the entire classification than those of any other nation. In total number
+they ranked next after those of France, and the attractive form in which
+they were presented secured general attention.
+
+A criterion of the extent and success of our participation and of the
+thoroughness with which our exhibits were organized is seen in the awards
+granted to American exhibitors by the international jury, namely, grand
+prizes, 240; gold medals, 597; silver medals, 776; bronze medals, 541, and
+honorable mentions, 322--2,476 in all, being the greatest total number
+given to the exhibit of any exhibiting nation, as well as the largest
+number in each grade. This significant recognition of merit in competition
+with the chosen exhibits of all other nations and at the hands of juries
+almost wholly made up of representatives of France and other competing
+countries is not only most gratifying, but is especially valuable, since it
+sets us to the front in international questions of supply and demand, while
+the large proportion of awards in the classes of art and artistic
+manufactures afforded unexpected proof of the stimulation of national
+culture by the prosperity that flows from natural productiveness joined to
+industrial excellence.
+
+Apart from the exposition several occasions for showing international good
+will occurred. The inauguration in Paris of the Lafayette Monument,
+presented by the school children of the United States, and the designing of
+a commemorative coin by our Mint and the presentation of the first piece
+struck to the President of the Republic, were marked by appropriate
+ceremonies, and the Fourth of July was especially observed in the French
+capital.
+
+Good will prevails in our relations with the German Empire. An amicable
+adjustment of the long-pending question of the admission of our
+life-insurance companies to do business in Prussia has been reached. One of
+the principal companies has already been readmitted and the way is opened
+for the others to share the privilege.
+
+The settlement of the Samoan problem, to which I adverted in my last
+message, has accomplished good results. Peace and contentment prevail in
+the islands, especially in Tutuila, where a convenient administration that
+has won the confidence and esteem of the kindly disposed natives has been
+organized under the direction of the commander of the United States naval
+station at Pago-Pago.
+
+An Imperial meat inspection law has been enacted for Germany. While it may
+simplify the inspections, it prohibits certain products heretofore
+admitted. There is still great uncertainty as to whether our well-nigh
+extinguished German trade in meat products can revive tinder its new
+burdens. Much will depend upon regulations not yet promulgated, which we
+confidently hope will be free from the discriminations which attended the
+enforcement of the old statutes.
+
+The remaining link in the new lines of direct telegraphic communication
+between the United States and the German Empire has recently been
+completed, affording a gratifying occasion for exchange of friendly
+congratulations with the German Emperor.
+
+Our friendly relations with Great Britain continue. The war in Southern
+Africa introduced important questions. A condition unusual in international
+wars was presented in that while one belligerent had control of the seas,
+the other had no ports, shipping, or direct trade, but was only accessible
+through the territory of a neutral. Vexatious questions arose through Great
+Britain's action in respect to neutral cargoes, not contraband in their own
+nature, shipped to Portuguese South Africa, on the score of probable or
+suspected ultimate destination to the Boer States.
+
+Such consignments in British ships, by which alone direct trade is kept up
+between our ports and Southern Africa, were seized in application of a
+municipal law prohibiting British vessels from trading with the enemy
+without regard to any contraband character of the goods, while cargoes
+shipped to Delagoa Bay in neutral bottoms were arrested on the ground of
+alleged destination to enemy's country. Appropriate representations on our
+part resulted in the British Government agreeing to purchase outright all
+such goods shown to be the actual property of American citizens, thus
+closing the incident to the satisfaction of the immediately interested
+parties, although, unfortunately, without a broad settlement of the
+question of a neutral's right to send goods not contraband per se to a
+neutral port adjacent to a belligerent area.
+
+The work of marking certain provisional boundary points, for convenience of
+administration, around the head of Lynn Canal, in accordance with the
+temporary arrangement of October, 1899, Was completed by a joint survey in
+July last. The modus vivendi has so far worked without friction, and the
+Dominion Government has provided rules and regulations for securing to our
+citizens the benefit of the reciprocal stipulation that the citizens or
+subjects of either power found by that arrangement within the temporary
+jurisdiction of the other shall suffer no diminution of the rights and
+privileges they have hitherto enjoyed. But however necessary such an
+expedient may have been to tide over the grave emergencies of the
+situation, it is at best but an unsatisfactory makeshift, which should not
+be suffered to delay the speedy and complete establishment of the frontier
+line to which we are entitled under the Russo-American treaty for the
+cession of Alaska.
+
+In this relation I may refer again to the need of definitely marking the
+Alaskan boundary where it follows the one hundred and forty-first meridian.
+A convention to that end has been before the Senate for some two years, but
+as no action has been taken I contemplate negotiating a new convention for
+a joint determination of the meridian by telegraphic observations. These,
+it is believed, will give more accurate and unquestionable results than the
+sidereal methods heretofore independently followed, which, as is known,
+proved discrepant at several points on the line, although not varying at
+any place more than 700 feet.
+
+The pending claim of R. H. May against the Guatemalan Government has been
+settled by arbitration, Mr. George F. B. Jenner, British minister at
+Guatemala, who was chosen as sole arbitrator, having awarded $143,750.73 in
+gold to the claimant.
+
+Various American claims against Haiti have been or are being advanced to
+the resort of arbitration.
+
+As the result of negotiations with the Government of Honduras in regard to
+the indemnity demanded for the murder of Frank H. Pears in Honduras, that
+Government has paid $10,000 in settlement of the claim of the heirs.
+
+The assassination of King Humbert called forth sincere expressions of
+sorrow from this Government and people, and occasion was fitly taken to
+testify to the Italian nation the high regard here felt for the memory of
+the lamented ruler.
+
+In my last message I referred at considerable length to the lynching of
+five Italians at Tallulah. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Federal
+Government, the production of evidence tending to inculpate the authors of
+this grievous offense against our civilization, and the repeated inquests
+set on foot by the authorities of the State of Louisiana, no punishments
+have followed. Successive grand juries have failed to indict. The
+representations of the Italian Government in the face of this miscarriage
+have been most temperate and just.
+
+Setting the principle at issue high above all consideration of merely
+pecuniary indemnification, such as this Government made in the three
+previous cases, Italy has solemnly invoked the pledges of existing treaty
+and asked that the justice to which she is entitled shall be meted in
+regard to her unfortunate countrymen in our territory with the same full
+measure she herself would give to any American were his reciprocal treaty
+rights contemned.
+
+I renew the urgent recommendations I made last year that the Congress
+appropriately confer upon the Federal courts jurisdiction in this class of
+international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the Federal
+Government may be involved, and I invite action upon the bills to
+accomplish this which were introduced in the Sen. ate and House. It is
+incumbent upon us to remedy the statutory omission which has led, and may
+again lead, to such untoward results. I have pointed out the necessity and
+the precedent for legislation of this character. Its enactment is a simple
+measure of previsory justice toward the nations with which we as a
+sovereign equal make treaties requiring reciprocal observance.
+
+While the Italian Government naturally regards such action as the primary
+and, indeed, the most essential element in the disposal of the Tallulah
+incident, I advise that, in accordance with precedent, and in view of the
+improbability of that particular case being reached by the bill now
+pending, Congress make gracious provision for indemnity to the Italian
+sufferers in the same form and proportion as heretofore.
+
+In my inaugural address I referred to the general subject of lynching in
+these words: Lynching must not be tolerated in a great and civilized
+country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must execute the
+penalties of the law. The preservation of public order, the right of
+discussion, the integrity of courts, and the orderly administration of
+justice must continue forever the rock of safety upon which our Government
+securely rests. This I most urgently reiterate and again invite the
+attention of my countrymen to this reproach upon our civilization.
+
+The closing year has witnessed a decided strengthening of Japan's relations
+to other states. The development of her independent judicial and
+administrative functions under the treaties which took effect July 17,
+1899, has proceeded without international friction, showing the competence
+of the Japanese to hold a foremost place among modern peoples.
+
+In the treatment of the difficult Chinese problems Japan has acted in
+harmonious concert with the other powers, and her generous cooperation
+materially aided in the joint relief of the beleaguered legations in Peking
+and in bringing about an understanding preliminary to a settlement of the
+issues between the powers and China. Japan's declarations in favor of the
+integrity of the Chinese Empire and the conservation of open world trade
+therewith have been frank and positive. As a factor for promoting the
+general interests of peace, order, and fair commerce in the Far East the
+influence of Japan can hardly be overestimated.
+
+The valuable aid and kindly courtesies extended by the Japanese Government
+and naval officers to the battle ship Oregon are gratefully appreciated.
+
+Complaint was made last summer of the discriminatory enforcement of a
+bubonic quarantine against Japanese on the Pacific coast and of
+interference with their travel in California and Colorado under the health
+laws of those States. The latter restrictions have been adjudged by a
+Federal court to be unconstitutional. No recurrence of either cause of
+complaint is apprehended.
+
+No noteworthy incident has occurred in our relations with our important
+southern neighbor. Commercial intercourse with Mexico continues to thrive,
+and the two Governments neglect no opportunity to foster their mutual
+interests in all practicable ways.
+
+Pursuant to the declaration of the Supreme Court that the awards of the
+late joint Commission in the La Abra and Weil claims were obtained through
+fraud, the sum awarded in the first case, $403,030.08, has been returned to
+Mexico, and the amount of the Weil award will be returned in like manner.
+
+A Convention indefinitely extending the time for the labors of the United
+States and Mexican International (Water) Boundary Commission has been
+signed.
+
+It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce the formal notification
+at The Hague, on September 4, of the deposit of ratifications of the
+Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes by sixteen
+powers, namely, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England,
+France, Germany, Italy, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Spain,
+Sweden and Norway, and the Netherlands. Japan also has since ratified the
+Convention.
+
+The Administrative Council of the Permanent Court of Arbitration has been
+organized and has adopted rules of order and a constitution for the
+International Arbitration Bureau. In accordance with Article XXIII of the
+Convention providing for the appointment by each signatory power of persons
+of known competency in questions of international law as arbitrators, I
+have appointed as members of this Court, Hon. Benjamin Harrison, of
+Indiana, ex-President of the United States; Hon. Melville W. Fuller, of
+Illinois, Chief justice of the United States; Hon. John W. Griggs, of New
+Jersey, Attorney General of the United States; and Hon. George Gray, of
+Delaware, a judge of the circuit court of the United States.
+
+As an incident of the brief revolution in the Mosquito district of
+Nicaragua early in 1899 the insurgents forcibly collected from American
+merchants duties upon imports. On the restoration of order the Nicaraguan
+authorities demanded a second payment of such duties on the ground that
+they were due to the titular Government and that their diversion had aided
+the revolt.
+
+This position was not accepted by us. After prolonged discussion a
+compromise was effected under which the amount of the second payments was
+deposited with the British consul at San Juan del Norte in trust until the
+two Governments should determine whether the first payments had been made
+under compulsion to a de facto authority. Agreement as to this was not
+reached, and the point was waived by the act of the Nicaraguan Government
+in requesting the British consul to return the deposits to the merchants.
+
+Menacing differences between several of the Central American States have
+been accommodated, our ministers rendering good offices toward an
+understanding.
+
+The all-important matter of an interoceanic canal has assumed a new phase.
+Adhering to its refusal to reopen the question of the forfeiture of the
+contract of the Maritime Canal Company, which was terminated for alleged
+nonexecution in October, 1899, the Government of Nicaragua has since
+supplemented that action by declaring the so styled Eyre-Cragin option void
+for nonpayment of the stipulated advance. Protests in relation to these
+acts have been filed in the State Department and are under consideration.
+Deeming itself relieved from existing engagements, the Nicaraguan
+Government shows a disposition to deal freely with the canal question
+either in the way of negotiations with the United States or by taking
+measures to promote the waterway.
+
+Overtures for a convention to effect the building of a canal under the
+auspices of the United States are under consideration. In the meantime, the
+views of the Congress upon the general subject, in the light of the report
+of the Commission appointed to examine the comparative merits of the
+various trans-Isthmian ship-canal projects, may be awaited.
+
+I commend to the early attention of the Senate the Convention with Great
+Britain to facilitate the construction of such a canal and to remove any
+objection which might arise out of the Convention commonly called the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.
+
+The long-standing contention with Portugal, growing out of the seizure of
+the Delagoa Bay Railway, has been at last determined by a favorable award
+of the tribunal of arbitration at Berne, to which it was submitted. The
+amount of the award, which was deposited in London awaiting arrangements by
+the Governments of the United States and Great Britain for its disposal,
+has recently been paid over to the two Governments.
+
+A lately signed Convention of Extradition with Peru as amended by the
+Senate has been ratified by the Peruvian Congress.
+
+Another illustration of the policy of this Government to refer
+international disputes to impartial arbitration is seen in the agreement
+reached with Russia to submit the claims on behalf of American sealing
+vessels seized in Bering Sea to determination by Mr. T. M. C. Asser, a
+distinguished statesman and jurist of the Netherlands.
+
+Thanks are due to the Imperial Russian Government for the kindly aid
+rendered by its authorities in eastern Siberia to American missionaries
+fleeing from Manchuria.
+
+Satisfactory progress has been made toward the conclusion of a general
+treaty of friendship and intercourse with Spain, in replacement of the old
+treaty, which passed into abeyance by reason of the late war. A new
+convention of extradition is approaching completion, and I should be much
+pleased were a commercial arrangement to follow. I feel that we should not
+suffer to pass any opportunity to reaffirm the cordial ties that existed
+between us and Spain from the time of our earliest independence, and to
+enhance the mutual benefits of that commercial intercourse which is natural
+between the two countries.
+
+By the terms of the Treaty of Peace the line bounding the ceded Philippine
+group in the southwest failed to include several small islands lying
+westward of the Sulus, which have always been recognized as under Spanish
+control. The occupation of Sibutd and Cagayan Sulu by our naval forces
+elicited a claim on the part of Spain, the essential equity of which could
+not be gainsaid. In order to cure the defect of the treaty by removing all
+possible ground of future misunderstanding respecting the interpretation of
+its third article, I directed the negotiation of a supplementary treaty,
+which will be forthwith laid before the Senate, whereby Spain quits all
+title and claim of title to the islands named as well as to any and all
+islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago lying outside the lines
+described in said third article, and agrees that all such islands shall be
+comprehended in the cession of the archipelago as fully as if they had been
+expressly included within those lines. In consideration of this cession the
+United States is to pay to Spain the sum of $100,000.
+
+A bill is now pending to effect the recommendation made in my last annual
+message that appropriate legislation be had to carry into execution Article
+VII of the Treaty of Peace with Spain, by which the United States assumed
+the payment of certain claims for indemnity of its citizens against Spain.
+I ask that action be taken to fulfill this obligation.
+
+The King of Sweden and Norway has accepted the joint invitation of the
+United States, Germany, and Great Britain to arbitrate claims growing out
+of losses sustained in the Samoan Islands in the course of military
+operations made necessary by the disturbances in 1899.
+
+Our claims upon the Government of the Sultan for reparation for injuries
+suffered by American citizens in Armenia and elsewhere give promise of
+early and satisfactory settlement. His Majesty's good disposition in this
+regard has been evinced by the issuance of an irade for rebuilding the
+American college at Harpoot.
+
+The failure of action by the Senate at its last session upon the commercial
+conventions then submitted for its consideration and approval, although
+caused by the great pressure of other legislative business, has caused much
+disappointment to the agricultural and industrial interests of the country,
+which hoped to profit by their provisions. The conventional periods for
+their ratification having expired, it became necessary to sign additional
+articles extending the time for that purpose. This was requested on our
+part, and the other Governments interested have concurred with the
+exception of one convention, in respect to which no formal reply has been
+received.
+
+Since my last communication to the Congress on this subject special
+commercial agreements under the third section of the tariff act have been
+proclaimed with Portugal, with Italy, and with Germany. Commercial
+conventions tinder the general limitations of the fourth section of the
+same act have been concluded with Nicaragua, with Ecuador, with the
+Dominican Republic, with Great Britain on behalf of the island of Trinidad,
+and with Denmark on behalf of the island of St. Croix. These will be early
+communicated to the Senate. Negotiations with other Governments are in
+progress for the improvement and security of our commercial relations.
+
+The policy of reciprocity so manifestly rests upon the principles of
+international equity and has been so repeatedly approved by the people of
+the United States that there ought to be no hesitation in either branch of
+the Congress in giving to it full effect.
+
+This Government desires to preserve the most just and amicable commercial
+relations with all foreign countries, unmoved by the industrial rivalries
+necessarily developed in the expansion of international trade. It is
+believed that the foreign Governments generally entertain the same purpose,
+although in some instances there are clamorous demands upon them for
+legislation specifically hostile to American interests. Should these
+demands prevail I shall communicate with the Congress with the view of
+advising such legislation as may be necessary to meet the emergency.
+
+The exposition of the resources and products of the Western Hemisphere to
+be held at Buffalo next year promises important results not only for the
+United States but for the other participating countries. It is gratifying
+that the Latin-American States have evinced the liveliest interest, and the
+fact that an International American Congress will be held in the City of
+Mexico while the exposition is in progress encourages the hope of a larger
+display at Buffalo than might otherwise be practicable. The work of
+preparing an exhibit of our national resources is making satisfactory
+progress under the direction of different officials of the Federal
+Government, and the various States of the Union have shown a disposition
+toward the most liberal participation in the enterprise.
+
+The Bureau of the American Republics continues to discharge, with the
+happiest results, the important work of promoting cordial relations between
+the United States and the Latin-American countries, all of which are now
+active members of the International Union. The Bureau has been instrumental
+in bringing about the agreement for another International American
+Congress, which is to meet in the City of Mexico in October, 1901. The
+Bureau's future for another term of ten years is assured by the
+international compact, but the congress will doubtless have much to do with
+shaping new lines of work and a general policy. Its usefulness to the
+interests of Latin-American trade is widely appreciated and shows a
+gratifying development.
+
+The practical utility of the consular service in obtaining a wide range of
+information as to the industries and commerce of other countries and the
+opportunities thereby afforded for introducing the sale of our goods have
+kept steadily in advance of the notable expansion of our foreign trade, and
+abundant evidence has been furnished, both at home and abroad, of the fact
+that the Consular Reports, including many from our diplomatic
+representatives, have to a considerable extent pointed out ways and means
+of disposing of a great variety of manufactured goods which otherwise might
+not have found sale abroad.
+
+Testimony of foreign observers to the commercial efficiency of the consular
+corps seems to be conclusive, and our own manufacturers and exporters
+highly appreciate the value of the services rendered not only in the
+printed reports but also in the individual efforts of consular officers to
+promote American trade. An increasing part of the work of the Bureau of
+Foreign Commerce, whose primary duty it is to compile and print the
+reports, is to answer inquiries from trade organizations, business houses,
+etc., as to conditions in various parts of the world, and, notwithstanding
+the smallness of the force employed, the work has been so systematized that
+responses are made with such promptitude and accuracy as to elicit
+flattering encomiums. The experiment of printing the Consular Reports daily
+for immediate use by trade bodies, exporters, and the press, which was
+begun in January, 1898, continues to give general satisfaction.
+
+It is gratifying to be able to state that the surplus revenues for the
+fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, were $79,527,060.18. For the six preceding
+years we had only deficits, the aggregate of which from 1894 to 1899,
+inclusive, amounted to $283,022,991.14. The receipts for the year from all
+sources, exclusive of postal revenues, aggregated $567,240,851.89, and
+expenditures for all purposes, except for the administration of the postal
+department, aggregated $487,713,791.71. The receipts from customs were
+$233,164,871.16, an increase over the preceding year Of $27,036,389.41. The
+receipts from internal revenue were $295,327,926.76, an increase Of
+$21,890,765.25 over 1899. The receipts from miscellaneous sources were
+$38,748,053.97, as against $36,394,976.92 for the previous year.
+
+It is gratifying also to note that during the year a considerable reduction
+is shown in the expenditures of the Government. The War Department
+expenditures for the fiscal year 1900 were $134,774,767.78, a reduction of
+$95,066,486.69 over those of 1899. In the Navy Department the expenditures
+were $55,953,077.72 for the year 1900, as against $63,942,104.25 for the
+preceding year, a decrease of $7,989,026.53. In the expenditures on account
+of Indians there was a decrease in 1900 over 1899 Of $2,630,604.38; and in
+the civil and miscellaneous expenses for 1900 there was a reduction Of
+$13,418,065.74.
+
+Because of the excess of revenues over expenditures the Secretary of the
+Treasury was enabled to apply bonds and other securities to the sinking
+fund to the amount Of $56,544,556.06. The details of the sinking fund are
+set forth in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to which I invite
+attention. The Secretary of the Treasury estimates that the receipts for
+the current fiscal year will aggregate $580,000,000 and the expenditures
+$500,000,000, leaving an excess of revenues over expenditures of
+$80,000,000. The present condition of the Treasury is one of undoubted
+strength. The available cash balance November 30 was $139,303,794.50. Under
+the form of statement prior to the financial law of March 14 last there
+would have been included in the statement of available cash gold coin and
+bullion held for the redemption of United States notes.
+
+If this form were pursued, the cash balance including the present gold
+reserve of $150,000,000, would be $289,303,794.50. Such balance November
+30, 1899, was $296,495,301.55. In the general fund, which is wholly
+separate from the reserve and trust funds, there was on November 30,
+$70,090,073.15 in gold coin and bullion, to which should be added
+$22,957,300 in gold certificates subject to issue, against which there is
+held in the Division of Redemption gold coin and bullion, making a total
+holding of free gold amounting to $93,047,373.15.
+
+It will be the duty as I am sure it will be the disposition of the Congress
+to provide whatever further legislation is needed to insure the continued
+parity under all conditions between our two forms of metallic money, silver
+and gold.
+
+Our surplus revenues have permitted the Secretary of the Treasury since the
+close of the fiscal year to call in the funded loan of 1891 continued at 2
+per cent, in the sum of $25,364,500. To and including November 30,
+$23,458,100 Of these bonds have been paid. This sum, together with the
+amount which may accrue from further redemptions under the call, will be
+applied to the sinking fund.
+
+The law of March 14, 1900, provided for refunding into 2 per cent
+thirty-year bonds, payable, principal and interest, in gold coin of the
+present standard value, that portion of the public debt represented by the
+3 per cent bonds of 1908, the 4 percents Of 1907, and the 5 percents of
+1904, Of which there was outstanding at the date of said law $839,149,930,
+The holders of the old bonds presented them for exchange between March 14
+and November 30 to the amount of $364,943,750. The net saving to the
+Government on these transactions aggregates $9,106,166.
+
+Another effect of the operation, as stated by the Secretary, is to reduce
+the charge upon the Treasury for the payment of interest from the dates of
+refunding to February 1, 1904, by the sum of more than seven million
+dollars annually. From February 1, 1904, to July 1, 11907, the annual
+interest charge will be reduced by the sum of more than five millions, and
+for the thirteen months ending August 1, 1908, by about one million. The
+full details of the refunding are given in the annual report of the
+Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+The beneficial effect of the financial act of 1900, so far as it relates to
+a modification of the national banking act, is already apparent. The
+provision for the incorporation of national banks with a capital of not
+less than $25,000 in places not exceeding three thousand inhabitants has
+resulted in the extension of banking facilities to many small communities
+hitherto unable to provide themselves with banking institutions under the
+national system. There were organized from the enactment of the law up to
+and including November 30, 369 national banks, of which 266 were with
+capital less than $50,000, and 103 with capital of $50,000 or more.
+
+It is worthy of mention that the greater number of banks being organized
+under the new law are in sections where the need of banking facilities has
+been most pronounced. Iowa stands first, with 30 banks of the smaller
+class, while Texas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and the middle and western
+sections of the country have also availed themselves largely of the
+privileges under the new law.
+
+A large increase in national bank-note circulation has resulted from the
+provision of the act which permits national banks to issue circulating
+notes to the par value of the United States bonds deposited as security
+instead of only go per cent thereof, as heretofore. The increase in
+circulating notes from March 14 to November 30 is $77,889,570.
+
+The party in power is committed to such legislation as will better make the
+currency responsive to the varying needs of business at all seasons and in
+all sections.
+
+Our foreign trade shows a remarkable record of commercial and industrial
+progress. The total of imports and exports for the first time in the
+history of the country exceeded two billions of dollars. The exports are
+greater than they have ever been before, the total for the fiscal year 1900
+being $1,394,483,082, an increase over 1899 of $167,459,780, an increase
+over 1898 of $163,000,752, over 1897 Of $343,489,526, and greater than 1896
+by $511,876,144.
+
+The growth of manufactures in the United States is evidenced by the fact
+that exports of manufactured products largely exceed those of any previous
+year, their value for 1900 being $433,851,756, against $339,592,146 in
+1899, an increase of 28 per cent.
+
+Agricultural products were also exported during 1900 in greater volume than
+in 1899, the total for the year being $835,858,123, against $784,776,142 in
+1899.
+
+The imports for the year amounted to $849,941,184, an increase over 1899 of
+$152,792,695. This increase is largely in materials for manufacture, and is
+in response to the rapid development of manufacturing in the United States.
+While there was imported for use in manufactures in 1900 material to the
+value of $79,768,972 in excess of 1899, it is reassuring to observe that
+there is a tendency toward decrease in the importation of articles
+manufactured ready for consumption, which in 1900 formed 15.17 per cent of
+the total imports, against 15.54 per cent in 1899 and 21.09 per cent in
+1896.
+
+I recommend that the Congress at its present session reduce the
+internal-revenue taxes imposed to meet the expenses of the war with Spain.
+in the sum of thirty millions of dollars. This reduction should be secured
+by the remission of those taxes which experience has shown to be the most
+burdensome to the industries of the people.
+
+I specially urge that there be included in whatever reduction is made the
+legacy tax on bequests for public uses of a literary, educational, or
+charitable character.
+
+American vessels during the past three years have carried about 9 per cent
+of our exports and imports. Foreign ships should carry the least, not the
+greatest, part of American trade. The remarkable growth of our steel
+industries, the progress of shipbuilding for the domestic trade, and our
+steadily maintained expenditures for the Navy have created an opportunity
+to place the United States in the first rank of commercial maritime powers.
+
+Besides realizing a proper national aspiration this will mean the
+establishment and healthy growth along all our coasts of a distinctive
+national industry, expanding the field for the profitable employment of
+labor and capital. It will increase the transportation facilities and
+reduce freight charges on the vast volume of products brought from the
+interior to the seaboard for export, and will strengthen an arm of the
+national defense upon which the founders of the Government and their
+successors have relied. In again urging immediate action by the Congress on
+measures to promote American shipping and foreign trade, I direct attention
+to the recommendations on the subject in previous messages, and
+particularly to the opinion expressed in the message of 1899: I am
+satisfied the judgment of the country favors the policy of aid to our
+merchant marine, which will broaden our commerce and markets and upbuild
+our sea-carrying capacity for the products of agriculture and manufacture,
+which, with the increase of our Navy, mean more work and wages to our
+countrymen, as well as a safeguard to American interests in every part of
+the world. The attention of the Congress is invited to the recommendation
+of the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report for legislation in
+behalf of the Revenue-Cutter Service, and favorable action is urged.
+
+In my last annual message to the Congress I called attention to the
+necessity for early action to remedy such evils as might be found to exist
+in connection with combinations of capital organized into trusts, and again
+invite attention to my discussion of the subject at that time, which
+concluded with these words: It is apparent that uniformity of legislation
+upon this subject in the several States is much to be desired. It is to be
+hoped that such uniformity, founded in a wise and just discrimination
+between what is injurious and what is useful and necessary in business
+operations, may be obtained, and that means may be found for the Congress,
+within the limitations of its constitutional power, so to supplement an
+effective code of State legislation as to make a complete system of laws
+throughout the United States adequate to compel a general observance of the
+salutary rules to which I have referred.
+
+The whole question is so important and far-reaching that I am sure no part
+of it will be lightly considered, but every phase of it will have the
+studied deliberation of the Congress, resulting in wise and judicious
+action. Restraint upon such combinations as are injurious, and which are
+within Federal jurisdiction, should be promptly applied by the Congress.
+
+In my last annual message I dwelt at some length upon the condition of
+affairs in the Philippines. While seeking to impress upon you that the
+grave responsibility of the future government of those islands rests with
+the Congress of the United States, I abstained from recommending at that
+time a specific and final form of government for the territory actually
+held by the United States forces and in which as long as insurrection
+continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. I stated my
+purpose, until the Congress shall have made the formal expression of its
+will, to use the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
+statutes to uphold the sovereignty of the United States in those distant
+islands as in all other places where our flag rightfully floats, placing,
+to that end, at the disposal of the army and navy all the means which the
+liberality of the Congress and the people have provided. No contrary
+expression of the will of the Congress having been made, I have steadfastly
+pursued the purpose so declared, employing the civil arm as well toward the
+accomplishment of pacification and the institution of local governments
+within the lines of authority and law.
+
+Progress in the hoped-for direction has been favorable. Our forces have
+successfully controlled the greater part of the islands, overcoming the
+organized forces of the insurgents and carrying order and administrative
+regularity to all quarters. What opposition remains is for the most part
+scattered, obeying no concerted plan of strategic action, operating only by
+the methods common to the traditions of guerrilla warfare, which, while
+ineffective to alter the general control now established, are still
+sufficient to beget insecurity among the populations that have felt the
+good results of our control and thus delay the conferment upon them of the
+fuller measures of local self-government, of education, and of industrial
+and agricultural development which we stand ready to give to them.
+
+By the spring of this year the effective opposition of the dissatisfied
+Tagals to the authority of the United States was virtually ended, thus
+opening the door for the extension of a stable administration over much of
+the territory of the Archipelago. Desiring to bring this about, I appointed
+in March last a civil Commission composed of the Hon. William H. Taft, of
+Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; the Hon. Luke I. Wright, of
+Tennessee; the Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard Moses, of
+California. The aims of their mission and the scope of their authority are
+clearly set forth in my instructions of April 7, 1900, addressed to the
+Secretary of War to be transmitted to them:
+
+In the message transmitted to the Congress on the 5th of December, 1899, I
+said, speaking of the Philippine Islands: "As long as the insurrection
+continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. But there is no
+reason why steps should not be taken from time to time to inaugurate
+governments essentially popular in their form as fast as territory is held
+and controlled by our troops. To this end I am considering the advisability
+of the return of the Commission, or such of the members thereof as can be
+secured, to aid the existing authorities and facilitate this work
+throughout the islands."
+
+To give effect to the intention thus expressed, I have appointed Hon.
+William H. Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; Non. Luke
+I. Wright, of Tennessee; Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard
+Moses, of California, Commissioners to the Philippine Islands to continue
+and perfect the work of organizing and establishing civil government
+already commenced by the military authorities, subject in all respects to
+any laws which Congress may hereafter enact.
+
+The Commissioners named will meet and act as a board, and the Hon. William
+H. Taft t is designated as president of the board. It is probable that the
+transfer of authority from military commanders to civil officers will be
+gradual and will occupy a considerable period. Its successful
+accomplishment and the maintenance of peace and order in the meantime will
+require the most perfect co-operation between the civil and military
+authorities in the islands, and both should be directed during the
+transition period by the same Executive Department. The Commission will
+therefore report to the Secretary of War, and all their action will be
+subject to your approval and control.
+
+You will instruct the Commission to proceed to the city of Manila, where
+they will make their principal office, and to communicate with the Military
+Governor of the Philippine Islands, whom you will at the same time direct
+to render to them every assistance within his power in the performance of
+their duties. Without hampering them by too specific instructions, they
+should in general be enjoined, after making themselves familiar with the
+conditions and needs of the country, to devote their attention in the first
+instance to the establishment of municipal governments, in which the
+natives of the islands, both in the cities and in the rural communities,
+shall be afforded the opportunity to manage their own local affairs to the
+fullest extent of which they are capable and subject to the least degree of
+supervision and control which a careful study of their capacities and
+observation of the workings of native control show to be consistent with
+the maintenance of law, order, and loyalty.
+
+The next subject in order of importance should be the organization of
+government in the larger administrative divisions corresponding to
+counties, departments, or provinces, in which the common interests of many
+or several municipalities falling within the same tribal lines, or the same
+natural geographical limits, may best be subserved by a common
+administration. Whenever the Commission is of the opinion that the
+condition of affairs in the islands is such that the central administration
+may safely be transferred from military to civil control they will report
+that conclusion to you, with their recommendations as to the form of
+central government to be established for the purpose of taking over the
+control.
+
+Beginning with the 1st day of September, 1900, the authority to exercise,
+subject to my approval, through the Secretary of War, that part of the
+power of government in the Philippine Islands which is of a legislative
+nature is to be transferred from the Military Governor of the islands to
+this Commission, to be thereafter exercised by them in the place and stead
+of the Military Governor, under such rules and regulations as you shall
+prescribe, until the establishment of the civil central government for the
+islands contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress
+shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will
+include the making of rules and orders, having the effect of law, for the
+raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties, and imposts; the appropriation
+and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the establishment of an
+educational system throughout the islands; the establishment of a system
+to secure an efficient civil service; the organization and establishment of
+courts; the organization and establishment of municipal and departmental
+governments, and all other matters of a civil nature for which the Military
+Governor is now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative
+character.
+
+The Commission will also have power during the same period to appoint to
+office such officers under the judicial, educational, and civil-service
+systems and in the municipal and departmental governments as shall be
+provided for. Until the complete transfer of control the Military Governor
+will remain the chief executive head of the government of the islands, and
+will exercise the executive authority now possessed by him and not herein
+expressly assigned to the Commission, subject, however, to the rules and
+orders enacted by the Commission in the exercise of the legislative powers
+conferred upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental
+governments will continue to report to the Military Governor and be subject
+to his administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but
+that supervision and control will be confined within the narrowest limits
+consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the
+municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively exercised
+and that law and order and individual freedom shall be maintained.
+
+All legislative rules and orders, establishments of government, and
+appointments to office by the Commission will take effect immediately, or
+at such times as they shall designate, subject to your approval and action
+upon the coming in of the Commission's reports, which are to be made from
+time to time as their action is taken. Wherever civil governments are
+constituted under the direction of the Commission such military posts,
+garrisons, and forces will be continued for the suppression of insurrection
+and brigandage and the maintenance of law and order as the Military
+Commander shall deem requisite, and the military forces shall be at all
+times subject, under his orders, to the call of the civil authorities for
+the maintenance of law and order and the enforcement of their authority.
+
+In the establishment of municipal governments the Commission will take as
+the basis of their work the governments established by the Military
+Governor under his order of August 8, 1899. and under the report of the
+board constituted by the Military Governor by his order of January 29,
+1900, to formulate and report a plan of municipal government, of which His
+Honor Cayetano Arellano, President of the Audiencia, was chairman, and they
+will give to the conclusions of that board the weight and consideration
+which the high character and distinguished abilities of its members
+justify.
+
+In the constitution of departmental or provincial governments they will
+give especial attention to the existing government of the island of Negros,
+constituted, with the approval of the people of that island, under the
+order of the Military Governor of July 22, 1899, and after verifying, so
+far as may be practicable, the reports of the successful working of that
+government they will be guided by the experience thus acquired so far as it
+may be applicable to the condition existing in other portions of the
+Philippines. They will avail themselves, to the fullest degree practicable,
+of the conclusions reached by the previous Commission to the Philippines.
+
+In the distribution of powers among the governments organized by the
+Commission, the presumption is always to be in favor of the smaller
+subdivision, so that all the powers which can properly be exercised by the
+municipal government shall be vested in that government, and all the powers
+of a more general character which can be exercised by the departmental
+government shall be vested in that government, and so that in the
+governmental system, which is the result of the process, the central
+government of the islands, following the example of the distribution of the
+powers between the States and the National Government of the United States,
+shall have no direct administration except of matters of purely general
+concern, and shall have only such supervision and control over local
+governments as may be necessary to secure and enforce faithful and
+efficient administration by local officers.
+
+The many Different degrees of civilization and varieties of custom and
+capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very definite
+instruction as to the part which the people shall take in the selection of
+their own officers; but these general rules are to be observed: That in all
+cases the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the
+people, are to be selected by the people, and that wherever officers of
+more extended jurisdiction are to be selected in any way, natives of the
+islands are to be preferred, and if they can be found competent and willing
+to perform the duties, they are to receive the offices in preference to any
+others.
+
+It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with Americans
+which after a time may well be filled by natives of the islands. As soon as
+practicable a system for ascertaining the merit and fitness of candidates
+for civil office should be put in force. An indispensable qualification for
+all offices and positions of trust and authority in the islands must be
+absolute and unconditional loyalty to the United States, and absolute and
+unhampered authority and power to remove and punish any officer deviating
+from that standard must at all times be retained in the hands of the
+central authority of the islands.
+
+In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are
+authorized to prescribe the Commission should bear in mind that the
+government which they are establishing is designed not for our
+satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the
+happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands,
+and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their
+habits, and even heir prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the
+accomplishment of the Indispensable requisites of just and effective
+government.
+
+At the same time the Commission should bear in mind, and the people of the
+islands should be made plainly to understand, that there are certain great
+principles of government which have been made the basis of our governmental
+system which we deem essential to the rule of law and the maintenance of
+individual freedom, and of which they have, unfortunately, been denied the
+experience possessed by us; that there are also certain practical rules of
+government which we have found to be essential to the preservation of these
+great principles of liberty and law, and that these principles and these
+rules of government must be established and maintained in their islands for
+the sake of their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict
+with the customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar.
+
+It is evident that the most enlightened thought of the Philippine Islands
+fully appreciates the importance of these principles and rules, and they
+will inevitably within a short time command universal assent. Upon every
+division and branch of the government of the Philippines, therefore, must
+be imposed these inviolable rules:
+
+That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
+process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public use
+without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions the accused
+shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the
+nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses
+against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
+favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; that
+excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
+cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice
+in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal case to
+be a witness against himself; that the right to be secure against
+unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; that neither
+slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as a punishment for
+crime; that no bill of attainder or ex-post facto law shall be passed; that
+no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or
+the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government
+for a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an
+establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and
+that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship
+without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed.
+
+It will be the duty of the Commission to make a thorough investigation into
+the titles to the large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by
+religious orders; into the justice of the claims and complaints made
+against such landholders by the people of the island or any part of the
+people, and to seek by wise and peaceable measures a just settlement of the
+controversies and redress of wrongs which have caused strife and bloodshed
+in the past. In the performance of this duty the Commission is enjoined to
+see that no injustice is done; to have regard for substantial rights and
+equity, disregarding technicalities so far as substantial right permits,
+and to observe the following rules:
+
+That the provision of the Treaty of Paris pledging the United States to the
+protection of all rights of property in the islands, and as well the
+principle of our own Government which prohibits the taking of private
+property without due process of law, shall not be violated; that the
+welfare of the people of the islands, which should be a paramount
+consideration, shall be attained consistently with this rule of property
+right; that if it becomes necessary for the public interest of the people
+of the islands to dispose of claims to property which the Commission finds
+to be not lawfully acquired and held disposition shall be made thereof by
+due legal procedure, in which there shall be full opportunity for fair and
+impartial hearing and judgment; that if the same public interests require
+the extinguishment of property rights lawfully acquired and held due
+compensation shall be made out of the public treasury therefore; that no
+form of religion and no minister of religion shall be forced upon any
+community or upon any citizen of the islands; that, upon the other hand, no
+minister of religion shall be interfered with or molested in following his
+calling, and that the separation between State and Church shall be real,
+entire, and absolute.
+
+It will be the duty of the Commission to promote and extend, and, as they
+find occasion, to improve the system of education already inaugurated by
+the military authorities. In doing this they should regard as of first
+importance the extension of a system of primary education which shall be
+free to all, and which shall tend to fit the people for the duties of
+citizenship and for the ordinary avocations of a civilized community. This
+instruction should be given in the first instance in every part of the
+islands in the language of the people. In view of the great number of
+languages spoken by the different tribes, it is especially important to the
+prosperity of the islands that a common medium of communication may be
+established, and it is obviously desirable that this medium should be the
+English language. Especial attention should be at once given to affording
+full opportunity to all the people of the islands to acquire the use of the
+English language.
+
+It may be well that the main changes which should be made in the system of
+taxation and in the body of the laws under which the people are governed,
+except such changes as have already been made by the military government,
+should be relegated to the civil government which is to be established
+under the auspices of the Commission. It will, however, be the duty of the
+Commission to inquire diligently as to whether there are any further
+changes which ought not to be delayed, and if so, they are authorized to
+make such changes subject to your approval. In doing so they are to bear in
+mind that taxes which tend 6 penalize or repress industry and enterprise
+are to be avoided; that provisions for taxation should be simple, so that
+they may be understood by the people; that they should affect the fewest
+practicable subjects of taxation which will serve for the general
+distribution of the burden.
+
+The main body of the laws which regulate the rights and obligations of the
+people should be maintained with as little interference as possible.
+Changes made should be mainly in procedure, and in the criminal laws to
+secure speedy and impartial trials, and at the same time effective
+administration and respect for individual rights.
+
+In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the islands the Commission should
+adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our
+North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and
+government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace
+and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to which they are unable or
+unwilling to conform. Such tribal governments should, however, be subjected
+to wise and firm regulation, and, without undue or petty interference,
+constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous
+practices and introduce civilized customs.
+
+Upon all officers and employees of the United States, both civil and
+military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not merely the
+material but the personal and social rights of the people of the islands,
+and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect for their personal
+dignity which the people of the United States are accustomed W require from
+each other.
+
+The articles of capitulation of the city of Manila on the 13th of August,
+1898, concluded with these words:
+
+"This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its
+educational establishments, and its private property of all descriptions,
+are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the
+American Army."
+
+I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred an
+obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give
+protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and wise,
+firm, and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity to all
+the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this Commission to labor for
+the full performance of this obligation, which concerns the honor and
+conscience of their country, in the firm hope that through their labors all
+the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands may come to look back with
+gratitude to the day when God gave victory to American arms at Manila and
+set their land under the sovereignty and the protection of the people of
+the United States.
+
+Coincidently with the entrance of the Commission upon its labors I caused
+to be issued by General MacArthur, the Military Governor of the
+Philippines, on June 21, 1900, a proclamation of amnesty in generous terms,
+of which many of the insurgents took advantage, among them a number of
+important leaders.
+
+This Commission, composed of eminent citizens representing the diverse
+geographical and political interests of the country, and bringing to their
+task the ripe fruits of long and intelligent service in educational,
+administrative, and judicial careers, made great progress from the outset.
+As early as August 21, 1900, it submitted a preliminary report, which will
+be laid before the Congress, and from which it appears that already the
+good effects of returning order are felt; that business, interrupted by
+hostilities, is improving as peace extends; that a larger area is under
+sugar cultivation than ever before; that the customs revenues are greater
+than at any time during the Spanish rule; that economy and efficiency in
+the military administration have created a surplus fund of $6,000,000,
+available for needed public improvements; that a stringent civil-service
+law is in preparation; that railroad communications are expanding, opening
+up rich districts, and that a comprehensive scheme of education is being
+organized.
+
+Later reports from the Commission show yet more encouraging advance toward
+insuring the benefits of liberty and good government to the Filipinos, in
+the interest of humanity and with the aim of building up an enduring,
+self-supporting, and self-administering community in those far eastern
+seas. I would impress upon the Congress that whatever legislation may be
+enacted in respect to the Philippine Islands should be along these generous
+lines. The fortune of war has thrown upon this nation an unsought trust
+which should be unselfishly discharged, and devolved upon this Government a
+moral as well as material responsibility toward these millions whom we have
+freed from an oppressive yoke.
+
+I have on another occasion called the Filipinos the wards of the nation.
+Our obligation as guardian was not lightly assumed; it must not be
+otherwise than honestly fulfilled, aiming first of all to benefit those who
+have come under our fostering care. It is our duty so to treat them that
+our flag may be no less beloved in the mountains of Luzon and the fertile
+zones of Mindanao and Negros than it is at home, that there as here it
+shall be the revered symbol of liberty, enlightenment, and progress in
+every avenue of development.
+
+The Filipinos are a race quick to learn and to profit by knowledge He would
+be rash who, with the teachings of contemporaneous history in view, would
+fix a limit to the degree of culture and advancement yet within the reach
+of these people if our duty toward them be faithfully performed.
+
+The civil government of Puerto Rico provided for by the act of the Congress
+approved April 12, 1900 is in successful operation The courts have been
+established. The Governor and his associates, working intelligently and
+harmoniously, are meeting with Commendable success.
+
+On the 6th of November a general election was held in the island for
+members of the Legislature, and the body elected has been called to convene
+on the first Monday of December.
+
+I recommend that legislation be enacted by the Congress conferring upon the
+Secretary of the Interior supervision over the public lands in Puerto Rico,
+and that he be directed to ascertain the location and quantity of lands the
+title to which remained in the Crown of Spain at the date of cession of
+Puerto Rico to the United States, and that appropriations necessary for
+surveys be made, and that the methods of the disposition of such lands be
+prescribed by law.
+
+On the 25th of July, 1900, I directed that a call be issued for an election
+in Cuba for members of a constitutional convention to frame a constitution
+as a basis for a stable and independent government in the island. In
+pursuance thereof the Military Governor issued the following instructions:
+Whereas the Congress of the United States, by its joint resolution of April
+20, 1898, declared:
+
+"That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free
+and independent.
+
+"That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to
+exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for
+the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is
+accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its
+people;"
+
+And whereas, the people of Cuba have established municipal governments,
+deriving their authority from the suffrages of the people given under just
+and equal laws, and are now ready, in like manner, to proceed to the
+establishment of a general government which shall assume and exercise
+sovereignty, jurisdiction, and control over the island:
+
+Therefore, it is ordered that a general election be held in the island of
+Cuba on the third Saturday of September, in the year nineteen hundred, to
+elect delegates to a convention to meet in the city of Havana at twelve
+o'clock noon on the first Monday of November, in the year nineteen hundred,
+to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and as a part
+thereof to provide for and agree with the Government of the United States
+upon the relations to exist between that Government and the Government of
+Cuba, and to provide for the election by the people of officers under such
+constitution and the transfer of government to the officers so elected.
+
+The election will be held in the several voting precincts of the island
+under, and pursuant to, the provisions of the electoral law of April 18,
+1900, and the amendments thereof. The election was held on the 15th of
+September, and the convention assembled on the 5th of November, 1900, and
+is now in session.
+
+In calling the convention to order, the Military Governor of Cuba made the
+following statement: As Military Governor of the island, representing the
+President of the United States, I call this convention to order.
+
+It will be your duty, first, to frame and adopt a constitution for Cuba,
+and when that has been done to formulate what in your opinion ought to be
+the relations between Cuba and the United States.
+
+The constitution must be adequate to secure a stable, orderly, and free
+government.
+
+When you have formulated the relations which in your opinion ought to exist
+between Cuba and the United States the Government of the United States will
+doubtless take such action on its part as shall lead to a final and
+authoritative agreement between the people of the two countries to the
+promotion of their common interests.
+
+All friends of Cuba will follow your deliberations with the deepest
+interest, earnestly desiring that you shall reach just conclusions, and
+that by the dignity, individual self-restraint, and wise conservatism which
+shall characterize your proceedings the capacity of the Cuban people for
+representative government may be signally illustrated.
+
+The fundamental distinction between true representative government and
+dictatorship is that in the former every representative of the people, in
+whatever office, confines himself strictly within the limits of his defined
+powers. Without such restraint there can be no free constitutional
+government.
+
+Under the order pursuant to which you have been elected and convened you
+have no duty and no authority to take part in the present government of the
+island. Your powers are strictly limited by the terms of that order. When
+the convention concludes its labors I will transmit to the Congress the
+constitution as framed by the convention for its consideration and for such
+action as it may deem advisable.
+
+I renew the recommendation made in my special message of February 10, 1899,
+as to the necessity for cable communication between the United States and
+Hawaii, with extension to Manila. Since then circumstances have strikingly
+emphasized this need. Surveys have shown the entire feasibility of a chain
+of cables which at each stopping place shall touch on American territory,
+so that the system shall be under our own complete control. Manila once
+within telegraphic reach, connection with the systems of the Asiatic coast
+would open increased and profitable opportunities for a more direct cable
+route from our shores to the Orient than is now afforded by the
+trans-Atlantic, continental, and trans-Asian lines. I urge attention to
+this important matter.
+
+The present strength of the Army is 100,000 men--65,000 regulars and
+35,000 volunteers. Under the act of March 2, 1899, on the 30th of June next
+the present volunteer force will be discharged and the Regular Army will be
+reduced to 2,447 officers and 29,025 enlisted men.
+
+In 1888 a Board of Officers convened by President Cleveland adopted a
+comprehensive scheme of coast-defense fortifications which involved the
+outlay of something over one hundred million dollars. This plan received
+the approval of the Congress, and since then regular appropriations have
+been made and the work of fortification has steadily progressed.
+
+More than sixty millions of dollars have been invested in a great number of
+forts and guns, with all the complicated and scientific machinery and
+electrical appliances necessary for their use. The proper care of this
+defensive machinery requires men trained in its use. The number of men
+necessary to perform this duty alone is ascertained by the War Department,
+at a minimum allowance, to be 18,420.
+
+There are fifty-eight or more military posts in the United States other
+than the coast-defense fortifications.
+
+The number of these posts is being constantly increased by the Congress.
+More than $22,000,000 have been expended in building and equipment, and
+they can only be cared for by the Regular Army. The posts now in existence
+and others to be built provide for accommodations for, and if fully
+garrisoned require, 26,000 troops. Many of these posts are along our
+frontier or at important strategic points, the occupation of which is
+necessary.
+
+We have in Cuba between 5,000 and 6,000 troops. For the present our troops
+in that island cannot be withdrawn or materially diminished, and certainly
+not until the conclusion of the labors of the constitutional convention now
+in session and a government provided by the new constitution shall have
+been established and its stability assured.
+
+In Puerto Rico we have reduced the garrisons to 1,636, which includes 879
+native troops. There is no room for further reduction here.
+
+We will be required to keep a considerable force in the Philippine Islands
+for some time to come. From the best information obtainable we will need
+there for the immediate future from 45,000 to 60,000 men. I am sure the
+number may be reduced as the insurgents shall come to acknowledge the
+authority of the United States, of which there are assuring indications.
+
+It must be apparent that we will require an army of about 60,000, and that
+during present conditions in Cuba and the Philippines the President should
+have authority to increase the force to the present number of 100,000.
+Included in this number authority should be given to raise native troops in
+the Philippines up to 15,000, which the Taft Commission believe will be
+more effective in detecting and suppressing guerrillas, assassins, and
+ladrones than our own soldiers.
+
+The full discussion of this subject by the Secretary of War in his annual
+report is called to your earnest attention.
+
+I renew the recommendation made in my last annual message that the Congress
+provide a special medal of honor for the volunteers, regulars, sailors, and
+marines on duty in the Philippines who voluntarily remained in the service
+after their terms of enlistment had expired.
+
+I favor the recommendation of the Secretary of War for the detail oil
+officers from the line of the Army when vacancies occur in the
+Adjutant-General's Department, Inspector-General's Department,
+Quartermaster's Department, Subsistence Department, Pay Department,
+Ordnance Department, and Signal Corps.
+
+The Army cannot be too highly commended for its faithful and effective
+service in active military operations in the field and the difficult work
+of civil administration.
+
+The continued and rapid growth of the postal service is a sure index of the
+great and increasing business activity of the country. Its most striking
+new development is the extension of rural free delivery. This has come
+almost wholly within the last year. At the beginning of the fiscal year
+1899, 1900 the number of routes in operation was only 391, and most of
+these had been running less than twelve months. On the 15th of November,
+1900, the number had increased to 2,614, reaching into forty-four States
+and Territories, and serving a population of 1,801,524. The number of
+applications now pending and awaiting action nearly equals all those
+granted up to the present time, and by the close of the current fiscal year
+about 4,000 routes will have been established, providing for the daily
+delivery of mails at the scattered homes of about three and a half millions
+of rural population.
+
+This service ameliorates the isolation of farm life, conduces to good
+roads, and quickens and extends the dissemination of general information.
+Experience thus far has tended to allay the apprehension that it would be
+so expensive as to forbid its general adoption or make it a serious burden.
+Its actual application has shown that it increases postal receipts, and can
+be accompanied by reductions in other branches of the service, so that the
+augmented revenues and the accomplished savings together materially reduce
+the net cost. The evidences which point to these conclusions are presented
+in detail in the annual report of the Postmaster-General, which with its
+recommendations is commended to the consideration of the Congress. The full
+development of this special service, however, requires such a large outlay
+of money that it should be undertaken only after a careful study and
+thorough understanding of all that it involves.
+
+Very efficient service has been rendered by the Navy in connection with the
+insurrection in the Philippines and the recent disturbance in China.
+
+A very satisfactory settlement has been made of the long-pending question
+of the manufacture of armor plate. A reasonable price has been secured and
+the necessity for a Government armor plant avoided.
+
+I approve of the recommendations of the Secretary for new vessels and for
+additional officers and men which the required increase of the Navy makes
+necessary. I commend to the favorable action of the Congress the measure
+now pending for the erection of a statue to the memory of the late Admiral
+David D. Porter. I commend also the establishment of a national naval
+reserve and of the grade of vice-admiral. Provision should be made, as
+recommended by the Secretary, for suitable rewards for special merit. Many
+officers who rendered the most distinguished service during the recent war
+with Spain have received in return no recognition from the Congress.
+
+The total area of public lands as given by the Secretary of the Interior is
+approximately 1,071,881,662 acres, of which 917,135,880 acres are
+undisposed of and 154,745,782 acres have been reserved for various
+purposes. The public lands disposed of during the year amount to
+13,453,887.96 acres, including 62,423.09 acres of Indian lands, an increase
+Of 4,271,474.80 over the preceding year. The total receipts from the sale
+of public lands during the fiscal year were $4,379,758.10, an increase of
+$1,309,620.76 over the preceding year.
+
+The results obtained from our forest policy have demonstrated its wisdom
+and the necessity in the interest of the public for its continuance and
+increased appropriations by the Congress for the carrying on of the work.
+On June 30, 1900, there were thirty-seven forest reserves, created by
+Presidential proclamations under section 24 Of the act of March 3, 1891,
+embracing an area Of 46,425,529 acres.
+
+During the past year the Olympic Reserve, in the State of Washington, was
+reduced 265,040 acres, leaving its present area at 1,923,840 acres. The
+Prescott Reserve, in Arizona, was increased from 10,240 acres to 423,680
+acres, and the Big Horn Reserve, in Wyoming, was increased from 1,127,680
+acres to 1,180,800 acres. A new reserve; the Santa Ynez, in California,
+embracing an area of 145,000 acres, was created during this year. On
+October 10, 1900, the Crow Creek Forest Reserve, in Wyoming, was created,
+with an area of 56,320 acres.
+
+At the end of the fiscal year there were on the pension roll 993,529 names,
+a net increase Of 2,010 over the fiscal year 1899. The number added to the
+rolls during the year was 45,344. The amount disbursed for Army pensions
+during the year was $134,700,597.24 and for Navy pensions $3,761,533.41, a
+total of $138,462,130.65, leaving an unexpended balance of $5,542,768.25 to
+be covered into the Treasury, which shows an increase over the previous
+year's expenditure Of $107,077.70. There were 684 names added to the rolls
+during the year by special acts passed at the first session of the
+Fifty-sixth Congress.
+
+The act of May 9, 1900, among other things provides for an extension of
+income to widows pensioned under said act to $250 per annum. The Secretary
+of the Interior believes that by the operations of this act the number of
+persons pensioned under it will increase and the increased annual payment
+for pensions will be between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000.
+
+The Government justly appreciates the services of its soldiers and sailors
+by making pension payments liberal beyond precedent to them, their widows
+and orphans.
+
+There were 26,540 letters patent granted, including reissues and designs,
+during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900; 1,660 trademarks, 682 labels,
+and 93 prints registered. The number of patents which expired was 19,988.
+The total receipts for patents were $1,358,228.35. The expenditures were
+$1,247,827.58, showing a surplus Of $110,400.77
+
+The attention of the Congress is called to the report of the Secretary of
+the Interior touching the necessity for the further establishment of
+schools in the Territory of Alaska, and favorable action is invited
+thereon.
+
+Much interesting information is given in the report of the Governor of
+Hawaii as to the progress and development of the islands during the period
+from July 7, 1898, the date of the approval of the joint resolution of the
+Congress providing for their annexation, up to April 30, 1900, the date of
+the approval of the act providing a government for the Territory, and
+thereafter.
+
+The last Hawaiian census, taken in the year 1896, gives a total population
+of 109,020, Of Which 31,019 were native Hawaiians. The number of Americans
+reported was 8,485. The results of the Federal census, taken this year,
+show the islands to have a total population Of 154,001, showing an increase
+over that reported in 1896 of 44,981, or 41.2 per cent.
+
+There has been marked progress in the educational, agricultural, and
+railroad development of the islands.
+
+In the Territorial act of April 30, 1900, section 7 of said act repeals
+Chapter 34 Of the Civil Laws of Hawaii whereby the Government was to assist
+in encouraging and developing the agricultural resources of the Republic,
+especially irrigation. The Governor of Hawaii recommends legislation
+looking to the development of such water supply as may exist on the public
+lands, with a view of promoting land settlement. The earnest consideration
+of the Congress is invited to this important recommendation and others, as
+embodied in the report of the Secretary of the Interior.
+
+The Director of the Census states that the work in connection with the
+Twelfth Census is progressing favorably. This national undertaking, ordered
+by the Congress each decade, has finally resulted in the collection of an
+aggregation of statistical facts to determine the industrial growth of the
+country, its manufacturing and mechanical resources, its richness in mines
+and forests, the number of its agriculturists, their farms and products,
+its educational and religious opportunities, as well as questions
+pertaining to sociological conditions.
+
+The labors of the officials in charge of the Bureau indicate that the four
+important and most desired subjects, namely, population, agricultural,
+manufacturing, and vital statistics, will be completed within the limit
+prescribed by the law of March 3, 1899.
+
+The field work incident to the above inquiries is now practically finished,
+and as a result the population of the States and Territories, including the
+Hawaiian Islands and Alaska, has been announced. The growth of population
+during the last decade amounts to over 13,000,000, a greater numerical
+increase than in any previous census in the history of the country.
+
+Bulletins will be issued as rapidly as possible giving the population by
+States and Territories, by minor civil divisions. Several announcements of
+this kind have already been made, and it is hoped that the list will be
+completed by January 1. Other bulletins giving the results of the
+manufacturing and agricultural inquiries will be given to the public as
+rapidly as circumstances will admit.
+
+The Director, while confident of his ability to complete the different
+branches of the undertaking in the allotted time, finds himself embarrassed
+by the lack of a trained force properly equipped for statistical work, thus
+raising the question whether in the interest of economy and a thorough
+execution of the census work there should not be retained in the Government
+employ a certain number of experts not only to aid in the preliminary
+organization prior to the taking of the decennial census, but in addition
+to have the advantage in the field and office work of the Bureau of trained
+assistants to facilitate the early completion of this enormous
+undertaking.
+
+I recommend that the Congress at its present session apportion
+representation among the several States as provided by the Constitution.
+
+The Department of Agriculture has been extending its work during the past
+year, reaching farther for new varieties of seeds and plants; co-operating
+more fully with the States and Territories in research along useful lines;
+making progress in meteorological work relating to lines of wireless
+telegraphy and forecasts for ocean-going vessels; continuing inquiry as to
+animal disease; looking into the extent and character of food adulteration;
+outlining plans for the care, preservation, and intelligent harvesting of
+our woodlands; studying soils that producers may cultivate with better
+knowledge of conditions, and helping to clothe desert places with grasses
+suitable to our and regions. Our island possessions are being considered
+that their peoples may be helped to produce the tropical products now so
+extensively brought into the United States. Inquiry into methods of
+improving our roads has been active during the year; help has been given to
+many localities, and scientific investigation of material in the States and
+Territories has been inaugurated. Irrigation problems in our semiarid
+regions are receiving careful and increased consideration.
+
+An extensive exhibit at Paris of the products of agriculture has made the
+peoples of many countries more familiar with the varied products of our
+fields and their comparative excellence.
+
+The collection of statistics regarding our crops is being improved and
+sources of information are being enlarged, to the end that producers may
+have the earliest advices regarding crop conditions. There has never been a
+time when those for whom it was established have shown more appreciation of
+the services of the Department.
+
+In my annual message of December 5, 1898, I called attention to the
+necessity for some amendment of the alien contract law. There still remain
+important features of the rightful application of the eight-hour law for
+the benefit of labor and of the principle of arbitration, and I again
+commend these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.
+
+That there may be secured the best service possible in the Philippine
+Islands, I have issued, under date of November 30, 1900, the following
+order: The United States Civil Service Commission is directed to render
+such assistance as may be practicable to the Civil Service Board, created
+under the act of the United States Philippine Commission, for the
+establishment and maintenance of an honest and efficient civil service in
+the Philippine Islands, and for that purpose to conduct examinations for
+the civil service of the Philippine islands, upon the request of the Civil
+Service Board of said islands, under such regulations as may be agreed upon
+by the said Board and the said United States Civil Service Commission. The
+Civil Service Commission is greatly embarrassed in its work for want of an
+adequate permanent force for clerical and other assistance. Its needs are
+fully set forth in its report. I invite attention to the report, and
+especially urge upon the Congress that this important bureau of the public
+service, which passes upon the qualifications and character of so large a
+number of the officers and employees of the Government, should be supported
+by all needed appropriations to secure promptness and efficiency.
+
+I am very much impressed with the statement made by the heads of all the
+Departments of the urgent necessity of a hall of public records. In every
+departmental building in Washington, so far as I am informed, the space for
+official records is not only exhausted, but the walls of rooms are lined
+with shelves, the middle floor space of many rooms is filled with the
+cases, and garrets and basements, which were never intended and are
+unfitted for their accommodation, are crowded with them. Aside from the
+inconvenience there is great danger, not only from fire, but from the
+weight of these records upon timbers not intended for their support. There
+should be a separate building especially designed for the purpose of
+receiving and preserving the annually accumulating archives of the several
+Executive Departments. Such a hall need not be a costly structure, but
+should be so arranged as to admit of enlargement from time to time. I
+urgently recommend that the Congress take early action in this matter.
+
+I transmit to the Congress a resolution adopted at a recent meeting of the
+American Bar Association concerning the proposed celebration of John
+Marshall Day, February 4, 1901. Fitting exercises have been arranged, and
+it is earnestly desired by the committee that the Congress may participate
+in this movement to honor the memory of the great jurist.
+
+The transfer of the Government to this city is a fact of great historical
+interest. Among the people there is a feeling of genuine pride in the
+Capital of the Republic.
+
+It is a matter of interest in this connection that in 1800 the population
+of the District of Columbia was 14,093; to-day it is 278,718. The
+population of the city of Washington was then 3,210; to-day it is 218,196.
+
+The Congress having provided for "an appropriate national celebration of
+the Centennial Anniversary of the Establishment of the Seat of the
+Government in the District of Columbia," the committees authorized by it
+have prepared a programme for the 12th of December, 1900, which date has
+been selected as the anniversary day. Deep interest has been shown in the
+arrangements for the celebration by the members of the committees of the
+Senate and House of Representatives, the committee of Governors appointed
+by the President, and the committees appointed by the citizens and
+inhabitants of the District of Columbia generally. The programme, in
+addition to a reception and other exercises at the Executive Mansion,
+provides commemorative exercises to be held jointly by the Senate and House
+of Representatives in the Hall of the House of Representatives, and a
+reception in the evening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in honor of the
+Governors of the States and Territories.
+
+In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of
+extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the chosen
+representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an example in
+their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of plenty husbands
+for the future. In this era of great business activity and opportunity
+caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but strengthen, confidence. It
+will not retard, but promote, legitimate industrial and commercial
+expansion. Our growing power brings with it temptations and perils
+requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must not be used to invite
+conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more effective maintenance of
+those principles of equality and justice upon which our institutions and
+happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind that the foundation of our
+Government is liberty; its superstructure peace.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF ADDRESSES BY WILLIAM MCKINLEY ***
+
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