A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me that no light-house and light dues, tonnage dues, beacon and buoy dues, or other equivalent taxes of any kind are imposed upon vessels of the United States in the ports of the island of Grenada, one of the British West India Islands:Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of the act of Congress entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes," approved June 19, 1886, and in virtue of the further act amendatory thereof, entitled "An act to amend the laws relating to navigation, and for other purposes," approved April 4, 1888, do hereby declare and proclaim that from and after the date of this my proclamation shall be suspended the collection of the whole of the tonnage duty which is imposed by said section 11 of the act approved June 19, 1886, upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports of the island of Grenada.
Provided, That there shall be excluded from the benefits of the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the vessels of any foreign country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or nature imposed on vessels of the United States or the import or export duties on their cargoes are in excess of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the vessels of such country or on the cargoes of such vessels; but this proviso shall not be held to be inconsistent with the special regulation by foreign countries of duties and other charges on their own vessels and the cargoes thereof engaged in their coasting trade, or with the existence between such countries and other states of reciprocal stipulations founded on special conditions and equivalents, and thus not within the treatment of American vessels under the most-favored-nation clause in treaties between the United States and such countries.
And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes shall be continued in the said ports of the island of Grenada, and no longer.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of May, A.D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages of persons, it has become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the United States within the State of Illinois, and especially in the city of Chicago within said State; andWhereas, for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution of the laws of the United States and protecting its property and removing obstructions to the United States mails in the State and city aforesaid, the President has employed a part of the military forces of the United States:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby admonish all good citizens and all persons who may be or may come within the city and State aforesaid against aiding, countenancing, encouraging, or taking any part in such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages; and I hereby warn all persons engaged in or in any way connected with such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o'clock noon on the 9th day of July instant.
Those who disregard this warning and persist in taking part with a riotous mob in forcibly resisting and obstructing the execution of the laws of the United States or interfering with the functions of the Government or destroying or attempting to destroy the property belonging to the United States or under its protection can not be regarded otherwise than as public enemies.
Troops employed against such a riotous mob will act with all the moderation and forbearance consistent with the accomplishment of the desired end, but the stern necessities that confront them will not with certainty permit discrimination between guilty participants and those who are mingled with them from curiosity and without criminal intent. The only safe course, therefore, for those not actually unlawfully participating is to abide at their homes, or at least not to be found in the neighborhood of riotous assemblages.
While there will be no hesitation or vacillation in the decisive treatment of the guilty, this warning is especially intended to protect and save the innocent.
[SEAL.]
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be hereto affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of July, A.D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages of persons, it has become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the United States at certain points and places within the States of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, and California and the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, and especially along the lines of such railways traversing said States and Territories as are military roads and post routes and are engaged in interstate commerce and in carrying United States mails; andWhereas, for the purpose of enforcing the faithful execution of the laws of the United States and protecting property belonging to the United States or under its protection, and of preventing obstructions of the United States mails and of commerce between the States and Territories, and of securing to the United States the right guaranteed by law to the use of such roads for postal, military, naval, and other Government service, the President has employed a part of the military forces of the United States:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby command all persons engaged in or in any way connected with such unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 3 o'clock in the afternoon on the 10th day of July instant.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be hereto affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 9th day of July, A.D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea" was approved August 19, 1890, the said act being in the following words:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following regulations for preventing collisions at sea shall be followed by all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels:
PRELIMINARY.
In the following rules every steam vessel which is under sail and not under steam is to be considered a sailing vessel, and every vessel under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a steam vessel.
The words "steam vessel" shall include any vessel propelled by machinery.
A vessel is "under way" within the meaning of these rules when she is not at anchor or made fast to the shore or aground.
RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS, ETC.
The word "visible" in these rules when applied to lights shall mean visible on a dark night with a clear atmosphere.
ARTICLE 1. The rules concerning lights shall be complied with in all weathers from sunset to sunrise, and during such time no other lights which may be mistaken for the prescribed lights shall be exhibited.
ART. 2. A steam vessel when under way shall carry—
(a) On or in front of the foremast, or if a vessel without a foremast, then in the fore part of the vessel, at a height above the hull of not less than 20 feet, and if the breadth of the vessel exceeds 20 feet, then at a height above the hull not less than such breadth, so, however, that the light need not be carried at a greater height above the hull than 40 feet a bright white light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 20 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light 10 points on each side of the vessel—namely, from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on either side—and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 5 miles.
(b) On the starboard side a green light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.
(c) On the port side a red light so constructed as to show an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 10 points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.
(d) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard screens projecting at least 3 feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow.
(e) A steam vessel when under way may carry an additional white light similar in construction to the light mentioned in subdivision (a). These two lights shall be so placed in line with the keel that one shall be at least 15 feet higher than the other and in such a position with reference to each other that the lower light shall be forward of the upper one. The vertical distance between these lights shall be less than the horizontal distance.
ART. 3. A steam vessel when towing another vessel shall, in addition to her side lights, carry two bright white lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and when towing more than one vessel shall carry an additional bright white light 6 feet above or below such light if the length of the tow measuring from the stern of the towing vessel to the stern of the last vessel towed exceeds 600 feet. Bach of these lights shall be of the same construction and character and shall be carried in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (a), excepting the additional light, which may be carried at a height of not less than 14 feet above the hull.
Such steam vessel may carry a small white light abaft the funnel or aftermast for the vessel towed to steer by, but such light shall not be visible forward of the beam.
ART. 4. (a) A vessel which from any accident is not under command shall carry at the same height as a white light mentioned in article 2 (a), where they can best be seen, and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, two red lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, and of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles; and shall by day carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, two black balls or shapes each 2 feet in diameter.
(b) A vessel employed in laying or in picking up a telegraph cable shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (a), and if a steam vessel in lieu of that light, three lights in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart. The highest and lowest of these lights shall be red and the middle light shall be white, and they shall be of such a character as to be visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 2 miles. By day she shall carry in a vertical line one over the other, not less than 6 feet apart, where they can best be seen, three shapes not less than 2 feet in diameter, of which the highest and lowest shall be globular in shape and red in color and the middle one diamond in shape and white.
(c) The vessels referred to in this article, when not making way through the water, shall not carry the side lights, but when making way shall carry them.
(d) The lights and shapes required to be shown by this article are to be taken by other vessels as signals that the vessel showing them is not under command and can not, therefore, get out of the way.
These signals are not signals of vessels in distress and requiring assistance. Such signals are contained in article 31.
ART. 5. A sailing vessel under way and any vessel being towed shall carry the same lights as are prescribed by article 2 for a steam vessel under way, with the exception of the white lights mentioned therein, which they shall never carry.
ART. 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels under way during bad weather, the green and red side lights can not be fixed, these lights shall be kept at hand, lighted and ready for use, and shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited on their respective sides, in sufficient time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible and so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side, nor, if practicable, more than 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides.
To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy the lanterns containing them shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain and shall be provided with proper screens.
ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, when under way shall not be obliged to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (a), (b), and (c), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:
First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry—
(a) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel, where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (a) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.
(b) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (b) and (c) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light.
Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (b).
Third. Vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side.
The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (a) and article 11, last paragraph.
ART. 8. Pilot vessels when engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall not show the lights required for other vessels, but shall carry a white light at the masthead, visible all around the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare-up light or flare-up lights at short intervals, which shall never exceed fifteen minutes.
On the near approach of or to other vessels they shall have their side lights lighted, ready for use, and shall flash or show them at short intervals to indicate the direction in which they are heading; but the green light shall not be shown on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side.
A pilot vessel of such a class as to be obliged to go alongside of a vessel to put a pilot on board may show the white light instead of carrying it at the masthead, and may, instead of the colored lights above mentioned, have at hand, ready for use, a lantern with a green glass on the one side and a red glass on the other, to be used as prescribed above.
Pilot vessels when not engaged on their station on pilotage duty shall carry lights similar to those of other vessels of their tonnage.
ART. 9. Fishing vessels and fishing boats when under way and when not required by this article to carry or show the lights therein named shall carry or show the lights prescribed for vessels of their tonnage under way.
(a) Vessels and boats when fishing with drift nets shall exhibit two white lights from any part of the vessel where they can best be seen. Such lights shall be placed so that the vertical distance between them shall be not less than 6 feet and not more than 10 feet, and so that the horizontal distance between them measured in a line with the keel shall be not less than 5 feet and not more than 10 feet. The lower of these two lights shall be the more forward, and both of them shall be of such a character as to show all around the horizon and to be visible at a distance of not less than 3 miles.
(b) Vessels when engaged in trawling, by which is meant the dragging of an apparatus along the bottom of the sea—
First. If steam vessels, shall carry in the same position as the white light mentioned in article 2 (a) a tricolored lantern so constructed and fixed as to show a white light from right ahead to 2 points on each bow and a green light and a red light over an arc of the horizon from 2 points on either bow to 2 points abaft the beam on the starboard and port sides, respectively, and not less than 6 nor more than 12 feet below the tricolored lantern, a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon.
Second. If sailing vessels of 7 tons gross tonnage and upward, shall carry a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light all around the horizon, and shall also be provided with a sufficient supply of red pyrotechnic lights, which shall each burn for at least 30 seconds, and shall be shown on the approach of or to other vessels in sufficient time to prevent collision.
In the Mediterranean Sea the vessels referred to in subdivision (b) 2 may use a flare-up light in lieu of a pyrotechnic light.
All lights mentioned in subdivision (b) 1 and 2 shall be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.
Third. If sailing vessels of less than 7 tons gross tonnage, shall not be obliged to carry the white light mentioned in subdivision (b) 2 of this article, but if they do not carry such light they shall have at hand, ready for use, a lantern showing a bright white light, which shall on the approach of or to other vessels be exhibited where it can best be seen, in sufficient time to prevent collision; and they shall also show a red pyrotechnic light, as prescribed in subdivision (b) 2, or in lieu thereof a flare-up light.
(c) Vessels and boats when line fishing with their lines out and attached to their lines, and when not at anchor or stationary, shall carry the same lights as vessels fishing with drift nets.
(d) Fishing vessels and fishing boats may at any time use a flare-up light in addition to the lights which they are by this article required to carry and show. All flare-up lights exhibited by a vessel when trawling or fishing with any kind of dragnet shall be shown at the after part of the vessel, excepting that if the vessel is hanging by the stern to her fishing gear they shall be exhibited from the bow.
(e) Every fishing vessel and every boat when at anchor shall exhibit a white light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile.
(f) If a vessel or boat when fishing becomes stationary in consequence of her gear getting fast to a rock or other obstruction, she shall show the light and make the fog signal prescribed for a vessel at anchor, respectively. (See article 15 (d), (e), and last paragraph.)
(g) In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms drift-net vessels attached to their nets, and vessels when trawling, dredging, or fishing with any kind of dragnet, and vessels line fishing with their lines out shall, if of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward, respectively, at intervals of not more than one minute make a blast—if steam vessels, with the whistle or siren, and if sailing vessels, with the fog horn—each blast to be followed by ringing the bell.
(h) Sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls when under way shall in daytime indicate their occupation to an approaching vessel by displaying a basket or other efficient signal where it can best be seen.
The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (a) and article 11, last paragraph.
ART. 10. A vessel which is being overtaken by another shall show from her stern to such last-mentioned vessel a white light or a flare-up light.
The white light required to be shown by this article may be fixed and carried in a lantern, but in such case the lantern shall be so constructed, fitted, and screened that it shall throw an unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of 12 points of the compass—namely, for 6 points from right aft on each side of the vessel—so as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile. Such light shall be carried as nearly as practicable on the same level as the side lights.
ART. 11. A vessel under 150 feet in length when at anchor shall carry forward, where it can best be seen, but at a height not exceeding 20 feet above the hull, a white light in a lantern so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light visible all around the horizon at a distance of at least 1 mile.
A vessel of 150 feet or upward in length when at anchor shall carry in the forward part of the vessel, at a height of not less than 20 and not exceeding 40 feet above the hull, one such light, and at or near the stern of the vessel, and at such a height that it shall be not less than 15 feet lower than the forward light, another such light.
The length of a vessel shall be deemed to be the length appearing in her certificate of registry.
A vessel aground in or near a fairway shall carry the above light or lights and the two red lights prescribed by article 4 (a).
ART. 12. Every vessel may, if necessary in order to attract attention, in addition to the lights which she is by these rules required to carry, show a flare-up light or use any detonating signal that can not be mistaken for a distress signal.
ART. 13. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of any special rules made by the government of any nation with respect to additional station and signal lights for two or more ships of war or for vessels sailing under convoy, or with the exhibition of recognition signals adopted by shipowners which have been authorized by their respective governments and duly registered and published.
ART. 14. A steam vessel proceeding under sail only, but having her funnel up, shall carry in daytime forward, where it can best be seen, one black ball or shape 2 feet in diameter.
SOUND SIGNALS FOR FOG, ETC.
ART. 15. All signals prescribed by this article for vessels under way shall be given—
1. By "steam vessels," on the whistle or siren.
2. By "sailing vessels" and "vessels towed," on the fog horn.
The words "prolonged blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of from four to six seconds' duration.
A steam vessel shall be provided with an efficient whistle or siren, sounded by steam or by some substitute for steam, so placed that the sound may not be intercepted by any obstruction, and with an efficient fog horn, to be sounded by mechanical means, and also with an efficient bell. (In all cases where the rules require a bell to be used a drum may be substituted on board Turkish vessels or a gong where such articles are used on board small seagoing vessels.) A sailing vessel of 20 tons gross tonnage or upward shall be provided with a similar fog horn and bell.
In fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storms, whether by day or night, the signals described in this article shall be used as follows, viz:
(a) A steam vessel having way upon her shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes a prolonged blast.
(b) A steam vessel under way, but stopped and having no way upon her, shall sound at intervals of not more than two minutes two prolonged blasts with an interval of about one second between them.
(c) A sailing vessel under way shall sound at intervals of not more than one minute, when on the starboard tack one blast, when on the port tack two blasts in succession, and when with the wind abaft the beam three blasts in succession.
(d) A vessel when at anchor shall at intervals of not more than one minute ring the bell rapidly for about five seconds.
(e) A vessel at anchor at sea, when not in ordinary anchorage ground and when in such a position as to be an obstruction to vessels under way, shall sound, if a steam vessel, at intervals of not more than two minutes, two prolonged blasts with her whistle or siren, followed by ringing her bell; or, if a sailing vessel, at intervals of not more than one minute two blasts with her fog horn, followed by ringing her bell.
(f) A vessel when towing shall, instead of the signals prescribed in subdivisions (a) and (c) of this article, at intervals of not more than two minutes sound three blasts in succession, namely, one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts. A vessel towed may give this signal, and she shall not give any other.
(g) A steam vessel wishing to indicate to another "The way is off my vessel; you may feel your way past me" may sound three blasts in succession, namely, short, long, short, with intervals of about one second between them.
(h) A vessel employed in laying or picking up a telegraph cable shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer three prolonged blasts in succession.
(i) A vessel under way which is unable to get out of the way of an approaching vessel through being not under command or unable to maneuver as required by these rules shall on hearing the fog signal of an approaching vessel sound in answer four short blasts in succession.
Sailing vessels and boats of less than 20 tons gross tonnage shall not be obliged to give the above-mentioned signals, but if they do not they shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than one minute.
SPEED OF SHIPS TO BE MODERATE IN FOG, ETC.
ART. 16. Every vessel shall in a fog, mist, falling snow, or heavy rain storm go at a moderate speed, having careful regard to the existing circumstances and conditions.
A steam vessel hearing, apparently forward of her beam, the fog signal of a vessel the position of which is not ascertained shall, so far as the circumstances of the case admit, stop her engines, and then navigate with caution until danger of collision is over.
STEERING AND SAILING RULES.
PRELIMINARY.—RISK OF COLLISION.
Risk of collision can, when circumstances permit, be ascertained by carefully watching the compass bearing of an approaching vessel. If the bearing does not appreciably change, such risk should be deemed to exist.
ART. 17. When two sailing vessels are approaching one another so as to involve risk of collision, one of them shall keep out of the way of the other as follows, namely:
(a) A vessel which is running free shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled.
(b) A vessel which is closehauled on the port tack shall keep out of the way of a vessel which is closehauled on the starboard tack.
(c) When both are running free with the wind on different sides, the vessel which has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of the other.
(d) When both are running free with the wind on the same side, the vessel which is to the windward shall keep out of the way of the vessel which is to leeward.
(e) A vessel which has the wind aft shall keep out of the way of the other vessel.
ART. 18. When two steam vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on, so as to involve risk of collision, each shall alter her course to starboard, so that each may pass on the port side of the other.
This article only applies to cases where vessels are meeting end on or nearly end on in such a manner as to involve risk of collision, and does not apply to two vessels which must if both keep on their respective courses pass clear of each other.
The only cases to which it does apply are when each of the two vessels is end on or nearly end on to the other; in other words, to cases in which by day each vessel sees the masts of the other in a line or nearly in a line with her own, and by night to cases in which each vessel is in such a position as to see both the side lights of the other.
It does not apply by day to cases in which a vessel sees another ahead crossing her own course, or by night to cases where the red light of one vessel is opposed to the red light of the other, or where the green light of one vessel is opposed to the green light of the other, or where a red light without a green light or a green light without a red light is seen ahead, or where both green and red lights are seen anywhere but ahead.
ART. 19. When two steam vessels are crossing, so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way of the other.
ART. 20. When a steam vessel and a sailing vessel are proceeding in such directions as to involve risk of collision, the steam vessel shall keep out of the way of the sailing vessel.
ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way, the other shall keep her course and speed.
ART. 22. Every vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other.
ART. 23. Every steam vessel which is directed by these rules to keep out of the way of another vessel shall on approaching her, if necessary, slacken her speed or stop or reverse.
ART. 24. Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules every vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the overtaken vessel.
Every vessel coming up with another vessel from any direction more than 2 points abaft her beam—that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel which she is overtaking, that at night she would be unable to see either of that vessel's side lights—shall be deemed to be an overtaking vessel, and no subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear.
As by day the overtaking vessel can not always know with certainty whether she is forward of or abaft this direction from the other vessel, she should if in doubt assume that she is an overtaking vessel and keep out of the way.
ART. 25. In narrow channels every steam vessel shall, when it is safe and practicable, keep to that side of the fairway or mid-channel which lies on the starboard side of such vessel.
ART. 26. Sailing vessels under way shall keep out of the way of sailing vessels or boats fishing with nets or lines or trawls. This rule shall not give to any vessel or boat engaged in fishing the right of obstructing a fairway used by vessels other than fishing vessels or boats.
ART. 27. In obeying and construing these rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances which may render a departure from the above rules necessary in order to avoid immediate danger.
SOUND SIGNALS FOR VESSELS IN SIGHT OF ONE ANOTHER.
ART. 28. The words "short blast" used in this article shall mean a blast of about one second's duration.
When vessels are in sight of one another, a steam vessel under way, in taking any course authorized or required by these rules, shall indicate that course by the following signals on her whistle or siren, namely:
One short blast to mean, "I am directing my course to starboard."
Two short blasts to mean, "I am directing my course to port."
Three short blasts to mean, "My engines are going at full speed astern."
NO VESSEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO NEGLECT PROPER PRECAUTIONS.
ART. 29. Nothing in these rules shall exonerate any vessel or the owner or master or crew thereof from the consequences of any neglect to carry lights or signals, or of any neglect to keep a proper lookout, or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen or by the special circumstances of the case.
RESERVATION OF RULES FOR HARBORS AND INLAND NAVIGATION.
ART. 30. Nothing in these rules shall interfere with the operation of a special rule duly made by local authority relative to the navigation of any harbor, river, or inland waters.
DISTRESS SIGNALS.
ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore, the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:
In the daytime—
First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute.
Second. The international code signal of distress, indicated by N.C.
Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball.
Fourth. Rockets or shells as prescribed below for use at night.
Fifth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus.
At night—
First. A gun fired at intervals of about a minute.
Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc.).
Third. Rockets or shells bursting in the air with a loud report and throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals.
Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus.
SEC. 2. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing regulations for preventing collisions at sea for the navigation of all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels are hereby repealed.
SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect at a time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose.
And whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to amend an act approved August 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea,'" was approved May 28, 1894, the said act being in the following words:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That article 7 of the act approved August 19, 1890, entitled "An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea," be amended to read as follows:
"ART. 7. Steam vessels of less than 40 and vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons gross tonnage, respectively, and rowing boats, when under way, shall not be required to carry the lights mentioned in article 2 (a), (b), and (c), but if they do not carry them they shall be provided with the following lights:
"First. Steam vessels of less than 40 tons shall carry—
"(a) In the fore part of the vessel or on or in front of the funnel where it can best be seen, and at a height above the gunwale of not less than 9 feet, a bright white light constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (a) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 2 miles.
"(b) Green and red side lights constructed and fixed as prescribed in article 2 (b) and (c) and of such a character as to be visible at a distance of at least 1 mile, or a combined lantern showing a green light and a red light from right ahead to 2 points abaft the beam on their respective sides. Such lanterns shall be carried not less than 3 feet below the white light.
"Second. Small steamboats, such as are carried by seagoing vessels, may carry the white light at a less height than 9 feet above the gunwale, but it shall be carried above the combined lantern mentioned in subdivision 1 (b).
"Third. Vessels under oars or sails of less than 20 tons shall have ready at hand a lantern with a green glass on one side and a red glass on the other, which on the approach of or to other vessels shall be exhibited, in sufficient time to prevent collision, so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side nor the red light on the starboard side.
"Fourth. Rowing boats, whether under oars or sail, shall have ready at hand a lantern showing a white light, which shall be temporarily exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.
"The vessels referred to in this article shall not be obliged to carry the lights prescribed by article 4 (a) and article 11, last paragraph."
That article 9 be hereby repealed.
That article 21 be amended to read as follows:
"ART. 21. Where by any of these rules one of two vessels is to keep out of the way the other shall keep her course and speed.
"NOTE.—When, in consequence of thick weather or other causes, such vessel finds herself so close that collision can not be avoided by the action of the giving-way vessel alone, she also shall take such action as will best aid to avert collision." (See articles 27 and 29.)
That article 31 be amended to read as follows:
"DISTRESS SIGNALS.
"ART. 31. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or from the shore the following shall be the signals to be used or displayed by her, either together or separately, namely:
"In the daytime—
"First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute.
"Second. The international code signal of distress indicated by N.C.
"Third. The distance signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball.
"Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus.
"At night—
"First. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute.
"Second. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc.).
"Third. Rockets or shells throwing stars of any color or description, fired one at a time at short intervals.
"Fourth. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus."
And whereas it is provided by section 3 of the act approved August 19, 1890, that it shall take effect at a time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do hereby, in virtue of the authority vested in me by section 3 of the act aforesaid, proclaim the 1st day of March, 1895, as the day on which the said act approved August 19, 1890, as amended by the act approved May 28, 1894, shall take effect.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of July, 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas Congress by a statute approved March 22, 1882, and by statutes in furtherance and amendment thereof defined the crimes of bigamy, polygamy, and unlawful cohabitation in the Territories and other places within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and prescribed a penalty for such crimes; andWhereas on or about the 6th day of October, 1890, the Church of the Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, through its president issued a manifesto proclaiming the purpose of said church no longer to sanction the practice of polygamous marriages and calling upon all members and adherents of said church to obey the laws of the United States in reference to said subject-matter; and
Whereas on the 4th day of January, A.D. 1893,7 Benjamin Harrison, then President of the United States, did declare and grant a full pardon and amnesty to certain offenders under said acts upon condition of future obedience to their requirements, as is fully set forth in said proclamation of amnesty and pardon; and
Whereas upon the evidence now furnished me I am satisfied that the members and adherents of said church generally abstain from plural marriages and polygamous cohabitation and are now living in obedience to the laws, and that the time has now arrived when the interests of public justice and morality will be promoted by the granting of amnesty and pardon to all such offenders as have complied with the conditions of said proclamation, including such of said offenders as have been convicted under the provisions of said act:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the powers in me vested, do hereby declare and grant a full amnesty and pardon to all persons who have in violation of said acts committed either of the offenses of polygamy, bigamy, adultery, or unlawful cohabitation under the color of polygamous or plural marriage, or who, having been convicted of violations of said acts, are now suffering deprivation of civil rights in consequence of the same, excepting all persons who have not complied with the conditions contained in said executive proclamation of January 4, 1893.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of September, A.D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
The American people should gratefully render thanksgiving and praise to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, who has watched over them with kindness and fostering care during the year that has passed; they should also with humility and faith supplicate the Father of All Mercies for continued blessings according to their needs, and they should by deeds of charity seek the favor of the Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift.Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the 29th day of November instant, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to be kept and observed by all the people of the land.
On that day let our ordinary work and business be suspended and let us meet in our accustomed places of worship and give thanks to Almighty God for our preservation as a nation, for our immunity from disease and pestilence, for the harvests that have rewarded our husbandry, for a renewal of national prosperity, and for every advance in virtue and intelligence that has marked our growth as a people.
And with our thanksgiving let us pray that these blessings may be multiplied unto us, that our national conscience may be quickened to a better recognition of the power and goodness of God, and that in our national life we may clearer see and closer follow the path of righteousness.
And in our places of worship and praise, as well as in the happy reunions of kindred and friends on that day, let us invoke divine approval by generously remembering the poor and needy. Surely He who has given us comfort and plenty will look upon our relief of the destitute and our ministrations of charity as the work of hearts truly grateful and as proofs of the sincerity of our thanksgiving.
Witness my hand and the seal of the United States, which I have caused to be hereto affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington on the 1st day of November, A.D. 1894, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by the sixteenth section of the act of Congress approved March 2, 1889 (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 888), the agreements entered into between the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company and the Sioux Indians for the right of way and occupation of certain lands for station purposes in that portion of the Sioux Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, relinquished by said Indians were ratified upon the condition that said railway company shall within three years after the said act takes effect construct, complete, and put into operation its line of road as therein provided for, due location of which was to be made within nine months after said act took effect; and in case of failure to so construct said road "the lands granted for right of way, station grounds, or other railway purposes as in this act provided shall without any further act or ceremony be declared by proclamation of the President forfeited, and shall without entry or further action on the part of the United States revert to the United States and be subject to entry under the other provisions of this act;" andWhereas under previous proclamation8 said act took effect on February 10, 1890, and more than three years have elapsed and no construction has been reported of the said road beyond the town of Chamberlain, in the State of South Dakota, as evidenced by the report of the Secretary of the Interior dated December 3, 1894:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do declare that the said lands granted for right of way and station purposes, to wit, that tract of land known as lots 2, 3, and 4 and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 10, and lots 1 and 9 in section 15, township 104 north, range 71 west, containing 188 acres, as shown by a plat approved January 24, 1891, being the tract selected by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company under the sixteenth section of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 888), also the 640 acres in said township 104 north, ranges 71 and 72 west, fifth principal meridian, in the State of South Dakota, plat of which was approved by the Secretary of the Interior January 24, 1889, and now on file in the General Land Office, are forfeited to the United States and will be subject to entry under the homestead laws as provided by said act of March 2, 1889, whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall give due notice to the local officers of this declaration of forfeiture.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 5th day of December, A.D. 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND,
President of the United States.
President of the United States.
By the President:
S.W. LAMOREUX,
Commissioner of the General Land Office.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
DECEMBER 11, 1893.
The promotion regulations applied to the War Department May 7, 1887, under authority contained in amended Civil-Service Rule VI are hereby revoked, and hereafter promotions in that Department, until otherwise provided, will be made in accordance with the provisions of Departmental Rule IX and the order of the Secretary of War of March 2, 1892, or such other and further orders as the said Secretary may make not inconsistent with the civil-service rules and the order of the President of December 4, 1891, directing the keeping of an efficiency record with a view to the placing of promotions wholly upon the basis of merit.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
1. To test fitness for the classified departmental service there shall be a clerk-copyist examination and such supplementary and special examinations as the Commission may provide to meet the special requirements of the service. The clerk-copyist examination shall not include more than the following subjects: Orthography, copying, penmanship, arithmetic (fundamental rules, fractions, percentage, interest, and discount), elements of bookkeeping and accounts, elements of the English language, letter writing, elements of the geography, history, and government of the United States.
In section 1, line 1, strike out the words "copyist and of the clerk" and insert in lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist," and in the same line strike out the final letter in the word "examinations." In section 4 strike out all after the word "the" where it occurs the second time in line 6 down to and including the word "separated" in line 8 and insert in lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist," and strike out the final letter of the word "examinations" in line 9. In section 9, line 1, strike out the words "the copyist and the clerk" and insert in lieu thereof the word "all," and strike out all after the word "register" in line 3 to the end of the section.
In section 1, after the word "clerk" in line 3, insert a hyphen and the word "copyist." In section 3, after the word "the" where it occurs the second time in line 1, strike out the words "copyist or the clerk" and insert in lieu thereof the words "clerk-copyist." Strike out all of section 4 and change the numbering of the sections following as required.
In section 2, after the word "clerk" in line 1, insert a hyphen and the word "copyist." In section 3, after the word "clerk" in line 1, insert a hyphen and the word "copyist." Strike out the period at the end of section 5 and insert in lieu thereof a comma, and add to the section the following:
But the provisions of clause I of this rule shall cease to be operative when, by reason of the consolidation of the clerk and copyist examinations, there shall no longer be any persons in the departmental service to whom they apply.
4. In case of the sudden occurrence of a vacancy in a position within the classified service of any post-office which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: Provided, Such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days: And provided further, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Approved, January 5, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
9. In case of the sudden occurrence of a vacancy in the position of observer in the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture may fill such vacancy by temporary appointment until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: Provided, Such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days. Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Approved, January 5, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 20, 1894.
So much of Executive orders heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (d), as provides for the appointment of fish culturists upon noncompetitive examination is hereby revoked, and hereafter fish culturists will be appointed upon competitive examination.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 6, 1894.
Exceptions from examination are hereby made as follows: One superintendent and the necessary teachers, not exceeding four in number, for the organization and equipment of a normal school to be established at Albuquerque, N. Mex., this rule to expire by limitation six months after the date of its approval.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 20, 1894.
So much of clause 6 of Special Departmental Rule No. 1, providing for exceptions from examination in the office of the Secretary in the Department of Agriculture, as excepts "clerk to act as appointment clerk" is hereby revoked, and that position will hereafter be treated as subject to competitive examination.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
The three professors of meteorology of highest grade.
Said section is further amended by adding thereto the following:
Noncompetitive examinations shall be held, on such dates and at such places as the Commission may from time to time determine, to test the competency of inspectors and assistant inspectors in the Bureau of Animal Industry in the Department of Agriculture employed elsewhere than at Washington, who were so employed on the date inspectors and assistant inspectors were included in the classified service and have been continued in the service of the Department until opportunity has been provided for their noncompetitive examination. The results of such examination shall be reported by the Commission to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Approved, May 1, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 11, 1894.
In the office of the Second Auditor: One skilled laborer with duties exclusively of a carpenter and cabinetmaker.
In the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Custodian of proving presses and modeler.
In the customs district of Vermont: One deputy collector and inspector, to be stationed at Halifax during the winter and at Quebec during the time the St. Lawrence River is open to navigation.
The Commission shall certify from the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists the names of the three eligibles thereon having the highest averages: Provided, That if upon the register of the State or Territory in which the vacancy exists there are the names of eligibles having a claim of preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, the names of such eligibles shall be certified before the names of other eligibles of higher grade: Provided further, That on a line on which the service does not require the full time of a clerk, and one can be employed jointly with the railroad company, the appointment may be made without examination and certification, with the consent of the Commission, upon a statement of the facts by the general superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appointment to any other place in the service.
Section 6 of said rule is hereby amended by adding after the word "substitutes" in line 6 the words "resident in the counties which are supplied wholly or in part by the road on which the vacancy exists;" so that as amended the section will read:
6. There may be certified and appointed in each State and Territory, in the manner provided for in this rule, such number of substitute clerks, not exceeding the ratio of one substitute to ten regular clerks, in such State or Territory as the Postmaster-General may authorize, and any vacancies occurring in class I in any State or Territory in which substitutes have been appointed shall be filled by the appointment thereto of those substitutes resident in the counties which are supplied wholly or in part by the road on which the vacancy exists, in the order of their appointment as substitutes, without further certification. The time during which any substitute is actually employed in the service shall be counted as part of his probation.
(h) For the appointment of an Indian as assistant teacher in the Indian-school service.
6. Upon the nomination by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, of an Indian for appointment as assistant teacher, the Commission shall give such Indian noncompetitive examination under General Rule III, section 2, clause (h), upon passing which at the required grade he shall be certified and appointed for the probationary period provided for in section 3 of this rule, at the end of which period he shall be absolutely appointed or discharged from the service in accordance with the provisions of said section. Any Indian appointed assistant teacher as herein provided may be, any time after absolute appointment, appointed teacher upon the certification of the Commission that he has passed the teacher's examination.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 11, 1894.
In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the third paragraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise the classification of the Indian service made by him, by direction of the President, on the 13th day of April, 1891, and to include in class 3 of said classification assistant teachers.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
EXECUTIVE ORDER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 26, 1894.
It is hereby ordered, That the several Executive Departments and the Government Printing Office be closed on Wednesday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers and sailors who fell in defense of the Union during the War of the Rebellion.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Kindergarten teachers, to be employed as such, not exceeding twenty in number.
Approved, June 21, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In the customs district of Boston, office of the collector: One superintendent of warehouses.
In the customs district of Philadelphia, office of the collector: Five chiefs of division.
Approved, June 21, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 9, 1894.
Except in the Department of Agriculture the chiefs of the following divisions: Entomology and economic ornithology and mammalogy.
In the Department of Agriculture, office of the Secretary, the assistant chiefs of the following divisions: Of entomology and of economic ornithology and mammalogy.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 25, 1894.
In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the third paragraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to revise the classification of the Department of the Interior so as to include therein the chief clerk and the assistant chief clerk at the Indian warehouse at New York. Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In the Bureau of Statistics: One expert in mechanical designs and in diagramming commercial and financial facts.
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
(f) Chiefs of divisions, except in the Department of Agriculture the chiefs of the following divisions: Entomology, economic ornithology and mammalogy, and of pomology.
In the Department of Agriculture, office of the Secretary: The assistant chief of the division of pomology.
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, November 2, 1894.
Provided, That the certificates of graduation of the Indian graduates of the normal classes at Santa Fe, N. Mex.; Salem, Oreg.; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans.; Carlisle, Pa., and Hampton, Va., may be accepted by the Commission as the basis of certification in lieu of the examination herein provided.
As amended the section will read:
6. Upon the nomination by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, of an Indian for appointment as assistant teacher, the Commission shall give such Indian noncompetitive examination, under General Rule III, section 2, clause (h), upon passing which at the required grade he shall be certified and appointed for the probationary period provided for in section 3 of this rule, at the end of which period he shall be absolutely appointed or discharged from the service in accordance with the provisions of said section: Provided, That the certificates of graduation of the Indian graduates of the normal classes at Santa Fe, N. Mex.; Salem, Oreg.; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans.; Carlisle, Pa., and Hampton, Va., may be accepted by the Commission as the basis of certification in lieu of the examination herein provided for. Any Indian appointed assistant teacher as herein provided may at any time after absolute appointment be appointed teacher upon the certification of the Commission that he has passed the teacher examination.
Exceptions from examination are hereby made as follows: One superintendent and the necessary teachers, not exceeding four in number, for the organization and equipment of one normal school to be established at Santa Fe, N. Mex.; also one normal teacher each at the Salem (Oreg.) school and the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans.; this rule to expire by limitation six months after the date of its approval.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
5. Exceptions from examination in the classified postal service are hereby made as follows:
(a) Assistant postmaster or the chief assistant to the postmaster, by whatever designation known.
(b) One secretary to the postmaster, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department.
(c) Cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title.
(d) Assistant cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title.
(e) Superintendents of station or branch post-offices at which letter carriers are employed.
(f) Printers and pressmen, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department and employed as such.
6. No person appointed to a place under any exception made by any postal rule shall be transferred to any other place not also excepted from examination.
Postal Rule IV is hereby amended by inserting after the word "manner," in section 1, line 3, the following:
Provided, That superintendents of mail shall be selected from among the employees of the railway mail service or of the mailing division of the post-office at which they are respectively to serve.
Postal Rule VIII is hereby amended as follows:
In clause (a), line 2, after the word "by," insert the word "any," and in the same line strike out "II, clause 5."
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, November 2, 1894.
Departmental Rule VII, clause 1, is hereby amended by inserting at the end of line 6 the following:
Vacancies in places authorized to be filled by noncompetitive examination may be filled without examination for a period not exceeding thirty days, until a regular appointment can be made upon certification made by the Commission.
Every such appointment and the reasons therefor shall be at once reported to the Commission.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In section 4, line 1, strike out the word "hereby," and insert after the word "made," at the end of the line, the words "by any departmental rule;" in line 2, after the word "shall," strike out the words "within one year after appointment;" substitute a period for the semicolon in line 3 and strike out the remainder of the section. As amended the section will read:
4. No person appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination made by any departmental rule shall be transferred from such place to a place not also excepted from examination.
Departmental Rule XI is hereby amended as follows: In clause (a) line 2, insert the word "any" before the word "departmental," and strike out in line 3 all after the word "rule."
In section 6, line 2, after the word "shall," strike out the words "within one year after appointment;" substitute a period for the semicolon in line 3 and strike out the remainder of the section. As amended the section will read:
6. No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination hereby made shall be transferred to another place not also excepted from examination.
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In section 2, line 2, strike out the word "fifty" and insert in lieu thereof the word "twenty."
Customs Rule II is hereby amended as follows:
In section 6, line 1, strike out the word "hereby," and after the word "made," at the end of the line, insert the words "by any customs rule;" in line 2, after the word "shall," strike out the words "within one year after appointment;" substitute a period for the semicolon in line 3 and strike out the remainder of the section. As amended the clause will read:
No person appointed to a place under any exception to examination made by any customs rule shall be transferred from such place to another place not also excepted from examination.
Customs Rule VIII is hereby amended as follows: In clause (a), line 2, after the word "by," insert the word "any," and in the same line strike out "II, clause 5."
Approved, November 2, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Provided further, That sea post clerks in the Post-Office Department shall be appointed by transfer from the classified railway mail service or the classified postal service, and shall be eligible at any time for retransfer to the service from which transferred, but shall not be transferred to any other department or branch of the service, nor to any other place in the Post-Office Department, without examination and certification by the Commission.
In section 5 strike out clauses (e) and (f).
In the last proviso of clause (b) of section 2, in line 2 of that proviso, after the word "line," insert the words "or at a transfer station or on a steamboat;" in the same line strike out the words "on which" and substitute therefor the word "where," and in line 3, after the word "railroad," insert the words "or steamboat;" so that as amended the proviso will read:
Provided further, That on a line or at a transfer station or on a steamboat where the service does not require the full time of a clerk, and one can be employed jointly with the railroad or steamboat company, the appointment may be made without examination and certification, with the consent of the Commission, upon a statement of the facts by the general superintendent; but no clerk so appointed shall be eligible for transfer or appointment to any other place in the service.
Approved, November 17, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 3, 1894.
To the Congress of the United States: The assemblage within the nation's legislative halls of those charged with the duty of making laws for the benefit of a generous and free people impressively suggests the exacting obligation and inexorable responsibility involved in their task. At the threshold of such labor now to be undertaken by the Congress of the United States, and in the discharge of an executive duty enjoined by the Constitution, I submit this communication, containing a brief statement of the condition of our national affairs and recommending such legislation as seems to me necessary and expedient.
The history of our recent dealings with other nations and our peaceful relations with them at this time additionally demonstrate the advantage of consistently adhering to a firm but just foreign policy, free from envious or ambitious national schemes and characterized by entire honesty and sincerity.
During the past year, pursuant to a law of Congress, commissioners were appointed to the Antwerp Industrial Exposition. Though the participation of American exhibitors fell far short of completely illustrating our national ingenuity and industrial achievements, yet it was quite creditable in view of the brief time allowed for preparation.
I have endeavored to impress upon the Belgian Government the needlessness and positive harmfulness of its restrictions upon the importation of certain of our food products, and have strongly urged that the rigid supervision and inspection under our laws are amply sufficient to prevent the exportation from this country of diseased cattle and unwholesome meat.
The termination of the civil war in Brazil has been followed by the general prevalence of peace and order. It appearing at an early stage of the insurrection that its course would call for unusual watchfulness on the part of this Government, our naval force in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro was strengthened. This precaution, I am satisfied, tended to restrict the issue to a simple trial of strength between the Brazilian Government and the insurgents and to avert complications which at times seemed imminent. Our firm attitude of neutrality was maintained to the end. The insurgents received no encouragement of eventual asylum from our commanders, and such opposition as they encountered was for the protection of our commerce and was clearly justified by public law.
A serious tension of relations having arisen at the close of the war between Brazil and Portugal by reason of the escape of the insurgent admiral Da Gama and his followers, the friendly offices of our representatives to those countries were exerted for the protection of the subjects of either within the territory of the other.
Although the Government of Brazil was duly notified that the commercial arrangement existing between the United States and that country based on the third section of the tariff act of 1890 was abrogated on August 28, 1894, by the taking effect of the tariff law now in force, that Government subsequently notified us of its intention to terminate such arrangement on the 1st day of January, 1895, in the exercise of the right reserved in the agreement between the two countries. I invite attention to the correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Brazilian minister on this subject.
The commission organized under the convention which we had entered into with Chile for the settlement of the outstanding claims of each Government against the other adjourned at the end of the period stipulated for its continuance leaving undetermined a number of American cases which had been duly presented. These claims are not barred, and negotiations are in progress for their submission to a new tribunal.
On the 17th of March last a new treaty with China in further regulation of emigration was signed at Washington, and on August 13 it received the sanction of the Senate. Ratification on the part of China and formal exchange are awaited to give effect to this mutually beneficial convention.
A gratifying recognition of the uniform impartiality of this country toward all foreign states was manifested by the coincident request of the Chinese and Japanese Governments that the agents of the United States should within proper limits afford protection to the subjects of the other during the suspension of diplomatic relations due to a state of war. This delicate office was accepted, and a misapprehension which gave rise to the belief that in affording this kindly unofficial protection our agents would exercise the same authority which the withdrawn agents of the belligerents had exercised was promptly corrected. Although the war between China and Japan endangers no policy of the United States, it deserves our gravest consideration by reason of its disturbance of our growing commercial interests in the two countries and the increased dangers which may result to our citizens domiciled or sojourning in the interior of China.
Acting under a stipulation in our treaty with Korea (the first concluded with a western power), I felt constrained at the beginning of the controversy to tender our good offices to induce an amicable arrangement of the initial difficulty growing out of the Japanese demands for administrative reforms in Korea, but the unhappy precipitation of actual hostilities defeated this kindly purpose.
Deploring the destructive war between the two most powerful of the eastern nations and anxious that our commercial interests in those countries may be preserved and that the safety of our citizens there shall not be jeopardized, I would not hesitate to heed any intimation that our friendly aid for the honorable termination of hostilities would be acceptable to both belligerents.
A convention has been finally concluded for the settlement by arbitration of the prolonged dispute with Ecuador growing out of the proceedings against Emilio Santos, a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Our relations with the Republic of France continue to be such as should exist between nations so long bound together by friendly sympathy and similarity in their form of government.
The recent cruel assassination of the President of this sister Republic called forth such universal expressions of sorrow and condolence from our people and Government as to leave no doubt of the depth and sincerity of our attachment. The resolutions passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on the occasion have been communicated to the widow of President Carnot.
Acting upon the reported discovery of Texas fever in cargoes of American cattle, the German prohibition against importations of live stock and fresh meats from this country has been revived. It is hoped that Germany will soon become convinced that the inhibition is as needless as it is harmful to mutual interests.
The German Government has protested against that provision of the customs tariff act which imposes a discriminating duty of one-tenth of 1 cent a pound on sugars coming from countries paying an export bounty thereon, claiming that the exaction of such duty is in contravention of Articles V and IX of the treaty of 1828 with Prussia.
In the interests of the commerce of both countries and to avoid even the accusation of treaty violation, I recommend the repeal of so much of the statute as imposes that duty, and I invite attention to the accompanying report of the Secretary of State, containing a discussion of the questions raised by the German protests.
Early in the present year an agreement was reached with Great Britain concerning instructions to be given to the naval commanders of the two Governments in Bering Sea and the contiguous North Pacific Ocean for their guidance in the execution of the award of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration and the enforcement of the regulations therein prescribed for the protection of seal life in the waters mentioned. An understanding has also been reached for the payment by the United States of $425,000 in full satisfaction of all claims which may be made by Great Britain for damages growing out of the controversy as to fur seals in Bering Sea or the seizure of British vessels engaged in taking seal in those waters. The award and findings of the Paris Tribunal to a great extent determined the facts and principles upon which these claims should be adjusted, and they have been subjected by both Governments to a thorough examination upon the principles as well as the facts which they involve. I am convinced that a settlement upon the terms mentioned would be an equitable and advantageous one, and I recommend that provision be made for the prompt payment of the stated sum.
Thus far only France and Portugal have signified their willingness to adhere to the regulations established under the award of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration.
Preliminary surveys of the Alaskan boundary and a preparatory examination of the question of protection of food fish in the contiguous waters of the United States and the Dominion of Canada are in progress.
The boundary of British Guiana still remains in dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela. Believing that its early settlement on some just basis alike honorable to both parties is in the line of our established policy to remove from this hemisphere all causes of difference with powers beyond the sea, I shall renew the efforts heretofore made to bring about a restoration of diplomatic relations between the disputants and to induce a reference to arbitration—a resort which Great Britain so conspicuously favors in principle and respects in practice and which is earnestly sought by her weaker adversary.
Since communicating the voluminous correspondence in regard to Hawaii and the action taken by the Senate and House of Representatives on certain questions submitted to the judgment and wider discretion of Congress the organization of a government in place of the provisional arrangement which followed the deposition of the Queen has been announced, with evidence of its effective operation. The recognition usual in such cases has been accorded the new Government.
Under our present treaties of extradition with Italy miscarriages of justice have occurred owing to the refusal of that Government to surrender its own subjects. Thus far our efforts to negotiate an amended convention obviating this difficulty have been unavailing.
Apart from the war in which the Island Empire is engaged, Japan attracts increasing attention in this country by her evident desire to cultivate more liberal intercourse with us and to seek our kindly aid in furtherance of her laudable desire for complete autonomy in her domestic affairs and full equality in the family of nations. The Japanese Empire of to-day is no longer the Japan of the past, and our relations with this progressive nation should not be less broad and liberal than those with other powers.
Good will, fostered by many interests in common, has marked our relations with our nearest southern neighbor. Peace being restored along her northern frontier, Mexico has asked the punishment of the late disturbers of her tranquillity. There ought to be a new treaty of commerce and navigation with that country to take the place of the one which terminated thirteen years ago. The friendliness of the intercourse between the two countries is attested by the fact that during this long period the commerce of each has steadily increased under the rule of mutual consideration, being neither stimulated by conventional arrangements nor retarded by jealous rivalries or selfish distrust.
An indemnity tendered by Mexico as a gracious act for the murder in 1887 of Leon Baldwin, an American citizen, by a band of marauders in Durango has been accepted and is being paid in installments.
The problem of the storage and use of the waters of the Rio Grande for irrigation should be solved by appropriate concurrent action of the two interested countries. Rising in the Colorado heights, the stream flows intermittently, yielding little water during the dry months to the irrigation channels already constructed along its course. This scarcity is often severely felt in the regions where the river forms a common boundary. Moreover, the frequent changes in its course through level sands often raise embarrassing questions of territorial jurisdiction.
Prominent among the questions of the year was the Bluefields incident, in what is known as the Mosquito Indian Strip, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and within the jurisdiction of Nicaragua. By the treaty of 1860 between Great Britain and Nicaragua the former Government expressly recognized the sovereignty of the latter over the strip, and a limited form of self-government was guaranteed to the Mosquito Indians, to be exercised according to their customs, for themselves and other dwellers within its limits. The so-called native government, which grew to be largely made up of aliens, for many years disputed the sovereignty of Nicaragua over the strip and claimed the right to maintain therein a practically independent municipal government. Early in the past year efforts of Nicaragua to maintain sovereignty over the Mosquito territory led to serious disturbances, culminating in the suppression of the native government and the attempted substitution of an impracticable composite administration in which Nicaragua and alien residents were to participate. Failure was followed by an insurrection, which for a time subverted Nicaraguan rule, expelling her officers and restoring the old organization. This in turn gave place to the existing local government established and upheld by Nicaragua.
Although the alien interests arrayed against Nicaragua in these transactions have been largely American and the commerce of that region for some time has been and still is chiefly controlled by our citizens, we can not for that reason challenge the rightful sovereignty of Nicaragua over this important part of her domain.
For some months one, and during part of the time two, of our naval ships have been stationed at Bluefields for the protection of all legitimate interests of our citizens. In September last the Government at Managua expelled from its territory twelve or more foreigners, including two Americans, for alleged participation in the seditious or revolutionary movements against the Republic at Bluefields already mentioned; but through the earnest remonstrance of this Government the two Americans have been permitted to return to the peaceful management of their business. Our naval commanders at the scene of these disturbances by their constant exhibition of firmness and good judgment contributed largely to the prevention of more serious consequences and to the restoration of quiet and order. I regret that in the midst of these occurrences there happened a most grave and irritating failure of Nicaraguan justice. An American citizen named Wilson, residing at Rama, in the Mosquito territory, was murdered by one Argüello, the acting governor of the town. After some delay the murderer was arrested, but so insecurely confined or guarded that he escaped, and notwithstanding our repeated demands it is claimed that his recapture has been impossible by reason of his flight beyond Nicaraguan jurisdiction.
The Nicaraguan authorities, having given notice of forfeiture of their concession to the canal company on grounds purely technical and not embraced in the contract, have receded from that position.
Peru, I regret to say, shows symptoms of domestic disturbance, due probably to the slowness of her recuperation from the distresses of the war of 1881. Weakened in resources, her difficulties in facing international obligations invite our kindly sympathy and justify our forbearance in pressing long-pending claims. I have felt constrained to testify this sympathy in connection with certain demands urgently preferred by other powers.
The recent death of the Czar of Russia called forth appropriate expressions of sorrow and sympathy on the part of our Government with his bereaved family and the Russian people. As a further demonstration of respect and friendship our minister at St. Petersburg was directed to represent our Government at the funeral ceremonies.
The sealing interests of Russia in Bering Sea are second only to our own. A modus vivendi has therefore been concluded with the Imperial Government restrictive of poaching on the Russian rookeries and of sealing in waters which were not comprehended in the protected area defined in the Paris award.
Occasion has been found to urge upon the Russian Government equality of treatment for our great life-insurance companies whose operations have been extended throughout Europe. Admitting as we do foreign corporations to transact business in the United States, we naturally expect no less tolerance for our own in the ample fields of competition abroad.
But few cases of interference with naturalized citizens returning to Russia have been reported during the current year. One Krzeminski was arrested last summer in a Polish province on a reported charge of unpermitted renunciation of Russian allegiance, but it transpired that the proceedings originated in alleged malfeasance committed by Krzeminski while an imperial official a number of years ago. Efforts for his release, which promised to be successful, were in progress when his death was reported.
The Government of Salvador having been overthrown by an abrupt popular outbreak, certain of its military and civil officers, while hotly pursued by infuriated insurgents, sought refuge on board the United States war ship Bennington, then lying in a Salvadorean port. Although the practice of asylum is not favored by this Government, yet in view of the imminent peril which threatened the fugitives and solely from considerations of humanity they were afforded shelter by our naval commander, and when afterwards demanded under our treaty of extradition with Salvador for trial on charges of murder, arson, and robbery I directed that such of them as had not voluntarily left the ship be conveyed to one of our nearest ports where a hearing could be had before a judicial officer, in compliance with the terms of the treaty. On their arrival at San Francisco such a proceeding was promptly instituted before the United States district judge, who held that the acts constituting the alleged offenses were political and discharged all the accused except one Cienfuegos, who was held for an attempt to murder. Thereupon I was constrained to direct his release for the reason that an attempt to murder was not one of the crimes charged against him and upon which his surrender to the Salvadorean authorities had been demanded.
Unreasonable and unjust fines imposed by Spain on the vessels and commerce of the United States have demanded from time to time during the last twenty years earnest remonstrance on the part of our Government. In the immediate past exorbitant penalties have been imposed upon our vessels and goods by customs authorities of Cuba and Puerto Rico for clerical errors of the most trivial character in the manifests or bills of lading. In some cases fines amounting to thousands of dollars have been levied upon cargoes or the carrying vessels when the goods in question were entitled to free entry. Fines have been exacted even when the error had been detected and the Spanish authorities notified before the arrival of the goods in port.
This conduct is in strange contrast with the considerate and liberal treatment extended to Spanish vessels and cargoes in our ports in like cases. No satisfactory settlement of these vexatious questions has yet been reached.
The Mora case, referred to in my last annual message, remains unsettled. From the diplomatic correspondence on this subject which has been laid before the Senate it will be seen that this Government has offered to conclude a convention with Spain for disposal by arbitration of outstanding claims between the two countries, except the Mora claim, which, having been long ago adjusted, now only awaits payment as stipulated, and of course it could not be included in the proposed convention. It was hoped that this offer would remove parliamentary obstacles encountered by the Spanish Government in providing payment of the Mora indemnity. I regret to say that no definite reply to this offer has yet been made and all efforts to secure payment of this settled claim have been unavailing.
In my last annual message I adverted to the claim on the part of Turkey of the right to expel as persons undesirable and dangerous Armenians naturalized in the United States and returning to Turkish jurisdiction.9 Numerous questions in this relation have arisen. While this Government acquiesces in the asserted right of expulsion, it will not consent that Armenians may be imprisoned or otherwise punished for no other reason than having acquired without imperial consent American citizenship.
Three of the assailants of Miss Melton, an American teacher in Mosul, have been convicted by the Ottoman courts, and I am advised that an appeal against the acquittal of the remaining five has been taken by the Turkish prosecuting officer.
A convention has been concluded with Venezuela for the arbitration of a long-disputed claim growing out of the seizure of certain vessels the property of citizens of the United States. Although signed, the treaty of extradition with Venezuela is not yet in force, owing to the insistence of that Government that when surrendered its citizens shall in no case be liable to capital punishment.
The rules for the prevention of collisions at sea which were framed by the maritime conference held in this city in 1889, having been concurrently incorporated in the statutes of the United States and Great Britain, have been announced to take effect March 1, 1895, and invitations have been extended to all maritime nations to adhere to them. Favorable responses have thus far been received from Austria, France, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
In my last annual message I referred briefly to the unsatisfactory state of affairs in Samoa under the operation of the Berlin treaty as signally illustrating the impolicy of entangling alliances with foreign powers,10 and on May 9, 1894, in response to a resolution of the Senate, I sent a special message 11 and documents to that body on the same subject, which emphasized my previously expressed opinions. Later occurrences, the correspondence in regard to which will be laid before the Congress, further demonstrate that the Government which was devised by the three powers and forced upon the Samoans against their inveterate hostility can be maintained only by the continued presence of foreign military force and at no small sacrifice of life and treasure.
The suppression of the Mataafa insurrection by the powers and the subsequent banishment of the leader and eleven other chiefs, as recited in my last message, did not bring lasting peace to the islands. Formidable uprisings continued, and finally a rebellion broke out in the capital island, Upolu, headed in Aana, the western district, by the younger Tamasese, and in Atua, the eastern district, by other leaders. The insurgents ravaged the country and fought the Government's troops up to the very doors of Apia. The King again appealed to the powers for help, and the combined British and German naval forces reduced the Atuans to apparent subjection, not, however, without considerable loss to the natives. A few days later Tamasese and his adherents, fearing the ships and the marines, professed submission.
Reports received from our agents at Apia do not justify the belief that the peace thus brought about will be of long duration. It is their conviction that the natives are at heart hostile to the present Government, that such of them as profess loyalty to it do so from fear of the powers, and that it would speedily go to pieces if the war ships were withdrawn. In reporting to his Government on the unsatisfactory situation since the suppression of the late revolt by foreign armed forces, the German consul at Apia stated:
That peace will be lasting is hardly to be presumed. The lesson given by firing on Atua was not sufficiently sharp and incisive to leave a lasting impression on the forgetful Samoan temperament. In fact, conditions are existing which show that peace will not last and is not seriously intended. Malietoa, the King, and his chiefs are convinced that the departure of the war ships will be a signal for a renewal of war. The circumstance that the representatives of the villages of all the districts which were opposed to the Government have already withdrawn to Atua to hold meetings, and that both Atua and Aana have forbidden inhabitants of those districts which fought on the side of the Government to return to their villages, and have already partly burned down the latter, indicates that a real conciliation of the parties is still far off.
And in a note of the 10th ultimo, inclosing a copy of that report for the information of this Government, the German ambassador said:
The contents of the report awakened the Imperial Government's apprehension that under existing circumstances the peace concluded with the rebels will afford no assurance of the lasting restoration of tranquillity in the islands.
The present Government has utterly failed to correct, if indeed it has not aggravated, the very evils it was intended to prevent. It has not stimulated our commerce with the islands. Our participation in its establishment against the wishes of the natives was in plain defiance of the conservative teachings and warnings of the wise and patriotic men who laid the foundations of our free institutions, and I invite an expression of the judgment of Congress on the propriety of steps being taken by this Government looking to the withdrawal from its engagements with the other powers on some reasonable terms not prejudicial to any of our existing rights. The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of the Government from all sources of revenue during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, amounted to $372,802,498.29 and its expenditures to $442,605,758.87, leaving a deficit of $69,803,260.58. There was a decrease of $15,952,674.66 in the ordinary expense of the Government as compared with the fiscal year 1893.
There was collected from customs $131,818,530.62 and from internal revenue $147,168,449.70. The balance of the income for the year, amounting to $93,815,517.97, was derived from the sales of lands and other sources.
The value of our total dutiable imports amounted to $275,199,086, being $146,657,625 less than during the preceding year, and the importations free of duty amounted to $379,795,536, being $64,748,675 less than during the preceding year. The receipts from customs were $73,536,486.11 less and from internal revenue $13,836,539.97 less than in 1893.
The total tax collected from distilled spirits was $85,259,250.25, on manufactured tobacco $28,617,898.62, and on fermented liquors $31,414,788.04.
Our exports of merchandise, domestic and foreign, amounted during the year to $892,140,572, being an increase over the preceding year of $44,495,378.
The total amount of gold exported during the fiscal year was $76,898,061, as against $108,680,444 during the fiscal year 1893. The amount imported was $72,449,119, as against $21,174,381 during the previous year.
The imports of silver were $13,286,552 and the exports were $50,451,265.
The total bounty paid upon the production of sugar in the United States for the fiscal year was $12,100,208.89, being an increase of $2,725,078.01 over the payments made during the preceding year. The amount of bounty paid from July 1, 1894, to August 28, 1894, the time when further payments ceased by operation of law, was $966,185.84. The total expenses incurred in the payment of the bounty upon sugar during the fiscal year was $130,140.85.
It is estimated that upon the basis of the present revenue laws the receipts of the Government during the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 1895, will be $424,427,748.44 and its expenditures $444,427,748.44, resulting in a deficit of $20,000,000.
On the 1st day of November, 1894, the total stock of money of all kinds in the country was $2,240,773,888, as against $2,204,651,000 on the 1st day of November, 1893, and the money of all kinds in circulation, or not included in the Treasury holdings, was $1,672,093,422, or $24.27 per capita upon an estimated population of 68,887,000. At the same date there was held in the Treasury gold bullion amounting to $44,615,177.55 and silver bullion which was purchased at a cost of $127,772,988. The purchase of silver bullion under the act of July 14, 1890, ceased on the 1st day of November, 1893, and up to that time there had been purchased during the fiscal year 11,917,658.78 fine ounces, at a cost of $8,715,521.32, an average cost of $O.7313 per fine ounce. The total amount of silver purchased from the time that law took effect until the repeal of its purchasing clause, on the date last mentioned, was 168,674,682.53 fine ounces, which cost $155,931,002.25, the average price per fine ounce being $0.9244.
The total amount of standard silver dollars coined at the mints of the United States since the passage of the act of February 28, 1878, is $421,776,408, of which $378,166,793 were coined under the provisions of that act, $38,531,143 under the provisions of the act of July 14, 1890, and $5,078,472 under the act providing for the coinage of trade-dollar bullion.
The total coinage of all metals at our mints during the last fiscal year consisted of 63,485,220 pieces, valued at $106,216,730.06, of which there were $99,474,912.50 in gold coined, $758 in standard silver dollars, $6,024,140.30 in subsidiary silver coin, and $716,919.26 in minor coin.
During the calendar year 1893 the production of precious metals in the United States was estimated at 1,739,323 fine ounces of gold of the commercial and coinage value of $35,955,000 and 60,000,000 fine ounces of silver of the bullion or market value of $46,800,000 and of the coinage value of $77,576,000. It is estimated that on the 1st day of July, 1894, the stock of metallic money in the United States, consisting of coin and bullion, amounted to $1,251,640,958, of which $627,923,201 was gold and $624,347,757 was silver.
Fifty national banks were organized during the year ending October 31, 1894, with a capital of $5,285,000, and 79, with a capital of $10,475,000, went into voluntary liquidation. Twenty-one banks, with a capital of $2,770,000, were placed in the hands of receivers. The total number of national banks in existence on the 31st day of October last was 3,756, being 40 less than on the 31st day of October, 1893. The capital stock paid in was $672,671,365, being $9,678,491 less than at the same time in the previous year, and the surplus fund and individual profits, less expenses and taxes paid, amounted to $334,121,082.10, which was $16,089,780 less than on October 31, 1893. The circulation was decreased $1,741,563. The obligations of the banks to each other were increased $117,268,334 and the individual deposits were $277,294,489 less than at the corresponding date in the previous year. Loans and discounts were $161,206,923 more than at the same time the previous year, and checks and other cash items were $90,349,963 more. The total resources of the banks at the date mentioned amounted to $3,473,922,055, as against $3,109,563,284.36 in 1893.
From the report of the Secretary of War it appears that the strength of the Army on September 30, 1894, was 2,135 officers and 25,765 enlisted men. Although this is apparently a very slight decrease compared with the previous year, the actual effective force has been increased to the equivalent of nearly two regiments through the reorganization of the system of recruiting and the consequent release to regimental duty of the large force of men hitherto serving at the recruiting depots. The abolition of these depots, it is predicted, will furthermore effect an annual reduction approximating $250,000 in the direct expenditures, besides promoting generally the health, morale, and discipline of the troops.
The execution of the policy of concentrating the Army at important centers of population and transportation, foreshadowed in the last annual report of the Secretary, has resulted in the abandonment of fifteen of the smaller posts, which was effected under a plan which assembles organizations of the same regiments hitherto widely separated. This renders our small forces more readily effective for any service which they may be called upon to perform, increases the extent of the territory under protection without diminishing the security heretofore afforded to any locality, improves the discipline, training, and esprit de corps of the Army, besides considerably decreasing the cost of its maintenance.
Though the forces of the Department of the East have been somewhat increased, more than three-fourths of the Army is still stationed west of the Mississippi. This carefully matured policy, which secures the best and greatest service in the interests of the general welfare from the small force comprising our Regular Army, should not be thoughtlessly embarrassed by the creation of new and unnecessary posts through acts of Congress to gratify the ambitions or interests of localities.
While the maximum legal strength of the Army is 25,000 men, the effective strength, through various causes, is but little over 20,000 men. The purpose of Congress does not, therefore, seem to be fully attained by the existing condition. While no considerable increase in the Army is, in my judgment, demanded by recent events, the policy of seacoast fortification, in the prosecution of which we have been steadily engaged for some years, has so far developed as to suggest that the effective strength of the Army be now made at least equal to the legal strength. Measures taken by the Department during the year, as indicated, have already considerably augmented the effective force, and the Secretary of War presents a plan, which I recommend to the consideration of Congress, to attain the desired end. Economies effected in the Department in other lines of its work will offset to a great extent the expenditure involved in the proposition submitted. Among other things this contemplates the adoption of the three-battalion formation of regiments, which for several years has been indorsed by the Secretaries of War and the Generals Commanding the Army. Compact in itself, it provides a skeleton organization, ready to be filled out in the event of war, which is peculiarly adapted to our strength and requirements; and the fact that every other nation, with a single exception, has adopted this formation to meet the conditions of modern warfare should alone secure for the recommendation an early consideration.
It is hardly necessary to recall the fact that in obedience to the commands of the Constitution and the laws, and for the purpose of protecting the property of the United States, aiding the process of Federal courts, and removing lawless obstructions to the performance by the Government of its legitimate functions, it became necessary in various localities during the year to employ a considerable portion of the regular troops. The duty was discharged promptly, courageously, and with marked discretion by the officers and men, and the most gratifying proof was thus afforded that the Army deserves that complete confidence in its efficiency and discipline which the country has at all times manifested.
The year has been free from disturbances by Indians, and the chances of further depredations on their part are constantly becoming more remote and improbable.
The total expenditures for the War Department for the year ended June 30, 1894, amounted to $56,039,009.34. Of this sum $2,000,614.99 was for salaries and contingent expenses, $23,665,156.16 for the support of the military establishment, $5,001,682.23 for miscellaneous objects, and $25,371,555.96 for public works. This latter sum includes $19,494,037.49 for river and harbor improvements and $3,947,863.56 for fortifications and other works of defense. The appropriations for the current year aggregate $52,429,112.78, and the estimates submitted by the Secretary of War for the next fiscal year call for appropriations amounting to $52,318,629.55.
The skill and industry of our ordnance officers and inventors have, it is believed, overcome the mechanical obstacles which have heretofore delayed the armament of our coasts, and this great national undertaking upon which we have entered may now proceed as rapidly as Congress shall determine. With a supply of finished guns of large caliber already on hand, to which additions should now rapidly follow, the wisdom of providing carriages and emplacements for their mount can not be too strongly urged.
The total enrollment of the militia of the several States is 117,533 officers and enlisted men, an increase of 5,343 over the number reported at the close of the previous year. The reports of militia inspections by Regular Army officers show a marked increase in interest and efficiency among the State organizations, and I strongly recommend a continuance of the policy of affording every practical encouragement possible to this important auxiliary of our military establishment.
The condition of the Apache Indians held as prisoners by the Government for eight years at a cost of half a million dollars has been changed during the year from captivity to one which gives them an opportunity to demonstrate their capacity for self-support and at least partial civilization. Legislation enacted at the late session of Congress gave the War Department authority to transfer the survivors, numbering 346, from Mount Vernon Barracks, in Alabama, to any suitable reservation. The Department selected as their future home the military lands near Fort Sill, Ind. T., where, under military surveillance, the former prisoners have been established in agriculture under conditions favorable to their advancement.
In recognition of the long and distinguished military services and faithful discharge of delicate and responsible civil duties by Major-General John M. Schofield, now the General Commanding the Army, it is suggested to Congress that the temporary revival of the grade of lieutenant-general in his behalf would be a just and gracious act and would permit his retirement, now near at hand, with rank befitting his merits.
The report of the Attorney-General notes the gratifying progress made by the Supreme Court in overcoming the arrears of its business and in reaching a condition in which it will be able to dispose of cases as they arise without any unreasonable delay. This result is of course very largely due to the successful working of the plan inaugurating circuit courts of appeals. In respect to these tribunals the suggestion is made in quarters entitled to the highest consideration that an additional circuit judge for each circuit would greatly strengthen these courts and the confidence reposed in their adjudications, and that such an addition would not create a greater force of judges than the increasing business of such courts requires. I commend the suggestion to the careful consideration of the Congress. Other important topics are adverted to in the report, accompanied by recommendations, many of which have been treated at large in previous messages, and at this time, therefore, need only be named. I refer to the abolition of the fee system as a measure of compensation to Federal officers; the enlargement of the powers of United States commissioners, at least in the Territories; the allowance of writs of error in criminal cases on behalf of the United States, and the establishment of degrees in the crime of murder. A topic dealt with by the Attorney-General of much importance is the condition of the administration of justice in the Indian Territory. The permanent solution of what is called the Indian problem is probably not to be expected at once, but meanwhile such ameliorations of present conditions as the existing system will admit of ought not to be neglected. I am satisfied there should be a Federal court established for the Territory, with sufficient judges, and that this court should sit within the Territory and have the same jurisdiction as to Territorial affairs as is now vested in the Federal courts sitting in Arkansas and Texas.
Another subject of pressing moment referred to by the Attorney-General is the reorganization of the Union Pacific Railway Company on a basis equitable as regards all private interests and as favorable to the Government as existing conditions will permit. The operation of a railroad by a court through a receiver is an anomalous state of things which should be terminated on all grounds, public and private, at the earliest possible moment. Besides, not to enact the needed enabling legislation at the present session postpones the whole matter until the assembling of a new Congress and inevitably increases all the complications of the situation, and could not but be regarded as a signal failure to solve a problem which has practically been before the present Congress ever since its organization.
Eight years ago in my annual message I urged upon the Congress as Strongly as I could the location and construction of two prisons for the confinement of United States prisoners.12 A similar recommendation has been made from time to time since, and a few years ago a law was passed providing for the selection of sites for three such institutions. No appropriation has, however, been made to carry the act into effect, and the old and discreditable condition still exists.
It is not my purpose at this time to repeat the considerations which make an impregnable case in favor of the ownership and management by the Government of the penal institutions in which Federal prisoners are confined. I simply desire to again urge former recommendations on the subject and to particularly call the attention of the Congress to that part of the report of the Secretary of War in which he states that the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., can be turned over to the Government as a prison for Federal convicts without the least difficulty and with an actual saving of money from every point of view.
Pending a more complete reform, I hope that by the adoption of the suggestion of the Secretary of War this easy step may be taken in the direction of the proper care of its convicts by the Government of the United States.
The report of the Postmaster-General presents a comprehensive statement of the operations of the Post-Office Department for the last fiscal year. The receipts of the Department during the year amounted to $75,080,479.04 and the expenditures to $84,324,414.15.
The transactions of the postal service indicate with barometric certainty the fluctuations in the business of the country. Inasmuch, therefore, as business complications continued to exist throughout the last year to an unforeseen extent, it is not surprising that the deficiency of revenue to meet the expenditures of the Post-Office Department, which was estimated in advance at about $8,000,000, should be exceeded by nearly $1,225,000. The ascertained revenues of the last year, which were the basis of calculation for the current year, being less than estimated, the deficiency for the current year will be correspondingly greater, though the Postmaster-General states that the latest indications are so favorable that he confidently predicts an increase of at least 8 per cent in the revenues of the current year over those of the last year.
The expenditures increase steadily and necessarily with the growth and needs of the country, so that the deficiency is greater or less in any year, depending upon the volume of receipts.
The Postmaster-General states that this deficiency is unnecessary and might be obviated at once if the law regulating rates upon mail matter of the second class was modified. The rate received for the transmission of this second-class matter is 1 cent per pound, while the cost of such transmission to the Government is eight times that amount. In the general terms of the law this rate covers newspapers and periodicals. The extensions of the meaning of these terms from time to time have admitted to the privileges intended for legitimate newspapers and periodicals a surprising range of publications and created abuses the cost of which amounts in the aggregate to the total deficiency of the Post-Office Department. Pretended newspapers are started by business houses for the mere purpose of advertising goods, complying with the law in form only and discontinuing the publications as soon as the period of advertising is over. "Sample copies" of pretended newspapers are issued in great numbers for a like purpose only. The result is a great loss of revenue to the Government, besides its humiliating use as an agency to aid in carrying out the scheme of a business house to advertise its goods by means of a trick upon both its rival houses and the regular and legitimate newspapers. Paper-covered literature, consisting mainly of trashy novels, to the extent of many thousands of tons is sent through the mails at 1 cent per pound, while the publishers of standard works are required to pay eight times that amount in sending their publications. Another abuse consists in the free carriage through the mails of hundreds of tons of seed and grain uselessly distributed through the Department of Agriculture. The Postmaster-General predicts that if the law be so amended as to eradicate these abuses not only will the Post-Office Department show no deficiency, but he believes that in the near future all legitimate newspapers and periodical magazines might be properly transmitted through the mails to their subscribers free of cost. I invite your prompt consideration of this subject and fully indorse the views of the Postmaster-General.
The total number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day of June, 1894, was 69,805, an increase of 1,403 over the preceding year. Of these, 3,428 were Presidential, an increase in that class of 68 over the preceding year.
Six hundred and ten cities and towns are provided with free delivery. Ninety-three other cities and towns entitled to this service under the law have not been accorded it on account of insufficient funds. The expense of free delivery for the current fiscal year will be more than $12,300,000, and under existing legislation this item of expenditure is subject to constant increase. The estimated cost of rural free delivery generally is so very large that it ought not to be considered in the present condition of affairs.
During the year 830 additional domestic money-order offices were established. The total number of these offices at the close of the year was 19,264. There were 14,304,041 money orders issued during the year, being an increase over the preceding year of 994,306. The value of these orders amounted to $138,793,579.49, an increase of $11,217,145.84. There were also issued during the year postal notes amounting to $12,649,094.55.
During the year 218 international money-order offices were added to those already established, making a total of 2,625 such offices in operation June 30, 1894. The number of international money orders issued during the year was 917,823, a decrease in number of 138,176, and their value was $13,792,455.31, a decrease in amount of $2,549,382.55. The number of orders paid was 361,180, an increase over the preceding year of 60,263, and their value was $6,568,493.78, an increase of $1,285,118.08.
From the foregoing statements it appears that the total issue of money orders and postal notes for the year amounted to $165,235,129.35.
The number of letters and packages mailed during the year for special delivery was 3,436,970. The special-delivery stamps used upon these letters and packages amounted to $343,697. The messengers' fees paid for their delivery amounted to $261,209.70, leaving a balance in favor of the Government of $82,487.30.
The report shows most gratifying results in the way of economies worked out without affecting the efficiency of the postal service. These consist in the abrogation of steamship subsidy contracts, reletting of mail transportation contracts, and in the cost and amount of supplies used in the service, amounting in all to $16,619,047.42.
This report also contains a valuable contribution to the history of the Universal Postal Union, an arrangement which amounts practically to the establishment of one postal system for the entire civilized world. Special attention is directed to this subject at this time in view of the fact that the next congress of the union will meet in Washington in 1897, and it is hoped that timely action will be taken in the direction of perfecting preparations for that event.
The Postmaster-General renews the suggestion made in a previous report that the Department organization be increased to the extent of creating a direct district supervision of all postal affairs, and in this suggestion I fully concur.
There are now connected with the Post-Office establishment 32,661 employees who are in the classified service. This includes many who have been classified upon the suggestion of the Postmaster-General. He states that another year's experience at the head of the Department serves only to strengthen the conviction as to the excellent working of the civil-service law in this branch of the public service.
Attention is called to the report of the Secretary of the Navy, which shows very gratifying progress in the construction of ships for our new Navy. All the vessels now building, including the three torpedo boats authorized at the last session of Congress and excepting the first-class battle ship Iowa, will probably be completed during the coming fiscal year.
The estimates for the increase of the Navy for the year ending June 30, 1896, are large, but they include practically the entire sum necessary to complete and equip all the new ships not now in commission, so that unless new ships are authorized the appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, should fall below the estimates for the coming year by at least $12,000,000.
The Secretary presents with much earnestness a plea for the authorization of three additional battle ships and ten or twelve torpedo boats. While the unarmored vessels heretofore authorized, including those now nearing completion, will constitute a fleet which it is believed is sufficient for ordinary cruising purposes in time of peace, we have now completed and in process of construction but four first-class battle ships and but few torpedo boats. If we are to have a navy for warlike operations, offensive and defensive, we certainly ought to increase both the number of battle ships and torpedo boats.
The manufacture of armor requires expensive plants and the aggregation of many skilled workmen. All the armor necessary to complete the vessels now building will be delivered before the 1st of June next. If no new contracts are given out, contractors must disband their workmen and their plants must lie idle. Battle ships authorized at this time would not be well under way until late in the coming fiscal year, and at least three years and a half from the date of the contract would be required for their completion. The Secretary states that not more than 15 per cent of the cost of such ships need be included in the appropriations for the coming year.
I recommend that provision be made for the construction of additional battle ships and torpedo boats.
The Secretary recommends the manufacture not only of a reserve supply of ordnance and ordnance material for ships of the Navy, but also a supply for the auxiliary fleet. Guns and their appurtenances should be provided and kept on hand for both these purposes. We have not to-day a single gun that could be put upon the ships Paris or New York of the International Navigation Company or any other ship of our reserve Navy.
The manufacture of guns at the Washington Navy-Yard is proceeding satisfactorily, and none of our new ships will be required to wait for their guns or ordnance equipment.
An important order has been issued by the Secretary of the Navy coordinating the duties of the several bureaus concerned in the construction of ships. This order, it is believed, will secure to a greater extent than has heretofore been possible the harmonious action of these several bureaus and make the attainment of the best results more certain.
During the past fiscal year there has been an unusual and pressing demand in many quarters of the world for the presence of vessels to guard American interests.
In January last, during the Brazilian insurrection, a large fleet was concentrated in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. The vigorous action of Rear-Admiral Benham in protecting the personal and commercial rights of our citizens during the disturbed conditions afforded results which will, it is believed, have a far-reaching and wholesome influence whenever in like circumstances it may become necessary for our naval commanders to interfere on behalf of our people in foreign ports.
The war now in progress between China and Japan has rendered it necessary or expedient to dispatch eight vessels to those waters.
Both the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury recommend the transfer of the work of the Coast Survey proper to the Navy Department. I heartily concur in this recommendation. Excluding Alaska and a very small area besides, all the work of mapping and charting our coasts has been completed. The hydrographic work, which must be done over and over again by reason of the shifting and varying depths of water consequent upon the action of streams and tides, has heretofore been done under the direction of naval officers in subordination to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. There seems to be no good reason why the Navy should not have entire charge hereafter of such work, especially as the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department is now and has been for many years engaged in making efficient maps entirely similar to those prepared by the Coast Survey.
I feel it my imperative duty to call attention to the recommendation of the Secretary in regard to the personnel of the line of the Navy. The stagnation of promotion in this the vital branch of the service is so great as to seriously impair its efficiency.
I consider it of the utmost importance that the young and middle-aged officers should before the eve of retirement be permitted to reach a grade entitling them to active and important duty.
The system adopted a few years ago regulating the employment of labor at the navy-yards is rigidly upheld and has fully demonstrated its usefulness and expediency. It is within the domain of civil-service reform inasmuch as workmen are employed through a board of labor selected at each navy-yard and are given work without reference to politics and in the order of their application, preference, however, being given to Army and Navy veterans and those having former navy-yard experience.
Amendments suggested by experience have been made to the rules regulating the system. Through its operation the work at our navy-yards has been vastly improved in efficiency and the opportunity to work has been honestly and fairly awarded to willing and competent applicants.
It is hoped that if this system continues to be strictly adhered to there will soon be as a natural consequence such an equalization of party benefit as will remove all temptation to relax or abandon it.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits the situation of the numerous and interesting branches of the public service connected with his Department. I commend this report and the valuable recommendations of the Secretary to the careful attention of the Congress.
The public land disposed of during the year amounted to 10,406,100.77 acres, including 28,876.05 of Indian lands.
It is estimated that the public domain still remaining amounts to a little more than 600,000,000 acres, including, however, about 360,000,000 acres in Alaska, as well as military reservations and railroad and other selections of lands yet unadjudicated.
The total cash receipts from sale of lands amounted to $2,674,285.79, including $91,981.03 received for Indian lands.
Thirty-five thousand patents were issued for agricultural lands, and 3,100 patents were issued to Indians on allotments of their holdings in severalty, the land so allotted being inalienable by the Indian allottees for a period of twenty-five years after patent.
There were certified and patented on account of railroad and wagon-road grants during the year 865,556.45 acres of land, and at the close of the year 29,000,000 acres were embraced in the lists of selections made by railroad and wagon-road companies and awaited settlement.
The selections of swamp lands and that taken as indemnity therefor since the passage of the act providing for the same in 1849 amount to nearly or quite 80,500,000 acres, of which 58,000,000 have been patented to States. About 138,000 acres were patented during the last year. Nearly 820,000 acres of school and education grants were approved during the year, and at its close 1,250,363.81 acres remained unadjusted.
It appears that the appropriation for the current year on account of special service for the protection of the public lands and the timber thereon is much less than those for previous years, and inadequate for an efficient performance of the work. A larger sum of money than has been appropriated during a number of years past on this account has been returned to the Government as a result of the labors of those employed in the particular service mentioned, and I hope it will not be crippled by insufficient appropriation.
I fully indorse the recommendation of the Secretary that adequate protection be provided for our forest reserves and that a comprehensive forestry system be inaugurated. Such keepers and superintendents as are necessary to protect the forests already reserved should be provided. I am of the opinion that there should be an abandonment of the policy sanctioned by present laws under which the Government, for a very small consideration, is rapidly losing title to immense tracts of land covered with timber, which should be properly reserved as permanent sources of timber supply.
The suggestion that a change be made in the manner of securing surveys of the public lands is especially worthy of consideration. I am satisfied that these surveys should be made by a corps of competent surveyors under the immediate control and direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
An exceedingly important recommendation of the Secretary relates to the manner in which contests and litigated cases growing out of efforts to obtain Government land are determined. The entire testimony upon which these controversies depend in all their stages is taken before the local registers and receivers, and yet these officers have no power to subpoena witnesses or to enforce their attendance to testify. These cases, numbering three or four thousand annually, are sent by the local officers to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for his action. The exigencies of his other duties oblige him to act upon the decisions of the registers and receivers without an opportunity of thorough personal examination. Nearly 2,000 of these cases are appealed annually from the Commissioner to the Secretary of the Interior. Burdened with other important administrative duties, his determination of these appeals must be almost perfunctory and based upon the examination of others, though this determination of the Secretary operates as a final adjudication upon rights of very great importance.
I concur in the opinion that the Commissioner of the General Land Office should be relieved from the duty of deciding litigated land cases, that a nonpartisan court should be created to pass on such cases, and that the decisions of this court should be final, at least so far as the decisions of the Department are now final. The proposed court might be given authority to certify questions of law in matters of especial importance to the Supreme Court of the United States or the court of appeals for the District of Columbia for decision. The creation of such a tribunal would expedite the disposal of cases and insure decisions of a more satisfactory character. The registers and receivers who originally hear and decide these disputes should be invested with authority to compel witnesses to attend and testify before them.
Though the condition of the Indians shows a steady and healthy progress, their situation is not satisfactory at all points. Some of them to whom allotments of land have been made are found to be unable or disinclined to follow agricultural pursuits or to otherwise beneficially manage their land. This is especially true of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, who, as it appears by reports of their agent, have in many instances never been located upon their allotments, and in some cases do not even know where their allotments are. Their condition has deteriorated. They are not self-supporting and they live in camps and spend their time in idleness.
I have always believed that allotments of reservation lands to Indians in severalty should be made sparingly, or at least slowly, and with the utmost caution. In these days, when white agriculturists and stock raisers of experience and intelligence find their lot a hard one, we ought not to expect Indians, unless far advanced in civilization and habits of industry, to support themselves on the small tracts of land usually allotted to them.
If the self-supporting scheme by allotment fails, the wretched pauperism of the allottees which results is worse than their original condition of regulated dependence. It is evident that the evil consequences of ill-advised allotment are intensified in cases where the false step can not be retraced on account of the purchase by the Government of reservation lands remaining after allotments are made and the disposition of such remaining lands to settlers or purchasers from the Government.
I am convinced that the proper solution of the Indian problem and the success of every step taken in that direction depend to a very large extent upon the intelligence and honesty of the reservation agents and the interest they have in their work. An agent fitted for his place can do much toward preparing the Indians under his charge for citizenship and allotment of their lands, and his advice as to any matter concerning their welfare will not mislead. An unfit agent will make no effort to advance the Indians on his reservation toward civilization or preparation for allotment of lands in severalty, and his opinion as to their condition in this and other regards is heedless and valueless.
The indications are that the detail of army officers as Indian agents will result in improved management on the reservations.
Whenever allotments are made and any Indian on the reservation has previously settled upon a lot and cultivated it or shown a disposition to improve it in any way, such lot should certainly be allotted to him, and this should be made plainly obligatory by statute.
In the light of experience and considering the uncertainty of the Indian situation and its exigencies in the future, I am not only disposed to be very cautious in making allotments, but I incline to agree with the Secretary of the Interior in the opinion that when allotments are made the balance of reservation land remaining after allotment, instead of being bought by the Government from the Indians and opened for settlement with such scandals and unfair practices as seem unavoidable, should remain for a time at least as common land or be sold by the Government on behalf of the Indians in an orderly way and at fixed prices, to be determined by its location and desirability, and that the proceeds, less expenses, should be held in trust for the benefit of the Indian proprietors.
The intelligent Indian-school management of the past year has been followed by gratifying results. Efforts have been made to advance the work in a sound and practical manner. Five institutes of Indian teachers have been held during the year, and have proved very beneficial through the views exchanged and methods discussed particularly applicable to Indian education.
Efforts are being made in the direction of a gradual reduction of the number of Indian contract schools, so that in a comparatively short time they may give way altogether to Government schools, and it is hoped that the change may be so gradual as to be perfected without too great expense to the Government or undue disregard of investments made by those who have established and are maintaining such contract schools.
The appropriation for the current year, ending June 30, 1895, applicable to the ordinary expenses of the Indian service amounts to $6,733,003.18, being less by $663,240.64 than the sum appropriated on the same account for the previous year.
At the close of the last fiscal year, on the 30th day of June, 1894, there were 969,544 persons on our pension rolls, being a net increase of 3,532 over the number reported at the end of the previous year.
These pensioners may be classified as follows: Soldiers and sailors survivors of all wars, 753,968; widows and relatives of deceased soldiers, 215,162; army nurses in the War of the Rebellion, 414. Of these pensioners 32,039 are surviving soldiers of Indian and other wars prior to the late Civil War and the widows or relatives of such soldiers.
The remainder, numbering 937,505, are receiving pensions on account of the rebellion, and of these 469,344 are on the rolls under the authority of the act of June 27, 1890, sometimes called the dependent-pension law.
The total amount expended for pensions during the year was $139,804,461.05, leaving an unexpended balance from the sum appropriated of $25,205,712.65.
The sum necessary to meet pension expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1896, is estimated at $140,000,000.
The Commissioner of Pensions is of the opinion that the year 1895, being the thirtieth after the close of the War of the Rebellion, must, according to all sensible human calculation, see the highest limit of the pension roll, and that after that year it must begin to decline.
The claims pending in the Bureau have decreased more than 90,000 during the year. A large proportion of the new claims filed are for increase of pension by those now on the rolls.
The number of certificates issued was 80,213.
The names dropped from the rolls for all causes during the year numbered 37,951.
Among our pensioners are 9 widows and 3 daughters of soldiers of the Revolution and 45 survivors of the War of 1812.
The barefaced and extensive pension frauds exposed under the direction of the courageous and generous veteran soldier now at the head of the Bureau leave no room for the claim that no purgation of our pension rolls was needed or that continued vigilance and prompt action are not necessary to the same end.
The accusation that an effort to detect pension frauds is evidence of unfriendliness toward our worthy veterans and a denial of their claims to the generosity of the Government suggests an unfortunate indifference to the commission of any offense which has for its motive the securing of a pension and indicates a willingness to be blind to the existence of mean and treacherous crimes which play upon demagogic fears and make sport of the patriotic impulse of a grateful people.
The completion of the Eleventh Census is now in charge of the Commissioner of Labor. The total disbursements on account of the work for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, amounted to $10,365,676.81. At the close of the year the number of persons employed in the Census Office was 679; at present there are about 400. The whole number of volumes necessary to comprehend the Eleventh Census will be 25, and they will contain 22,270 printed pages. The assurance is confidently made that before the close of the present calendar year the material still incomplete will be practically in hand, and the census can certainly be closed by the 4th of March, 1895. After that the revision and proof reading necessary to bring out the volumes will still be required.
The text of the census volumes has been limited as far as possible to the analysis of the statistics presented. This method, which is in accordance with law, has caused more or less friction and in some instances individual disappointment, for when the Commissioner of Labor took charge of the work he found much matter on hand which according to this rule he was compelled to discard. The census is being prepared according to the theory that it is designed to collect facts and certify them to the public, not to elaborate arguments or to present personal views.
The Secretary of Agriculture in his report reviews the operations of his Department for the last fiscal year and makes recommendations for the further extension of its usefulness. He reports a saving in expenditures during the year of $600,000, which is covered back into the Treasury. This sum is 23 per cent of the entire appropriation.
A special study has been made of the demand for American farm products in all foreign markets, especially Great Britain. That country received from the United States during the nine months ending September 30, 1894, 305,910 live beef cattle, valued at $26,500,000, as against 182,611 cattle, valued at $16,634,000, during the same period for 1893.
During the first six months of 1894 the United Kingdom took also 112,000,000 pounds of dressed beef from the United States, valued at nearly $10,000,000.
The report shows that during the nine months immediately preceding September 30, 1894, the United States exported to Great Britain 222,676,000 pounds of pork; of apples, 1,900,000 bushels, valued at $2,500,000, and of horses 2,811, at an average value of $139 per head. There was a falling off in American wheat exports of 13,500,000 bushels, and the Secretary is inclined to believe that wheat may not in the future be the staple export cereal product of our country, but that corn will continue to advance in importance as an export on account of the new uses to which it is constantly being appropriated.
The exports of agricultural products from the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, amounted to $628,363,038, being 72.28 per cent of American exports of every description, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain took more than 54 per cent of all farm products finding foreign markets.
The Department of Agriculture has undertaken during the year two new and important lines of research. The first relates to grasses and forage plants, with the purpose of instructing and familiarizing the people as to the distinctive grasses of the United States and teaching them how to introduce valuable foreign forage plants which may be adapted to this country. The second relates to agricultural soils and crop production, involving the analyses of samples of soils from all sections of the American Union, to demonstrate their adaptability to particular plants and crops. Mechanical analyses of soils may be of such inestimable utility that it is foremost in the new lines of agricultural research, and the Secretary therefore recommends that a division having it in charge be permanently established in the Department.
The amount appropriated for the Weather Bureau was $951,100. Of that sum $138,500, or 14 per cent, has been saved and is returned to the Treasury.
As illustrating the usefulness of this service it may be here stated that the warnings which were very generally given of two tropical storms occurring in September and October of the present year resulted in detaining safely in port 2,305 vessels, valued at $36,283,913, laden with cargoes of probably still greater value. What is much more important and gratifying, many human lives on these ships were also undoubtedly saved.
The appropriation to the Bureau of Animal Industry was $850,000, and the expenditures for the year were only $495,429.24, thus leaving unexpended $354,570.76. The inspection of beef animals for export and interstate trade has been continued, and 12,944,056 head were inspected during the year, at a cost of 1-3/4 cents per head, against 4-3/4 cents for 1893. The amount of pork microscopically examined was 35,437,937 pounds, against 20,677,410 pounds in the preceding year. The cost of this inspection has been diminished from 8-3/4 cents per head in 1893 to 6-1/2 cents in 1894.
The expense of inspecting the pork sold in 1894 to Germany and France by the United States was $88,922.10. The quantity inspected was greater by 15,000,000 pounds than during the preceding year, when the cost of such inspection was $172,367.08. The Secretary of Agriculture recommends that the law providing for the microscopic inspection of export and interstate meat be so amended as to compel owners of the meat inspected to pay the cost of such inspection, and I call attention to the arguments presented in his report in support of this recommendation.
The live beef cattle exported and tagged during the year numbered 353,535. This is an increase of 69,533 head over the previous year.
The sanitary inspection of cattle shipped to Europe has cost an average of 10-3/4 cents for each animal, and the cost of inspecting Southern cattle and the disinfection of cars and stock yards averages 2.7 cents per animal.
The scientific inquiries of the Bureau of Animal Industry have progressed steadily during the year. Much tuberculin and mallein have been furnished to State authorities for use in the agricultural colleges and experiment stations for the treatment of tuberculosis and glanders.
Quite recently this Department has published the results of its investigations of bovine tuberculosis, and its researches will be vigorously continued. Certain herds in the District of Columbia will be thoroughly inspected and will probably supply adequate scope for the Department to intelligently prosecute its scientific work and furnish sufficient material for purposes of illustration, description, and definition.
The sterilization of milk suspected of containing the bacilli of tuberculosis has been during the year very thoroughly explained in a leaflet by Dr. D.E. Salmon, the Chief of the Bureau, and given general circulation throughout the country.
The Office of Experiment Stations, which is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture, has during the past year engaged itself almost wholly in preparing for publication works based upon the reports of agricultural experiment stations and other institutions for agricultural inquiry in the United States and foreign countries.
The Secretary in his report for 1893 called attention to the fact that the appropriations made for the support of the experiment stations throughout the Union were the only moneys taken out of the National Treasury by act of Congress for which no accounting to Federal authorities was required. Responding to this suggestion, the Fifty-third Congress, in making the appropriation for the Department for the present fiscal year, provided that—
The Secretary of Agriculture shall prescribe the form of annual financial statement required by section 3 of said act of March 2, 1887; shall ascertain whether the expenditures under the appropriation hereby made are in accordance with the provisions of said act, and shall make report thereon to Congress.
In obedience to this law the Department of Agriculture immediately sent out blank forms of expense accounts to each station, and proposes in addition to make, through trusted experts, systematic examination of the several stations during each year for the purpose of acquiring by personal investigation the detailed information necessary to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to make, as the statute provides, a satisfactory report to Congress. The boards of management of the several stations with great alacrity and cordiality have approved the amendment to the law providing this supervision of their expenditures, anticipating that it will increase the efficiency of the stations and protect their directors and managers from loose charges concerning their use of public funds, besides bringing the Department of Agriculture into closer and more confidential relations with the experimental stations, and through their joint service largely increasing their usefulness to the agriculture of the country. Acting upon a recommendation contained in the report of 1893, Congress appropriated $10,000 "to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate and report upon the nutritive value of the various articles and commodities used for human food, with special suggestions of full, wholesome, and edible rations less wasteful and more economical than those in common use."
Under this appropriation the Department has prepared and now has nearly ready for distribution an elementary discussion of the nutritive value and pecuniary economy of food. When we consider that fully one-half of all the money earned by the wage earners of the civilized world is expended by them for food, the importance and utility of such an investigation is apparent.
The Department expended in the fiscal year 1893 $2,354,809.56, and out of that sum the total amount expended in scientific research was 45.6 per cent. But in the year ending June 30, 1894, out of a total expenditure of $1,948,988.38, the Department applied 51.8 per cent of that sum to scientific work and investigation. It is therefore very plainly observable that the economies which have been practiced in the administration of the Department have not been at the expense of scientific research.
The recommendation contained in the report of the Secretary for 1893 that the vicious system of promiscuous free distribution of its departmental documents be abandoned is again urged. These publications may well be furnished without cost to public libraries, educational institutions, and the officers and libraries of States and of the Federal Government; but from all individuals applying for them a price covering the cost of the document asked for should be required. Thus the publications and documents would be secured by those who really desire them for proper purposes. Half a million of copies of the report of the Secretary of Agriculture are printed for distribution, at an annual cost of about $300,000. Large numbers of them are cumbering storerooms at the Capitol and the shelves of secondhand-book stores throughout the country. All this labor and waste might be avoided if the recommendations of the Secretary were adopted.
The Secretary also again recommends that the gratuitous distribution of seeds cease and that no money be appropriated for that purpose except to experiment stations. He reiterates the reasons given in his report for 1893 for discontinuing this unjustifiable gratuity, and I fully concur in the conclusions which he has reached.
The best service of the statistician of the Department of Agriculture is the ascertainment, by diligence and care, of the actual and real conditions, favorable or unfavorable, of the farmers and farms of the country, and to seek the causes which produce these conditions, to the end that the facts ascertained may guide their intelligent treatment.
A further important utility in agricultural statistics is found in their elucidation of the relation of the supply of farm products to the demand for them in the markets of the United States and of the world.
It is deemed possible that an agricultural census may be taken each year through the agents of the statistical division of the Department. Such a course is commended for trial by the chief of that division. Its scope would be:
(1) The area under each of the more important crops. (2) The aggregate products of each of such crops. (3) The quantity of wheat and corn in the hands of farmers at a date after the spring sowings and plantings and before the beginning of harvest, and also the quantity of cotton and tobacco remaining in the hands of planters, either at the same date or at some other designated time.
The cost of the work is estimated at $500,000.
Owing to the peculiar quality of the statistician's work and the natural and acquired fitness necessary to its successful prosecution, the Secretary of Agriculture expresses the opinion that every person employed in gathering statistics under the chief of that division should be admitted to that service only after a thorough, exhaustive, and successful examination at the hands of the United States Civil Service Commission. This has led him to call for such examination of candidates for the position of assistant statisticians, and also of candidates for chiefs of sections in that division.
The work done by the Department of Agriculture is very superficially dealt with in this communication, and I commend the report of the Secretary and the very important interests with which it deals to the careful attention of the Congress.
The advantages to the public service of an adherence to the principles of civil-service reform are constantly more apparent, and nothing is so encouraging to those in official life who honestly desire good government as the increasing appreciation by our people of these advantages. A vast majority of the voters of the land are ready to insist that the time and attention of those they select to perform for them important public duties should not be distracted by doling out minor offices, and they are growing to be unanimous in regarding party organization as something that should be used in establishing party principles instead of dictating the distribution of public places as rewards of partisan activity.
Numerous additional offices and places have lately been brought within civil-service rules and regulations, and some others will probably soon be included.
The report of the Commissioners will be submitted to the Congress, and I invite careful attention to the recommendations it contains.
I am entirely convinced that we ought not to be longer without a national board of health or national health officer charged with no other duties than such as pertain to the protection of our country from the invasion of pestilence and disease. This would involve the establishment by such board or officer of proper quarantine precautions, or the necessary aid and counsel to local authorities on the subject; prompt advice and assistance to local boards of health or health officers in the suppression of contagious disease, and in cases where there are no such local boards or officers the immediate direction by the national board or officer of measures of suppression; constant and authentic information concerning the health of foreign countries and all parts of our own country as related to contagious diseases, and consideration of regulations to be enforced in foreign ports to prevent the introduction of contagion into our cities and the measures which should be adopted to secure their enforcement.
There seems to be at this time a decided inclination to discuss measures of protection against contagious diseases in international conference, with a view of adopting means of mutual assistance. The creation of such a national health establishment would greatly aid our standing in such conferences and improve our opportunities to avail ourselves of their benefits.
I earnestly recommend the inauguration of a national board of health or similar national instrumentality, believing the same to be a needed precaution against contagious disease and in the interest of the safety and health of our people.
By virtue of a statute of the United States passed in 1888 I appointed in July last Hon. John D. Kernan, of the State of New York, and Hon. Nicholas E. Worthington, of the State of Illinois, to form, with Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, who was designated by said statute, a commission for the purpose of making careful inquiry into the causes of the controversies between certain railroads and their employees which had resulted in an extensive and destructive strike, accompanied by much violence and dangerous disturbance, with considerable loss of life and great destruction of property.
The report of the commissioners has been submitted to me and will be transmitted to the Congress with the evidence taken upon their investigation.
Their work has been well done, and their standing and intelligence give assurance that the report and suggestions they make are worthy of careful consideration.
The tariff act passed at the last session of the Congress needs important amendments if it is to be executed effectively and with certainty. In addition to such necessary amendments as will not change rates of duty, I am still very decidedly in favor of putting coal and iron upon the free list.
So far as the sugar schedule is concerned, I would be glad, under existing aggravations, to see every particle of differential duty in favor of refined sugar stricken out of our tariff law. If with all the favor now accorded the sugar-refining interest in our tariff laws it still languishes to the extent of closed refineries and thousands of discharged workmen, it would seem to present a hopeless case for reasonable legislative aid. Whatever else is done or omitted, I earnestly repeat here the recommendation I have made in another portion of this communication, that the additional duty of one-tenth of a cent per pound laid upon sugar imported from countries paying a bounty on its export be abrogated. It seems to me that exceedingly important considerations point to the propriety of this amendment.
With the advent of a new tariff policy not only calculated to relieve the consumers of our land in the cost of their daily life, but to invite a better development of American thrift and create for us closer and more profitable commercial relations with the rest of the world, it follows as a logical and imperative necessity that we should at once remove the chief if not the only obstacle which has so long prevented our participation in the foreign carrying trade of the sea. A tariff built upon the theory that it is well to check imports and that a home market should bound the industry and effort of American producers was fitly supplemented by a refusal to allow American registry to vessels built abroad, though owned and navigated by our people, thus exhibiting a willingness to abandon all contest for the advantages of American transoceanic carriage. Our new tariff policy, built upon the theory that it is well to encourage such importations as our people need, and that our products and manufactures should find markets in every part of the habitable globe, is consistently supplemented by the greatest possible liberty to our citizens in the ownership and navigation of ships in which our products and manufactures may be transported. The millions now paid to foreigners for carrying American passengers and products across the sea should be turned into American hands. Shipbuilding, which has been protected to strangulation, should be revived by the prospect of profitable employment for ships when built, and the American sailor should be resurrected and again take his place—a sturdy and industrious citizen in time of peace and a patriotic and safe defender of American interests in the day of conflict.
The ancient provision of our law denying American registry to ships built abroad and owned by Americans appears in the light of present conditions not only to be a failure for good at every point, but to be nearer a relic of barbarism than anything that exists under the permission of a statute of the United States. I earnestly recommend its prompt repeal.
During the last month the gold reserved in the Treasury for the purpose of redeeming the notes of the Government circulating as money in the hands of the people became so reduced and its further depletion in the near future seemed so certain that in the exercise of proper care for the public welfare it became necessary to replenish this reserve and thus maintain popular faith in the ability and determination of the Government to meet as agreed its pecuniary obligations.
It would have been well if in this emergency authority had existed to issue the bonds of the Government bearing a low rate of interest and maturing within a short period; but the Congress having failed to confer such authority, resort was necessarily had to the resumption act of 1875, and pursuant to its provisions bonds were issued drawing interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum and maturing ten years after their issue, that being the shortest time authorized by the act. I am glad to say, however, that on the sale of these bonds the premium received operated to reduce the rate of interest to be paid by the Government to less than 3 per cent.
Nothing could be worse or further removed from sensible finance than the relations existing between the currency the Government has issued, the gold held for its redemption, and the means which must be resorted to for the purpose of replenishing such redemption fund when impaired. Even if the claims upon this fund were confined to the obligations originally intended and if the redemption of these obligations meant their cancellation, the fund would be very small. But these obligations when received and redeemed in gold are not canceled, but are reissued and may do duty many times by way of drawing gold from the Treasury. Thus we have an endless chain in operation constantly depleting the Treasury's gold and never near a final rest. As if this was not bad enough, we have, by a statutory declaration that it is the policy of the Government to maintain the parity between gold and silver, aided the force and momentum of this exhausting process and added largely to the currency obligations claiming this peculiar gold redemption. Our small gold reserve is thus subject to drain from every side. The demands that increase our danger also increase the necessity of protecting this reserve against depletion, and it is most unsatisfactory to know that the protection afforded is only a temporary palliation.
It is perfectly and palpably plain that the only way under present conditions by which this reserve when dangerously depleted can be replenished is through the issue and sale of the bonds of the Government for gold, and yet Congress has not only thus far declined to authorize the issue of bonds best suited to such a purpose, but there seems a disposition in some quarters to deny both the necessity and power for the issue of bonds at all.
I can not for a moment believe that any of our citizens are deliberately willing that their Government should default in its pecuniary obligations or that its financial operations should be reduced to a silver basis. At any rate, I should not feel that my duty was done if I omitted any effort I could make to avert such a calamity. As long, therefore, as no provision is made for the final redemption or the putting aside of the currency obligation now used to repeatedly and constantly draw from the Government its gold, and as long as no better authority for bond issues is allowed than at present exists, such authority will be utilized whenever and as often as it becomes necessary to maintain a sufficient gold reserve, and in abundant time to save the credit of our country and make good the financial declarations of our Government.
Questions relating to our banks and currency are closely connected with the subject just referred to, and they also present some unsatisfactory features. Prominent among them are the lack of elasticity in our currency circulation and its frequent concentration in financial centers when it is most needed in other parts of the country.
The absolute divorcement of the Government from the business of banking is the ideal relationship of the Government to the circulation of the currency of the country.
This condition can not be immediately reached, but as a step in that direction and as a means of securing a more elastic currency and obviating other objections to the present arrangement of bank circulation the Secretary of the Treasury presents in his report a scheme modifying present banking laws and providing for the issue of circulating notes by State banks free from taxation under certain limitations.
The Secretary explains his plan so plainly and its advantages are developed by him with such remarkable clearness that any effort on my part to present argument in its support would be superfluous. I shall therefore content myself with an unqualified indorsement of the Secretary's proposed changes in the law and a brief and imperfect statement of their prominent features.
It is proposed to repeal all laws providing for the deposit of United States bonds as security for circulation; to permit national banks to issue circulating notes not exceeding in amount 75 per cent of their paid-up and unimpaired capital, provided they deposit with the Government as a guaranty fund, in United States legal-tender notes, including Treasury notes of 1890, a sum equal in amount to 30 per cent of the notes they desire to issue, this deposit to be maintained at all times, but whenever any bank retires any part of its circulation a proportional part of its guaranty fund shall be returned to it; to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and keep on hand ready for issue in case an increase in circulation is desired blank national-bank notes for each bank having circulation and to repeal the provisions of the present law imposing limitations and restrictions upon banks desiring to reduce or increase their circulation, thus permitting such increase or reduction within the limit of 75 per cent of capital to be quickly made as emergencies arise.
In addition to the guaranty fund required, it is proposed to provide a safety fund for the immediate redemption of the circulating notes of failed banks by imposing a small annual tax, say one-half of 1 per cent, upon the average circulation of each bank until the fund amounts to 5 per cent of the total circulation outstanding. When a bank fails its guaranty fund is to be paid into this safety fund and its notes are to be redeemed in the first instance from such safety fund thus augmented, any impairment of such fund caused thereby to be made good from the immediately available cash assets of said bank, and if these should be insufficient such impairment to be made good by pro rata assessment among the other banks, their contributions constituting a first lien upon the assets of the failed bank in favor of the contributing banks. As a further security it is contemplated that the existing provision fixing the individual liability of stockholders is to be retained and the bank's indebtedness on account of its circulating notes is to be made a first lien on all its assets.
For the purpose of meeting the expense of printing notes, official supervision, cancellation, and other like charges there shall be imposed a tax of say one-half of 1 per cent per annum upon the average amount of notes in circulation.
It is further provided that there shall be no national-bank notes issued of a less denomination than $10; that each national bank, except in case of a failed bank, shall redeem or retire its notes in the first instance at its own office or at agencies to be designated by it, and that no fixed reserve need be maintained on account of deposits.
Another very important feature of this plan is the exemption of State banks from taxation by the United States in cases where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury and Comptroller of the Currency by banks claiming such exemption that they have not had outstanding their circulating notes exceeding 75 per cent of their paid-up and unimpaired capital; that their stockholders are individually liable for the redemption of their circulating notes to the full extent of their ownership of stock; that the liability of said banks upon their circulating notes constitutes under their State law a first lien upon their assets; that such banks have kept and maintained a guaranty fund in United States legal-tender notes, including Treasury notes of 1890, equal to 30 per cent of their outstanding circulating notes, and that such banks have promptly redeemed their circulating notes when presented at their principal or branch offices.
It is quite likely that this scheme may be usefully amended in some of its details, but I am satisfied it furnishes a basis for a very great improvement in our present banking and currency system.
I conclude this communication fully appreciating that the responsibility for all legislation affecting the people of the United States rests upon their representatives in the Congress, and assuring them that, whether in accordance with recommendations I have made or not, I shall be glad to cooperate in perfecting any legislation that tends to the prosperity and welfare of our country.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 6, 1894.
To the Senate of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th of July, 1894, directing the Secretary of State to furnish copies of all papers, correspondence, diplomatic or otherwise, on file in the State Department in connection with the arrest and imprisonment at Arequipa, Peru, of Victor H. McCord, I transmit herewith the correspondence indicated.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 10, 1894.
To the Congress of the United States: I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, inclosing the report, with accompanying papers, of the commission of the United States for the Columbian Historical Exposition in Madrid in 1892 and 1893, constituted in virtue of the act of Congress approved May 13, 1892.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 10, 1894.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith the report on the Chicago strike of June and July, 1894, forwarded to me by the Strike Commission appointed July 26, 1894, under the provisions of section 6 of chapter 1063 of the laws of the United States, passed October 1, 1888.
The testimony taken by the commission and the suggestions and recommendations made to it accompany the report in the form of appendixes.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 11, 1894.
To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution of the Senate dated December 6, 1894, requesting that copies of correspondence in regard to the claim of Antonio Maximo Mora against the Government of Spain exchanged since my last message to the Senate on the same subject, dated June 20, 1894,13 be communicated to it, if not incompatible with the public interests, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State on the matter, with accompanying copies of correspondence.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 11, 1894.
To the Senate of the United States: I have received a copy of the following resolution of the Senate, passed on 3d instant:
Resolved, That the President be requested, if in his judgment it be not incompatible with the public interest, to communicate to the Senate any information he may have received in regard to alleged cruelties committed upon Armenians in Turkey, and especially whether any such cruelties have been committed upon citizens who have declared their intention to become naturalized in this country or upon persons because of their being Christians.
And further, to inform the Senate whether any expostulations have been addressed by this Government to the Government of Turkey in regard to such matters or any proposals made by or to this Government to act in concert with other Christian powers regarding the same.
In response to said resolution I beg leave to inform the Senate that I have no information concerning cruelties committed upon Armenians in Turkey or upon persons because of their being Christians, except such information as has been derived from newspapers and statements emanating from the Turkish Government denying such cruelties and two telegraphic reports from our minister at Constantinople. One of these reports, dated November 28, 1894, is in answer to an inquiry by the State Department touching reports in the press alleging the killing of Armenians, and is as follows:
Reports in American papers of Turkish atrocities at Sassoun are sensational and exaggerated. The killing was in a conflict between armed Armenians and Turkish soldiers. The grand vizier says it was necessary to suppress insurrection, and that about fifty Turks were killed; between three and four hundred Armenian guns were picked up after the fight, and reports that about that number of Armenians were killed. I give credit to his statement.
The other dispatch referred to is dated December 2, 1894, and is as follows:
Information from British ambassador indicates far more loss of lives in Armenia, attended with atrocities, than stated in my telegram of 28th.
I have received absolutely no information concerning any cruelties committed "upon citizens who have declared their intention to become naturalized in this country," or upon any persons who had a right to claim or have claimed for any reason the protection of the United States Government. In the absence of such authentic detailed knowledge on the subject as would justify our interference no "expostulations have been addressed by this Government to the Government of Turkey in regard to such matters."
The last inquiry contained in the resolution of the Senate touching these alleged cruelties seeks information concerning "any proposals made by or to this Government to act in concert with other Christian powers regarding the same."
The first proposal of the kind referred to was made by the Turkish Government through our minister on the 30th day of November, when the Sultan then expressed a desire that a consul of the United States be sent with a Turkish commission to investigate these alleged atrocities on Armenians. This was construed as an invitation on the part of the Turkish Government to actually take part with a Turkish commission in an investigation of these affairs and any report to be made thereon, and the proposition came before our minister's second dispatch was received and at a time when the best information in the possession of our Government was derived from his first report, indicating that the statements made in the press were sensational and exaggerated and that the atrocities alleged really did not exist. This condition very much weakened any motive for an interference based on considerations of humanity, and permitted us without embarrassment to pursue a course plainly marked out by other controlling incidents.
By a treaty entered into at Berlin in the year 1878 between Turkey and various other governments Turkey undertook to guarantee protection to the Armenians, and agreed that it would "periodically make known the steps taken to this effect to the powers, who will superintend their application."
Our Government was not a party to this treaty, and it is entirely obvious that in the face of the provisions of such treaty above recited our interference in the proposed investigation, especially without the invitation of any of the powers which had assumed by treaty obligations to secure the protection of these Armenians, might have been exceedingly embarrassing, if not entirely beyond the limits of justification or propriety.
The Turkish invitation to join the investigation set on foot by that Government was therefore, on the 2d day of December, declined. On the same day, and after this declination had been sent, our minister at Constantinople forwarded his second dispatch, tending to modify his former report as to the extent and character of Armenian slaughter. At the same time the request of the Sultan for our participation in the investigation was repeated, and Great Britain, one of the powers which joined in the treaty of Berlin, made a like request.
In view of changed conditions and upon reconsideration of the subject it was determined to send Mr. Jewett, our consul at Sivas, to the scene of the alleged outrages, not for the purpose of joining with any other government in an investigation and report, but to the end that he might be able to inform this Government as to the exact truth.
Instructions to this effect were sent to Mr. Jewett, and it is supposed he has already entered upon the duty assigned him.
I submit with this communication copies of all correspondence and dispatches in the State Department on this subject and the report to me of the Secretary of State thereon.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 3, 1895.
To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 4th ultimo, requesting "any reports or correspondence relating to affairs at Bluefields, in the Mosquito territory," and also information as to "whether any American citizens have been arrested or the rights of any American citizens at Bluefields have been interfered with during the past two years by the Government of Nicaragua," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 9, 1895.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I submit herewith certain dispatches from our minister at Hawaii and the documents which accompanied the same.
They disclose the fact that the Hawaiian Government desires to lease to Great Britain one of the uninhabited islands belonging to Hawaii as a station for a submarine telegraph cable to be laid from Canada to Australia, with a connection between the island leased and Honolulu.
Both the Hawaiian Government and the representatives of Great Britain in this negotiation concede that the proposed lease can not be effected without the consent of the United States, for the reason that in our reciprocity treaty with the King of Hawaii he agreed that as long as said treaty remained in force he would not "lease or otherwise dispose of or create any lien upon any port, harbor, or other territory in his dominion, or grant any special privilege or right of use therein, to any other power, state, or government."
At the request of the Hawaiian Government this subject is laid before the Congress for its determination upon the question of so modifying the treaty agreement above recited as to permit the proposed lease.
It will be seen that the correspondence which is submitted between the Hawaiian and British negotiators negatives the existence on the part of Hawaii of any suspicion of British unfriendliness or the fear of British aggression.
The attention of the Congress is directed to the following statement contained in a communication addressed to the Hawaiian Government by the representatives of Great Britain:
We propose to inform the British Government of your inquiry whether they would accept the sovereignty of Nicker Island or some other uninhabited island on condition that no subsidy is required from you. As we explained, we have not felt at liberty to entertain that question ourselves, as we were definitely instructed not to ask for the sovereignty of any island, but only for a lease simply for the purpose of the cable.
Some of the dispatches from our minister, which are submitted, not only refer to the project for leasing an uninhabited island belonging to Hawaii, but contain interesting information concerning recent occurrences in that country and its political and social condition. This information is valuable because it is based upon the observation and knowledge necessarily within the scope of the diplomatic duties which are intrusted solely to the charge of this intelligent diplomatic officer representing the United States Government at Hawaii. I hope the Congress will see fit to grant the request of the Hawaiian Government, and that our consent to the proposed lease will be promptly accorded. It seems to me we ought not by a refusal of this request to stand in the way of the advantages to be gained by isolated Hawaii through telegraphic communication with the rest of the world, especially in view of the fact that our own communication with that country would thereby be greatly improved without apparent detriment to any legitimate American interest.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 11, 1895.
To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo, requesting the record of the extradition proceedings in the case of General Ezeta, etc., I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 15, 1895.
To the Senate of the United States: I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in response to the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, requesting "all correspondence or other papers relating to the delivery by the United States consul at Shanghai of two Japanese citizens to the Chinese authorities," and information "whether the said Japanese were put to death after being tortured, and whether there was any understanding with the Chinese Government that officers of the United States should aid, assist, and give comfort to any Japanese citizen desiring to leave China, and whether the United States consul at Hankow was reprimanded by Chinese officials for aiding Japanese citizens to leave the country, and whether all information was refused to the United States consul at Ningpo when he made inquiries as to the charges against certain Japanese citizens arrested there."
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 28, 1895.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: In my last annual message I commended to the serious consideration of the Congress the condition of our national finances, and in connection with the subject indorsed a plan of currency legislation which at that time seemed to furnish protection against impending danger.14 This plan has not been approved by the Congress. In the meantime the situation has so changed and the emergency now appears so threatening that I deem it my duty to ask at the hands of the legislative branch of the Government such prompt and effective action as will restore confidence in our financial soundness and avert business disaster and universal distress among our people.
Whatever may be the merits of the plan outlined in my annual message as a remedy for ills then existing and as a safeguard against the depletion of the gold reserve then in the Treasury, I am now convinced that its reception by the Congress and our present advanced stage of financial perplexity necessitate additional or different legislation.
With natural resources unlimited in variety and productive strength and with a people whose activity and enterprise seek only a fair opportunity to achieve national success and greatness, our progress should not be checked by a false financial policy and a heedless disregard of sound monetary laws, nor should the timidity and fear which they engender stand in the way of our prosperity.
It is hardly disputed that this predicament confronts us to-day. Therefore no one in any degree responsible for the making and execution of our laws should fail to see a patriotic duty in honestly and sincerely attempting to relieve the situation. Manifestly this effort will not succeed unless it is made untrammeled by the prejudice of partisanship and with a steadfast determination to resist the temptation to accomplish party advantage. We may well remember that if we are threatened with financial difficulties all our people in every station of life are concerned; and surely those who suffer will not receive the promotion of party interests as an excuse for permitting our present troubles to advance to a disastrous conclusion. It is also of the utmost importance that we approach the study of the problems presented as free as possible from the tyranny of preconceived opinions, to the end that in a common danger we may be able to seek with unclouded vision a safe and reasonable protection.
The real trouble which confronts us consists in a lack of confidence, widespread and constantly increasing, in the continuing ability or disposition of the Government to pay its obligations in gold. This lack of confidence grows to some extent out of the palpable and apparent embarrassment attending the efforts of the Government under existing laws to procure gold and to a greater extent out of the impossibility of either keeping it in the Treasury or canceling obligations by its expenditure after it is obtained.
The only way left open to the Government for procuring gold is by the issue and sale of its bonds. The only bonds that can be so issued were authorized nearly twenty-five years ago and are not well calculated to meet our present needs. Among other disadvantages, they are made payable in coin instead of specifically in gold, which in existing conditions detracts largely and in an increasing ratio from their desirability as investments. It is by no means certain that bonds of this description can much longer be disposed of at a price creditable to the financial character of our Government.
The most dangerous and irritating feature of the situation, however, remains to be mentioned. It is found in the means by which the Treasury is despoiled of the gold thus obtained without canceling a single Government obligation and solely for the benefit of those who find profit in shipping it abroad or whose fears induce them to hoard it at home. We have outstanding about five hundred millions of currency notes of the Government for which gold may be demanded, and, curiously enough, the law requires that when presented and, in fact, redeemed and paid in gold they shall be reissued. Thus the same notes may do duty many times in drawing gold from the Treasury; nor can the process be arrested as long as private parties, for profit or otherwise, see an advantage in repeating the operation. More than $300,000,000 in these notes have already been redeemed in gold, and notwithstanding such redemption they are all still outstanding.
Since the 17th day of January, 1894, our bonded interest-bearing debt has been increased $100,000,000 for the purpose of obtaining gold to replenish our coin reserve. Two issues were made amounting to fifty millions each, one in January and the other in November. As a result of the first issue there was realized something more than $58,000,000 in gold. Between that issue and the succeeding one in November, comprising a period of about ten months, nearly $103,000,000 in gold were drawn from the Treasury. This made the second issue necessary, and upon that more than fifty-eight millions in gold was again realized. Between the date of this second issue and the present time, covering a period of only about two months, more than $69,000,000 in gold have been drawn from the Treasury. These large sums of gold were expended without any cancellation of Government obligations or in any permanent way benefiting our people or improving our pecuniary situation.
The financial events of the past year suggest facts and conditions which should certainly arrest attention.
More than $172,000,000 in gold have been drawn out of the Treasury during the year for the purpose of shipment abroad or hoarding at home.
While nearly $103,000,000 of this amount was drawn out during the first ten months of the year, a sum aggregating more than two-thirds of that amount, being about $69,000,000, was drawn out during the following two months, thus indicating a marked acceleration of the depleting process with the lapse of time.
The obligations upon which this gold has been drawn from the Treasury are still outstanding and are available for use in repeating the exhausting operation with shorter intervals as our perplexities accumulate.
Conditions are certainly supervening tending to make the bonds which may be issued to replenish our gold less useful for that purpose.
An adequate gold reserve is in all circumstances absolutely essential to the upholding of our public credit and to the maintenance of our high national character.
Our gold reserve has again reached such a stage of diminution as to require its speedy reenforcement.
The aggravations that must inevitably follow present conditions and methods will certainly lead to misfortune and loss, not only to our national credit and prosperity and to financial enterprise, but to those of our people who seek employment as a means of livelihood and to those whose only capital is their daily labor.
It will hardly do to say that a simple increase of revenue will cure our troubles. The apprehension now existing and constantly increasing as to our financial ability does not rest upon a calculation of our revenue. The time has passed when the eyes of investors abroad and our people at home were fixed upon the revenues of the Government. Changed conditions have attracted their attention to the gold of the Government. There need be no fear that we can not pay our current expenses with such money as we have. There is now in the Treasury a comfortable surplus of more than $63,000,000, but it is not in gold, and therefore does not meet our difficulty.
I can not see that differences of opinion concerning the extent to which silver ought to be coined or used in our currency should interfere with the counsels of those whose duty it is to rectify evils now apparent in our financial situation. They have to consider the question of national credit and the consequences that will follow from its collapse. Whatever ideas may be insisted upon as to silver or bimetallism, a proper solution of the question now pressing upon us only requires a recognition of gold as well as silver and a concession of its importance, rightfully or wrongfully acquired, as a basis of national credit, a necessity in the honorable discharge of our obligations payable in gold, and a badge of solvency. I do not understand that the real friends of silver desire a condition that might follow inaction or neglect to appreciate the meaning of the present exigency if it should result in the entire banishment of gold from our financial and currency arrangements.
Besides the Treasury notes, which certainly should be paid in gold, amounting to nearly $500,000,000, there will fall due in 1904 one hundred millions of bonds issued during the last year, for which we have received gold, and in 1907 nearly six hundred millions of 4 per cent bonds issued in 1877. Shall the payment of these obligations in gold be repudiated? If they are to be paid in such a manner as the preservation of our national honor and national solvency demands, we should not destroy or even imperil our ability to supply ourselves with gold for that purpose.
While I am not unfriendly to silver and while I desire to see it recognized to such an extent as is consistent with financial safety and the preservation of national honor and credit, I am not willing to see gold entirely banished from our currency and finances. To avert such a consequence I believe thorough and radical remedial legislation should be promptly passed. I therefore beg the Congress to give the subject immediate attention.
In my opinion the Secretary of the Treasury should be authorized to issue bonds of the Government for the purpose of procuring and maintaining a sufficient gold reserve and the redemption and cancellation of the United States legal-tender notes and the Treasury notes issued for the purchase of silver under the law of July 14, 1890. We should be relieved from the humiliating process of issuing bonds to procure gold to be immediately and repeatedly drawn out on these obligations for purposes not related to the benefit of our Government or our people. The principal and interest of these bonds should be payable on their face in gold, because they should be sold only for gold or its representative, and because there would now probably be difficulty in favorably disposing of bonds not containing this stipulation. I suggest that the bonds be issued in denominations of twenty and fifty dollars and their multiples and that they bear interest at a rate not exceeding 3 per cent per annum. I do not see why they should not be payable fifty years from their date. We of the present generation have large amounts to pay if we meet our obligations, and long bonds are most salable. The Secretary of the Treasury might well be permitted at his discretion to receive on the sale of bonds the legal-tender and Treasury notes to be retired, and of course when they are thus retired or redeemed in gold they should be canceled.
These bonds under existing laws could be deposited by national banks as security for circulation, and such banks should be allowed to issue circulation up to the face value of these or any other bonds so deposited, except bonds outstanding bearing only 2 per cent interest and which sell in the market at less than par. National banks should not be allowed to take out circulating notes of a less denomination than $10, and when such as are now outstanding reach the Treasury, except for redemption and retirement, they should be canceled and notes of the denomination of $10 and upward issued in their stead. Silver certificates of the denomination of $10 and upward should be replaced by certificates of the denominations under $10.
As a constant means for the maintenance of a reasonable supply of gold in the Treasury, our duties on imports should be paid in gold, allowing all other dues to the Government to be paid in any other form of money.
I believe all the provisions I have suggested should be embodied in our laws if we are to enjoy a complete reinstatement of a sound financial condition. They need not interfere with any currency scheme providing for the increase of the circulating medium through the agency of national or State banks that may commend itself to the Congress, since they can easily be adjusted to such a scheme. Objection has been made to the issuance of interest-bearing obligations for the purpose of retiring the noninterest-bearing legal-tender notes. In point of fact, however, these notes have burdened us with a large load of interest, and it is still accumulating. The aggregate interest on the original issue of bonds, the proceeds of which in gold constituted the reserve for the payment of these notes, amounted to $70,326,250 on January 1, 1895, and the annual charge for interest on these bonds and those issued for the same purpose during the last year will be $9,145,000, dating from January 1, 1895.
While the cancellation of these notes would not relieve us from the obligations already incurred on their account, these figures are given by way of suggesting that their existence has not been free from interest charges and that the longer they are outstanding, judging from the experience of the last year, the more expensive they will become.
In conclusion I desire to frankly confess my reluctance to issuing more bonds in present circumstances and with no better results than have lately followed that course. I can not, however, refrain from adding to an assurance of my anxiety to cooperate with the present Congress in any reasonable measure of relief an expression of my determination to leave nothing undone which furnishes a hope for improving the situation or checking a suspicion of our disinclination or disability to meet with the strictest honor every national obligation.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 30, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th instant, the Senate concurring, I herewith return the bill (H.R. 6186) entitled "An act to pension Maria Davis."
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 4, 1895.
To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution of the Senate dated December 6, 1894, requesting that copies of correspondence in regard to the claim of Antonio Maximo Mora against the Government of Spain exchanged since my last message to the Senate on the same subject, dated June 20, 1894,15 be communicated to it if not incompatible with the public interests, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, inclosing copies of further correspondence exchanged between the Governments of the United States and Spain since the date of my last message to the Senate, December 11, 1894.16
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 4, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st instant, calling for certain information touching the recent insurrection in the Hawaiian Islands, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 7, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d instant, the Senate concurring, I return herewith the bill (H.R. 5377) entitled "An act granting a pension to Richard R. Knight."
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 7, 1895.
To the Senate: I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the 16th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of certain correspondence touching the enforcement of the provisions of the tariff act of 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 8, 1895.
To the Congress of the United States: Since my recent communication to the Congress calling attention to our financial condition and suggesting legislation which I deemed essential to our national welfare and credit17 the anxiety and apprehension then existing in business circles have continued.
As a precaution, therefore, against the failure of timely legislative aid through Congressional action, cautious preparations have been pending to employ to the best possible advantage, in default of better means, such Executive authority as may without additional legislation be exercised for the purpose of reenforcing and maintaining in our Treasury an adequate and safe gold reserve.
In the judgment of those especially charged with this responsibility the business situation is so critical and the legislative situation is so unpromising, with the omission thus far on the part of Congress to beneficially enlarge the powers of the Secretary of the Treasury in the premises, as to enjoin immediate Executive action with the facilities now at hand.
Therefore, in pursuance of section 3700 of the Revised Statutes, the details of an arrangement have this day been concluded with parties abundantly able to fulfill their undertaking whereby bonds of the United States authorized under the act of July 14, 1875, payable in coin thirty years after their date, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum, to the amount of a little less than $62,400,000, are to be issued for the purchase of gold coin, amounting to a sum slightly in excess of $65,000,000, to be delivered to the Treasury of the United States, which sum added to the gold now held in our reserve will so restore such reserve as to make it amount to something more than $100,000,000. Such a premium is to be allowed to the Government upon the bonds as to fix the rate of interest upon the amount of gold realized at 3-3/4 per cent per annum. At least one-half of the gold to be obtained is to be supplied from abroad, which is a very important and favorable feature of the transaction.
The privilege is especially reserved to the Government to substitute at par within ten days from this date, in lieu of the 4 per cent coin bonds, other bonds in terms payable in gold and bearing only 3 per cent interest if the issue of the same should in the meantime be authorized by the Congress.
The arrangement thus completed, which after careful inquiry appears in present circumstances and considering all the objects desired to be the best attainable, develops such a difference in the estimation of investors between bonds made payable in coin and those specifically made payable in gold in favor of the latter as is represented by three-fourths of a cent in annual interest. In the agreement just concluded the annual saving in interest to the Government if 3 per cent gold bonds should be substituted for 4 per cent coin bonds under the privilege reserved would be $539,159 amounting in thirty years, or at the maturity of the coin bonds, to $16,174,770.
Of course there never should be a doubt in any quarter as to the redemption in gold of the bonds of the Government which are made payable in coin. Therefore the discrimination, in the judgment of investors, between our bond obligations payable in coin and those specifically made payable in gold is very significant. It is hardly necessary to suggest that, whatever may be our views on the subject, the sentiments or preferences of those with whom we must negotiate in disposing of our bonds for gold are not subject to our dictation.
I have only to add that in my opinion the transaction herein detailed for the information of the Congress promises better results than the efforts previously made in the direction of effectively adding to our gold reserve through the sale of bonds, and I believe it will tend, as far as such action can in present circumstances, to meet the determination expressed in the law repealing the silver-purchasing clause of the act of July 14, 1890, and that, in the language of such repealing act, the arrangement made will aid our efforts to "insure the maintenance of the parity in value of the coins of the two metals and the equal power of every dollar at all times in the markets and in the payment of debts."
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 8, 1895.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, a copy of a telegraphic dispatch just received from Mr. Willis, our minister to Hawaii, with a copy of the reply thereto which was immediately sent by the Secretary of State.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 11, 1895.
To the Senate:: On the 8th day of January I received a copy of the following Senate resolution:
Resolved, That the President be requested, if not incompatible with the public interests, to communicate to the Senate all reports, documents, and other papers, including logs of vessels, relating to the enforcement of the regulations respecting fur seals adopted by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain in accordance with the decision of the Tribunal of Arbitration convened at Paris and the resolutions under which said reports are required to be made, as well as relating to the number of seals taken during the season of 1894 by pelagic hunters and by the lessees of the Pribilof and Commander islands; also relating to the steps which may have been taken to extend the said regulations to the Asiatic waters of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea and to secure the concurrence of other nations in said regulations, and, further, all papers not heretofore published, including communications of the agent of the United States before said tribunal at Paris, relating to the claims of the British Government on account of the seizure of the sealing vessels in Bering Sea.
In compliance with said request I herewith transmit sundry papers, documents, and reports which have been returned to me by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Navy, to whom said resolution was referred. I am not in possession of any further information touching the various subjects embodied in such resolution. It will be seen from a letter of the Secretary of the Navy accompanying the papers and documents sent from his Department that it is impossible to furnish at this time the complete log books of some of the naval vessels referred to in the resolution, but I venture to express the hope that the reports of the commanders of such vessels herewith submitted will be found to contain in substance so much of the matters recorded in said log books as are important in answering the inquiries addressed to me by the Senate.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 12, 1895.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, a communication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 14, 1895.
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith the eighth special report of the Commissioner of Labor, which relates to "the housing of the working people" in different countries.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 26, 1895.
To the Senate: I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the 29th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence touching Samoan affairs.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
VETO MESSAGES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 14, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 7451, entitled "An act to authorize the entry of land for gravel pits and reservoir purposes and authorizing the grant of right of way for pipe lines."
The first section of this bill permits the sale to railroad companies, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, under certain restrictions and at an appraised value, certain public lands to be used by said companies for gravel pits or the construction of reservoirs. It also permits grants of the right of way for pipe lines connecting such reservoirs with the railways of said companies.
The second, third, and fourth sections of the bill relate to the purchase by any citizen of the United States, or any association of citizens, or any ditch or water company, of public lands suitable for reservoir purposes at such a price as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe, not less than $2 per acre.
The right to purchase these lands is given by the sections last referred to "under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior."
I think the expediency and propriety of disposing of these lands for the purposes specified should in each case be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, as well as the rules and regulations governing such disposition.
The objections to the bill, however, which appear to be the most serious are found in its fifth and last section, which provides:
That any State or any county or district organization duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory may apply for any of the storage-reservoir sites not reserved by the United States, situated on unentered public lands, for the storage of water for irrigating, mining, or other useful purposes, whereupon the Secretary of the Interior shall set aside and withdraw from public sale or other disposition such site or sites and permit the use thereof for either or all of such purposes.
These provisions do not seem to be in harmony with prior laws by which, under certain conditions, arid lands may be conveyed to States for the purpose of irrigation, and it is not clear what is intended by the words "any of the storage-reservoir sites not reserved by the United States." The apparent purpose and effect of the section is to give to the organizations mentioned the right to select such land as may present eligible reservoir sites not reserved and upon unentered lands, and demand of the Secretary of the Interior a grant of the same, leaving no discretion on the subject to him or to any other officer of the Government; and these grants are to be made without any compensation to the Government and without any specific requirement of the amount or kind of work to be done or improvements to be made upon such sites.
The grants may be demanded not only for the storage of water for irrigating purposes, but for "mining and other useful purposes." Inasmuch as no officer of the Government is vested with any discretion in the premises, the pretext that the "purpose" to be accomplished is "useful" might result in the use of these sites in a manner prejudicial to the surrounding public domain and destructive of the utilization of such sites for irrigating purposes.
The wise and prudent safeguards which have been incorporated in other legislation relating to the disposition of arid public lands and their irrigation seem to have been to such an extent overlooked in the construction of the bill under consideration that, in my judgment, if it should become the law a beneficent policy which the Government has entered upon in the interest of agriculture would be seriously endangered.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1895.
To the Senate: I herewith return without my approval Senate bill No. 2338, entitled "An act granting to the Gila Valley, Globe and Northern Railway Company a right of way through the San Carlos Indian Reservation, in the Territory of Arizona."
The reservation through which it is proposed to construct a railroad under the provisions of this bill is inhabited by tribes of Indians which in the past have been most troublesome and whose depredations on more than one occasion have caused loss of life, destruction of property, and serious alarm to the people of the surrounding country; and their condition as to civilization is not now so far improved as to give assurance that in the future they may not upon occasion make trouble.
The discontent among the Indians which has given rise to disturbances in the past has been largely caused by trespass upon their lands and interference with their rights by the neighboring whites. I am in very great doubt whether in any circumstances a road through their reservation should at this time be permitted, and especially since the route, which is rather indefinitely described in the bill, appears to pass through the richest and most desirable part of their lands. In any event, I am thoroughly convinced that the construction of the road should not be permitted without first obtaining the consent of these Indians. This is a provision which has been insisted upon, so far as I am aware, in all the like bills which have been approved for a long time, and I think it should especially be inserted in this bill if, even upon any conditions, it is thought expedient to permit a railroad to traverse this reservation.
The importance of this consent does not rest solely upon the extent to which the Indians have the right of ownership over this land. The fact that the procurement of this consent is the most effective means of allaying the discontent which might arise and perhaps develop into a train of lamentable and destructive outbreaks of violence particularly emphasizes its importance.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 5, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5368, entitled "An act for the relief of H.W. McConnell."
The reports of both the Senate and House committees, which favorably reported this bill, disclose an intention to partially relieve the former postmaster at Jacksboro, in the State of Texas, from liability on account of two remittances of postal funds which he dispatched at different times during the year 1883 to be deposited at Dallas, in the same State, and which were lost by robberies of the stage conveying the same. In dealing with the first remittance the committees report that the postmaster should be relieved of liability to the amount of only $94, the loss of the remainder of the money being chargeable to his neglect and violation of postal regulations. As to the second remittance, the committees report that by reason of like neglect and violation of regulations the postmaster should be held responsible for the loss of all the money transmitted except the sum of $42.
For these two sums, amounting to $136, an appropriation is made for the benefit of H.W. McConnell.
The name of the postmaster intended to be relieved is H.H. McConnell, as appears by the records of the Post-Office Department. The person to whom the money appropriated should be paid is therefore not correctly named in the bill.
An examination of this postmaster's accounts discloses the further fact that the amount proposed to be appropriated for his relief is too large by $42, that being the sum allowed him by reason of the second stage robbery. This item has already been credited to him in the adjustment of his accounts at the Post-Office Department, and the claim for its reimbursement has been thereby extinguished.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 12, 1895.
To the Senate: I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 143, entitled "An act for the relief of the heirs of D. Fulford."
This bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury "to redeem, in favor of the heirs at law of D. Fulford, four bonds of the United States, consols of 1867, of the denomination of $500, $100, $50, and $50, and known as five-twenties, said bonds having been destroyed by fire the 9th day of July, 1872, and to pay to the heirs at law of said D. Fulford the amount of said bonds, together with accrued interest from July 1, 1872, to the date of the maturity of said bonds."
The bill further provides that the heirs to whom the payment is to be made shall execute and file with the Secretary of the Treasury a bond "conditioned to save harmless the United States from loss or liability on account of said bonds or the interest accrued thereon, and to contain such words as to cover any liability resulting from any mistake in the designation or description of the bonds, so that in no event shall the United States be called upon by a rightful claimant for a second payment thereof."
The proposition is that the Government shall pay bonds alleged to have been destroyed by fire nearly twenty-three years ago.
The Secretary of the Treasury states that an application for the payment of these bonds, made by Mr. Fulford himself, was rejected by the Department because he was unable to describe the bonds in such a way as to permit their identification and because the evidence of their destruction by fire was inconclusive.
The Senate Committee on Claims, however, in their report on the bill under consideration, state that they are entirely satisfied that Mr. Fulford was the owner of four Government bonds, one for $500, one for $100, and two for $50, and that they were burned with his residence, which was destroyed by fire on the 9th day of July, 1872, and that while he could not furnish the numbers or descriptions of said bonds he understood all these bonds were of the class known as consols of 1867, and that he had collected the coupons thereon for the interest due July 1, 1872.
The particular class of bonds mentioned were dated July 1, 1867, and were payable or redeemable not less than five nor more than twenty years from their date. The short period expired, therefore, on the 1st day of July, 1872. That was the date when the last coupons on Mr. Fulford's bonds, which it is alleged were detached and collected, became due, and only nine days before the supposed destruction of the bonds by fire.
A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury dated July 20, 1892, attached to the report of the Senate committee made upon a bill similar to this which was pending at that time, discloses the fact that among the consols of 1867 then outstanding there were 107 of the denomination of $500, 167 of the denomination of $100, and 85 of the denomination of $50. This statement merely shows that there were numerous bonds precisely similar to those described as belonging to Mr. Fulford which had not in July, 1892, been redeemed, though the extreme limit of their maturity expired on the 1st day of July, 1887. The letter of the Secretary further discloses, however, that there were two of these outstanding bonds of the denomination of $500 and two of the denomination of $100 upon which coupons of interest had not been paid since July 1, 1872. Of course this lends plausibility to the suggestion that two of these four bonds, one of each denomination, were those destroyed when Mr. Fulford's house was burned in July, 1872; but this suggestion loses its force under the additional statement in the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury that in July, 1892, there were no consols of 1867 of the denomination of $50 whose last coupon was paid July 1, 1872. This shows conclusively that no fifty-dollar bonds of this class were destroyed by fire in Mr. Fulford's house and casts great uncertainty upon the description of the other bonds, inasmuch as the theory of the claimants seems to be that all the bonds destroyed belonged to the same class.
In 1893, upon an examination of the records of the Treasury Department, it was found that the two unpaid bonds for $500 reported in 1892 as outstanding, from which no coupons had been paid since July 1, 1872, still remained unredeemed, but that one of the two one-hundred-dollar bonds which were in that condition in 1892 had been since that time paid and canceled. I think it must be conceded that this late redemption of this bond greatly weakens any presumption that the other three will not be presented for payment.
It is perfectly clear that so far as this bill directs the payment to the persons therein named of two consols of 1867 of the denomination of $50 each on the ground that such bonds were destroyed by fire in July, 1872, it requires the payment of money to those not entitled to it, since it is shown that these consols could not have been destroyed at the time stated, because coupons due on all consols of that denomination unredeemed have been paid since that date.
While the objections to the payment of the amount of the other two bonds mentioned in the bill are less conclusive, there seem to be so much doubt and uncertainty concerning their description and character, and their identification as unredeemed consols of 1867 is so unsatisfactory, that, in my opinion, it is not safe to assume, as is done in this bill, that they are represented among those bonds of that class recorded as still outstanding whose coupons for some reason have not been presented for payment since July 1, 1872.
I do not believe that an indemnity bond could be drawn which, as against the strict rights of sureties, would protect the Government against double liability in case all the payments directed by this bill were made. Even if the payments were confined to the two larger consols described, there would be great difficulty in framing a bond which would surely indemnify the Government.
There should always be a willingness to save the holders of Government securities from damage through their loss or destruction, but, in my judgment, a bad precedent would be established by paying obligations whose destruction and identification are not more satisfactorily established than in this case.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 19, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6244, entitled "An act to remove the charge of desertion from the military record of Jacob Eckert."
This bill directs the Secretary of War "to cause the records of the War Department to be so amended as to remove the charge of desertion from the service record of Jacob Eckert, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, late a private in Company B, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and to grant an honorable discharge to said Jacob Eckert from the service of the United States Army as of date when said company was mustered out of service."
The regiment and company to which this soldier belonged, except such members as reenlisted as veterans, were mustered out of the service October 17, 1864.
Jacob Eckert did not reenlist and was not mustered out with his comrades for the reason that he was then under arrest on a charge of desertion. In November, 1864, he was tried by a general court-martial and convicted of having deserted on the 1st of September, 1864, and again on the 2d day of September, 1864, and upon such conviction he was sentenced to forfeit all pay due him from September 1, the date of his first desertion, until the expiration of his term of service, to be dishonorably discharged and confined at hard labor for twelve months.
This sentence was approved by the reviewing authority, and I assume the convicted soldier served his term of imprisonment, since the statement contained in the report of the House committee to whom this bill was referred that he was dishonorably discharged in 1865 can be accounted for in no other way.
It seems to me that the provisions of this bill amount to a legislative reversal of the judgment of a regularly constituted court and a legislative pardon of the offense of which this soldier was convicted. If this doubtful authority is to be exercised by Congress, it should be done in such a manner as not to restore a man properly convicted and sentenced as a deserter, without even the allegation of injustice, to the rights of pay, allowance, and pension belonging to those who faithfully and honorably served in the military service of their country according to the terms of their enlistment.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 20, 1895.
To the Senate: I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 1526, entitled "An act for the relief of Henry Halteman."
This bill directs the Secretary of War "to grant an honorable discharge from the United States service to Henry Halteman, late of Company F, Second United States Artillery."
It is conceded that this soldier enlisted in the Regular Army on the 18th day of December, 1860, for the term of five years and that he deserted on the 18th day of August, 1865. The only excuse or palliation offered for his offense is found in the statement that his desertion was provoked by his company's being ordered to California so near the termination of his enlistment that his term would have expired before or soon after his company could have reached California, and "that his return would have been both tedious and somewhat perilous, if not expensive."
The fact must not be overlooked that this soldier enlisted in the Regular Army and that his term had no relation to the duration of the war or the immediate need of the Government for troops at the time of his desertion. The morale and discipline of the Regular Army are therefore directly involved in the proposed legislation.
The soldier's name remained on the records of the War Department as a deserter at large for twenty-three years, and until the year 1888. In August of that year application was made to the Department for the removal of the charge of desertion against him, which was refused on the ground that it was not shown that such charge was founded in error. Thereupon he applied for a discharge without character, as it is called, as of the date of his desertion. This was granted on the 21st day of September, 1888. Such discharges, which were not uncommon at that time, omitted the certificate of character which entitled the soldier to reenlistment.
In 1892 a bill similar to that now under consideration was referred to the Adjutant-General of the Army and was returned with an adverse report.
The record of the War Department on the subject of this soldier's separation from the Army is absolutely correct as it stands, and no sufficient reason is apparent why another record should be substituted. If this deserter is to be allowed an honorable discharge, I do not see why every deserter should not be absolved from the consequences of his unfaithfulness.
The effect of this bill if it should become a law would be to allow the beneficiary not only a pensionable status, but arrears of pay and clothing allowances up to the date of his desertion and travel allowance from the place of his desertion to the place of his enlistment.
It is not denied that all these things have been justly forfeited by deliberate and inexcusable desertion. In the case presented it seems to me that the laws and regulations adopted for the purpose of maintaining the discipline and efficiency of the Army ought not to be set aside.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 23, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 8165, entitled "An act authorizing the Kansas City, Oklahoma and Pacific Railway Company to construct and operate a railway through Indian reservations in the Indian Territory and the Territories of Oklahoma and New Mexico, and for other purposes."
This bill contains concessions more comprehensive and sweeping than any ever presented for my approval, and it seems to me the rights and interests of the Indians and the Government are the least protected.
The route apparently desired, though passing through or into one State and three Territories, is described as indefinitely as possible, and does not seem to be subject to the approval in its entirety of the Secretary of the Interior or any other governmental agency having relation to the interest involved.
There is no provision for obtaining the consent of the Indians through whose territory and reservations the railroad may be located.
Though it is proposed to build the railroad through territories having local courts convenient to their inhabitants, all controversies that may arise out of the location and building of the road are by the provisions of the bill to be passed upon by the United States circuit and district courts for the district of Kansas "and such other courts as may be authorized by Congress."
The bill provides that "the civil jurisdiction of said courts is hereby extended within the limits of said Indian reservations, without distinction as to citizenship of the parties, so far as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this act." This provision permits the subordination of the jurisdiction of Indian courts, which we are bound by treaty to protect, to the "provisions of this act" and to the interests and preferences of the railroad company for whose benefit the bill under consideration is intended.
A plan of appraisal is provided for in the bill in case an agreement can not be reached as to the amount of compensation to be paid for the taking of lands held by individual occupants according to the laws, customs, and usages of any of the Indian nations or tribes or by allotment or agreement with the Indians. It is, however, further provided that in case either party is dissatisfied with the award of the referees to be appointed an appeal may be taken to the district court held at Wichita, Kans., no matter where on the proposed route of the road the controversy may originate. If upon the hearing of said appeal the judgment of the court shall be for the same sum as the award of the referees, the costs shall be adjudged against the appellant, and if said judgment shall be for a smaller sum the costs shall be adjudged against the party claiming damages. It does not seem to me that the interests of an Indian occupant or allottee are properly regarded when he is obliged, if dissatisfied with an award for the taking of his land, to go to the district court of Kansas for redress, at the risk of incurring costs and expenses that may not only exceed the award originally made to him, but leave him in debt.
It is probable that there are other valid objections to this bill. I have only attempted to suggest enough to justify my action in disapproving it.
In constructing legislation of this description it should not be forgotten that the rights and interests of the Indians are important in every view and should be scrupulously protected.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 23, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 5740, entitled "An act incorporating the Society of American Florists."
No sufficient reason is apparent for the incorporation of this organization under Federal laws. There is not the least difficulty in the way of the accomplishment under State laws by the incorporators named in the bill of every purpose which can legitimately belong to their corporate existence. The creation of such a corporation by a special act of Congress establishes a vexatious and troublesome precedent.
There appears to be no limit in the bill to the value of the real and personal property which the proposed corporation may hold if acquired by donation or bequest. The limit of $50,000 applies only to property acquired by purchase.
A conclusive objection to the bill is found in the fact that it fails to carry out the purposes and objects of those interested in its passage. The promoters of the bill are florists, who undoubtedly seek to advance floriculture. The declared object of the proposed incorporation is, however, stated in the bill to be "the elevation and advancement of horticulture in all its branches, to increase and diffuse the knowledge thereof, and for kindred purposes in the interest of horticulture."
It is entirely clear that the interests of florists would be badly served by a corporation confined to the furtherance of garden culture.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 23, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 4658, entitled "An act granting a pension to Hiram R. Rhea and repealing an act approved March 3, 1871."
The person named in the title of this bill was pensioned under the provisions of a private act passed March 3, 1871. In 1892 a letter from the Commissioner of Pensions was presented to Congress exhibiting facts which established in a most satisfactory manner that the claim for pension allowed by said special act was a barefaced and impudent fraud, supported by deliberate perjury. This letter appears to be the moving cause of the passage of the bill now before me. Payment of pension under the fraudulent act has been suspended since January 28, 1893, and since that time no information has been received from the fraudulent pensioner.
The circumstances developed called for the repeal of the law of 1871 lacing him upon the pension roll. This is accomplished in the second section of the bill under consideration, which section I would be glad to approve. This repeal, however, is accompanied by a provision in the first section of the bill directing the Secretary of the Interior to place upon the pension roll this identical fraudulent pensioner, under a certificate numbered precisely the same as that heretofore issued to him, "at a rate proportionate to the degree of disability from such gunshot wounds as may be shown to the satisfaction of said Secretary to have been received at the hands of Confederate soldiers or sympathizers while said Rhea was attempting to cooperate with the Union forces," etc.
Inasmuch as the letter of the Commissioner of Pensions to which reference has been made, and which forms part of the committee's report on this bill, is the basis of this repealing provision, and inasmuch as this letter furnishes evidence that the pensioner was when injured a very disreputable member of a band of armed rebels and was wounded by Union soldiers, I can not understand why the same bill which for this reason purges the pension rolls of his name should in the same breath undo this work and direct his name to be rewritten on the rolls.
If the facts before Congress justify the repeal of the law under which this man fraudulently received a pension for nearly twenty-two years, they certainly do not justify the provision directing his name to be put on the rolls again with a view to further examination of his case or for any other purpose.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 27, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I return herewith without approval House bill No. 2051, entitled "An act to grant a pension to Eunice Putman."
This bill provides for a pension to the beneficiary therein named as the helpless daughter of John Putman, who served as a private in the War of the Rebellion from August 27, 1864, to June 2, 1865. In 1870, when the beneficiary was not 2 years old, her mother died, and her father married again in 1872. He applied for a pension in 1884, but died the same year. His claim was allowed, however, in 1891, and his pension which had accrued between the date of his application and his death was paid to his widow, Jeanette S. Putman. Immediately thereafter a pension was allowed the widow in her own right, dating from the soldier's death, in 1884, with $2 additional per month for each of the two minor children. The beneficiary was not included because she had reached the age of 16 years prior to her father's death.
The report of the committee to whom this bill was referred states that no claim for pension on account of the soldier's death has ever been filed in the Pension Bureau, and it seems that upon this theory it was proposed to pension the daughter. I do not suppose it was intended that a double pension should be allowed. In point of fact, the widow has already been pensioned, and no such pension allowance has been made for the minor children. There is no suggestion that the widow has died or remarried.
If this bill should become a law, two full pensions would be in force at the same time, one to the widow and another to the daughter, each predicated upon the services and death of the same soldier.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 27, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I herewith return without approval House bill No. 6868, entitled "An act for the relief of Catherine Ott, widow of Joseph Ott."
An application by the beneficiary named in this bill, under the law of 1890, was rejected on the ground that her husband died in the service, and therefore had not been honorably discharged, as required by that law.
It appears that after he had served a number of years in a cavalry regiment, and having been once discharged for reenlistment, he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and was in that service at the time of his death.
In these circumstances the rejection of the beneficiary's claim on the ground stated is held, under present rulings of the Pension Bureau, to have been erroneous, and such claim can now be favorably adjudicated upon proof of continued widowhood of the applicant and the lack of other means of support than her daily labor.
If such proof is supplied, she would be entitled to a pension dating from July 14, 1890, which would be much more advantageous than the relief afforded by the bill herewith returned.
If the beneficiary can justly claim a pension dating from her application to the Pension Bureau in 1890, the benefits accruing to her therefrom should not be superseded by this special legislation, which allows relief only from the date of its enactment.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 28, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I herewith return without approval House bill No. 8681, entitled "An act authorizing the Arkansas Northwestern Railway Company to construct and operate a railway through the Indian Territory, and for other purposes."
The contemplated route of this railway, so far as it is disclosed in the bill, would run from a point in the southwestern corner of the State of Missouri, across the northeastern corner of the Indian Territory, to a point in the southeastern part of the State of Kansas. This route necessarily runs through the lands of the Cherokee Indians or through the small reservations of the Quapaws, the Peorias, the Ottawas, the Wyandottes, and the Senecas.
There is no provision in the bill requiring the consent of the Indians whose lands are to be thus traversed.
There is no provision requiring the entire line to be located and approved by the Secretary of the Interior before the work of building is commenced.
The bill provides for compensation to individual occupants or allottees by a process of appraisal by referees, with the right of appeal to the district court held at Fort Smith, in the State of Arkansas.
In the case of allotted land or land held in individual occupancy by the Indians great care should be exercised in interfering with their holdings. Their land is given them for cultivation and with a view of making them self-supporting and industrious citizens. If their land is invaded and cut up by railroads, the purpose of allotment is in danger of being defeated. Money compensation is of but little use to them, and no amount can compensate for the disturbance in the cultivation of their lands and their consequent discontent and discouragement.
These considerations, it seems to me, emphasize the necessity of the exact location of the entire line of the contemplated railroad and such control over it by the Secretary of the Interior as will enable him to avoid as much as possible interference with individual Indian occupants and other difficulties.
This supervision and regulation of the line can be done with much more safety and effectiveness in considering the entire line than it can be done in sections of 25 miles each, as is provided in the bill.
The United States circuit and district courts for the districts of Kansas and the district of Arkansas and such other courts as may be authorized by Congress are given concurrent jurisdiction of all controversies arising between the railway company and the nations and tribes of Indians through whose territory the railway shall be constructed, or between said company and the members of said nations or tribes, without reference to the amount in controversy, and the civil jurisdiction of said courts is extended within the limits of said Indian Territory, without distinction as to the citizenship of parties, so far as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act.
The requirement that an Indian shall be obliged to seek a distant court for the adjudication of his rights in his controversies, great and small, with this railway company would result in many cases to a denial of justice.
I am convinced of the growing necessity, in this period of change in our relations with the Indians, of caution and certainty in the grants given to railroads to pass through Indian lands and of the exercise of care in allowing interference with their occupation.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 28, 1895.
To the House of Representatives: I herewith return without approval House bill No. 5624, entitled "An act to authorize the Oklahoma Central Railroad to construct and operate a railway through the Indian and Oklahoma Territories, and for other purposes."
The railroad proposed to be built under authority of this bill commences at a point in the Creek Nation called Sapulpa and runs through the Indian Territory to Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma, and thence through the Kiowa and Comanche Reservation to a point at or near the Red River, on the west line of said reservation.
There is no provision in this bill requiring the consent of the Indians through whose lands it is proposed to build the road.
The character and situation of these Indians are such as to make this consent important.
The first section gives the railroad company the right to build not only its line of road, but "such tracks, turn-outs, branches, sidings, and extensions as said company may deem it to their interest to construct."
If under an apparent grant to build a railroad the route of which is in a general way defined this company is to be allowed to build such branches and extensions as it may deem it to its interest to construct, the grant, I am sure, is more comprehensive than was intended by the Congress.
It seems to me that the entire line of the proposed railroad should be precisely located and subjected to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior before the work of construction is entered upon. This bill provides that it shall be approved in sections of 25 miles before construction on such sections shall be commenced.
Our relations to the Indians on reservations and their welfare and quiet are better preserved and protected when the entire line of road can be settled upon at one time and all uncertainty and doubt on the subject removed. The object sought by submitting the line to the supervision and determination of the Secretary of the Interior can be better and more intelligently accomplished if it is dealt with in its entirety instead of in sections.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
The following provisions of the laws of the United States are hereby published for the information of all concerned:Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, Title XXIII, enacts that—
No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall for each offense be fined not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited; but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section.
Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska," approved March 2, 1889, provides—
SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of the United States in the waters of Bering Sea; and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section; and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein.
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, hereby warn all persons against entering the waters of Bering Sea within the dominion of the United States for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section 1956 of the Revised Statutes; and I hereby proclaim that all persons found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States in said waters will be arrested, proceeded against, and punished as above provided. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of February, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas an act of Congress entitled "An act to postpone the enforcement of the act of August 19, 1890, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea,'" was approved February 23, 1895:Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do hereby give notice that said act of August 19, 1890, as amended by the act of May 28, 1894, will not go into force on March 1, 1895, the date fixed in my proclamation of July 13, 1894,18 but on such future date as may be designated in a proclamation of the President to be issued for that purpose.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of February, 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
W.Q. GRESHAM,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 1 of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, and for other purposes," certain articles of agreement were made and concluded at the Yankton Indian Agency, S. Dak., on the 31st day of December, 1892, by and between the United States of America and the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians upon the Yankton Reservation, whereby the said Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the reservation set apart to said tribe by the first article of the treaty of April 19, 1858, between said tribe and the United States; andWhereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 8 that such part of the surplus lands by said agreement ceded and sold to the United States as may be occupied by the United States for agency, schools, and other purposes shall be reserved from sale to settlers until they are no longer required for such purposes, but all of the other lands so ceded and sold shall immediately after the ratification of the agreement by Congress be offered for sale through the proper land office, to be disposed of under the existing land laws of the United States to actual and bona fide settlers only; and
Whereas it is also stipulated and agreed by article 10 that any religious society or other organization shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of the said agreement within which to purchase the lands occupied by it under proper authority for religious or educational work among the Indians, at a valuation fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, which shall not be less than the average price paid to the Indians for the surplus lands; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming the said agreement, approved August 15, 1894, section 12 (Pamphlet Statutes, Fifty-third Congress, second session, pp. 314-319)—
That the lands by said agreement ceded to the United States shall upon proclamation by the President be opened to settlement, and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead and town-site laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of the State of South Dakota: Provided, That each settler on said lands shall, in addition to the fees provided by law, pay to the United States for the land so taken by him the sum of $3.75 per acre, of which sum he shall pay 50 cents at the time of making his original entry and the balance before making final proof and receiving a certificate of final entry; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid.
That the Secretary of the Interior, upon proper plats and description being furnished, is hereby authorized to issue patents to Charles Picotte and Felix Brunot and W.T. Selwyn, United States interpreters, for not to exceed 1 acre of land each, so as to embrace their houses near the agency buildings upon said reservation, but not to embrace any buildings owned by the Government, upon the payment by each of said persons of the sum of $3.75.
That every person who shall sell or give away any intoxicating liquors or other intoxicants upon any of the lands by said agreement ceded, or upon any of the lands included in the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation as created by the treaty of April 19, 1858, shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years and by a fine of not more than $300.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, complied with: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned, do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands acquired from the Yankton tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians by the said agreement, saving and excepting the lands reserved in pursuance of the provisions of said agreement and the act of Congress ratifying the same, will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time) on the 21st day of May, 1895, and not before, be open to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes hereinbefore specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Yankton Reservation, S. Dak., to be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President," and which schedule is made a part hereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
EDWIN F. UHL,
Acting Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section I of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1892, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, and for other purposes," certain articles of cession and agreement were made and concluded at the Siletz Agency, Oreg., on the 31st day of October, 1892, by and between the United States of America and the Alsea and other Indians on Siletz Reservation in Oregon, whereby said Alsea and other Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and conveyed to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of said reservation, except the five sections described in article 4 of the agreement, viz: Section 9, township 9 south, range 11 west of the Willamette meridian; and the west half of the west half of section 5, and the east half of section 6, and the east half of the west half of section 6, township 10 south, range 10 west; and the south half of section 8, and the north half of section 17, and section 16, township 9 south, range 9 west; and the east half of the northeast quarter and lot 3, section 20, and south half and south half of north half of section 21, township 8, range 10 west; andWhereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 that any religious society or other organization shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of this agreement within which to purchase the lands occupied by it with proper authority for religious or educational work among the Indians, at the rate of $2.50 per acre, the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (Pamphlet Statutes, pp. 286-338), section 15, that—
The mineral lands shall be disposed of under the laws applicable thereto, and the balance of the land so ceded shall be disposed of until further provided by law under the town-site law and under the provisions of the homestead law: Provided, however, That each settler under and in accordance with the provisions of said homestead laws shall at the time of making his original entry pay the sum of 50 cents per acre in addition to the fees now required by law, and at the time of making final proof shall pay the further sum of $1 per acre, final proof to be made within five years from the date of entry; and three years' actual residence on the land shall be established by such evidence as is now required in homestead proofs as a prerequisite to title or patent.
And whereas it is provided—
That immediately after the passage of this act the Secretary of the Interior shall, under such regulations as he may prescribe, open said lands to settlement, after proclamation by the President and sixty days' notice.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentioned and the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, and complied with: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of the lands acquired from the Alsea and other Indians by said agreement will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacific standard time) on the 25th day of July, 1895, and not before, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Siletz Indian Reservation, in Oregon, opened to settlement by proclamation of the President dated May 16, 1895," and which schedule is made a part hereof.
Warning is hereby given that no person entering upon and occupying said lands before said hour of 12 o'clock noon of the 25th day of July, 1895, hereinbefore fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any rights thereto, and that the officers of the United States will be required to strictly enforce this provision, which is authorized by the act of August 15, 1894, hereinbefore mentioned.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
EDWIN F. UHL,
Acting Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by a written agreement made on the 9th day of September, 1891, the Kickapoo Nation of Indians, in the Territory of Oklahoma, ceded, conveyed, transferred, and relinquished, forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatever, all their claim, title, and interest of every kind and character in and to the lands particularly described in article 1 of the agreement: Provided, That in said tract of country there shall be allotted to each and every member, native and adopted, of said Kickapoo tribe of Indians 80 acres of land, in the manner and under the conditions stated in said agreement, and that when the allotments of land shall have been made and approved by the Secretary of the Interior the title thereto shall be held in trust for the allottees respectively for the period of twenty-five years in the manner and to the extent provided for in the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 388); andWhereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of the agreement that wherever in this reservation any religious society or other organization is now occupying any portion of said reservation for religious or educational work among the Indians the land so occupied may be allotted and confirmed to such society or organization, not, however, to exceed 160 acres of land to any one society or organization, so long as the same shall be so occupied and used: and such land shall not be subject to homestead entry; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming the said agreement with the Kickapoo Indians, approved March 3, 1893 (27 U.S. Statutes at Large, pp. 557-563), section 3—
That whenever any of the lands acquired by this agreement shall by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States be open to settlement or entry they shall be disposed of (except sections 16 and 36 in each township thereof) to actual settlers only under the provisions of the homestead and town-site laws, except section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply: Provided, however, That each settler on said lands shall before making a final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law and within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of $1.50 an acre, one-half of which shall be paid within two years; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid. Until said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation of the President of the United States no person shall be permitted to enter upon or occupy any of said lands, and any person violating this provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of said lands or acquire any title thereto: Provided, That any person having attempted to but for any cause failed to acquire a title in fee under existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make homestead entry upon said lands.
And whereas allotments of land in severalty to said Kickapoo Indians have been made and approved in accordance with law and the provisions of the before-mentioned agreement with them; and Whereas it is provided by the act of Congress for the temporary government of Oklahoma, approved May 2, 1890, section 23 (26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 92), that there shall be reserved public highways 4 rods wide between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quarter section of land by reason of such reservation; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress approved February 10, 1894 (28 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 37)—
That every homestead settler on the public lands on the left bank of the Deep Fork River in the former Iowa Reservation, in the Territory of Oklahoma, who entered less than 160 acres of land may enter under the homestead laws other lands adjoining the land embraced in his original entry when such additional lands become subject to entry, which additional entry shall not with the lands originally entered exceed in the aggregate 160 acres: Provided, That where such adjoining entry is made residence shall not be required upon the lands so entered, but the residence and cultivation by the settler upon and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon the land embraced in his additional entry; but such lands so entered shall be paid for conformably to the terms of the act acquiring the same and opening it to homestead entry.
And whereas it is further provided in the act of Congress approved March 2, 1895 (28 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 899)—
That any State or Territory entitled to indemnity school lands or entitled to select lands for educational purposes under existing law may select such lands within the boundaries of any Indian reservation in such State or Territory from the surplus lands thereof purchased by the United States, after allotments have been made to the Indians of such reservation and prior to the opening of such reservation to settlement.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribes of Indians and by the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, complied with: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned and by other the laws of the United States and by the said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of said lands hereinbefore described, acquired from the Kickapoo Indians by the agreement aforesaid, will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (central standard time), Thursday, the 23d day of the month of May, A.D. 1895, and not before, be open to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in the said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto, saving and excepting such tracts as have been allotted, reserved, or selected under the laws herein referred to and such tracts as may be properly selected by the Territory of Oklahoma under and in accordance with the provisions of the act of March 2, 1895, hereinbefore quoted, prior to the time herein fixed for the opening of said lands to settlement.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Kickapoo Reservation, Oklahoma Territory, to be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President;" but notice is hereby given that should any of the lands described in the accompanying schedule be properly selected by the Territory of Oklahoma under and in accordance with the provisions of said act of Congress approved March 2, 1895, prior to the time herein fixed for the opening of said lands to settlement such tracts will not be subject to settlement or entry.
Notice, moreover, is hereby given that it is by law enacted that until said lands are opened to settlement by proclamation no person shall be permitted to enter upon or occupy the same, and any person violating this provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of said lands or acquire any title thereto. The officers of the United States will be required to enforce this provision.
And further notice is hereby given that all of said lands lying north of the township line between townships 13 and 14 north are now attached to the Eastern land district, the office of which is at Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, and all of said lands lying south of the township line between townships 13 and 14 north are now attached to the Oklahoma land district, the office of which is at Oklahoma, Oklahoma Territory.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
EDWIN F. UHL,
Acting Secretary of State.
A PROCLAMATION.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Walter Q. Gresham, Secretary of State of the United States, is dead.The President in making this distressing announcement to his fellow-countrymen speaks from the depths of a personal affliction to remind them that they too have lost a pure and able public servant, a wise and patriotic guardian of all their rights and interests, a manly and loyal American, and a generous and lovable man.
As a suitable expression of national bereavement, I direct that the diplomatic representatives of the United States in all foreign countries display the flags over their embassies and legations at half-mast for ten days; that for a like period the flag of the United States be displayed at half-mast at all forts and military posts and at all naval stations and on all vessels of the United States.
I further order that on the day of the funeral the Executive Departments in the city of Washington be closed and that on all public buildings throughout the United States the national flag be displayed at half-mast.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of May, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
EDWIN F. UHL,
Acting Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the island of Cuba is now the seat of serious civil disturbances, accompanied by armed resistance to the authority of the established Government of Spain, a power with which the United States are and desire to remain on terms of peace and amity; andWhereas the laws of the United States prohibit their citizens, as well as all others being within and subject to their jurisdiction, from taking part in such disturbances adversely to such established Government, by accepting or exercising commissions for warlike service against it, by enlistment or procuring others to enlist for such service, by fitting out or arming or procuring to be fitted out and armed ships of war for such service, by augmenting the force of any ship of war engaged in such service and arriving in a port of the United States, and by setting on foot or providing or preparing the means for military enterprises to be carried on from the United States against the territory of such Government:
Now, therefore, in recognition of the laws aforesaid and in discharge of the obligations of the United States toward a friendly power, and as a measure of precaution, and to the end that citizens of the United States and all others within their jurisdiction may be deterred from subjecting themselves to legal forfeitures and penalties, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do hereby admonish all such citizens and other persons to abstain from every violation of the laws hereinbefore referred to, and do hereby warn them that all violations of such laws will be rigorously prosecuted; and I do hereby enjoin upon all officers of the United States charged with the execution of said laws the utmost diligence in preventing violations thereof and in bringing to trial and punishment any offenders against the same.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of June, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and nineteenth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
RICHARD OLNEY,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to copyrights," that said act "shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation when such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the United States of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;" andWhereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence of either of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States by proclamation made from time to time as the purposes of this act may require;" and
Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Spain and her provinces and colonial possessions the law permits to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects of Spain:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditions specified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and is fulfilled in respect to the subjects of Spain.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of July, 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
ALVEY A. ADEE,
Acting Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
The constant goodness and forbearance of Almighty God which have been vouchsafed to the American people during the year which is just past call for their sincere acknowledgment and devout gratitude.To the end, therefore, that we may with thankful hearts unite in extolling the loving care of our Heavenly Father, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the 28th day of the present month of November, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to be kept and observed by all our people.
On that day let us forego our usual occupations and in our accustomed places of worship join in rendering thanks to the Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift for the bounteous returns that have rewarded our labors in the fields and in the busy marts of trade, for the peace and order that have prevailed throughout the land, for our protection from pestilence and dire calamity, and for the other blessings that have been showered upon us from an open hand.
And with our thanksgiving let us humbly beseech the Lord to so incline the hearts of our people unto Him that He will not leave us nor forsake us as a nation, but will continue to us His mercy and protecting care, guiding us in the path of national prosperity and happiness, enduing us with rectitude and virtue, and keeping alive within us a patriotic love for the free institutions which have been given to us as our national heritage.
And let us also on the day of our thanksgiving especially remember the poor and needy, and by deeds of charity let us show the sincerity of our gratitude.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of November, A.D. 1895, and in the one hundred and twentieth year of the Independence of the United States.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
RICHARD OLNEY,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas section 17 of the act of August 28, 1894, entitled "An act to reduce taxation, to provide revenue for the Government, and for other purposes," prohibits "the importation of neat cattle and the hides of neat cattle from any foreign country into the United States;" andWhereas it is provided by the act of Congress approved March 2, 1895, entitled "An act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896"—
That whenever the Secretary of Agriculture shall certify to the President of the United States what countries or parts of countries are free from contagious or infectious diseases of domestic animals, and that neat cattle and hides can be imported from such countries without danger to the domestic animals of the United States, the President of the United States may suspend the prohibition of the importation of neat cattle and hides in the manner provided by law.
And whereas the Secretary of Agriculture has now certified to me that the countries of Norway, Sweden, Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the countries of North, Central, and South America, including Mexico, are so far free from contagious or infectious diseases of domestic animals that neat cattle may be imported from those countries into the United States, under the sanitary regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, without danger to the domestic animals of the United States, and that so far as the countries above named, as well as all other countries from which hides are imported into the United States, are concerned, they are so far free from contagious or infectious diseases of domestic animals that hides of neat cattle can be imported from all parts of the world, under proper regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, without danger to the domestic animals of the United States: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby suspend the prohibition of the importation of neat cattle from the countries of Norway, Sweden, Holland, Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the countries of North, Central, and South America, including Mexico, and of the hides of neat cattle from all parts of the world; but all importations of neat cattle shall be made under the sanitary regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and all importations of hides shall be made under proper regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, 1895, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and twentieth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
RICHARD OLNEY,
Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 5 of the act of Congress approved February 8, 1887 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 388), entitled "An act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians on the various reservations and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians, and for other purposes," certain articles of cession and agreement were made and concluded at the Nez Percé Agency, Idaho, on the 1st day of May, 1893, by and between the United States of America and the Nez Percé Indians, whereby said Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and conveyed to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest to all the unallotted lands set apart as a home for their use and occupation by the second article of the treaty between said Indians and the United States concluded June 9, 1863 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 647), and included in the following boundaries, to wit:
Commencing at the northeast corner of Lake Wa-ha and running thence northerly to a point on the north bank of the Clearwater River 3 miles below the mouth of the Lapwai; thence down the north bank of the Clearwater to the mouth of the Hatwai Creek; thence due north to a point 7 miles distant; thence eastwardly to a point on the North Fork of the Clearwater 7 miles distant from its mouth; thence to a point on Oro Fino Creek 5 miles above its mouth; thence to a point on the North Fork of the South Fork of the Clearwater 1 mile above the bridge on the road leading to Elk City (so as to include all the Indian farms now within the forks); thence in a straight line westwardly to the place of beginning.
Saving and excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho, and excepting the tracts described in articles 1 and 2 of the agreement, viz:
The said Nez Percé Indians hereby cede, sell, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of said reservation, saving and excepting the following-described tracts of lands, which are hereby retained by the said Indians, viz:
In township 34, range 4 west: Northeast quarter, north half and southeast of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter, north half and east half of southwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section 13; 440 acres.
In township 34, range 3 west: Sections 10, 15, 36; 1,920 acres.
In township 33, range 3 west: Section 1; northwest quarter of northeast quarter, north half of northwest quarter, section 12; 760 acres.
In township 35, range 2 west: South half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 3; east half, east half of northwest quarter, southwest quarter, section 10; section 11; north half, north half of south half, section 21; east half of northeast quarter, section 20; sections 22, 27, 35; 4,200 acres.
In township 34, range 2 west: North half, southwest quarter, north half and southwest quarter and west half of southeast quarter of southeast quarter, section 13; section 14; north half, section 23; west half of east half and west half of northeast quarter, northwest quarter, north half of southwest quarter, west half of east half and northwest quarter and east half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter, section 24; section 29; 2,700 acres.
In township 33, range 2 west: West half and southeast quarter, section 6; sections 16, 22, 27; north half and north half of south half, section 34; 2,880 acres.
In township 34, range 1 west: West half, section 2; sections 3, 4: north half and southwest quarter, section 8; north half, section 9; north half and north half of southwest quarter, section 18; northwest quarter, section 17; 2,960 acres.
In township 37, range 1 east: Section 20; section 21, less south half of south half of southwest quarter of southeast quarter (10 acres); 1,270 acres.
In township 36, range 1 east: South half of sections 3, 4; sections 1, 12; 1,920 acres.
In township 36, range 2 east: Sections 16, 17, 18, 20; all of section 25 west of boundary line of reservation; sections 26, 27; 4,240 acres.
In township 35, range 2 east: North half of sections 16, 17; section 27; north half of section 34; 1,600 acres.
In township 34, range 2 east: East half and east half of west half of southeast quarter, section 24; 100 acres.
In township 34, range 3 east: South half of sections 19, 20; north half, north half of south half, southwest quarter and north half of southeast quarter of southwest quarter, north half of south half of southeast quarter, section 23; north half, north half and north half of southwest quarter and southeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 24; north half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter, north half of northwest quarter, section 25; south half of northeast quarter of northeast quarter, section 26; section 29; northeast quarter of northeast quarter and south half, section 30; northwest quarter and north half of southwest quarter, section 31, northeast quarter, north half and southeast quarter of northwest quarter, section 32; northwest quarter, north half of southwest quarter, section 33; 3,700 acres.
In township 33, range 4 east: South half of southeast quarter, section 18; northeast quarter and fraction northeast of river in east half of northwest quarter, section 19; fraction west of boundary line of reservation in section 22; west half and southeast quarter of section 35; 1,440 acres.
In township 32, range 4 east: Fraction in west half of northeast quarter of southwest quarter, fraction in northwest quarter of southeast quarter, section 1; section 2; south half of section 6; west half and southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section 9; 1,410 acres.
In township 31, range 4 east: South half of northeast quarter, southeast quarter of northwest quarter, northeast quarter of southwest quarter, southeast quarter, section 17; northwest quarter, section 21; 480 acres.
Total, 32,020 acres.
ART. II. It is also stipulated and agreed that the place known as "the boom" on the Clearwater River, near the mouth of Lapwai Creek, shall be excepted from this cession and reserved for the common use of the tribe, with full right of access thereto, and that the tract of land adjoining said boom now occupied by James Moses shall be allotted to him in such manner as not to interfere with such right; also that there shall be reserved from said cession the land described as follows: "Commencing at a point at the margin of Clearwater River, on the south side thereof, which is 300 yards below where the middle thread of Lapwai Creek empties into said river; run thence up the margin of said Clearwater River at low-water mark 900 yards to a point; run thence south 250 yards to a point; thence southwesterly in a line to the southeast corner of a stone building partly finished as a church; thence west 300 yards to a point; thence from said point northerly in a straight line to the point of beginning; and also the adjoining tract of land lying southerly of said tract, on the south end thereof, commencing at the said corner of said church, and at the point 300 yards west thereof and run a line from each of said points, one of said lines running on the east side and the other on the west of said Lapwai Creek, along the foothills of each side of said creek, up the same sufficiently far so that a line being drawn east and west to intersect the aforesaid lines shall embrace within its boundaries, together with the first above-described tract of land, a sufficient quantity of land as to include and comprise 640 acres."
And excepting the land embraced in the William Craig donation claim, in township 35 north, range 3 west. (See case of Caldwell vs. Robinson, Federal Reporter, vol. 59, p. 653); and Whereas it is further stipulated and agreed by article 6 of the agreement that any religious society or other organization now occupying under proper authority, for religious or educational work among the Indians, any of the lands ceded shall have the right for two years from the date of the ratification of this agreement within which to purchase the land so occupied, at the rate of $3 per acre, the same to be conveyed to such society or organization by patent in the usual form; and
Whereas it is further agreed by article 9 of the agreement that the lands by this agreement ceded, those retained, and those allotted to the said Nez Percé Indians shall be subject for a period of twenty-five years to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country, and that the Nez Percé Indian allottees, whether under the care of an Indian agent or not, shall for a like period be subject to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the sale or other disposition of intoxicants to Indians; and
Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress accepting, ratifying, and confirming said agreement, approved August 15, 1894 (28 U.S. Statutes at Large, pp. 286-338), section 16—
That immediately after the issuance and receipt by the Indians of trust patents for the allotted lands, as provided for in said agreement, the lands so ceded, sold, relinquished, and conveyed to the United States shall be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President and shall be subject to disposal only under the homestead, town-site, stone and timber, and mining laws of the United States, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each Congressional township, which shall be reserved for common-school purposes and be subject to the laws of Idaho: Provided, That each settler on said lands shall before making final proof and receiving a certificate of entry pay to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided bylaw, the sum of $3.75 per acre for agricultural lands, one-half of which shall be paid within three years from the date of original entry, and the sum of $5 per acre for stone, timber, and mineral lands, subject to the regulations prescribed by existing laws; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be abridged except as to the sum to be paid as aforesaid.
And whereas all the terms, conditions, and considerations required by said agreement made with said tribe of Indians hereinbefore mentioned and the laws relating thereto precedent to opening said lands to settlement have been, as I hereby declare, provided for, paid, and complied with: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the statutes hereinbefore mentioned and by said agreement, do hereby declare and make known that all of the unallotted and unreserved lands acquired from the Nez Percé Indians by said agreement will, at and after the hour of 12 o'clock noon (Pacific standard time) on the 18th day of November, 1895, and not before, be opened to settlement under the terms of and subject to all the conditions, limitations, reservations, and restrictions contained in said agreement, the statutes above specified, and the laws of the United States applicable thereto.
The lands to be so opened to settlement are for greater convenience particularly described in the accompanying schedule, entitled "Schedule of lands within the Nez Percé Indian Reservation, Idaho, to be opened to settlement by proclamation of the President," and which schedule is made a part hereof.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of November, A.D. 1895, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twentieth.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
By the President:
RICHARD OLNEY,
Secretary of State.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
In the Geological Survey: Geologist, assistant geologist, paleontologist, assistant paleontologist, chief photographer, photographer, chief chemist, chemist, assistant chemist, chief engraver, engraver, assistant engraver, lithographic engraver, map printer, lithographic printer, assistant lithographic printer, map reviser, statistical experts temporarily employed.
Approved, December 4, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
The Commission shall certify for transfer and reappointment to any classified non-excepted place in the departmental service, upon the requisition of the head of a Department, any person who at the time of making such requisition is holding an office outside the classified service in any Executive Department at Washington to which he was appointed from a classified place in the departmental service; and upon the requisition of any head of Department the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in the classified service of said Department any such officer who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition, by the abolition of his office or otherwise, has without delinquency or misconduct been separated from said office: Provided, That this section shall not authorize the reappointment to the classified service of any such officer or ex-officer who was appointed to his office from an excepted place, unless his appointment to such excepted place was by promotion from a nonexcepted place.
Approved, December 15, 1894.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 3, 1895.
Postal Rule II, clause 5, is amended by striking out paragraph (e) and relettering paragraph (f) as (e), so that as amended the clause will read:
5. Exceptions from examination in the classified postal service are hereby made as follows:
(a) Assistant postmaster, or the chief assistant to the postmaster, by whatever designation known.
(b) One secretary to the postmaster, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department.
(c) Cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title.
(d) Assistant cashier, when authorized by law and employed under that roster title.
(e) Printers and pressmen, when authorized by law and allowed by the Post-Office Department and employed as such.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 12, 1895.
Departmental Rule VII, clause 8, is hereby amended to read as follows:
In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in any Department which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: Provided, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: And provided further, That no person shall serve longer than the period herein prescribed in any one year under such temporary appointment.
The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment.
Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Postal Rule IV, clause 4, is hereby amended to read as follows:
4. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in a position within the classified service of any post-office which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, where there is no eligible remaining on the proper register, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: Provided, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: And provided further, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment.
The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment.
Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
6. The classified internal-revenue service
5. The Commission may, in its discretion, refuse to examine an applicant who would be physically unable to perform the duties of the place to which he desires appointment or an applicant who has been guilty of a crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct. The reason for any such action shall be entered on the minutes of the Commission.
Section 9: In line 1 strike out the word "departmental," and after the word "service" in the same line and in line 2 the words "and the classified railway mail service." General Rule V: In line 2 change the order of words and insert other words so as to make the phrase amended read as follows: "and postmasters and customs and internal-revenue officers and custodians of public buildings."
General Rule IV, section 2: Insert after the word "may" in line 1 the words "in its discretion."
Departmental Rule IV: In section 1, after the semicolon following the word "age" in line 4, insert the following: "or for the position of messenger or assistant messenger who is not under 18 years of age, or for the position of page or messenger boy who is not under 14 nor over 18 years of age."
Departmental Rule V: In section 2, paragraph 6, line 1, after the word "postal," insert the words "internal-revenue."
Departmental Rule VI: In section 1, line 2, after the word "of," strike out the words "special and supplementary" and insert in lieu thereof the word "other." In section 4, line 7, after the words "clerk-copyist," insert the words "or the messenger and watchman." In section 5, line 3, after the word "printing," insert the words "or for page or messenger boy."
Departmental Rule VII: In section 3, at the beginning of line 2, before the word "register," insert the words "the messenger or the watchman." In the second paragraph of the same section, in line 2, after the word "assistant," insert the words "or page or messenger boy."
Departmental Rule VIII: In section 1 insert a clause, to be lettered (c), as follows:
(c) From a bureau of the Treasury Department in which business relating to the internal revenue is transacted to a classified internal-revenue district, and from such a district to such a bureau in the Treasury Department, upon requisition by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The remaining clauses of the section to be relettered (d) and (e), respectively. In section 2, line 2, strike out the letter "d" in parentheses and insert in lieu thereof the letter "e," and at the end of the section add the following proviso:
Provided, That a person may be transferred from a place in one Department to a place requiring no higher examination in another Department without examination.
Departmental Rule IX: Strike out the whole of section 1 and insert in lieu thereof the following:
1. Until promotion regulations have been applied to a Department under the provisions of section 6 of General Rule III promotions therein may be made as follows:
(a) Any person appointed from the appropriate register to the position of messenger, assistant messenger, watchman, or other subordinate position below the positions of clerk and copyist may at any time after absolute appointment, if not barred by age limitations, be transferred to any other of said subordinate positions, but shall not be promoted to the position of clerk or copyist or to any place the duties of which are clerical: Provided, That printers' assistants in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, shall only be eligible for transfer to the grade of operative in that Bureau.
Strike out sections 2, 3, and 5 and renumber section 4 as 2. Approved, March 2, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 18, 1895.
Indian Rule IV is amended by adding at the end thereof a new section, to read as follows:
7. Graduates of Indian normal schools and of normal classes in Indian schools may be employed in the Indian-school service as assistant teachers or day-school teachers without further examination: Provided, That certificates of satisfactory proficiency, of good moral character, and of physical soundness, signed by the proper officials, be transmitted at the time of appointment to the Civil Service Commission: And provided further, That until the 1st of July, 1896, graduates of the senior classes of Carlisle, Hampton, Lincoln Institute, Chilocco, Haskell Institute, and other Indian schools of equal grade may be included in the provisions of this rule. Such teachers shall become eligible for promotion to advanced positions on presentation to the Civil Service Commission of satisfactory certificates of efficiency and fidelity in their work and of a progressive spirit in their professional interests, signed by their immediate official superiors and by the superintendent of Indian schools, and forwarded with his approval by the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission reserving to itself the right to decide as to the satisfactoriness of such certificates.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 20, 1895.
The Executive order dated February 26, 1891,19 establishing limits of punishment for enlisted men of the Army, under an act of Congress approved September 27, 1890, and which was published in General Orders, No. 21, 1891, Headquarters of the Army, is amended so as to prescribe as follows: Subject to the modifications authorized in section 3 of this article, the limit of the term of confinement (at hard labor) for desertion shall be as follows:
SECTION 1. In case of surrender—
(a) When the deserter surrenders himself after an absence of not more than thirty days, one year.
(b) When the surrender is made after an absence of more than thirty days, eighteen months.
SEC. 2. In case of apprehension—
(a) When at the time of desertion the deserter shall not have been more than six months in the service, eighteen months.
(b) When he shall have been more than six months in the service, two and one-half years.
SEC. 3. The foregoing limitations are subject to modification under the following conditions:
(a) The punishment of a deserter may be increased by one year of confinement at hard labor in consideration of each previous conviction of desertion.
(b) The punishment for desertion when joined in by two or more soldiers in the execution of a conspiracy or for desertion in the presence of an outbreak of Indians or of any unlawful assemblage which the troops may be opposing shall not exceed dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for five years.
| Offenses. | Limits of punishment. |
|---|---|
| Under seventeenth article of war. | |
| Selling horse or arms, or both. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for 3 years. |
| Selling accouterments | Four months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Selling clothing | Two months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Losing or spoiling horse or arms through neglect. | Four months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Losing or spoiling accouterments or clothing through neglect. | One month's confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10: for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Under twentieth article of war. | |
| Behaving himself with disrespect to his commanding officer. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Under twenty-fourth article of war. | |
| Refusal to obey or using violence to officer or noncommissioned officer while quelling quarrels or disorders. | Dishonorable discharge, with forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement at hard labor for 2 years. |
| Under thirty-first article of war. | |
| Lying out of quarters. | Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4. |
| Under thirty-second article of war. | |
| Absence without leave—20 | |
| Less than 1 hour. | Forfeiture of $1; corporal, $2; sergeant, $3; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $4. |
| From 1 to 6 hours21. | Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $4; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $5. |
| From 6 to 12 hours. | Forfeiture of $3; corporal, $4; sergeant, $6; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $7. |
| From 12 to 24 hours. | Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $6; sergeant, $7; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $10. |
| From 24 to 48 hours. | Forfeiture of $6 and 5 days' confinement at hard labor; for corporal, forfeiture of $8; sergeant $10; first sergeant or noncommissioned officer of higher grade, $12, or for all noncommissioned officers, reduction. |
| From 2 to 10 days. | Forfeiture of $10 and 10 days' confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| From 10 to 30 days. | Forfeiture of $20 and 1 month's confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| From 30 to 90 days. | Three months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| For 90 or more than 90 days. | Dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances and 6 months' confinement at hard labor. |
| Under thirty-third article of war. | |
| Failure to repair at the time fixed, etc., to the place of parade for— | |
| Reveille or retreat roll call and 11 p.m. inspection. | Forfeiture of $1; corporal, $2; sergeant, $3; first sergeant, $4 |
| Guard detail | Forfeiture of $5; corporal, $8; sergeant, $10 |
| Fatigue detail. Dress parade. The weekly inspection. Target practice. Drill. Guard mounting (by musician). Stable duty. | Forfeiture of $2; corporal, $3; sergeant, $5. |
| Under thirty-eighth article of war. | |
| Drunkenness on— | |
| Guard. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Duty as company cook. | Forfeiture of $20. |
| Extra or special duty. At drill. At target practice. At parade. At inspection. At inspection of company guard detail. At stable duty. | Forfeiture of $12; for noncommissioned officer, reduction and forfeiture of $20. |
| Under fortieth article of war. | |
| Quitting guard. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Under fifty-first article of war. | |
| Persuading soldiers to desert. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's confinement at hard labor. |
| Under sixtieth article of war. | |
| Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. | |
| Under sixty-second article of war. | |
| Manslaughter. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Assault with intent to kill. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 10 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Burglary. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 5 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Forgery. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Perjury. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| False swearing. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Robbery. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 6 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| Larceny or embezzlement of property of the value of—22 | |
| More than $100. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 4 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| $100 or less and more than $50. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 3 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| $50 or less and more than $20. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 2 years' confinement at hard labor. |
| $20 or less. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's confinement at hard labor. |
| Fraudulent enlistment procured by false representation or concealment of a fact in regard to a prior enlistment or discharge or in regard to conviction of a civil or military crime. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for 1 year. |
| Fraudulent enlistment, other cases of. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement at hard labor for 6 months. |
| Disobedience of orders, involving willful defiance of the authority of a noncommissioned officer in the execution of his office. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Using threatening or insulting language or behaving in an insubordinate manner to a noncommissioned officer while in the execution of his office. | One month's confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Absence from fatigue duty. | Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; sergeant, $6. |
| Absence from extra or special duty. | Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $5; sergeant, $6. |
| Absence from duty as company or hospital cook. | Forfeiture of $10. |
| Introducing liquor into post or camp in violation of standing orders. | Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissioned officer reduction and forfeiture of $5. |
| Drunkenness at post or in quarters. | Forfeiture of $3; for noncommissioned officer, reduction and forfeiture of $5. |
| Drunkenness and disorderly conduct causing the offender's arrest and conviction by civil authorities at a place within 10 miles of his station. | Forfeiture of $10 and 7 days' confinement at hard labor; for noncommissioned officer, reduction and forfeiture of $12. |
| Noisy or disorderly conduct in quarters. | Forfeiture of $4; corporal, $7; sergeant, $10. |
| Abuse by noncommissioned officer of his authority over an inferior. | Reduction, 3 months' confinement at hard labor, and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. |
| Noncommissioned officer encouraging gambling. | Reduction and forfeiture of $5. |
| Noncommissioned officer making false report. | Reduction, forfeiture of $8, and 10 days' confinement at hard labor. |
| Sentinel allowing a prisoner under his charge to escape through neglect. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. |
| Sentinel willfully suffering prisoner under his charge to escape. | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and 1 year's confinement at hard labor. |
| Sentinel allowing a prisoner under his charge to obtain liquor. | Two months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. |
| Sentinel or member of guard drinking liquor with prisoners. | Two months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period. |
| Disrespect or affront to a sentinel. | Two months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Resisting or disobeying sentinel in lawful execution of his duty. | Six months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer, reduction in addition thereto. |
| Lewd or indecent exposure of person. | Three months' confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $10 per month for the same period; for noncommissioned officer reduction in addition thereto. |
When the conviction is of an offense punishable under Article II of this order or the custom of the service with a greater punishment than an inferior court-martial can award, but not punishable with dishonorable discharge, the sentence may on proof of five or more previous convictions within eighteen months and during the current enlistment impose dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances in addition to the authorized confinement, and when this confinement is less than three months it may be increased to three months.
When a noncommissioned officer is convicted of an offense not punishable with reduction, he may, if he shall have been convicted of a military offense within a year and during the current enlistment, be sentenced to reduction in addition to the punishment already authorized.
SEC. 2. In every case when an offense on trial before a court-martial is of a character admitting of the introduction of evidence of previous convictions and the accused is convicted the court, after determining its findings, will be opened for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is such evidence, and, if so, of hearing it. These convictions must be proved by the records of previous trials or by duly authenticated orders promulgating the same, except in the cases of conviction by summary court, when a duly authenticated copy of the record of said court shall be deemed sufficient proof. Charges forwarded to the authority ordering a general court-martial or submitted to a summary, garrison, or regimental court must be accompanied by the proper evidence of such previous convictions as may have to be considered in determining upon a sentence.
Two days' confinement at hard labor for $1 forfeiture; one day's solitary confinement on bread and water diet for two days' confinement at hard labor or for $1 forfeiture: Provided, That a noncommissioned officer not sentenced to reduction shall not be subject to confinement: And provided, That solitary confinement shall not exceed fourteen days at one time nor be repeated until fourteen days have elapsed, and shall not exceed eighty-four days in one year. Whenever the limit herein prescribed for an offense or offenses may be brought within the punishing power of inferior courts-martial, as defined by the eighty-third article of war, by substitution of punishment under the provisions of this article, the said courts have jurisdiction of such offense or offenses.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 15, 1895.
Whereas on November 2, 1894, Departmental Rule II, section 4, Customs Rule II, section 6, Postal Rule II, section 6, Railway Mail Rule II, section 6, were amended to declare that no person appointed to a place under any exception to examination should be transferred from such place to another place not also excepted from examination; and Whereas it was not my intention that these several amendments should be retroactive in their effect:
I therefore direct that the word "hereafter" be inserted after the word "person" in the first line of each of said sections as of the date of said amendments, viz, November 2, 1894.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, and the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the President hereby makes and promulgates the following rules concerning the classified internal-revenue service, to be known as the Internal-Revenue Rules:
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE I.
The classified internal-revenue service shall include all the clerks, storekeepers, storekeepers and gaugers, and gaugers classified under the provisions of section 6 of the act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, approved January 16, 1883.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE II.
1. To test fitness for admission to the classified internal-revenue service, examinations of a practical character shall be provided on such subjects as the Commission may direct.
2. The following age limitations shall apply to applicants for the classified internal-revenue service: For clerk, not under 18 years of age; for storekeepers, storekeepers and gaugers, and for gaugers, not under 21 years of age.
3. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the secretaries of the several internal-revenue boards of examiners to any person desiring to be examined who applies therefor in person or by letter in his own handwriting.
4. The date of reception of each application and also of its approval by the board shall be noted on the application paper.
5. Exceptions from examination in the classified internal-revenue service are hereby made as follows:
6. No person appointed to a place excepted from examination by any internal-revenue rule shall be transferred from such place to another place not also excepted from examination.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE III.
1. The Commission shall appoint in each classified internal-revenue district a board of examiners, which shall—
(a) Conduct all examinations for admission to or promotion in the classified service of the internal-revenue district in which the board is located.
(b) Conduct such other examinations as the Commission may direct.
(c) Mark the papers of such examinations as the Commission may direct.
2. The papers of every examination shall be marked under the direction of the Commission, and each competitor shall be graded on a scale of 100, according to general average determined by the marks of the examiners.
3. Immediately after the general average shall have been ascertained each competitor shall be notified that he has passed or has failed to pass.
4. No competitor who has failed to pass an examination and no eligible during the period of his eligibility shall be allowed reexamination unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was, because of illness or other good cause, incapable of doing himself justice; and his rating on such reexamination, if an eligible, shall cancel and be a substitute for his rating on his previous examination.
5. All competitors whose claim to preference under section 1754, Revised Statutes, has been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined, and the names of all the eligibles shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles.
6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their application papers were filed.
7. The period of eligibility shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE IV.
1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, reduction, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner:
(a) When a vacancy occurs in any district, the collector thereof shall report the fact to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, stating the class in which the vacancy occurs and whether in his judgment the place should be filled. If the Commissioner decides that the good of the public service requires that it be filled, he shall request the secretary of the board of examiners of that district to certify to him the names of persons eligible to the vacant place.
(b) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the names of the three eligibles highest in grade on the proper register who have not been three times certified shall be certified; but if the request indicates the sex of the eligibles desired the three highest in grade of that sex shall be certified: Provided, That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified, according to their grade, before all other eligibles thereon: Provided further, That no certification for an appointment shall be made under this clause while there are persons in the district in which any vacancy may exist, who have been removed from the service in that district on account of a reduction of the force or otherwise, who are eligible for reinstatement under Internal-Revenue Rule VII, and who are willing to reenter the service by reinstatement. Every collector of internal revenue shall keep a list of all such persons in his office, and said persons shall have preference for reinstatement to the service in the order of their separation therefrom.
(c) No eligible shall be certified more than three times.
2. Of the three names certified to him the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall select one, and may select more than one if more than one vacancy exists at the time the certification is made. If the vacancy is in the class of clerk, the Commissioner shall certify the name of the person selected by him to the collector of the district in which the vacancy occurs and the collector shall make the appointment. If the vacancy is in the storekeepers', gaugers', or storekeepers and gaugers' class, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall certify the name to the Secretary of the Treasury with his recommendation that the person whose name is thus certified be appointed: Provided, That if any objection is made under section 3 of General Rule IV to any eligible certified, and is sustained by the Commission, another eligible shall be certified in the place of the one objected to.
3. Each person thus selected for appointment shall be notified, and upon indicating his acceptance shall be appointed for a probationary period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the appointing officer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory to said officer he shall be so notified, and this notification shall be his discharge from the service: Provided, That any probationer may be discharged during probation for misconduct or evident unfitness or incapacity.
4. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall require the collector under whom a probationer is serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file in the office of the collector, and copies thereof shall be filed with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for such disposition as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. The Civil Service Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which these reports shall be made.
5. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in the classified service of any internal-revenue collection district which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and there is no eligible entitled to reinstatement under section 1, clause (b), of this rule or remaining on the proper register, such vacancy, if in the class of storekeeper, storekeeper and gauger, or clerk, may be filled without examination and certification by a temporary designation by the collector of the district of some suitable person to perform the duties of the position until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: Provided, That service under such temporary designation shall in no case continue longer than six months, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: And provided further, That no person shall serve more than six months in any one year under such temporary designation, the year limitation in regard to such designation to begin to run on the date thereof.
Every such temporary designation and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE V.
Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to a classified internal-revenue collection district promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Commission: Provided, That no employee shall be promoted to any grade he could not enter by appointment under the minimum age limitation applied thereto by section 2 of Internal-Revenue Rule II.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VI.
Transfers may be made as follows:
From one classified internal-revenue collection district to another, from any classified internal-revenue collection district to a bureau in the Treasury Department in which business relating to the internal revenue is transacted, and from such a bureau in the Treasury Department to such a district, upon the requisition of the Secretary of the Treasury and the certification of the Commission, the appointment upon such transfer to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, if the place to be filled by such transfer is that of storekeeper, storekeeper and gauger, or gauger: Provided, That no person shall be transferred as herein authorized who is not within the age limitations prescribed by the civil-service rules for the place to which he is to be transferred and who has not been absolutely appointed, or, if appointed without civil-service examination, who has not served six months continuously in the district or bureau from which he is to be transferred.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VII.
Upon the requisition of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue the secretary of the board of examiners for his district shall certify for reinstatement in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified service of said district: Provided, That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service.
INTERNAL-REVENUE RULE VIII.
Each collector in the classified internal-revenue service shall report to the board of examiners—
(a) Every probational and every absolute appointment and every appointment to an excepted or to an unclassified place in the internal-revenue service under him.
(b) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every refusal to accept an appointment,
(c) Every separation from the internal-revenue service under him and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal.
(d) Every restoration to the internal-revenue service under him.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
5. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in the classified service of any customs district which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and there is no eligible remaining on the proper register, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment without examination and certification until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this rule: Provided,
That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: And provided further, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment, the year limitation in regard to such appointment to begin to run on the date thereof.
Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Approved, May 18, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., May 16, 1895.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1 is hereby amended as follows: Include among the places excepted from examination therein the following:
6. In the Department of Agriculture: The chief of the dairy division.
Approved, May 24, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND,
President.
President.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 24., 1895.
The Executive order heretofore issued under General Rule III, section 2, clause (c) that provides for the appointment of four clerks in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture by noncompetitive examination is hereby revoked, and hereafter these positions will be filled through competitive examination.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 24, 1895.
In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby directed to amend the classification of the Department of Agriculture so as to include among the classes covered thereby clerks, microscopists, assistant microscopists, stock examiners, taggers, agents, and all other employees, except temporary laborers, in the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture outside of Washington, D.C., all State statistical agents of the Department of Agriculture outside of Washington, D.C., and all messengers in the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture outside of Washington, D.C. The classification when so amended shall take effect on July 1, 1895.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 24, 1895.
Special Departmental Rule No. 1, section 6, is hereby amended by striking out the whole of said section and substituting therefor the following:
6. In the Department of Agriculture, in the office of the Secretary: Private secretary to the chief clerk, and wood engravers; scientific or professional experts employed for a period of not exceeding six months outside of Washington, D.C., in investigations specially authorized by Congress, but no such expert shall be reappointed as an expert unless the United States Civil Service Commission shall certify that such person has passed a suitable examination and is eligible for such appointment. This exception does not include any person to be employed in that Department in Washington, D.C., nor any person whose duties are not scientific or professional or who is not expert in the particular line of scientific or professional inquiry in which such person is to be employed.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 24, 1895.
Special Departmental Rule No. I, clause 3, is hereby amended by adding to the places excepted from examination in the Department of the Interior the following:
In the Bureau of Education: Specialist in foreign educational systems and specialist in education as a preventive of pauperism and crime.
Approved: GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 24, 1895.
Section 3 is hereby amended as follows: At the end of clause (b) add the following: "nor the cashier, nor the two clerks employed as assistant disbursing clerks in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture." At the end of clause (c) add the following: "but not including the disbursing clerk in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture."
At the end of clause (e) add the following: "except those of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Animal Industry, in the Department of Agriculture."
At the end of clause (f) add the following: "except all chiefs of division in the Department of Agriculture."
The section as amended will read:
3. Exceptions from examination in the classified departmental service are hereby made as follows:
(a) One private secretary or one confidential clerk of the head of each classified Department and of each Assistant Secretary thereof, and also of each head of bureau appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(b) Direct custodians of money for whose fidelity another officer is under official bond; but this exception shall not include any officer below the grade of assistant cashier or assistant teller, nor the cashier, nor the two clerks employed as assistant disbursing clerks in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture.
(c) Disbursing officers who give bonds, but not including the disbursing clerk in the division of accounts and disbursements in the Department of Agriculture.
(d) Persons employed exclusively in the secret service of the Government.
(e) Chief clerks, except those of the Weather Bureau and of the Bureau of Animal Industry, in the Department of Agriculture.
(f) Chiefs of division, except all chiefs of division in the Department of Agriculture.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 28, 1895.
To the Heads of the Executive Departments: As a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Walter Q. Gresham, late Secretary of State, the President directs that the several Executive Departments and the Government Printing Office, in the city of Washington, be closed on Wednesday, the 29th day of May, 1895, the day of the funeral.
HENRY T. THURBER,
Private Secretary.
Private Secretary.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 28, 1895.
It is hereby ordered, That the several Executive Departments and the Government Printing Office be closed on Thursday, the 30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers and sailors who fell in defense of the Union during the War of the Rebellion.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 13, 1895.
In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, and the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the President hereby makes and promulgates the following rules concerning the classified service of the Government Printing Office, to be known as the Government Printing Office Rules:
RULE I.
1. The classified service of the Government Printing Office shall include all persons employed in that office. except those appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and unskilled laborers or workmen,
2. The officers, clerks, and other employees of the Government Printing Office are hereby arranged in the following classes:
Class 1.—All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum.
Class 2.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 per annum.
Class 3.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 per annum.
Class 4.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1,000 per annum.
Class 5.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,000 or more, but less than $1,200 per annum.
Class 6.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,200 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,200 or more, but less than $1,400 per annum.
Class 7.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,400 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,400 or more, but less than $1,600 per annum.
Class 8.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,600 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,600 or more, but less than $1,800 per annum.
Class 9.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,800 or more or a compensation at the rate of $1,800 or more, but less than $2,000 per annum.
Class 10.—All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $2,000 or more per annum.
RULE II.
1. To test fitness for admission to the classified service of the Government Printing Office, examinations of a practical character shall be provided by the Commission. If the trade or occupation is such that a competitive test can not be made, the Commission shall provide regulations for the registration of applicants without competitive tests.
2. Any male citizen of the United States not under 21 or over 45 years of age and any female citizen not under 18 or over 35 years of age may be examined for positions in the Government Printing Office.
3. No application for a position in the Government Printing Office which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades shall be received from any applicant who has not served at least five years at the particular trade to which the position for which he applies belongs, one year of which service must have been rendered as a journeyman.
4. Blank forms of application shall be furnished by the Commission, and the date of reception and also of approval by the Commission of each application shall be entered on the application paper.
RULE III.
1. The grade or standing of every competitor shall be determined under regulations made by the Commission, and each competitor shall be duly notified whether or not he is eligible for appointment.
2. No competitor who has failed to obtain an eligible standing shall be admitted to another test within six months from the date of failure unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause.
3. No eligible shall be admitted to a test during the period of his eligibility unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause.
4. All competitors whose claims of preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes have been allowed by the Commission who attain a general average of 65 per cent or over, and all other competitors who attain a general average of 70 per cent or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the place for which they were examined. The names of all competitors thus rendered eligible shall be entered in the order of grade on the proper register of eligibles.
5. The Commission shall establish regulations for the order of certification of applicants who are registered without competitive examinations under the provisions of Rule II, paragraph I.
6. When two or more eligibles are of the same grade, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which the application papers are filed.
7. The period of eligibility to appointment shall be one year from the date on which the name of the eligible is entered on the register, unless otherwise determined by regulations by the Commission.
RULE IV.
1. All vacancies, unless filled by promotion, transfer, or reappointment, shall be filled in the following manner:
(a) The Public Printer shall, in form and manner to be prescribed by the Commission, request the certification to him of either males or females, or both, eligible to the vacant place.
(b) If fitness for the vacant place is tested by competitive examination, the Commission shall certify from the proper register the names of the three eligibles thereon, of the sex or sexes called for, having the highest averages, who have not been three times certified: Provided, That the eligibles upon any register who have been allowed preference under section 1754 of the Revised Statutes shall be certified according to their grade before all other eligibles thereon: And provided further, That if the vacancy is in a position for which a competitive examination can not be provided certification shall be made of the names of the first three eligibles on the register, of the sex or sexes called for, who have not been three times certified.
2. Of the three names certified to him the Public Printer shall select one, and if at the time of making this selection there are more vacancies than one he may select more than one: Provided, That if the Public Printer shall object in writing to any eligible named in the certification, stating that because of physical incapacity or for other good cause particularly specified such eligible is not capable of properly performing the duties of the vacant place, the Commission may, upon investigation and ascertainment of the fact that the objection made is good and well founded, direct the certification of another eligible in place of the eligible to whom objection is made.
3. When a person designated for appointment shall have reported in person to the Public Printer, he shall be appointed for a probational period of six months, at the end of which period, if his conduct and capacity be satisfactory to the Public Printer, he shall receive absolute appointment; but if his conduct and capacity be not satisfactory he shall be notified that he will not receive absolute appointment, and this notification shall discharge him from the service. The Public Printer shall require the officer under whom the probationer may be serving to carefully observe and report in writing upon the services rendered by and the character and qualifications of such probationer as to punctuality, industry, habits, ability, and adaptability. These reports shall be preserved on file, and the Commission may prescribe the form and manner in which they shall be made.
4. Any person appointed to a position which belongs to one of the recognized mechanical trades may upon reporting for appointment be subjected to a practical test under the supervision of a board designated by the Commission, and if he or she fails to attain a general average of 70 per cent on a maximum of 100 per cent he or she shall be rejected for appointment.
5. In case of public and pressing exigency, demanding the immediate employment of skilled and experienced workmen who can not be at once supplied in the manner provided for in section 2 of this rule, or by transfer under Rule VI, or reinstatement under Rule VII, there may be employed without examination or certification for a period not to exceed thirty days, which with the consent of the Commission may be extended in periods of thirty days each, any persons who have the requisite knowledge or experience who may be available: Provided, That no person shall serve more than ninety days in any one year under such temporary appointment. The year limitation in regard to appointment shall begin to run at the date of the original appointment. Every such temporary appointment and also the discontinuance of the same shall be at once reported to the Commission.
RULE V.
1. Until promotion regulations shall have been applied to the classified service of the Government Printing Office promotions therein may be made upon any test of fitness determined upon by the Public Printer if not disapproved by the Commission.
RULE VI.
1. Transfers may be made as follows:
(a) From a position in the classified service of the Government Printing Office requiring a knowledge of some mechanical trade to a position in any one of the Executive Departments requiring a knowledge of the same mechanical trade, upon requisition from the head of the Department to which the transfer is to be made and the consent of the Public Printer: Provided, That a person so transferred shall not be transferred to another position in one of the Executive Departments unless such other position requires a knowledge of the same mechanical trade upon which the original transfer was based, nor until he has served one year in the position to which he was originally transferred.
(b) From any Executive Department to the classified service of the Government Printing Office upon requisition from the Public Printer and the consent of the head of the Department from which the transfer is to be made.
2. No person shall be transferred as herein authorized until after absolute appointment and until the Commission shall have certified to the officer making the transfer requisition that the person whom it is proposed to transfer has passed an examination to test fitness for the place to which he or she is to be transferred. No person shall be transferred to any place from which he or she may be barred by age limitations for original entrance or by the rules regulating the apportionment of appointments among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia.
RULE VII.
Upon requisition of the Public Printer the Commission shall certify for reinstatement in the Government Printing Office, in a grade requiring no higher examination than the one in which he was formerly employed, any person who within one year next preceding the date of the requisition has through no delinquency or misconduct been separated from the classified service of the Government Printing Office: Provided, That certification may be made, subject to the other conditions of this rule, for the reinstatement of any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late War of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service.
RULE VIII.
The Public Printer shall report to the Commission—
(a) Every probational and every absolute appointment to the service of the Government Printing Office.
(b) Every refusal to make an absolute appointment and the reason therefor, and every declination of an appointment.
(c) Every separation from the service of the Government Printing Office and the cause of such separation, whether death, resignation, or dismissal.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Approved, June 25, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In the exercise of the power vested in him by the Constitution, by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes, and the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the President hereby makes and promulgates the following rule to cancel and be in lieu of Customs Rule V of the Revised Civil-Service Rules:
CUSTOMS RULE V.
1. Until promotion regulations have been applied to a classified customs district the following promotions may be made therein at any time after absolute appointment:
(a) Any employee in any grade, upon any test of fitness determined upon by the nominating officer, to any vacant place in the class next above the one in which he may be serving, except to the positions of weigher and gauger.
(b) Any employee in any grade may be promoted or transferred to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of examiner after passing the examiner examination, to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of weigher after passing the weigher examination, to a vacancy in the lowest class of the grade of gauger after passing the gauger examination, or to a vacancy in the lowest class of any other grade than the one in which he may be serving upon passing the examination provided for that grade.
Approved, July 11, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 15, 1895.
In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the third paragraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, I hereby direct the Secretary of the Interior to amend the classification of the Department of the Interior so as to include among the employees classified thereunder the officers, clerks, and other employees of the pension agencies of said Department.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
But transfers from a pension agency of the Interior Department may be made only as follows: From a pension agency of the Interior Department to the office of the Secretary of the Interior, or of the Assistant Attorney-General for the Interior Department, or to the Pension Office, or from any of the above-named offices to a pension agency, or from one pension agency to another pension agency, upon requisition of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That a transfer from a pension agency to a position in the Interior Department shall not be made when the person to be transferred would not be eligible to original appointment in the departmental service under the law requiring an apportionment of appointments among the States, Territories, and the District of Columbia according to population.
The section and clause as amended will read:
1. Transfers may be made as follows:
(a) From one Department to another, upon requisition by the head of the Department to which the transfer is to be made; but transfers from a pension agency of the Interior Department may be made only as follows: From a pension agency of the Interior Department to the office of the Secretary of the Interior, or of the Assistant Attorney-General for the Interior Department, or to the Pension Office, or from any of the above-named offices to a pension agency, or from one pension agency to another pension agency, upon requisition of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That a transfer from a pension agency to a position in the Interior Department shall not be made when the person to be transferred would not be eligible to original appointment in the departmental service under the law requiring an apportionment of appointments among the States, Territories, and the District of Columbia according to population.
Approved, July 15, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
One designated clerk at each pension agency (designated to sign official checks for the pension agent).
Section 4 is hereby amended as follows: In the third line, after the word "examination," add the following proviso:
Provided, That any person employed in an excepted place in any office or bureau at the time when said office or bureau is brought into the classified service, or any person transferred directly from a nonexcepted to an excepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving, may at any time be directly transferred from such excepted place to any nonexcepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving.
The section as amended will read:
4. No person hereafter appointed to a place under the exceptions to examination made by any departmental rule shall be transferred from such place to a place not also excepted from examination: Provided, That any person employed in an excepted place in any office or bureau at the time when said office or bureau is brought into the classified service, or any person transferred directly from a nonexcepted to an excepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving, may at any time be directly transferred from such excepted place to any nonexcepted place in the office or bureau in which he is serving.
Approved, July 15, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 15, 1895.
Special Departmental Rule I is hereby amended by striking out the whole of the paragraph in section 3, Department of the Interior, relating to the Geological Survey and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
In the Geological Survey: Professional experts and special agents employed for short periods at per diem salaries and paid only when actually employed.
Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Provided, That appointments to positions at pension agencies shall not be charged to the apportionment.
The section as amended will read as follows:
2. Certifications hereunder shall be made in such a manner as to maintain as nearly as possible the apportionment of appointments among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia as required by law: Provided, That appointments to positions at pension agencies shall not be charged to the apportionment.
Section 3, paragraph 2, is hereby amended as follows: In the second line, after the word "register," insert the following: "or when certification is made from any register to fill a vacancy at any pension agency." The paragraph as amended will read:
When certification is made from a supplementary or special register or the printer's assistant or page and messenger-boy register, or when certification is made from any register to fill a vacancy at any pension agency, and there are more vacancies than one to be filled, the appointing officer may select from the three names certified more than one.
Section 6 is hereby amended as follows: Strike out the word "and" at the beginning of line 9, and in line 12, after the word "appointment," insert the following proviso:
And provided further, That at each pension agency at the time of the quarterly payment of pensions such temporary appointments may be made as the needs of the service may demand for a period not to exceed thirty days, which appointments shall not be extended or renewed until the date of the next quarterly payment of pensions.
The section as amended will read:
6. In case of the occurrence of a vacancy in any Department which the public interest requires shall be immediately filled, and which can not be so filled by certification from the eligible registers of the Commission, such vacancy may be filled by temporary appointment outside the civil service until a regular appointment can be made under the provisions of sections 1, 2, and 3 of this rule: Provided, That such temporary appointment shall in no case continue longer than ninety days, and shall expire by limitation at the end of that time: Provided further, That no person shall serve longer than the period herein prescribed in any one year under such temporary appointment. The year limitation in regard to reappointment shall begin to run on the date of the original appointment: And provided further, That at each pension agency at the time of the quarterly payment of pensions such temporary appointments may be made as the needs of the service may demand for a period not to exceed thirty days, which appointments shall not be extended or renewed until the date of the next quarterly payment of pensions. Every such temporary appointment and the discontinuance of the same shall at once be reported to the Commission.
Approved, July 15, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 15, 1895.
In pursuance of the authority contained in the third paragraph of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883, the heads of the several Executive Departments are hereby directed to amend their several classifications so as to include firemen among the employees classified thereunder.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 15, 1895.
Executive orders heretofore issued designating the places to be filled by noncompetitive examination under clause (c) of General Rule III are hereby amended so as to include among those places in the Department of the Interior, in the Geological Survey, the editor and the photographer. Approved:
GROVER CLEVELAND.
In the Bureau of Immigration: One statistician and stenographer, with power to act as immigrant inspector.
Approved, July 30, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Any person occupying the position of engineer, assistant engineer, fireman, messenger, assistant messenger, watchman, or other subordinate position the educational test for appointment to which is below the grade of the educational test required for the position of clerk or copyist may at any time after absolute appointment, if not barred by age limitations, be transferred to any other of said subordinate positions, but shall not be promoted to the position of clerk or copyist or to any place the duties of which are clerical: Provided, That printers' assistants and skilled helpers in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, shall only be eligible for transfer to the grade of operator in that Bureau.
Approved, August 5, 1895.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
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