Chapter XV: Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not (12)

In doing so I must express my regret at not being able to give my assent to a measure which has received the sanction of a majority of the legislators chosen by the people to make laws for their guidance, and I have studiously sought to find sufficient arguments to justify such assent, but unsuccessfully.

Practically it is a question whether the measure under discussion would give an additional dollar to the irredeemable paper currency of the country or not, and whether by requiring three-fourths of the reserve to be retained by the banks and prohibiting interest to be received on the balance it might not prove a contraction.

But the fact can not be concealed that theoretically the bill increases the paper circulation $100,000,000, less only the amount of reserves restrained from circulation by the provision of the second section. The measure has been supported on the theory that it would give increased circulation. It is a fair inference, therefore, that if in practice the measure should fail to create the abundance of circulation expected of it the friends of the measure, particularly those out of Congress, would clamor for such inflation as would give the expected relief.

The theory, in my belief, is a departure from true principles of finance, national interest, national obligations to creditors, Congressional promises, party pledges (on the part of both political parties), and of personal views and promises made by me in every annual message sent to Congress and in each inaugural address.

In my annual message to Congress in December, 1869, the following passages appear:

Among the evils growing out of the rebellion, and not yet referred to,
is that of an irredeemable currency. It is an evil which I hope will
receive your most earnest attention. It is a duty, and one of the
highest duties, of Government to secure to the citizen a medium of
exchange of fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a specie
basis, and no substitute for it can be devised. It should be commenced
now and reached at the earliest practicable moment consistent with a
fair regard to the interests of the debtor class. Immediate resumption,
if practicable, would not be desirable. It would compel the debtor
class to pay, beyond their contracts, the premium on gold at the date
of their purchase, and would bring bankruptcy and ruin to thousands.
Fluctuation, however, in the paper value of the measure of all values
(gold) is detrimental to the interests of trade. It makes the man of
business an involuntary gambler, for in all sales where future payment
is to be made both parties speculate as to what will be the value of
the currency to be paid and received. I earnestly recommend to you,
then, such legislation as will insure a gradual return to specie
payments and put an immediate stop to fluctuations in the value of
currency.

I still adhere to the views then expressed.

As early as December 4, 1865, the House of Representatives passed a resolution, by a vote of 144 yeas to 6 nays, concurring "in the views of the Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the necessity of a contraction of the currency, with a view to as early a resumption of specie payments as the business interests of the country will permit," and pledging "cooperative action to this end as speedily as possible."

The first act passed by the Forty-first Congress, [approved] on the 18th day of March, 1869, was as follows:

AN ACT to strengthen the public credit.

_Be it enacted, etc._, That in order to remove any doubt as to the
purpose of the Government to discharge all just obligations to the
public creditors, and to settle conflicting questions and
interpretations of the law by virtue of which such obligations have
been contracted, it is hereby provided and declared that the faith of
the United States is solemnly pledged to the payment in coin or its
equivalent of all the obligations of the United States not bearing
interest, known as United States notes, and all the interest-bearing
obligations of the United States, except in cases where the law
authorizing the issue of any such obligation has expressly provided that
the same may be paid in lawful money or in other currency than gold and
silver; but none of the said interest-bearing obligations not already
due shall be redeemed or paid before maturity unless at such time United
States notes shall be convertible into coin at the option of the holder,
or unless at such time bonds of the United States bearing a lower rate
of interest than the bonds to be redeemed can be sold at par in coin.
And the United States also solemnly pledges its faith to make provision
at the earliest practicable period for the redemption of the United
States notes in coin.

This act still remains as a continuing pledge of the faith of the United States "to make provision at the earliest practicable period for the redemption of the United States notes in coin."

A declaration contained in the act of June 30, 1864, created an obligation that the total amount of United States notes issued or to be issued should never exceed $400,000,000. The amount in actual circulation was actually reduced to $356,000,000, at which point Congress passed the act of February 4, 1868, suspending the further reduction of the currency. The forty-four millions have ever been regarded as a reserve, to be used only in case of emergency, such as has occurred on several occasions, and must occur when from any cause revenues suddenly fall below expenditures; and such a reserve is necessary, because the fractional currency, amounting to fifty millions, is redeemable in legal tender on call.

It may be said that such a return of fractional currency for redemption is impossible; but let steps be taken for a return to a specie basis and it will be found that silver will take the place of fractional currency as rapidly as it can be supplied, when the premium on gold reaches a sufficiently low point. With the amount of United States notes to be issued permanently fixed within proper limits and the Treasury so strengthened as to be able to redeem them in coin on demand it will then be safe to inaugurate a system of free banking with such provisions as to make compulsory redemption of the circulating notes of the banks in coin, or in United States notes, themselves redeemable and made equivalent to coin.

As a measure preparatory to free banking, and for placing the Government in a condition to redeem its notes in coin "at the earliest practicable period," the revenues of the country should be increased so as to pay current expenses, provide for the sinking fund required by law, and also a surplus to be retained in the Treasury in gold.

I am not a believer in any artificial method of making paper money equal to coin when the coin is not owned or held ready to redeem the promises to pay, for paper money is nothing more than promises to pay, and is valuable exactly in proportion to the amount of coin that it can be converted into. While coin is not used as a circulating medium, or the currency of the country is not convertible into it at par, it becomes an article of commerce as much as any other product. The surplus will seek a foreign market as will any other surplus. The balance of trade has nothing to do with the question. Duties on imports being required in coin creates a limited demand for gold. About enough to satisfy that demand remains in the country. To increase this supply I see no way open but by the Government hoarding through the means above given, and possibly by requiring the national banks to aid.

It is claimed by the advocates of the measure herewith returned that there is an unequal distribution of the banking capital of the country. I was disposed to give great weight to this view of the question at first, but on reflection it will be remembered that there still remains $4,000,000 of authorized bank-note circulation assigned to States having less than their quota not yet taken. In addition to this the States having less than their quota of bank circulation have the option of twenty-five millions more to be taken from those States having more than their proportion. When this is all taken up, or when specie payments are fully restored or are in rapid process of restoration, will be the time to consider the question of "more currency."

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 12, 1874_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without my signature House bill No. 1331, entitled "An act for the relief of Joab Spencer and James R. Mead for supplies furnished the Kansas tribe of Indians." I withheld my approval of said bill for reasons which satisfy me the claim should not be allowed for the entire amount stated in the bill, and which are set forth in the letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 7th instant, a copy of which, with the accompanying papers, is herewith transmitted.

U.S. GRANT.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

_Washington, D.C., May 7, 1874_.

The PRESIDENT.

SIR: I have the honor to return herewith engrossed bill H.R. 1331, entitled "An act for the relief of Joab Spencer and James R. Mead for supplies furnished the Kansas tribe of Indians," and to state that said bill was the subject of a report made to the Department by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on the 11th ultimo, with which he submitted letters from Enoch Hoag, superintendent of Indian affairs, and Mahlon Stubbs, Indian agent, representing that the justness and correctness of the claim of Spencer & Mead had not been established, and suggesting that further proceedings in the premises be deferred until a thorough investigation of the facts and circumstances of the case could be had.

The suggestion of the Indian agent received the concurrence of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the approval of this Department, and on the 17th ultimo the attention of Congress was invited to the subject in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the Secretary of the Interior. At the latter date the bill appears to have been pending in the Senate, of which fact this Department at that time was not informed.

On the 5th instant the engrossed bill (H.R. No. 1331) was received by reference from the Executive Office, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for a further report on the subject, and on the 6th instant that officer returned said bill to this Department with a letter presenting his views in relation to the matter and suggesting that the rights of the Indians and of Messrs. Spencer & Mead would be fully protected by a modification of the bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to pay such amount of their claim as might be found to be due. The suggestion meets the approval of this Department.

Copies of the papers connected with this claim are herewith submitted.[81] I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

B.R. COWEN,

_Acting Secretary_.

[Footnote 81: Omitted.]

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas certain turbulent and disorderly persons, pretending that Elisha Baxter, the present executive of Arkansas, was not elected, have combined together with force and arms to resist his authority as such executive and other authorities of said State; and

Whereas said Elisha Baxter has been declared duly elected by the general assembly of said State, as provided in the constitution thereof, and has for a long period been exercising the functions of said office, into which he was inducted according to the constitution and laws of said State, and ought by its citizens to be considered as the lawful executive thereof; and

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect every State in the Union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, against domestic violence; and

Whereas said Elisha Baxter, under section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, has heretofore made application to me to protect said State and the citizens thereof against domestic violence; and

Whereas the general assembly of said State was convened in extra session at the capital thereof on the 11th instant, pursuant to a call made by said Elisha Baxter, and both houses thereof have passed a joint resolution also applying to me to protect the State against domestic violence; and

Whereas it is provided in the laws of the United States that in all cases of insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such State, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, to employ such part of the land and naval forces as shall be judged necessary for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or causing the laws to be duly executed; and

Whereas it is required that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby make proclamation and command all turbulent and disorderly persons to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within ten days from this date, and hereafter to submit themselves to the lawful authority of said executive and the other constituted authorities of said State; and I invoke the aid and cooperation of all good citizens thereof to uphold law and preserve public peace.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of May, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-eighth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the thirty-third article of a treaty concluded at Washington on the 8th day of May, 1871, between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, it was provided that--

Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of this treaty shall take effect as soon as the laws required to carry them into operation shall have been passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, by the parliament of Canada, and by the legislature of Prince Edwards Island on the one hand, and by the Congress of the United States on the other.

And whereas it is provided by Article XXXII of the treaty aforesaid that--

The provisions and stipulations of Articles XVIII to XXV of this
treaty, inclusive, shall extend to the colony of Newfoundland so far
as they are applicable. But if the Imperial Parliament, the legislature
of Newfoundland, or the Congress of the United States shall not embrace
the colony of Newfoundland in their laws enacted for carrying the
foregoing articles into effect, then this article shall be of no
effect; but the omission to make provision by law to give it effect, by
either of the legislative bodies aforesaid, shall not in any way impair
any other articles of this treaty.

And whereas by the second section of an act entitled "An act to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed in the city of Washington the 8th day of May, 1871, relating to the fisheries," it is provided--

That whenever the colony of Newfoundland shall give its consent to the
application of the stipulations and provisions of the said articles
eighteenth to twenty-fifth of said treaty, inclusive, to that colony,
and the legislature thereof and the Imperial Parliament shall pass the
necessary laws for that purpose, the above-enumerated articles, being
the produce of the fisheries of the colony of Newfoundland, shall be
admitted into the United States free of duty from and after the date
of a proclamation by the President of the United States declaring that
he has satisfactory evidence that the said colony of Newfoundland has
consented, in a due and proper manner, to have the provisions of the
said articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, of the said treaty
extended to it, and to allow the United States the full benefits of
all the stipulations therein contained, and shall be so admitted free
of duty so long as the said articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth,
inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty shall remain in force
according to the terms and conditions of article thirty-third of said
treaty.

And whereas the Secretary of State of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Washington have recorded in a protocol of a conference held by them at the Department of State in Washington on the 28th day of May, 1874, in the following language:

PROTOCOL OF A CONFERENCE HELD AT WASHINGTON ON THE 28TH DAY OF MAY, 1874.

Whereas it is provided by Article XXXII of the treaty between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland signed at Washington on the 8th of May, 1871, as follows:

"ARTICLE XXXII.

"It is further agreed that the provisions and stipulations of Articles XVIII to XXV of this treaty, inclusive, shall extend to the colony of Newfoundland so far as they are applicable. But if the Imperial Parliament, the legislature of Newfoundland, or the Congress of the United States shall not embrace the colony of Newfoundland in their laws enacted for carrying the foregoing articles into effect, then this article shall be of no effect; but the omission to make provision by law to give it effect, by either of the legislative bodies aforesaid, shall not in any way impair any other articles of this treaty;" and

Whereas an act was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, and approved on the 1st day of March, 1873, by the President of the United States, entitled "An act to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed in the city of Washington the 8th of May, 1871, relating to fisheries," by which act it is provided:

"SEC. 2. That whenever the colony of Newfoundland shall give its consent to the application of the stipulations and provisions of the said articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth of said treaty, inclusive, to that colony, and the legislature thereof and the Imperial Parliament shall pass the necessary laws for that purpose, the above-enumerated articles, being the produce of the fisheries of the colony of Newfoundland, shall be admitted into the United States free of duty from and after the date of a proclamation by the President of the United States declaring that he has satisfactory evidence that the said colony of Newfoundland has consented, in a due and proper manner, to have the provisions of the said articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, of the said treaty extended to it, and to allow the United States the full benefits of all the stipulations therein contained, and shall be so admitted free of duty so long as the said articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty shall remain in force according to the terms and conditions of article thirty-third of said treaty;" and

Whereas an act was passed by the governor, legislative council, and assembly of Newfoundland, in legislative session convened, in the thirty-seventh year of Her Majesty's reign, and assented to by Her Majesty on the 12th day of May, 1874, intituled "An act to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty of Washington as far as they relate to this colony:"

The undersigned, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States, and the Right Hon. Sir Edward Thornton, one of Her Majesty's most honorable privy council, knight commander of the most honorable Order of the Bath, Her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States of America, duly authorized for this purpose by their respective Governments, having met together at Washington, and having found that the laws required to carry the Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Articles XXX and XXXII of the treaty aforesaid into operation have been passed by the Congress of the United States on the one part, and by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, by the parliament of Canada, and by the legislature of Prince Edwards Island and the legislature of Newfoundland on the other, hereby declare that Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty between the United States of America and Her Britannic Majesty shall take effect in accordance with Article XXXIII of said treaty between the citizens of the United States of America and Her Majesty's subjects in the colony of Newfoundland on the 1st day of June next.

In witness whereof the undersigned have signed this protocol and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done in duplicate at Washington, this 28th day of May, 1874.

[SEAL.] HAMILTON FISH.

[SEAL.] EDWD. THORNTON.

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, in pursuance of the premises, do hereby declare that I have received satisfactory evidence that the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and the legislature of Newfoundland have passed laws on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the said treaty as contained in articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 29th day of May, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-eighth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has been satisfactorily represented to me that turbulent and disorderly persons have combined together with force and arms to overthrow the State government of Louisiana and to resist the laws and constituted authorities of said State; and

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect every State in this Union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, against domestic violence; and

Whereas it is provided in the laws of the United States that in all cases of insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such State, or of the executive when the legislature can not be convened, to call forth the militia of any other State or States, or to employ such part of the land and naval forces as shall be judged necessary, for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or causing the laws to be duly executed; and

Whereas the legislature of said State is not now in session and can not be convened in time to meet the present emergency, and the executive of said State, under section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, has therefore made application to me for such part of the military force of the United States as may be necessary and adequate to protect said State and the citizens thereof against domestic violence and to enforce the due execution of the laws; and

Whereas it is required that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do hereby make proclamation and command said turbulent and disorderly persons to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within five days from this date, and hereafter to submit themselves to the laws and constituted authorities of said State; and I invoke the aid and cooperation of all good citizens thereof to uphold law and preserve the public peace.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of September, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-ninth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

We are reminded by the changing seasons that it is time to pause in our daily avocations and offer thanks to Almighty God for the mercies and abundance of the year which is drawing to a close.

The blessings of free government continue to be vouchsafed to us; the earth has responded to the labor of the husbandman; the land has been free from pestilence; internal order is being maintained, and peace with other powers has prevailed.

It is fitting that at stated periods we should cease from our accustomed pursuits and from the turmoil of our daily lives and unite in thankfulness for the blessings of the past and in the cultivation of kindly feelings toward each other.

Now, therefore, recognizing these considerations, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do recommend to all citizens to assemble in their respective places of worship on Thursday, the 26th day of November next, and express their thanks for the mercy and favor of Almighty God, and, laying aside all political contentions and all secular occupations, to observe such day as a day of rest, thanksgiving, and praise.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of October, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-ninth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, pursuant to the second section of the act of Congress approved the 23d of March last, entitled "An act to authorize the President to accept for citizens of the United States the jurisdiction of certain tribunals in the Ottoman dominions and Egypt, established or to be established under the authority of the Sublime Porte and of the Government of Egypt," the President is authorized, for the benefit of American citizens residing in the Turkish dominions, to accept the recent law of the Ottoman Porte ceding the right of foreigners possessing immovable property in said dominions; and

Whereas, pursuant to the authority thus in me vested, I have authorized George H. Boker, accredited as minister resident of the United States to the Ottoman Porte, to sign on behalf of this Government the protocol accepting the law aforesaid of the said Ottoman Porte, which protocol and law are, word for word, as follows:

[Translation.]

The United States of America and His Majesty the Sultan being desirous to establish by a special act the agreement entered upon between them regarding the admission of American citizens to the right of holding real estate granted to foreigners by the law promulgated on the 7th of Sepher, 1284 (January 18, 1867), have authorized:

The President of the United States of America, George H. Boker, minister resident of the United States of America near the Sublime Porte, and

His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, His Excellency A. Aarifi Pasha, his minister of foreign affairs, to sign the protocol which follows:

PROTOCOL.

The law granting foreigners the right of holding real estate does not interfere with the immunities specified by the treaties, and which will continue to protect the person and the movable property of foreigners who may become owners of real estate.

As the exercise of this right of possessing real property may induce foreigners to establish themselves in larger numbers in the Ottoman Empire, the Imperial Government thinks it proper to anticipate and to prevent the difficulties to which the application of this law may give rise in certain localities. Such is the object of the arrangements which follow:

The domicile of any person residing upon the Ottoman soil being inviolable, and as no one can enter it without the consent of the owner, except by virtue of orders emanating from competent authority and with the assistance of the magistrate or functionary invested with the necessary powers, the residence of foreigners is inviolable on the same principle, in conformity with the treaties, and the agents of the public force can not enter it without the assistance of the consul or of the delegate of the consul of the power on which the foreigner depends.

By residence we understand the house of inhabitation and its dependencies; that is to say, the outhouses, courts, gardens, and neighboring inclosures, to the exclusion of all other parts of the property.

In the localities distant by less than nine hours' journey from the consular residence, the agents of the public force can not enter the residence of a foreigner without the assistance of a consul, as was before said.

On his part the consul is bound to give his immediate assistance to the local authority so as not to let six hours elapse between the moment which he may be informed and the moment of his departure or the departure of his delegate, so that the action of the authorities may never be suspended more than twenty-four hours.

In the localities distant by nine hours or more than nine hours of travel from the residence of the consular agent, the agents of the public force may, on the request of the local authority, and with the assistance of three members of the council of the elders of the commune, enter into the residence of a foreigner without being assisted by the consular agent, but only in case of urgency and for the search and the proof of the crime of murder, of attempt at murder, of incendiarism, of armed robbery either with infraction or by night in an inhabited house, of armed rebellion, and of the fabrication of counterfeit money; and this entry may be made whether the crime was committed by a foreigner or by an Ottoman subject, and whether it took place in the residence of a foreigner or not in his residence, or in any other place.

These regulations are not applicable but to the parts of the real estate which constitute the residence, as it has been heretofore defined.

Beyond the residence the action of the police shall be exercised freely and without reserve; but in case a person charged with crime or offense should be arrested, and the accused shall be a foreigner, the immunities attached to his person shall be observed in respect to him.

The functionary or the officer charged with the accomplishment of a domiciliary visit in the exceptional circumstances determined before, and the members of the council of elders who shall assist him, will be obliged to make out a _procès verbal_ of the domiciliary visit and to communicate it immediately to the superior authority under whose jurisdiction they are, and the latter shall transmit it to the nearest consular agent without delay.

A special regulation will be promulgated by the Sublime Porte to determine the mode of action of the local police in the several cases provided heretofore.

In localities more distant than nine hours' travel from the residence of the consular agent, in which the law of the judicial organization of the _velayet_ may be in force, foreigners shall be tried without the assistance of the consular delegate by the council of elders fulfilling the function of justices of the peace, and by the tribunal of the canton, as well for actions not exceeding 1,000 piasters as for offenses entailing a fine of 500 piasters only at the maximum.

Foreigners shall have in any case the right of appeal to the tribunal of the arrondissement against the judgments issued as above stated, and the appeal shall be followed and judged with the assistance of the consul in conformity with the treaties.

The appeal shall always suspend the execution of a sentence.

In all cases the forcible execution of the judgments, issued on the conditions determined heretofore, shall not take place without the cooperation of the consul or of his delegate.

The Imperial Government will enact a law which shall determine the rules of procedure to be observed by the parties in the application of the preceding regulations.

Foreigners, in whatever locality they may be, may freely submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the council of elders or of the tribunal of the canton without the assistance of the consul in cases which do not exceed the competency of these councils or tribunals, reserving always the right of appeal before the tribunal of the arrondissement, where the case may be brought and tried with the assistance of the consul or his delegate.

The consent of a foreigner to be tried as above stated, without the assistance of his consul, shall always be given in writing and in advance of all procedure.

It is well understood that all these restrictions do not concern cases which have for their object questions of real estate, which shall be tried and determined under the conditions established by the law.

The right of defense and the publicity of the hearings shall be assured in all cases to foreigners who may appear before the Ottoman tribunals, as well as to Ottoman subjects.

The preceding dispositions shall remain in force until the revision of the ancient treaties, a revision which the Sublime Porte reserves to itself the right to bring about hereafter by an understanding between it and the friendly powers.

In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the protocol and have affixed thereto their seals.

Done at Constantinople the 11th of August, 1874.

[SEAL.] (Signed) A. AARIFI.

[SEAL.] (Signed) GEO. H. BOKER.

[Translation.]

LAW CONCEDING TO FOREIGNERS THE RIGHT OF HOLDING REAL ESTATE IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

Imperial Rescript.--Let it be done in conformity with the contents. 7 Sepher, 1284 (January 18, 1867).

With the object of developing the prosperity of the country, to put an end to the difficulties, to the abuses, and to the uncertainties which have arisen on the subject of the right of foreigners to hold property in the Ottoman Empire, and to complete, in accordance with a precise regulation, the safeguards which are due to financial interests and to administrative action, the following legislative enactments have been promulgated by the order of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan:

ARTICLE I. Foreigners are admitted by the same privilege as Ottoman subjects, and without any other restriction, to enjoy the right of holding real estate, whether in the city or the country, throughout the Empire, with the exception of the Province of the Hédjaz, by submitting themselves to the laws and the regulations which govern Ottoman subjects as is hereafter stated.

This arrangement does not concern subjects of Ottoman birth who have changed their nationality, who shall be governed in this matter by a special law.

ART. II. Foreigners, proprietors of real estate in town or in country, are in consequence placed upon terms of equality with Ottoman subjects in all things that concern their landed property.

The legal effect of this equality is--

First. To oblige them to conform to all the laws and regulations of the police or of the municipality which govern at present or may govern hereafter the enjoyment, the transmission, the alienation, and the hypothecation of landed property.

Second. To pay all charges and taxes, under whatever form or denomination they may be, that are levied, or may be levied hereafter, upon city or country property.

Third. To render them directly amenable to the Ottoman civil tribunals in all questions relating to landed property and in all real actions, whether as plaintiffs or as defendants, even when either party is a foreigner. In short, they are in all things to hold real estate by the same title, on the same condition, and under the same forms as Ottoman owners, and without being able to avail themselves of their personal nationality, except under the reserve of the immunities attached to their persons and their movable goods, according to the treaties.

ART. III. In case of the bankruptcy of a foreigner possessing real estate, the assignees of the bankrupt may apply to the authorities and to the Ottoman civil tribunals requiring the sale of the real estate possessed by the bankrupt, and which by its nature and according to law is responsible for the debts of the owner.

The same course shall be followed when a foreigner shall have obtained against another foreigner owning real estate a judgment of condemnation before a foreign tribunal.

For the execution of this judgment against the real estate of his debtor he shall apply to the competent Ottoman authorities in order to obtain the sale of that real estate which is responsible for the debts of the owner; and this judgment shall be executed by the Ottoman authorities and tribunals only after they have decided that the real estate of which the sale is required really belongs to the category of that property which may be sold for the payment of debt.

ART. IV. Foreigners have the privilege to dispose, by donation or by testament, of that real estate of which such disposition is permitted by law.

As to that real estate of which they may not have disposed or of which the law does not permit them to dispose by gift or testament, its succession shall be governed in accordance with Ottoman law.

ART. V. All foreigners shall enjoy the privileges of the present law as soon as the powers on which they depend shall agree to the arrangements proposed by the Sublime Porte for the exercise of the right to hold real estate.

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, have caused the said protocol and law to be made public for the information and guidance of citizens of the United States.

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 29th day of October, A.D. 1874, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-ninth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EXECUTIVE ORDER.

WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1874_.

Whereas it has been brought to the notice of the President of the United States that in the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine to be held in the city of Philadelphia in the year 1876 for the purpose of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the independence of the United States it is desirable that from the Executive Departments of the Government of the United States in which there may be articles suitable for the purpose intended there should appear such articles and materials as will, when presented in a collective exhibition, illustrate the functions and administrative faculties of the Government in time of peace and its resources as a war power, and thereby serve to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their adaptations to the wants of the people:

Now, for the purpose of securing a complete and harmonious arrangement of the articles and materials designed to be exhibited from the Executive Departments of the Government, it is ordered that a board to be composed of one person to be named by the head of each of the Executive Departments which may have articles and materials to be exhibited, and also of one person to be named in behalf of the Smithsonian Institution and one to be named in behalf of the Department of Agriculture, be charged with the preparation, arrangement, and safe-keeping of such articles and materials as the heads of the several Departments and the Commissioner of Agriculture and the Director of the Smithsonian Institution may respectively decide shall be embraced in the collection; that one of the persons thus named, to be designated by the President, shall be chairman of such board, and that the board appoint from their own number such other officers as they may think necessary; and that the said board when organized be authorized, under the direction of the President, to confer with the executive officers of the Centennial Exhibition in relation to such matters connected with the subject as may pertain to the respective Departments having articles and materials on exhibition; and that the names of the persons thus selected by the heads of the several Departments, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Director of the Smithsonian Institution shall be submitted to the President for designation.

By order of the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 22.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, March 9, 1874_.

I. The following order has been received from the President of the United States:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 9, 1874_.

It is with deep regret that the President announces to the people of the United States the death of Millard Fillmore, one of his honored predecessors, who died at Buffalo, N.Y., last evening.

The long-continued and useful public service and eminent purity of character of the deceased ex-President will be remembered beyond the days of mourning in which a nation will be thrown by the event which is thus announced.

As a mark of respect to his memory, it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington be draped in mourning until the close of the day on which the funeral shall take place, and that all business be suspended on the day of the funeral.

It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable military and naval honors to be paid on the occasion to the memory of the eminent citizen whose life is now closed.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
HAMILTON FISH,
_Secretary of State_.

II. In compliance with the President's instructions, the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. on the day after the receipt of this order at each military post, when the order will be read to them, and the labors of that day will thereafter cease.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.

At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-seven guns.

The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of thirty days.

By order of the Secretary of War:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
_Adjutant-General_.

SPECIAL ORDER.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, March 9, 1874_.

The President of the United States announces the death of ex-President Millard Fillmore in the following order:

[For order see preceding page.]

In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that the ensign at each naval station and of each vessel of the United States Navy in commission be hoisted at half-mast from sunrise to sunset, and that a gun be fired at intervals of every half hour from sunrise to sunset at each naval station and on board of flagships and of vessels acting singly, on Thursday, the 12th instant, the day of the funeral, where this order may be received in time, otherwise on the day after its receipt.

The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will wear the usual badge of mourning attached to the sword hilt and on the left arm for the period of thirty days.

GEO. M. ROBESON,

_Secretary of the Navy_.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, D.C., May 27, 1874_.

SIR:[82] The President directs me to say that the several Departments of the Government will be closed on the 30th instant, in order to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

O.E. BABCOCK, _Secretary_.

[Footnote 82: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]

WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1874_.

The Civil Service Commission, at its sessions at Washington, having recommended certain rules[83] to be prescribed by the President for the government of the Light-House Service of the United States, these rules as herewith published are approved, and their provisions will be enforced by the proper officers.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 83: Omitted.]

AUGUST 31, 1874.

It appearing to me from their trial at Washington and at the city of New York that the further extension of the civil-service rules will promote the efficiency of the public service, it is ordered that such rules be, and they are hereby, extended to the several Federal offices at the city and in the customs district of Boston, and that the proper measures be taken for carrying this order into effect.

U.S. GRANT.

SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 7, 1874_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Since the convening of Congress one year ago the nation has undergone a prostration in business and industries such as has not been witnessed with us for many years. Speculation as to the causes for this prostration might be indulged in without profit, because as many theories would be advanced as there would be independent writers--those who expressed their own views without borrowing--upon the subject. Without indulging in theories as to the cause of this prostration, therefore, I will call your attention only to the fact, and to some plain questions as to which it would seem there should be no disagreement.

During this prostration two essential elements of prosperity have been most abundant--labor and capital. Both have been largely unemployed. Where security has been undoubted, capital has been attainable at very moderate rates. Where labor has been wanted, it has been found in abundance, at cheap rates compared with what--of necessaries and comforts of life--could be purchased with the wages demanded. Two great elements of prosperity, therefore, have not been denied us. A third might be added: Our soil and climate are unequaled, within the limits of any contiguous territory under one nationality, for its variety of products to feed and clothe a people and in the amount of surplus to spare to feed less favored peoples. Therefore, with these facts in view, it seems to me that wise statesmanship, at this session of Congress, would dictate legislation ignoring the past; directing in proper channels these great elements of prosperity to any people. Debt, debt abroad, is the only element that can, with always a sound currency, enter into our affairs to cause any continued depression in the industries and prosperity of our people.

A great conflict for national existence made necessary, for temporary purposes, the raising of large sums of money from whatever source attainable. It made it necessary, in the wisdom of Congress--and I do not doubt their wisdom in the premises, regarding the necessity of the times--to devise a system of national currency which it proved to be impossible to keep on a par with the recognized currency of the civilized world. This begot a spirit of speculation involving an extravagance and luxury not required for the happiness or prosperity of a people, and involving, both directly and indirectly, foreign indebtedness. The currency, being of fluctuating value, and therefore unsafe to hold for legitimate transactions requiring money, became a subject of speculation within itself. These two causes, however, have involved us in a foreign indebtedness, contracted in good faith by borrower and lender, which should be paid in coin, and according to the bond agreed upon when the debt was contracted--gold or its equivalent. The good faith of the Government can not be violated toward creditors without national disgrace. But our commerce should be encouraged; American shipbuilding and carrying capacity increased; foreign markets sought for products of the soil and manufactories, to the end that we may be able to pay these debts. Where a new market can be created for the sale of our products, either of the soil, the mine, or the manufactory, a new means is discovered of utilizing our idle capital and labor to the advantage of the whole people. But, in my judgment, the first step toward accomplishing this object is to secure a currency of fixed, stable value; a currency good wherever civilization reigns; one which, if it becomes superabundant with one people, will find a market with some other; a currency which has as its basis the labor necessary to produce it, which will give to it its value. Gold and silver are now the recognized medium of exchange the civilized world over, and to this we should return with the least practicable delay. In view of the pledges of the American Congress when our present legal-tender system was adopted, and debt contracted, there should be no delay--certainly no unnecessary delay--in fixing by legislation a method by which we will return to specie. To the accomplishment of this end I invite your special attention. I believe firmly that there can be no prosperous and permanent revival of business and industries until a policy is adopted--with legislation to carry it out--looking to a return to a specie basis. It is easy to conceive that the debtor and speculative classes may think it of value to them to make so-called money abundant until they can throw a portion of their burdens upon others. But even these, I believe, would be disappointed in the result if a course should be pursued which will keep in doubt the value of the legal-tender medium of exchange. A revival of productive industry is needed by all classes; by none more than the holders of property, of whatever sort, with debts to liquidate from realization upon its sale. But admitting that these two classes of citizens are to be benefited by expansion, would it be honest to give it? Would not the general loss be too great to justify such relief? Would it not be just as honest and prudent to authorize each debtor to issue his own legal-tenders to the extent of his liabilities? Than to do this, would it not be safer, for fear of overissues by unscrupulous creditors, to say that all debt obligations are obliterated in the United States, and now we commence anew, each possessing all he has at the time free from incumbrance? These propositions are too absurd to be entertained for a moment by thinking or honest people. Yet every delay in preparation for final resumption partakes of this dishonesty, and is only less in degree as the hope is held out that a convenient season will at last arrive for the good work of redeeming our pledges to commence. It will never come, in my opinion, except by positive action by Congress, or by national disasters which will destroy, for a time at least, the credit of the individual and the State at large. A sound currency might be reached by total bankruptcy and discredit of the integrity of the nation and of individuals. I believe it is in the power of Congress at this session to devise such legislation as will renew confidence, revive all the industries, start us on a career of prosperity to last for many years and to save the credit of the nation and of the people. Steps toward the return to a specie basis are the great requisites to this devoutly to be sought for end. There are others which I may touch upon hereafter.