Chapter IX: Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not (6)

Educational interest may well be served by the grant of the proceeds of the sale of public lands to settlers. I do not wish to be understood as recommending in the least degree a curtailment of what is being done by the General Government for the encouragement of education.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior submitted with this will give you all the information collected and prepared for publication in regard to the census taken during the year 1870; the operations of the Bureau of Education for the year; the Patent Office; the Pension Office; the Land Office, and the Indian Bureau.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture gives the operations of his Department for the year. As agriculture is the groundwork of our prosperity, too much importance can not be attached to the labors of this Department. It is in the hands of an able head, with able assistants, all zealously devoted to introducing into the agricultural productions of the nation all useful products adapted to any of the various climates and soils of our vast territory, and to giving all useful information as to the method of cultivation, the plants, cereals, and other products adapted to particular localities. Quietly but surely the Agricultural Bureau is working a great national good, and if liberally supported the more widely its influence will be extended and the less dependent we shall be upon the products of foreign countries.

The subject of compensation to the heads of bureaus and officials holding positions of responsibility, and requiring ability and character to fill properly, is one to which your attention is invited. But few of the officials receive a compensation equal to the respectable support of a family, while their duties are such as to involve millions of interest. In private life services demand compensation equal to the services rendered; a wise economy would dictate the same rule in the Government service.

I have not given the estimates for the support of Government for the ensuing year, nor the comparative statement between the expenditures for the year just passed and the one just preceding, because all these figures are contained in the accompanying reports or in those presented directly to Congress. These estimates have my approval.

More than six years having elapsed since the last hostile gun was fired between the armies then arrayed against each other--one for the perpetuation, the other for the destruction, of the Union--it may well be considered whether it is not now time that the disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment should be removed. That amendment does not exclude the ballot, but only imposes the disability to hold offices upon certain classes. When the purity of the ballot is secure, majorities are sure to elect officers reflecting the views of the majority. I do not see the advantage or propriety of excluding men from office merely because they were before the rebellion of standing and character sufficient to be elected to positions requiring them to take oaths to support the Constitution, and admitting to eligibility those entertaining precisely the same views, but of less standing in their communities. It may be said that the former violated an oath, while the latter did not; the latter did not have it in their power to do so. If they had taken this oath, it can not be doubted they would have broken it as did the former class. If there are any great criminals, distinguished above all others for the part they took in opposition to the Government, they might, in the judgment of Congress, be excluded from such an amnesty.

This subject is submitted for your careful consideration.

The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic citizens would like to see. Social ostracism for opinion's sake, personal violence or threats toward persons entertaining political views opposed to those entertained by the majority of the old citizens, prevents immigration and the flow of much-needed capital into the States lately in rebellion. It will be a happy condition of the country when the old citizens of these States will take an interest in public affairs, promulgate ideas honestly entertained, vote for men representing their views, and tolerate the same freedom of expression and ballot in those entertaining different political convictions.

Under the provisions of the act of Congress approved February 21, 1871, a Territorial government was organized in the District of Columbia. Its results have thus far fully realized the expectations of its advocates. Under the direction of the Territorial officers, a system of improvements has been inaugurated by means of which Washington is rapidly becoming a city worthy of the nation's capital. The citizens of the District having voluntarily taxed themselves to a large amount for the purpose of contributing to the adornment of the seat of Government, I recommend liberal appropriations on the part of Congress, in order that the Government may bear its just share of the expense of carrying out a judicious system of improvements.

By the great fire in Chicago the most important of the Government buildings in that city were consumed. Those burned had already become inadequate to the wants of the Government in that growing city, and, looking to the near future, were totally inadequate. I recommend, therefore, that an appropriation be made immediately to purchase the remainder of the square on which the burned buildings stood, provided it can be purchased at a fair valuation, or provided that the legislature of Illinois will pass a law authorizing its condemnation for Government purposes; and also an appropriation of as much money as can properly be expended toward the erection of new buildings during this fiscal year.

The number of immigrants ignorant of our laws, habits, etc., coming into our country annually has become so great and the impositions practiced upon them so numerous and flagrant that I suggest Congressional action for their protection. It seems to me a fair subject of legislation by Congress. I can not now state as fully as I desire the nature of the complaints made by immigrants of the treatment they receive, but will endeavor to do so during the session of Congress, particularly if the subject should receive your attention.

It has been the aim of the Administration to enforce honesty and efficiency in all public offices. Every public servant who has violated the trust placed in him has been proceeded against with all the rigor of the law. If bad men have secured places, it has been the fault of the system established by law and custom for making appointments, or the fault of those who recommend for Government positions persons not sufficiently well known to them personally, or who give letters indorsing the characters of office seekers without a proper sense of the grave responsibility which such a course devolves upon them. A civil-service reform which can correct this abuse is much desired. In mercantile pursuits the business man who gives a letter of recommendation to a friend to enable him to obtain credit from a stranger is regarded as morally responsible for the integrity of his friend and his ability to meet his obligations. A reformatory law which would enforce this principle against all indorsers of persons for public place would insure great caution in making recommendations. A salutary lesson has been taught the careless and the dishonest public servant in the great number of prosecutions and convictions of the last two years.

It is gratifying to notice the favorable change which is taking place throughout the country in bringing to punishment those who have proven recreant to the trusts confided to them and in elevating to public office none but those who possess the confidence of the honest and the virtuous, who, it will always be found, comprise the majority of the community in which they live.

In my message to Congress one year ago I urgently recommended a reform in the civil service of the country. In conformity with that recommendation Congress, in the ninth section of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1871, gave the necessary authority to the Executive to inaugurate a civil-service reform, and placed upon him the responsibility of doing so. Under the authority of said act I convened a board of gentlemen eminently qualified for the work to devise rules and regulations to effect the needed reform. Their labors are not yet complete, but it is believed that they will succeed in devising a plan that can be adopted to the great relief of the Executive, the heads of Departments, and members of Congress, and which will redound to the true interest of the public service. At all events, the experiment shall have a fair trial.

I have thus hastily summed up the operations of the Government during the last year, and made such suggestions as occur to me to be proper for your consideration. I submit them with a confidence that your combined action will be wise, statesmanlike, and in the best interests of the whole country.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 48: See pp. 134-135.]

[Footnote 49: See pp. 135-136.]

[Footnote 50: See pp. 136-138.]

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 4, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In compliance with section 2 of the act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1871, approved July 11, 1870, I herewith transmit the names and reports of and the amounts paid to consular agents of the United States.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith to Congress a report, dated November 8, 1871, received from the Secretary of State, in compliance with the requirement of the act of March 3, 1871, making appropriations, among other things, for the increase of expenses and compensation of certain diplomatic and consular officers of the United States on account of the late war between France and Prussia. The expenditures therein mentioned have been made on my approval.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I herewith transmit to Congress a report, dated the 4th instant, with the accompanying papers,[51] received from the Secretary of State, in compliance with the requirements of the eighteenth section of the act entitled "An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States," approved August 18, 1856.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 51: Report of fees collected, etc., by consular officers of the United States for 1870, and tariff of consular fees prescribed by the President October 1, 1870.]

WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

In pursuance of the provisions of the second section of the act approved June 20, 1864, entitled "An act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year ending the 30th of June, 1865, and for other purposes," I inform Congress that William Heine, a consular clerk, was on the 30th of August last removed from office for the following cause, viz: Insubordination, disobedience of orders, and disrespectful conduct toward his superiors.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 5th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.[52]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 52: Correspondence relative to the retirement of Constantin de Catacazy, minister from Russia to the United States.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

In accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1871, I convened a commission of eminent gentlemen to devise rules and regulations for the purpose of reforming the civil service. Their labors are now completed, and I transmit herewith their report,[53] together with the rules which they recommend for my action. These rules have been adopted and will go into effect on the 1st day of January, 1872.

Under the law referred to, as I interpret it, the authority is already invested in the Executive to enforce these regulations, with full power to abridge, alter, or amend them, at his option, when changes may be deemed advisable.

These views, together with the report of the commissioners, are submitted for your careful consideration as to whether further legislation may be necessary in order to carry out an effective and beneficial civil-service reform. If left to me, without further Congressional action, the rules prescribed by the commission, under the reservation already mentioned, will be faithfully executed; but they are not binding, without further legislation, upon my successors.

Being desirous of bringing this subject to the attention of Congress before the approaching recess, I have not time to sufficiently examine the accompanying report to enable me to suggest definite legislative action to insure the support which may be necessary in order to give a thorough trial to a policy long needed.

I ask for all the strength which Congress can give me to enable me to carry out the reforms in the civil service recommended by the commission, and adopted to take effect, as before stated, on January 1, 1872.

The law which provides for the convening of a commission to devise rules and regulations for reforming the civil service authorizes, I think, the permanent organization of a primary board under whose general direction all examinations of applicants for public office shall be conducted. There is no appropriation to continue such a board beyond the termination of its present labors. I therefore recommend that a proper appropriation be made to continue the services of the present board for another year, and in view of the fact that three members of the board held positions in the public service, which precludes them from receiving extra compensation, under existing laws, that they be authorized to receive a fair compensation for extra services rendered by them in the performance of this duty.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 53: Omitted.]

RULES FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE.

1. No person shall be admitted to any position in the civil service within the appointment of the President or the heads of Departments who is not a citizen of the United States; who shall not have furnished satisfactory evidence in regard to character, health, and age, and who shall not have passed a satisfactory examination in speaking, reading, and writing the English language.

2. An advisory board of suitable persons, to be employed by the President under the ninth section of the act of March 3, 1871, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872, and for other purposes," shall, so far as practicable, group the positions in each branch of the civil service according to the character of the duties to be performed, and shall grade each group from lowest to highest for the purpose of promotion within the group. Admission to the civil service shall always be to the lowest grade of any group; and to such positions as can not be grouped or graded admission shall be determined as provided for the lowest grade.

3. A vacancy occurring in the lowest grade of any group of offices shall be filled, after due public notice, from all applicants who shall present themselves, and who shall have furnished the evidence and satisfied the preliminary examination already mentioned, and who shall have passed a public competitive examination to test knowledge, ability, and special qualifications for the performance of the duties of the office. The board conducting such competitive examination shall prepare, under the supervision of the Advisory Board, a list of the names of the applicants in the order of their excellence as proved by such examination, beginning with the highest, and shall then certify to the nominating or appointing power, as the case may be, the names standing at the head of such list, not exceeding three, and from the names thus certified the appointment shall be made.

4. A vacancy occurring in any grade of a group of offices above the lowest shall be filled by a competitive examination of applicants from the other grades of that group, and the list of names from which the appointment is to be made shall be prepared and certified as provided in the preceding rule; but if no such applicants are found competent the appointment shall be made upon an examination of all applicants, conducted in accordance with the provisions for admission to the lowest grade.

5. Applicants certified as otherwise qualified for appointment as cashiers of collectors of customs, cashiers of assistant treasurers, cashiers of postmasters, superintendents of money-order divisions in post-offices, and such other custodians of large sums of money as may hereafter be designated by the Advisory Board, and for whose pecuniary fidelity another officer is responsible, shall, nevertheless, not be appointed except with the approval of such other officer.

6. Postmasters whose annual salary is less than $200 may be appointed upon the written request of applicants, with such evidence of character and fitness as shall be satisfactory to the head of the Department.

7. The appointment of all persons entering the civil service in accordance with these regulations, excepting persons appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, postmasters, and persons appointed to any position in a foreign country, shall be made for a probationary term of six months, during which the conduct and capacity of such persons shall be tested; and if at the end of said probationary term satisfactory proofs of their fitness shall have been furnished by the board of examiners to the head of the Department in which they shall have been employed during said term, they shall be reappointed.

8. The President will designate three persons in each Department of the public service to serve as a board of examiners, which, under the supervision of the Advisory Board and under regulations to be prescribed by it, and at such times and places as it may determine, shall conduct, personally or by persons approved by the Advisory Board, all investigations and examinations for admission into said Departments or for promotion therein.

9. Any person who, after long and faithful service in a Department, shall be incapacitated by mental or bodily infirmity for the efficient discharge of the duties of his position may be appointed by the head of the Department, at his discretion, to a position of less responsibility in the same Department.

10. Nothing in these rules shall prevent the appointment of aliens to positions in the consular service which by reason of small compensation or of other sufficient cause are, in the judgment of the appointing power, necessarily so filled, nor the appointment of such persons within the United States as are indispensable to a proper discharge of the duties of certain positions, but who may not be familiar with the English language or legally capable of naturalization.

11. No head of a Department nor any subordinate officer of the Government shall, as such officer, authorize or permit or assist in levying any assessment of money for political purposes, under the form of voluntary contributions or otherwise, upon any person employed under his control, nor shall any such person pay any money so assessed.

12. The Advisory Board shall at any time recommend to the President such changes in these rules as it may consider necessary to secure the greater efficiency of the civil service.

13. From these rules are excepted the heads of Departments, Assistant Secretaries of Departments, Assistant Attorneys-General, and First Assistant Postmaster-General, Solicitor-General, Solicitor of the Treasury, Naval Solicitor, Solicitor of Internal Revenue, examiner of claims in the State Department, Treasurer of the United States, Register of the Treasury, First and Second Comptrollers of the Treasury, judges of the United States courts, district attorneys, private secretary of the President, ambassadors and other public ministers, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Director of the Mint, governors of Territories, special commissioners, special counsel, visiting and examining boards, persons appointed to positions without compensation for services, dispatch agents, and bearers of dispatches.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 20, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 6th instant, requesting information in regard to certain measures with reference to the Spanish West Indies, I transmit reports from the Secretary of State and of the Navy, with the documents by which they were accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 6th of December, requesting to be informed if any further action is necessary by Congress to secure the immediate temporary preservation of the archives or public records now in the State Department, I transmit a report and accompanying papers from the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1872_.

_To the Senate:_

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th of December last, calling for certain correspondence relating to the subject of international coinage not heretofore furnished, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the papers which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, relative to the protection of trade-marks.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States and His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, relative to the rights, privileges, and duties of consuls and to the protection of trade-marks, signed at Berlin on the 11th ultimo.

A copy of the dispatch of the 11th ultimo from Mr. Bancroft, which accompanied the convention, is also transmitted for the information of the Senate.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th of May last, calling for papers, correspondence, and information relating to the case of the ship _Hudson_ and schooner _Washington_[54] I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of the Navy and the papers by which they were accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 54: Seized by British authorities at the Falkland Islands in 1854.]

WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant, calling for certain correspondence relating to the release of the Fenian prisoner William G. Halpine, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _February 2, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 16th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.[55]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 55: Correspondence relative to the seizure and detention of the American steamers _Hero, Dudley Buck, Nutrias_, and _San Fernando_, property of the Venezuela Steam Transportation Company, and the virtual imprisonment of the officers of those vessels.]

WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to the resolution adopted by the Senate on the 19th of December last, relative to questions with Spain growing out of affairs in Cuba and to instructions to our naval commanders in Cuban waters, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of the Navy.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the copy of the case of the United States presented to the tribunal of arbitration at Geneva, which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, a preliminary report of Dr. E.C. Wines, appointed under a joint resolution of Congress of the 7th of March, 1871, as commissioner of the United States to the international congress on the prevention and repression of crime, including penal and reformatory treatment.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _March 11, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a report,[56] dated the 5th instant, received from the Secretary of State, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th of February ultimo.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 56: Relative to the number of consular and commercial agents of the United States abroad who speak or write the language of the country in which their districts are situated.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 15, 1872_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have the honor herewith to transmit to Congress a recommendation from Hon. M.D. Leggett, Commissioner of Patents, for the reorganization of his office, and also the letter of the Secretary of the Interior accompanying it.

I concur with the Secretary of the Interior in the views expressed in his letter, and recommend the careful consideration of Congress to the subject of this communication, and action which will secure a more efficient performance of the duties of the Patent Office than is practicable under present legislation.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _March 16, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a report,[57] dated the 16th instant, received from the Secretary of State, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 57: Stating that there are no papers in the Department of State to show that the inhabitants of the Navigators Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, have made application to have the protection of the United States extended over said islands.]

WASHINGTON, _March 19, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to its ratification, a "general convention of friendship, commerce, and extradition" between the United States and the Orange Free State, signed at Bloemfontein on the 22d of December last by W.W. Edgcomb, consul of the United States at Cape Town, acting on behalf of this Government, and by Mr. F.K. Höhne on behalf of the Orange Free State.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a report,[58] dated the 20th instant, received from the Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th ultimo.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 58: Transmitting a translation of the Spanish royal decree of July 6, 1860, prescribing regulations for the introduction of Chinese laborers into Cuba, and translation of a decree of Count Valmaseda, Captain-General of Cuba, of December 13, 1871, relative to the decree of July 6, 1860.]

WASHINGTON, _March 23, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with a list of the newspapers[59] which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 59: Selected to publish the laws of the United States for the second session of the Forty-second Congress.]

WASHINGTON, _March 28, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution of the 19th instant, a report of the Secretary of State and the papers[60] which accompany the same.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 60: Correspondence relative to the imprisonment by Spanish authorities of Dr. J.R. Houard, a citizen of the United States, charged with complicity in the insurrection in Cuba.]

WASHINGTON, _April 2, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 18th of January last, relating to British light-house dues, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th of January last, I transmit herewith a report[61] of the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 61: Stating that the report of Richard D. Cutts on the marketable products of the sea was transmitted with the message of President Johnson of February 17, 1869.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 19, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th of January last, I have the honor to submit the following, accompanied by the report of the Attorney-General, to whom the resolution was referred:

Representations having been made to me that in certain portions of South Carolina a condition of lawlessness and terror existed, I requested the then Attorney-General (Akerman) to visit that State, and after personal examination to report to me the facts in relation to the subject. On the 16th of October last he addressed me a communication from South Carolina, in which he stated that in the counties of Spartanburg, York, Chester, Union, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Lancaster, and Chesterfield there were combinations for the purpose of preventing the free political action of citizens who were friendly to the Constitution and the Government of the United States, and of depriving emancipated classes of the equal protection of the laws.

"These combinations embrace at least two-thirds of the active white men of those counties, and have the sympathy and countenance of a majority of the one-third. They are connected with similar combinations in other counties and States, and no doubt are part of a grand system of criminal associations pervading most of the Southern States. The members are bound to obedience and secrecy by oaths which they are taught to regard as of higher obligation than the lawful oaths taken before civil magistrates.

"They are organized and armed. They effect their objects by personal violence, often extending to murder. They terrify witnesses; they control juries in the State courts, and sometimes in the courts of the United States. Systematic perjury is one of the means by which prosecutions of the members are defeated. From information given by officers of the State and of the United States and by credible private citizens I am justified in affirming that the instances of criminal violence perpetrated by these combinations within the last twelve months in the above-named counties could be reckoned by thousands."

I received information of a similar import from various other sources, among which were the Joint Select Committee of Congress upon Southern Outrages, the officers of the State, the military officers of the United States on duty in South Carolina, the United States attorney and marshal, and other civil officers of the Government, repentant and abjuring members of those unlawful organizations, persons specially employed by the Department of Justice to detect crimes against the United States, and from other credible persons.

Most, if not all, of this information, except what I derived from the Attorney-General, came to me orally, and was to the effect that said counties were under the sway of powerful combinations, properly known as "Kuklux Klans," the objects of which were by force and terror to prevent all political action not in accord with the views of the members; to deprive colored citizens of the right to bear arms and of the right to a free ballot; to suppress schools in which colored children were taught, and to reduce the colored people to a condition closely akin to that of slavery; that these combinations were organized and armed, and had rendered the local laws ineffectual to protect the classes whom they desired to oppress; that they had perpetrated many murders and hundreds of crimes of minor degree, all of which were unpunished; and that witnesses could not safely testify against them unless the more active members were placed under restraint.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit, for the information of the House of Representatives, a report from the Secretary of State and the copy of the counter case of the United States in the matter of the claims against Great Britain, as presented to the board of arbitration at Geneva, which accompanies it.

U.S. GRANT.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, _April 24, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_

In answer to a resolution of the 22d instant, I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, with the British case[62] and papers which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 62: Presented to the board of arbitration at Geneva.]

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State and copies of the British counter case,[63] and the volumes of appendixes to the British case which accompany it.

U.S. GRANT.

APRIL 29, 1872.

[Footnote 63: Presented to the board of arbitration at Geneva.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 30, 1872_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report of the board of public works of the District of Columbia, submitted to me for that purpose by the governor of the Territory in accordance with section 37 of "An act to provide a government for the District of Columbia," approved February 21, 1871.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 7, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th of March last, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State and the papers[64] which accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 64: Correspondence relative to the claim of the owners of the steamer _Aroostook_ for compensation for the use of that vessel in searching for bodies and property lost in the United States steamer _Oneida_, wrecked in the Bay of Yedo in 1870.]

WASHINGTON, _May 7, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification, a convention between the United States and the Republic of Ecuador for the purpose of regulating the citizenship of persons who emigrate from the one country to the other, which instrument was signed in this city on the 6th instant.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 7, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I herewith communicate to the Senate a report from the Acting Secretary of the Interior of this date, in answer to the resolution of that body adopted on the 23d ultimo, calling for information relative to the recent affray at the court-house in Going Snake district, Indian Territory.

In view of the feeling of hostility which exists between the Cherokees and the United States authorities of the western district of Arkansas, it seems to be necessary that Congress should adopt such measures as will tend to allay that feeling and at the same time secure the enforcement of the laws in that Territory.

I therefore concur with the Acting Secretary of the Interior in suggesting the adoption of a pending bill for the erection of a judicial district within the Indian Territory, as a measure which will afford the most immediate remedy for the existing troubles.

U.S. GRANT.

[A similar message, dated May 10, was sent to the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution of that body of April 29.]

WASHINGTON, _May 13, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith the correspondence which has recently taken place respecting the differences of opinion which have arisen between this Government and that of Great Britain with regard to the powers of the tribunal of arbitration created under the treaty signed at Washington May 8, 1871.

I respectfully invite the attention of the Senate to the proposed article submitted by the British Government with the object of removing the differences which seem to threaten the prosecution of the arbitration, and request an expression by the Senate of their disposition in regard to advising and consenting to the formal adoption of an article such as is proposed by the British Government.

The Senate is aware that the consultation with that body in advance of entering into agreements with foreign states has many precedents. In the early days of the Republic General Washington repeatedly asked their advice upon pending questions with such powers. The most important recent precedent is that of the Oregon boundary treaty, in 1846.

The importance of the results hanging upon the present state of the treaty with Great Britain leads me to follow these former precedents and to desire the counsel of the Senate in advance of agreeing to the proposal of Great Britain.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 14, 1872_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:_

In my message to Congress at the beginning of its present session allusion was made to the hardships and privations inflicted upon poor immigrants on shipboard and upon arrival on our shores, and a suggestion was made favoring national legislation for the purpose of effecting a radical cure of the evil.

Promise was made that a special message on this subject would be presented during the present session should information be received which would warrant it. I now transmit to the two Houses of Congress all that has been officially received since that time bearing upon the subject, and recommend that such legislation be had as will secure, first, such room and accommodation on shipboard as is necessary for health and comfort, and such privacy and protection as not to compel immigrants to be the unwilling witnesses to so much vice and misery; and, second, legislation to protect them upon their arrival at our seaports from the knaves who are ever ready to despoil them of the little all which they are able to bring with them. Such legislation will be in the interests of humanity, and seems to be fully justifiable. The immigrant is not a citizen of any State or Territory upon his arrival, but comes here to become a citizen of a great Republic, free to change his residence at will, to enjoy the blessings of a protecting Government, where all are equal before the law, and to add to the national wealth by his industry.

On his arrival he does not know States or corporations, but confides implicitly in the protecting arm of the great, free country of which he has heard so much before leaving his native land. It is a source of serious disappointment and discouragement to those who start with means sufficient to support them comfortably until they can choose a residence and begin employment for a comfortable support to find themselves subject to ill treatment and every discomfort on their passage here, and at the end of their journey seized upon by professed friends, claiming legal right to take charge of them for their protection, who do not leave them until all their resources are exhausted, when they are abandoned in a strange land, surrounded by strangers, without employment and ignorant of the means of securing it. Under the present system this is the fate of thousands annually, the exposures on shipboard and the treatment on landing driving thousands to lives of vice and shame who, with proper humane treatment, might become useful and respectable members of society.

I do not advise national legislation in affairs that should be regulated by the States; but I see no subject more national in its character than provision for the safety and welfare of the thousands who leave foreign lands to become citizens of this Republic.

When their residence is chosen, they may then look to the laws of their locality for protection and guidance.

The mass of immigrants arriving upon our shores, coming, as they do, on vessels under foreign flags, makes treaties with the nations furnishing these immigrants necessary for their complete protection. For more than two years efforts have been made on our part to secure such treaties, and there is now reasonable ground to hope for success.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 14, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 28th of March last, I transmit herewith copies of the correspondence between the Department of State and the consul of the United States at Bucharest relative to the persecution and oppression of the Israelites in the Principality of Roumania.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 15, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the information of the House of Representatives, the correspondence which has recently taken place respecting the differences of opinion which have arisen between this Government and that of Great Britain with regard to the powers of the tribunal of arbitration created under the treaty signed at Washington May 8, 1871, and which has led to certain negotiations, still pending, between the two Governments.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 17, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I herewith transmit to the Senate a communication of this date from the Acting Secretary of the Interior, and the papers therein described, containing information[65] called for in the Senate resolution of the 23d ultimo, which was answered in part on the 8th [7th] instant.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 65: Relating to acts of United States marshals and deputy marshals in that portion of the western district of Arkansas comprising the Indian country.]

WASHINGTON, _May 21, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th instant, requesting information in regard to the commerce between the United States and certain British colonial possessions, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th instant, requesting me to join the Italian Government in a protest against the intolerant and cruel treatment of the Jews in Roumania, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State relative to the subject.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration, an agreement between the Great Chief of the island of Tutuila, one of the Samoan group, in the South Pacific, and Commander R.W. Meade, commanding the United States steamer _Narragansett_, bearing date the 17th of February last. This instrument proposes to confer upon this Government the exclusive privilege of establishing a naval station in the dominions of that chief for the equivalent of protecting those dominions.

A copy of a letter of the 15th instant, and of its accompaniment, addressed by the Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of State, descriptive of Tutuila and of other islands of the group, and of a letter in the nature of a protest from a person claiming to be consul of the North German Confederation in that quarter, are also herewith transmitted. No report has yet been received from Commander Meade on the subject. Although he was without special instructions or authority to enter into such agreement, the advantages of the concession which it proposes to make are so great, in view of the advantageous position of Tutuila, especially as a coaling station for steamers between San Francisco and Australia, that I should not hesitate to recommend its approval but for the protection on the part of the United States which it seems to imply. With some modification of the obligation of protection which the agreement imports, it is recommended to the favorable consideration of the Senate.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 23, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I have the honor to transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of March 12, requesting to be informed of "the amount of money expended by the Government of the United States during the last three years for telegraphing by ocean cables," reports from the different Departments of the Government, to which the resolution was referred.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 24, 1872_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

In compliance with section 2 of the act approved July 11, 1870, entitled "An act making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1871, and for other purposes," I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of D.B.R. Keim, agent to examine consular affairs.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In further answer to the resolution of the 14th instant of the House of Representatives, wherein information in regard to commerce between the United States and certain British colonial possessions is requested, I transmit a report from the Postmaster-General and the document by which it was accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 28, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, requesting copies of correspondence in regard to an extradition treaty with Belgium, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 31, 1872_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have the honor to respectfully call the attention of Congress to an act approved July 14, 1870, directing the Secretary of War to place at the disposal of the President certain bronze ordnance, to aid in the erection of an equestrian statue of the late General John A. Rawlins, and to the facts that no appropriation of money to pay for the statue is made by the resolution and no artist is named or party designated to whom the ordnance is to be delivered. In view of the ambiguity of the statute, I would recommend that Congress signify what action is desired as to the selection of the artist, and that the necessary sum required for the erection of the monument be appropriated. A board of officers should also be named to designate the location of the monument.

U.S. GRANT.

VETO MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 28, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I herewith return, for the further consideration of Congress, without my approval, House bill No. 1550, "An act for the relief of the estate of Dr. John F. Hanks," for the reason that the records of the Treasury Department show that the current moneys taken by Colonel S.B. Holabird from the Louisiana State Bank of New Orleans in the month of August, 1862, were accounted for by that officer to the Treasury Department, and the names of the depositors given, and that the name of Dr. John F. Hanks does not appear among them.

It also appears from the records of the Treasury Department that among the effects taken from the Louisiana State Bank of New Orleans was the sum of $1,729 of Confederate money, and that the said sum stood upon the books of said bank to the credit of J.F. Hanks. It is but justice, however, to the executors of the estate of Dr. Hanks to state that there is every reason to believe that the money deposited by Dr. Hanks in the Louisiana State Bank was in current funds, and that when application was made to Congress for the recovery of the same they believed, and had evidence to satisfy them, that such funds had found their way into the Treasury of the United States. There has unquestionably been a mistake made, either by the officers of the Louisiana State Bank or the persons engaged in removing the funds of that bank, by which the estate of Dr. Hanks is loser to the amount of relief afforded by House bill No. 1550.

Accompanying this I send the statement furnished by the Secretary of the Treasury of the funds covered into his Department, and accounted for through it, arising from the seizure of funds of the Louisiana State Bank of New Orleans in the month of August, 1862.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 1, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I return herewith, for the further consideration of Congress, House bill No. 1867, "An act for the relief of James T. Johnston," without my approval, for the reason that the records of the Treasury Department show that the lot sold in the name of J.T. Johnston, situate on Prince street, Alexandria, Va., for taxes due the United States, is numbered 162, instead of 163, as represented in this bill. With the exception of this discrepancy in the number of the lot there is no reason why the bill should not receive my approval.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _April 10, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I have received and taken into consideration the bill entitled "An act for the relief of the children of John M. Baker, deceased," and, pursuant to the duty required of me by the Constitution, I return the same with my objections to the House of Representatives, in which it originated.

The bill proposes to pay a sum of money to the children of John M. Baker, deceased, late United States consul at Rio Janeiro, for services of that person as acting chargé d'affaires of the United States in the year 1834. So far as it can be ascertained it is apprehended that the bill may have received the sanction of Congress through some inadvertence, for upon inquiry at the proper Department it appears that Mr. Baker never did act as chargé d'affaires of the United States at Rio Janeiro, and that he was not authorized so to act, but, on the contrary, was expressly forbidden to enter into diplomatic correspondence with the Government of Brazil.

The letter of the 8th of February, 1854, a copy of which is annexed, addressed by William L. Marcy, then Secretary of State, to James M. Mason, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, specifies objections to the claim, which it is believed have not since diminished, and in which I fully concur.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 15, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I return without my approval an act entitled "An act granting a pension to Abigail Ryan, widow of Thomas A. Ryan." The name of Mrs. Ryan is now borne upon the pension rolls, pursuant to an act of Congress entitled "An act for the relief of Mrs. Abigail Ryan," approved June 15, 1866 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 590).

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 22, 1872_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I return herewith House resolution No. 622, entitled "An act granting a pension to Richard B. Crawford," without my approval, for the reason that said Crawford is now drawing a pension as a private soldier, the wound on account of which he was pensioned having been received before his promotion to a lieutenancy.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 14, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I have the honor to return herewith the bill (S. 955) entitled "An act granting a pension to Mary Ann Montgomery, widow of William W. Montgomery, late captain in Texas Volunteers," without my approval, inasmuch as the concluding phrase, "and in respect to her minor children under 16 years of age," has obviously no meaning whatsoever. If it were the intention of the framer of the bill that the pension thereby granted should revert to said minor children upon the remarriage or death of the widow, the phrase referred to should read as follows: "And in the event of her remarriage or death, to her minor children under 16 years of age." I therefore return the bill for proper action.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1872_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I have examined the bill entitled "An act for the relief of J. Milton Best," and, being unable to give it my approval, return the same to the Senate, the House in which it originated, without my signature.

The bill appropriates the sum of $25,000 to compensate Dr. J. Milton Best for the destruction of his dwelling house and its contents by order of the commanding officer of the United States military forces at Paducah, Ky., on the 26th day of March, 1864. It appears that this house was one of a considerable number destroyed for the purpose of giving open range to the guns of a United States fort. On the day preceding the destruction the houses had been used as a cover for rebel troops attacking the fort, and, apprehending a renewal of the attack, the commanding officer caused the destruction of the houses. This, then, is a claim for compensation on account of the ravages of war. It can not be denied that the payment of this claim would invite the presentation of demands for very large sums of money; and such is the supposed magnitude of the claims that may be made against the Government for necessary and unavoidable destruction of property by the Army that I deem it proper to return this bill for reconsideration.

It is a general principle of both international and municipal law that all property is held subject not only to be taken by the Government for public uses, in which case, under the Constitution of the United States, the owner is entitled to just compensation, but also subject to be temporarily occupied, or even actually destroyed, in times of great public danger, and when the public safety demands it; and in this latter case governments do not admit a legal obligation on their part to compensate the owner. The temporary occupation of, injuries to, and destruction of property caused by actual and necessary military operations are generally considered to fall within the last-mentioned principle. If a government makes compensation under such circumstances, it is a matter of bounty rather than of strict legal right.