Chapter XI: Part 11

The Secretary of War submits the report of the Chief of Engineers as to the practicability of protecting our important cities on the seaboard by fortifications and other defenses able to repel modern methods of attack. The time has now come when such defenses can be prepared with confidence that they will not prove abortive, and when the possible result of delay in making such preparation is seriously considered delay seems inexcusable. For the most important cities--those whose destruction or capture would be a national humiliation--adequate defenses, inclusive of guns, may be made by the gradual expenditure of $60,000,000--a sum much less than a victorious enemy could levy as a contribution. An appropriation of about one-tenth of that amount is asked to begin the work, and I concur with the Secretary of War in urging that it be granted.

The War Department is proceeding with the conversion of 10-inch smoothbore guns into 8-inch rifles by lining the former with tubes of forged steel or of coil wrought iron. Fifty guns will be thus converted within the year. This, however, does not obviate the necessity of providing means for the construction of guns of the highest power both for the purposes of coast defense and for the armament of war vessels.

The report of the Gun Foundry Board, appointed April 2, 1883, in pursuance of the act of March 3, 1883, was transmitted to Congress in a special message of February 18, 1884.[21] In my message of March 26, 1884,[22] I called attention to the recommendation of the board that the Government should encourage the production at private steel works of the required material for heavy cannon, and that two Government factories, one for the Army and one for the Navy, should be established for the fabrication of guns from such material. No action having been taken, the board was subsequently reconverted to determine more fully the plans and estimates necessary for carrying out its recommendation. It has received information which indicates that there are responsible steel manufacturers in this country who, although not provided at present with the necessary plant, are willing to construct the same and to make bids for contracts with the Government for the supply of the requisite material for the heaviest guns adapted to modern warfare if a guaranteed order of sufficient magnitude, accompanied by a positive appropriation extending over a series of years, shall be made by Congress. All doubts as to the feasibility of the plan being thus removed, I renew my recommendation that such action be taken by Congress as will enable the Government to construct its own ordnance upon its own territory, and so to provide the armaments demanded by considerations of national safety and honor.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy exhibits the progress which has been made on the new steel cruisers authorized by the acts of August 5, 1882, and March 3, 1883. Of the four vessels under contract, one, the _Chicago_, of 4,500 tons, is more than half finished; the _Atlanta_, of 3,000 tons, has been successfully launched, and her machinery is now fitting; the _Boston_, also of 3,000 tons, is ready for launching, and the _Dolphin_, a dispatch steamer of 1,500 tons, is ready for delivery.

Certain adverse criticisms upon the designs of these cruisers are discussed by the Secretary, who insists that the correctness of the conclusions reached by the Advisory Board and by the Department has been demonstrated by recent developments in shipbuilding abroad.

The machinery of the double-turreted monitors _Puritan, Terror,_ and _Amphitrite_, contracted for under the act of March 3, 1883, is in process of construction. No work has been done during the past year on their armor for lack of the necessary appropriations. A fourth monitor, the _Monadnock_, still remains unfinished at the navy-yard in California. It is recommended that early steps be taken to complete these vessels and to provide also an armament for the monitor _Miantonomoh_.

The recommendations of the Naval Advisory Board, approved by the Department, comprise the construction of one steel cruiser of 4,500 tons, one cruiser of 3,000 tons, two heavily armed gunboats, one light cruising gunboat, one dispatch vessel armed with Hotchkiss cannon, one armored ram, and three torpedo boats. The general designs, all of which are calculated to meet the existing wants of the service, are now well advanced, and the construction of the vessels can be undertaken as soon as you shall grant the necessary authority.

The act of Congress approved August 7, 1882, authorized the removal to the United States of the bodies of Lieutenant-Commander George W. De Long and his companions of the _Jeannette_ expedition. This removal has been successfully accomplished by Lieutenants Harber and Schuetze. The remains were taken from their grave in the Lena Delta in March, 1883, and were retained at Yakutsk until the following winter, the season being too far advanced to admit of their immediate transportation. They arrived at New York February 20, 1884, where they were received with suitable honors.

In pursuance of the joint resolution of Congress approved February 13, 1884, a naval expedition was fitted out for the relief of Lieutenant A.W. Greely, United States Army, and of the party who had been engaged under his command in scientific observations at Lady Franklin Bay. The fleet consisted of the steam sealer _Thetis_, purchased in England; _Bear_, purchased at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and the _Alert_, which was generously provided by the British Government. Preparations for the expedition were promptly made by the Secretary of the Navy, with the active cooperation of the Secretary of War. Commander George W. Coffin was placed in command of the _Alert_ and Lieutenant William H. Emory in command of the _Bear_. The _Thetis_ was intrusted to Commander Winfield S. Schley, to whom also was assigned the superintendence of the entire expedition.

Immediately upon its arrival at Upernavik the fleet began the dangerous navigation of Melville Bay, and in spite of every obstacle reached Littleton Island on June 22, a fortnight earlier than any vessel had before attained that point. On the same day it crossed over to Cape Sabine, where Lieutenant Greely and the other survivors of his party were discovered. After taking on board the living and the bodies of the dead, the relief ships sailed for St. Johns, where they arrived on July 17. They were appropriately received at Portsmouth, N.H., on August 1 and at New York on August 8. One of the bodies was landed at the former place. The others were put on shore at Governors Island, and, with the exception of one, which was interred in the national cemetery, were forwarded thence to the destinations indicated by friends. The organization and conduct of this relief expedition reflects great credit upon all who contributed to its success.

In this the last of the stated messages that I shall have the honor to transmit to the Congress of the United States I can not too strongly urge upon its attention the duty of restoring our Navy as rapidly as possible to the high state of efficiency which formerly characterized it. As the long peace that has lulled us into a sense of fancied security may at any time be disturbed, it is plain that the policy of strengthening this arm of the service is dictated by considerations of wise economy, of just regard for our future tranquillity, and of true appreciation of the dignity and honor of the Republic.

The report of the Postmaster-General acquaints you with the present condition and needs of the postal service.

It discloses the gratifying fact that the loss of revenue from the reduction in the rate of letter postage recommended in my message of December 4, 1882, and effected by the act of March 3, 1883, has been much less than was generally anticipated. My recommendation of this reduction was based upon the belief that the actual falling off in receipts from letter postages for the year immediately succeeding the change of rate would be $3,000,000. It has proved to be only $2,275,000.

This is a trustworthy indication that the revenue will soon be restored to its former volume by the natural increase of sealed correspondence.

I confidently repeat, therefore, the recommendation of my last annual message that the single-rate postage upon drop letters be reduced to 1 cent wherever the payment of 2 cents is now required by law. The double rate is only exacted at offices where the carrier system is in operation, and it appears that at those offices the increase in the tax upon local letters defrays the cost not only of its own collection and delivery, but of the collection and delivery of all other mail matter. This is an inequality that ought no longer to exist.

I approve the recommendation of the Postmaster-General that the unit of weight in the rating of first-class matter should be 1 ounce instead of one-half ounce, as it now is. In view of the statistics furnished by the Department, it may well be doubted whether the change would result in any loss of revenue. That it would greatly promote the convenience of the public is beyond dispute.

The free-delivery system has been lately applied to five cities, and the total number of offices in which it is now in operation is 159. Experience shows that its adoption, under proper conditions, is equally an accommodation to the public and an advantage to the postal service. It is more than self-sustaining, and for the reasons urged by the Postmaster-General may properly be extended.

In the opinion of that officer it is important to provide means whereby exceptional dispatch in dealing with letters in free-delivery offices may be secured by payment of extraordinary postage. This scheme might be made effective by employment of a special stamp whose cost should be commensurate with the expense of the extra service.

In some of the large cities private express companies have undertaken to outstrip the Government mail carriers by affording for the prompt transmission of letters better facilities than have hitherto been at the command of the Post-Office.

It has always been the policy of the Government to discourage such enterprises, and in no better mode can that policy be maintained than in supplying the public with the most efficient mail service that, with due regard to its own best interests, can be furnished for its accommodation.

The Attorney-General renews the recommendation contained in his report of last year touching the fees of witnesses and jurors.

He favors radical changes in the fee bill, the adoption of a system by which attorneys and marshals of the United States shall be compensated solely by salaries, and the erection by the Government of a penitentiary for the confinement of offenders against its laws.

Of the varied governmental concerns in charge of the Interior Department the report of its Secretary presents an interesting summary. Among the topics deserving particular attention I refer you to his observations respecting our Indian affairs, the preemption and timber-culture acts, the failure of railroad companies to take title to lands granted by the Government, and the operations of the Pension Office, the Patent Office, the Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Education.

Allusion has been made already to the circumstance that, both as between the different Indian tribes and as between the Indians and the whites, the past year has been one of unbroken peace.

In this circumstance the President is glad to find justification for the policy of the Government in its dealing with the Indian question and confirmation of the views which were fully expressed in his first communication to the Forty-seventh Congress.

The Secretary urges anew the enactment of a statute for the punishment of crimes committed on the Indian reservations, and recommends the passage of the bill now pending in the House of Representatives for the purchase of a tract of 18,000 square miles from the Sioux Reservation. Both these measures are worthy of approval.

I concur with him also in advising the repeal of the preemption law, the enactment of statutes resolving the present legal complications touching lapsed grants to railroad companies, and the funding of the debt of the several Pacific railroads under such guaranty as shall effectually secure its ultimate payment.

The report of the Utah Commission will be read with interest.

It discloses the results of recent legislation looking to the prevention and punishment of polygamy in that Territory. I still believe that if that abominable practice can be suppressed by law it can only be by the most radical legislation consistent with the restraints of the Constitution.

I again recommend, therefore, that Congress assume absolute political control of the Territory of Utah and provide for the appointment of commissioners with such governmental powers as in its judgment may justly and wisely be put into their hands.

In the course of this communication reference has more than once been made to the policy of this Government as regards the extension of our foreign trade. It seems proper to declare the general principles that should, in my opinion, underlie our national efforts in this direction.

The main conditions of the problem may be thus stated:

We are a people apt in mechanical pursuits and fertile in invention. We cover a vast extent of territory rich in agricultural products and in nearly all the raw materials necessary for successful manufacture. We have a system of productive establishments more than sufficient to supply our own demands. The wages of labor are nowhere else so great. The scale of living of our artisan classes is such as tends to secure their personal comfort and the development of those higher moral and intellectual qualities that go to the making of good citizens. Our system of tax and tariff legislation is yielding a revenue which is in excess of the present needs of the Government.

These are the elements from which it is sought to devise a scheme by which, without unfavorably changing the condition of the workingman, our merchant marine shall be raised from its enfeebled condition and new markets provided for the sale beyond our borders of the manifold fruits of our industrial enterprises.

The problem is complex and can be solved by no single measure of innovation or reform.

The countries of the American continent and the adjacent islands are for the United States the natural marts of supply and demand. It is from them that we should obtain what we do not produce or do not produce in sufficiency, and it is to them that the surplus productions of our fields, our mills, and our workshops should flow, under conditions that will equalize or favor them in comparison with foreign competition.

Four paths of policy seem to point to this end:

First. A series of reciprocal commercial treaties with the countries of America which shall foster between us and them an unhampered movement of trade. The conditions of these treaties should be the free admission of such merchandise as this country does not produce, in return for the admission free or under a favored scheme of duties of our own products, the benefits of such exchange to apply only to goods carried under the flag of the parties to the contract; the removal on both sides from the vessels so privileged of all tonnage dues and national imposts, so that those vessels may ply unhindered between our ports and those of the other contracting parties, though without infringing on the reserved home coasting trade; the removal or reduction of burdens on the exported products of those countries coming within the benefits of the treaties, and the avoidance of the technical restrictions and penalties by which our intercourse with those countries is at present hampered.

Secondly. The establishment of the consular service of the United States on a salaried footing, thus permitting the relinquishment of consular fees not only as respects vessels under the national flag, but also as respects vessels of the treaty nations carrying goods entitled to the benefits of the treaties.

Thirdly. The enactment of measures to favor the construction and maintenance of a steam carrying marine under the flag of the United States.

Fourthly. The establishment of an uniform currency basis for the countries of America, so that the coined products of our mines may circulate on equal terms throughout the whole system of commonwealths. This would require a monetary union of America, whereby the output of the bullion-producing countries and the circulation of those which yield neither gold nor silver could be adjusted in conformity with the population, wealth, and commercial needs of each. As many of the countries furnish no bullion to the common stock, the surplus production of our mines and mints might thus be utilized and a step taken toward the general remonetization of silver.

To the accomplishment of these ends, so far as they can be attained by separate treaties, the negotiations already concluded and now in progress have been directed; and the favor which this enlarged policy has thus far received warrants the belief that its operations will ere long embrace all, or nearly all, the countries of this hemisphere.

It is by no means desirable, however, that the policy under consideration should be applied to these countries alone. The healthful enlargement of our trade with Europe, Asia, and Africa should be sought by reducing tariff burdens on such of their wares as neither we nor the other American States are fitted to produce, and thus enabling ourselves to obtain in return a better market for our supplies of food, of raw materials, and of the manufactures in which we excel.

It seems to me that many of the embarrassing elements in the great national conflict between protection and free trade may thus be turned to good account; that the revenue may be reduced so as no longer to overtax the people; that protective duties may be retained without becoming burdensome; that our shipping interests may be judiciously encouraged, the currency fixed on firm bases, and, above all, such an unity of interests established among the States of the American system as will be of great and ever-increasing advantage to them all.

All treaties in the line of this policy which have been negotiated or are in process of negotiation contain a provision deemed to be requisite under the clause of the Constitution limiting to the House of Representatives the authority to originate bills for raising revenue.

On the 29th of February last[23] I transmitted to the Congress the first annual report of the Civil Service Commission, together with communications from the heads of the several Executive Departments of the Government respecting the practical workings of the law under which the Commission had been acting. The good results therein foreshadowed have been more than realized.

The system has fully answered the expectations of its friends in securing competent and faithful public servants and in protecting the appointing officers of the Government from the pressure of personal importunity and from the labor of examining the claims and pretensions of rival candidates for public employment.

The law has had the unqualified support of the President and of the heads of the several Departments, and the members of the Commission have performed their duties with zeal and fidelity. Their report will shortly be submitted, and will be accompanied by such recommendations for enlarging the scope of the existing statute as shall commend themselves to the Executive and the Commissioners charged with its administration.

In view of the general and persistent demand throughout the commercial community for a national bankrupt law, I hope that the differences of sentiment which have hitherto prevented its enactment may not outlast the present session.

The pestilence which for the past two years has been raging in the countries of the East recently made its appearance in European ports with which we are in constant communication.

The then Secretary of the Treasury, in pursuance of a proclamation of the President,[24] issued certain regulations restricting and for a time prohibiting the importation of rags and the admission of baggage of immigrants and of travelers arriving from infected quarters. Lest this course may have been without strict warrant of law, I approve the recommendation of the present Secretary that the Congress take action in the premises, and I also recommend the immediate adoption of such measures as will be likely to ward off the dreaded epidemic and to mitigate its severity in case it shall unhappily extend to our shores.

The annual report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia reviews the operations of the several departments of its municipal government. I ask your careful consideration of its suggestions in respect to legislation, especially commending such as relate to a revision of the civil and criminal code, the performance of labor by persons sentenced to imprisonment in the jail, the construction and occupation of wharves along the river front, and the erection of a suitable building for District offices.

I recommend that in recognition of the eminent services of Ulysses S. Grant, late General of the armies of the United States and twice President of this nation, the Congress confer upon him a suitable pension.

Certain of the measures that seem to me necessary and expedient I have now, in obedience to the Constitution, recommended for your adoption.

As respects others of no less importance I shall content myself with renewing the recommendations already made to the Congress, without restating the grounds upon which such recommendations were based.

The preservation of forests on the public domain, the granting of Government aid for popular education, the amendment of the Federal Constitution so as to make effective the disapproval by the President of particular items in appropriation bills, the enactment of statutes in regard to the filling of vacancies in the Presidential office, and the determining of vexed questions respecting Presidential inability are measures which may justly receive your serious consideration.

As the time draws nigh when I am to retire from the public service, I can not refrain from expressing to the members of the National Legislature with whom I have been brought into personal and official intercourse my sincere appreciation of their unfailing courtesy and of their harmonious cooperation with the Executive in so many measures calculated to promote the best interests of the nation.

And to my fellow citizens generally I acknowledge a deep sense of obligation for the support which they have accorded me in my administration of the executive department of this Government.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

[Footnote 20: See pp. 224-225.]

[Footnote 21: See p. 204.]

[Footnote 22: See pp. 209-210.]

[Footnote 23: See pp. 205-206.]

[Footnote 24: See p. 225.]

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 3, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention for regulating the right of succession to and acquisition of property, etc., concluded between the United States and Belgium on the 4th ultimo.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 3, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I herewith transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification, a convention between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico, touching the boundary line between the two countries where it follows the bed of the Rio Grande and the Rio Gila, concluded November 12, 1884, and add that the convention is in accordance with an opinion of the Hon. Caleb Cushing, Attorney-General, dated November 11, 1856. (See Opinions of Attorneys-General, Vol. XIII, p. 175, "Arcifinious boundaries.")

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 4, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, submitting the text, in the English and French languages, of the proceedings of the International Meridian Conference, provided for by the act of Congress approved August 3, 1882, held at Washington during the month of October, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 9, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I herewith transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification, a supplementary convention to limit the duration of the convention respecting commercial reciprocity between the United States of America and the Hawaiian Kingdom, concluded January 30, 1875.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 9, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to obtaining its advice thereon and consent thereto, a convention for commercial reciprocity between the United States and the Dominican Republic, which was signed in this capital on the 4th instant.

This convention aims to carry out the principles which, as explained in my last annual message to the Congress, should, it is conceived, control all commercial arrangements entered into with our neighbors of the American system with whom trade must be conducted by sea. Santo Domingo is the first of the independent Republics of the Western Hemisphere with which an engagement of this character has been concluded, and the precedent now set will command your fullest attention as affecting like future negotiations.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 10, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, for consideration by the Senate with a view to advising and consenting to its ratification, a convention for commercial reciprocity between the United States and Spain, providing for an intimate and favored exchange of products with the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which convention was signed at Madrid on the 18th ultimo.

The negotiations for this convention have been in progress since April last, in pursuance of the understanding reached by the two Governments on the 2d of January, 1884, for the improvement of commercial relations between the United States and the Spanish Antilles, by the eighth article of which both Governments engaged "to begin at once negotiations for a complete treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States of America and the said Provinces of Cuba and Puerto Rico." Although this clause was by common consent omitted from the substitutionary agreement of February 13, 1884 (now in force until replaced by this convention being carried into effect), the obligation to enter upon such a negotiation was deemed to continue. With the best desire manifest on both sides to reach a common accord, the negotiation has been necessarily protracted, owing to the complexity of the details to be incorporated in order that the convention might respond to the national policy of intercourse with the neighboring communities of the American system, which is outlined in my late annual message to the Congress in the following words:

The conditions of these treaties should be the free admission of
such merchandise as this country does not produce, in return for
the admission free, or under a favored scheme of duties, of our
own products, the benefits of such exchange to apply only to goods
carried under the flag of the parties to the contract; the removal
on both sides from the vessels so privileged of all tonnage dues and
national imposts, so that those vessels may ply unhindered between
our ports and those of the other contracting parties, though without
infringing on the reserved home coasting trade; the removal or
reduction of burdens on the exported products of those countries
coming within the benefits of the treaties, and the avoidance of
the technical restrictions and penalties by which our intercourse
with those countries is at present hampered.

A perusal of the convention now submitted will suffice to show how fully it carries out the policy of intercourse thus announced. I commend it to you in the confident expectation that it will receive your sanction.

It does not seem necessary to my present purpose to enter into detailed consideration of the many immediate and prospective advantages which will flow from this convention to our productions and our shipping interests.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 10, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty signed on the 1st of December with the Republic of Nicaragua, providing for the construction of an interoceanic canal across the territory of that State.

The negotiation of this treaty was entered upon under a conviction that it was imperatively demanded by the present and future political and material interests of the United States.

The establishment of water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Union is a necessity, the accomplishment of which, however, within the territory of the United States is a physical impossibility. While the enterprise of our citizens has responded to the duty of creating means of speedy transit by rail between the two oceans, these great achievements are inadequate to supply a most important requisite of national union and prosperity.

For all maritime purposes the States upon the Pacific are more distant from those upon the Atlantic than if separated by either ocean alone. Europe and Africa are nearer to New York, and Asia nearer to California, than are these two great States to each other by sea. Weeks of steam voyage or months under sail are consumed in the passage around the Horn, with the disadvantage of traversing tempestuous waters or risking the navigation of the Straits of Magellan.

A nation like ours can not rest satisfied with such a separation of its mutually dependent members. We possess an ocean border of considerably over 10,000 miles on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and, including Alaska, of some 10,000 miles on the Pacific. Within a generation the western coast has developed into an empire, with a large and rapidly growing population, with vast, but partially developed, resources. At the present rate of increase the end of the century will see us a commonwealth of perhaps nearly 100,000,000 inhabitants, of which the West should have a considerably larger and richer proportion than now. Forming one nation in interests and aims, the East and the West are more widely disjoined for all purposes of direct and economical intercourse by water and of national defense against maritime aggression than are most of the colonies of other powers from their mother country.

The problem of establishing such water communication has long attracted attention. Many projects have been formed and surveys have been made of all possible available routes. As a knowledge of the true topical conditions of the Isthmus was gained, insuperable difficulties in one case and another became evident, until by a process of elimination only two routes remained within range of profitable achievement, one by way of Panama and the other across Nicaragua.

The treaty now laid before you provides for such a waterway through the friendly territory of Nicaragua.

I invite your special attention to the provisions of the convention itself as best evidencing its scope.

From respect to the independent sovereignty of the Republic, through whose cooperation the project can alone be realized, the stipulations of the treaty look to the fullest recognition and protection of Nicaraguan rights in the premises. The United States have no motive or desire for territorial acquisition or political control beyond the present borders, and none such is contemplated by this treaty. The two Governments unite in framing this scheme as the sole means by which the work, as indispensable to the one as to the other, can be accomplished under such circumstances as to prevent alike the possibility of conflict between them and of interference from without.

The canal is primarily a domestic means of water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the two countries which unite for its construction, the one contributing the territory and the other furnishing the money therefor. Recognizing the advantages which the world's commerce must derive from the work, appreciating the benefit of enlarged use to the canal itself by contributing to its maintenance and by yielding an interest return on the capital invested therein, and inspired by the belief that any great enterprise which inures to the general benefit of the world is in some sort a trust for the common advancement of mankind, the two Governments have by this treaty provided for its peaceable use by all nations on equal terms, while reserving to the coasting trade of both countries (in which none but the contracting parties are interested) the privilege of favoring tolls.

The treaty provides for the construction of a railway and telegraph line, if deemed advisable, as accessories to the canal, as both may be necessary for the economical construction of the work and probably in its operation when completed.

The terms of the treaty as to the protection of the canal, while scrupulously confirming the sovereignty of Nicaragua, amply secure that State and the work itself from possible contingencies of the future which it may not be within the sole power of Nicaragua to meet.

From a purely commercial point of view the completion of such a waterway opens a most favorable prospect for the future of our country. The nations of the Pacific coast of South America will by its means be brought into close connection with our Gulf States. The relation of those American countries to the United States is that of a natural market, from which the want of direct communication has hitherto practically excluded us. By piercing the Isthmus the heretofore insuperable obstacles of time and sea distance disappear, and our vessels and productions will enter upon the world's competitive field with a decided advantage, of which they will avail themselves.

When to this is joined the large coasting trade between the Atlantic and Pacific States, which must necessarily spring up, it is evident that this canal affords, even alone, an efficient means of restoring our flag to its former place on the seas.

Such a domestic coasting trade would arise immediately, for even the fishing vessels of both seaboards, which now lie idle in the winter months, could then profitably carry goods between the Eastern and the Western States.

The political effect of the canal will be to knit closer the States now depending upon railway corporations for all commercial and personal intercourse, and it will not only cheapen the cost of transportation, but will free individuals from the possibility of unjust discriminations.

It will bring the European grain markets of demand within easy distance of our Pacific States, and will give to the manufacturers on the Atlantic seaboard economical access to the cities of China, thus breaking down the barrier which separates the principal manufacturing centers of the United States from the markets of the vast population of Asia, and placing the Eastern States of the Union for all purposes of trade midway between Europe and Asia. In point of time the gain for sailing vessels would be great, amounting from New York to San Francisco to a saving of seventy-five days; to Hongkong, of twenty-seven days; to Shanghai, of thirty-four days, and to Callao, of fifty-two days.

Lake Nicaragua is about 90 miles long and 40 miles in greatest width. The water is fresh, and affords abundant depth for vessels of the deepest draft. Several islands give facilities for establishing coaling stations, supply depots, harbors, and places for repairs. The advantage of this vast inland harbor is evident.

The lake is 110 feet above tide water. Six locks, or five intermediate levels, are required for the Pacific end of the canal. On the Atlantic side but five locks, or four intermediate levels, are proposed. These locks would in practice no more limit the number of vessels passing through the canal than would the single tide lock on the Pacific end, which is necessary to any even or sea-level route.

Seventeen and a half miles of canal lie between the Pacific and the lake. The distance across the lake is 56 miles, and a dam at the mouth of the San Carlos (a tributary of the San Juan), raising the water level 49 feet, practically extends the lake 63 miles to that point by a channel from 600 to 1,200 feet wide, with an abundant depth of water.

From the mouth of the San Carlos (where the canal will leave the San Juan) to the harbor of Greytown the distance is 36 miles, which it is hoped may by new surveys be shortened 10 miles.

The total canal excavation would thus be from 43-1/2 to 53-1/2 miles, and the lake and river navigation, amounting to 119 miles by the present survey, would be somewhat increased if the new surveys are successful.

From New York to San Francisco by this route for sailing vessels the time is ten days shorter than by the Panama route.

The purely pecuniary prospects of the canal as an investment are subordinate to the great national benefits to accrue from it; but it seems evident that the work, great as its cost may appear, will be a measure of prudent economy and foresight if undertaken simply to afford our own vessels a free waterway, for its far-reaching results will, even within a few years in the life of a nation, amply repay the expenditure by the increase of national prosperity. Further, the canal would unquestionably be immediately remunerative. It offers a shorter sea voyage, with more continuously favoring winds, between the Atlantic ports of America and Europe and the countries of the East than any other practicable route, and with lower tolls, by reason of its lesser cost, the Nicaragua route must be the interoceanic highway for the bulk of the world's trade between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

So strong is this consideration that it offers an abundant guaranty for the investment to be made, as well as for the speedy payment of the loan of four millions which the treaty stipulates shall be made to Nicaragua for the construction of internal improvements to serve as aids to the business of the canal.

I might suggest many other considerations in detail, but it seems unnecessary to do so. Enough has been said to more than justify the practical utility of the measure. I therefore commit it to the Congress in the confident expectation that it will receive approval, and that by appropriate legislation means may be provided for inaugurating the work without delay after the treaty shall have been ratified.

In conclusion I urge the justice of recognizing the aid which has recently been rendered in this matter by some of our citizens. The efforts of certain gentlemen connected with the American company which received the concession from Nicaragua (now terminated and replaced by this international compact) accomplished much of the preliminary labors leading to the conclusion of the treaty.

You may have occasion to examine the matter of their services, when such further information as you may desire will be furnished you.

I may add that the canal can be constructed by the able Engineer Corps of our Army, under their thorough system, cheaper and better than any work of such magnitude can in any other way be built.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 10, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, for consideration by the Senate with a view to advising and consenting to its ratification, a convention for commercial reciprocity between the United States and Spain, providing for an intimate and favored exchange of products with the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which convention was signed at Madrid on the 18th ultimo.

The negotiations for this convention have been in progress since April last, in pursuance of the understanding reached by the two Governments on the 2d of January, 1884, for the improvement of commercial relations between the United States and the Spanish Antilles, by the eighth article of which both Governments engaged "to begin at once negotiations for a complete treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States of America and the said Provinces of Cuba and Puerto Rico." Although this clause was by common consent omitted from the substitutionary agreement of February 13, 1884 (now in force until replaced by this convention being carried into effect), the obligation to enter upon such a negotiation was deemed to continue. With the best desire manifest on both sides to reach a common accord, the negotiation has been necessarily protracted, owing to the complexity of the details to be incorporated in order that the convention might respond to the national policy of intercourse with the neighboring communities of the American system, which is outlined in my late annual message to the Congress in the following words:

The conditions of these treaties should be the free admission of such
merchandise as this country does not produce, in return for the
admission free or under a favored scheme of duties of our own products,
the benefits of such exchange to apply only to goods carried under the
flag of the parties to the contract; the removal on both sides from the
vessels so privileged of all tonnage dues and national imposts, so that
those vessels may ply unhindered between our ports and those of the
other contracting parties, though without infringing on the reserved
home coasting trade; the removal or reduction of burdens on the
exported products of those countries coming within the benefits of the
treaties, and the avoidance of the technical restrictions and penalties
by which our intercourse with those countries is at present hampered.

A perusal of the convention now submitted will suffice to show how fully it carries out the policy of intercourse thus announced. I commend it to you in the confident expectation that it will receive your sanction.

It does not seem necessary to my present purpose to enter into detailed consideration of the many immediate and prospective advantages which will flow from this convention to our productions and our shipping interests.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 10, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

With reference to the recommendations on the subject in my recent annual message, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State of the 9th instant, showing the necessity for immediate legislation for the purpose of bringing the statutes of the United States into conformity with the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, which have now been adopted by all the leading maritime powers of the world except this country.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 11, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith to the Senate a communication of this date from the Secretary of State, in relation to the reciprocity treaty recently signed between the United States and Spain.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 16, 1884_.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

In compliance with the following resolution, adopted by the House on the 10th instant--

_Resolved_, That the President be requested to furnish this House,
as early as convenient, with the necessary information showing the
authority of law for which certain commodores of the Navy have been
given the rank of acting rear-admirals when, as is alleged, no vacancy
existed to justify such action--

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, containing the information called for by the resolution.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 17, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, an agreement signed by Mr. N.D. Comanos, on the part of the United States of America, and Nubar Pasha, on behalf of the Government of the Khedive of Egypt, relative to a commercial and customs-house convention. The agreement is dated November 16, 1884.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 22, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith the supplementary report, dated December 20, 1884, made in pursuance of orders of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy by the Gun Foundry Board, appointed by me in accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1883.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1885_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In accordance with the provisions of the act making appropriations for the diplomatic and consular service for the year ending June 30, 1883, I transmit herewith a further communication from the Secretary of State in relation to the consular service.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1885_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, with a recommendation for its favorable consideration, a communication from the Secretary of State, in which he urges the adoption of measures to secure the consul at Buenos Ayres against loss through the dropping of his salary at the last session of Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 2d instant from the Secretary of the Interior, inclosing certain papers in relation to the present condition of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians in the Indian Territory, and recommending that some provision of law be enacted for disarming those and other Indians when such action may be found necessary for their advancement in civilized pursuits, and that means be provided for compensating the Indians for the weapons so taken from or surrendered by them.

The subject is commended to the favorable consideration and action of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 12, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, the annual report of Government directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company for the year 1884.

The report accompanies the message to the House of Representatives.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 13, 1885_.

_To the Senate:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, respecting the compensation for special electoral messengers to be appointed under the provisions of existing law.

I earnestly invite the attention of Congress to this communication and recommend that an appropriation be made without delay, to be immediately available, for the purposes indicated.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 13, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, dated January 9, 1885, inclosing a copy of one dated January 5, 1885, from Lieutenant-Colonel William P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers, who was charged with the building of the monument at Yorktown, reporting the completion of the monument and recommending that the balance of the appropriation for building the same be used in paying the wages of a watchman and erecting a suitable keeper's dwelling on the site.

The matter is commended to the consideration of Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1885_.

_To the United States Senate:_

I transmit herewith a copy of a letter addressed to the Secretary of War by General W.T. Sherman, under date of January 6, 1885, as called for by resolution of the Senate of January 13, 1885, as follows:

That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby,
requested, if in his opinion it be not incompatible with the public
interest, to communicate to the Senate a historical statement
concerning the public policy of the executive department of the
Confederate States during the late War of the Rebellion, reported
to have been lately filed in the War Department by General William
T. Sherman.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1885_.

_To the Senate:_

In response to the resolution of the Senate passed December 16, 1884, I transmit herewith a letter of the Secretary of State of the 19th instant, submitting a report containing certain information in the Department of State in relation to the foreign trade of Mexico, Central and South America, the Spanish West Indies, Hayti, and Santo Domingo, and also in relation to the share of the United States to the trade in question.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1885_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, in answer to a resolution of the Senate dated January 5, 1885, a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying copies of such treaties and conventions between the United States and foreign powers as are requested by the resolution.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 20th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, presenting, with accompanying papers, a draft of proposed legislation providing for the settlement of certain claims of Omaha Indians in Nebraska against the Winnebago Indians on account of horses stolen by members of the latter tribe from the Omahas.

The subject is commended to the favorable consideration and action of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State of the 22d instant, respecting an estimate of an appropriation to enable the Department of State to cause a preliminary search to be made of the records of the French prize courts from 1792 to 1801, inclusive, to ascertain whether any evidence or documents relating to the claims in question still exist, and, if so, the nature and character thereof; said preliminary search being intended to aid the Department of State to carry out the requirements of section 5 of the act approved January 20, 1885, to provide for the ascertainment of the claims of American citizens for spoliations committed by the French prior to the 31st of July, 1801.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, as desired by the House resolution of the 9th instant, a report, with accompanying papers, from the Secretary of State, in relation to the arrest and the imprisonment of Thomas R. Monahan by the authorities of Mexico.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a preliminary report of the Secretary of State of the 26th instant, in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives passed on the 9th day of January, 1885, calling for copies of accounts and vouchers of the disbursing officers of the French and American Claims Commission and certain other information in relation to the transactions of said commission.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I have carefully considered the provisions of Senate bill No. 862, entitled "An act for the relief of Uriel Crocker."

The general statute provides for relief in case of the destruction of coupon bonds.

In my opinion this provision of law is sufficiently liberal to meet all cases of missing coupon bonds worthy of favorable action, and I do not deem it advisable to encourage this class of legislation.

The bill is not, however, so flagrantly inexpedient as to call for my formal disapproval, and I have allowed it to become a law under the constitutional provision, contenting myself with communicating to the Senate, in which the bill originated, my disapproval of special legislation of this character.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, an additional article, signed on the 23d of June last, to the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation which was concluded between the United States and the Argentine Confederation July 27, 1853.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, concerning the awards made against Venezuela by the mixed commission under the convention of April 25, 1866.

I earnestly invite the attention of Congress to this communication and the accompanying documents.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, furnished in response to a resolution of the Senate of May 2, 1884, calling for information relative to the landing of foreign telegraphic cables upon the shores of the United States.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have the honor to transmit communications from the Secretary of the Navy, recommending certain action by the Government in recognition of the services, official and personal, extended in Russia to the survivors of the arctic exploring steamer _Jeannette_ and to the search parties subsequently sent to Siberia.

The authority of Congress is requested for extending the specific rewards mentioned in the paper accompanying one of the communications of the Secretary. The suggestion concerning the thanks of Congress is also submitted for consideration.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 27, 1885_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d instant, setting forth that--

Whereas the United States, in 1866, acquired from the Creek and
Seminole Indians by treaty certain lands situate in the Indian
Territory, a portion of which have remained unoccupied until the
present time; and

Whereas a widely extended belief exists that such unoccupied lands are
public lands of the United States, and as such subject to homestead and
preemption settlement, and pursuant to such belief a large number of
citizens of the United States have gone upon them claiming the right
to settle and acquire title thereto under the general land laws of the
United States; and