Tariff And Surplus

Washington, Deo. 6.- The foUowuig i the full text of President Oleveland'B mesage, as read to both honses of Congrese toiay: TO TRE OONORESSOF THE UXITED STAT ES - You are confronted at the tbresbold of your legislative itutics Wlth a eondition of the National flnances whieh impenvtively demands in jnediate andcareful conMileratinn. The amount of mofliv ininually exacted through the operation of present laws. trom the industries and necessiliesof the peoiile, largely exceeds the sum necessai y to meet the expenses üf the Government.. When we uonsider that the theory of our intltuttons guarantees to everjr citizen the lull enjoyment of all the fruits of hi8 mdnstry and enterprise, with only such dertuction as may be hls sharo towarrt the carefui and economical matntenam-e of the Government which protects him, it is plain that the exaetlon of more than tbis is indefensibie extortion, and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and juetice. Thi wrong, tnflcted upon thoso who bear the burden of National taxatlon, like ether wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil conseQuences. The public treasury, which thould nly exist as a conduit oonveying the people s tribute to ts legitímate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding-place lor money ueedlessly irithdrawn from trade and the people use, thus crippling our National energies, suspending our country' s development. preventing investment in productivo enterpnses, threatening flnancial disturbance and invlting schemes of public plunder. This conditiou of our Treasury is not altogether new; and it has more ihnn once of late been submitted to the people's representatives in Consress, who ïlone can apply a remedy. And yet the situation still continue, with aggravated incident, more than ever presuging flnancial convulsiona and wide-spread disaster. It will not do to neglect this situation beoause its dangers are not now palpably imminent and appurent. They exlst none the less certatnly. and await the unforeseen, unexpected occasion when suddenly thcy will be precipitated upon us. On the SOtli day of June, 1885. the exoess of revenues over public expendituies, after complying with the a inual requirement of the Sinking-fund act, was t ir, 859. 785. 34: during the year ended June 30, 1-60. such excess amounted to 149.405.545.20, and during the year ended June 30, 1887, it reached the sum of ÍO5.567,849,64 The anuuul contributions to the siuking fund during the three years above speciüed, amounting in the afgregate to H38.05K320.94, and deducted from the surplus as stated, were made oy calllng in for that purpose outstanding 8 per cent. bonds of the Government. During the six months prior to June 30, 1887. the surplus revenue had grown so large lv repeated accumulations, and it was feareri the h ilhdrawal of this creat sum of money needeii . y the people, would fco affect the business of the country, that the sum of Í79,864,1X) of such surplus was applied to th payment of the principal and interest of the 3 per cent. bouds still outstar.diUK, and which were then payable at the option of the Government. The precanous condition of financia affairs Dmong the people still needing relief, immediately after the 80th day of June, 1887, the remainder of the 3 per cent. bonds then outstanding, amounting, with principal and interest, to the sum of 118,877,500, were talled in and applied to the sinking-fund contribution for the current fiscal year. Notwithstanding these operations of the Treasury Department, reprosentations of distress in business circles not only continued "out increascd, and absolute peril seemed at hand. In these circumstances the contribution to the staking fund for the current fiscal year was at once completed by the expenditure of 127,684.883.55 in the purchase of Government bonds not yet due being 4 and 4 % per cent. interest, the premium paid theron averaging about 24 per cent. for the former and 8 per cent. for the jatter. In addition to this the interest aocruing during the current year upon the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the Government was to lome extent anticipated. and banks selected as depositores of public money were permitted to omewhat increase taeir deposits. While the expedients thus ercployed to release to the people the money lying idle in the, treasury served to avert immediate danger, our. surplus revonues have continued to accumulate, the excess for the present year amounting on the flrst day of December to 155,2 8.701.19, and estlmatod to reach the sum of tll3,000,UOO on Obe 39th of June next, at which date it is expected thal Ilis sum, added to prior accumulatiom will. swell the surplus in the Treasury to 140,000,000. There sermi to be no assurance that with uch a wití 'drawal from use of the people's circulating medium our business may not in the near future be subjeoted to the same distress wu.oli was quite lately produced, from the same cause. And while the functions of our National Treasury should be íew and simple, and while its best condition would be reached, I believe, toy lts entire disconnection with private business ínterests, yet when, by a perverton of its purposes, it idly holds money uselessly subtracted from the channels of trade, there seems to be reason for the olaim that ome legitímate means should be derised by the Government to restore in an emergency, without waste or extravagance, such money to ïts place among the people. Ii such an emergency arises there now exists BO clear and undoubted executive power of relief. Herotofore the redemption of 3 per cent. bonds, which were payabie at the option of the Goyernment. has affordcd a means ïor the disbursement of the excess of our revenues; but these bonds have all been retired, and there are no bonds outstanclng the payment of which we have the right to insist upon. The contribution to the sinking fund which furnishes the occasion for expenditure in the purchase of bonds has been already made for the current year, eo there is no outlet in that direction. In the present state of legislation the only pretenseof any existing executive power to restore at this time any part of our surplus revenues to the people by its expenditure, consists in the supposition that the Secretary of the Treasury may enter the market and purchase the bonds of the Government not yet due, at a ratO of premium to be agreed upon. The only provisión of law from which such a power could be derlved is found ín an appropriation bilí passed a number of years ago ; and it is subject to the suspicion that it was intendeü as temporary and limited in its application, instead of conferring a continuing discretton and authority. No condition ought to exist which would juatify the grant of power to a single official, upon his judgment of its necessity, to withhold from or release to the business of the people, in an unusual macner, money held in the Treasury, and thus affect, at his JviU, the nnanoal situation of the country; and Tf it is deemed wise to lodge in the Secretary o) th8 Treasury the authority in the present juncture to purchase bonds, it should be plainly Tested, and provided, as far as possible, with Kuch checks anú limitations as will define this omcial's right and discretion and at the same time relieve him from undue responsibility. In considering the question of purchasing bonds as a means of restoring to circulation the surplus money accumulating in tte Treasory, it should be borne in mind that premiums must of course be paid upon such purchase, that there may be a large part of these bonds held as inveBtments which can not be purchased at any price, and that complioations among hoi Jcis who are willing to sell may unreasonably enhance the cost of such bonds to the Government. Ithas been snggested that the present bonded debt might be refunded at a less rate of Interest, and the differenca between the old and new securities paid in cash, thus finding use lor the surplus in the Treasury. The success of this plan, it is apparent. must depend upon the volition of the holders of the present honds ; ■od It is not entirely certain that the inducetnent which must be oftered them would retuit In more flnancial benefit to the Government than the purchase of btmds, while the latter proposltion would reduoe the principal of the flebt DV actual payment, insteadof extendingit. The proposition to deposit the money held by the Government in banks throughout the country for use by the people is, it 6eems to me, exceedinKly objectionable in principie, as establtshing too close relationship between the operations of the Government treasury anc the business of the country, and too extensíve aco-mfngling of their money, thus fostering an innatural reliance in private business upon public funds. If thu scheme should be sdopt ed it should only be done as a temporary xpedlent to meet an urgent necessity. Lcgie lativeanrt executive efloit should generally be in the opposite direction. and should have aten dency to divorce. as much and as fast as can afely be done, the Treasury Department from private enterprise. Of course It is not expected that unneceesary and extravagant appropriations will be made for the purposc of avoiding the accumulation of an excess ol rev.nue. feuch expenditure beside the deraoralization of all just conoep tlons of public duty which itentails, stimulate a habit of reckless improvidence not in tb least consistent with the mission of our peopl or the high and nsneficent purpises o' on Oovernmeut. I b;. ■ my Uuty iu thus Uring to the nowiedge 01 niy couoUyinen. as well as to tho Lltentioq oJ llieir representativos eharged with he responslbility of legislative rciiff. tb uravity of our ünancial E'.tuation. Tne ailure of the Oongresa heretotove to providc against he dangers which it was quite evident the very nature of the difticulty must necessanly iroduce, caused a condítion of nuani'Tal di&ress anú upprehension s nee jour last adournment whioh taxed t" thf utmost all the luthorny aml rxpedieuts within exc cutive conrol: anJ these appear n v to b ixhuusted. f disaster results froin the continued inaetlon ■ ; Ci:ii::co, uit reiponaib lily must rest where t belonpi. Thoush the gltttation tlius far considered is rauilit with danger which should be fully ealiyed, and l-bougli it presentí features of wrong u the people aa wtll as peni to the ountry, it is but a result growiug out of a perectly palpable and aDparent cause, congtantly eproducing thf sume ui.irm;nfr circumstances - a congested Nutional treasury and a depleted monetary oondltion !.a the business of the counry. It need hardiy Muted that, while the present sltuation uemands a remeuy, we can nly be saved irom a like predicament in the uture by the removaloí til cause. Our scheme of taxat on. by means of which his neetíless surpi11 is t:Uen from the peopie md put uiio the pa ii# treasuij conuist of a arifí or uut-v evit upon importations from broad. and interaal-reve-iuc tuxes levied upon b.e oonsumption of tobáceo and spintuouB and malt llquoro. It must be conceded that none of aelbings subje ted to irjtiDa.-r'-venue taxaion are, str.ctly speakinp, necessaries: tbere tppears to be do Just complainlof this taxatioc y the ooBsumen of these anieles, and tbere mms to be nothing so well able to bear the urden without hardship to any portion of the eople. But our preeent t-ariff laws- the viclous, inquttable and illogical Bource of unneeessary axation- ought to be atonce revised and amenad. These laws, as ttitir primary and plain ffect, raise the price to consumers of all artiles imponed and subject to duty, by preisely the sum paid for such duties. Thus he amount of the duty measures the taz paid iy those who purchase íor use these imponed rticles. Many of these things, howver, are raised or mauufactured in ur own country, and the duties now lev.ed upd foreign goods and produots are called proectioD to tuese home manufactures, because bey render it possible for those of our people who are manufacturera to make these taxecJ nicles anti sell Ihem for a price equal u hat demanded for the imported goods that lave pa:d eustoms duty. So it happens hat whiie comparatively a few use he imponed anieles, milhons of our ►copie, who never use and never saw any of the oreign produots, purchase and use things of the ame kind made in this country, and pay thereor nearly or qu.te the same enhanced price which the duty adds to the imported articles. Those wbo buy imports pay the duty cbarged bereon into the public treasury, but the great majority of our oitizeus, who buy domestic trueles of the same class. pay a sum al east approximately equal to this duiy to the lome manufacturer. Tbis referetice to the opration of our tariff laws is not made by way f instruef.cn, but in order that we may.be contantly remindod of the manner in which they mpose & burden upon those who consume domestic products as well as those who consume mported anieles, and tbue créate a taz upon all our people. It is not proposed to entirely relieve the ountry of this tazation. It must be extenively oontinued as the source of the Government's income; and in a readjustment of ur tarif! the interests of American labor ngaged in manufucture should be careully considered, as well as the preservalon of our manufacturera. It icay be called prqtection, or by any other name, but 'elief from the hard&hlps and dangers of onr present tarifl laws should be devisert wlth spfc ft] precaution against imperilinp tbe exstence ol our maoufacturing interests. But his cxislmce should not mean a condición which, without regard to the pubib welfare or a national exigency, must alway infi.rt tur real ïation of immense profits, nsteado! n:oanrbtely prontable returns. Asihe volume and dlversity of our National activities ncrease. new recruits are addod to those who esire a continu ation of the advantages which hey concejve the p sent system of tariff axation directly aflords Ihem. So stubbornly Lave ai; effortc to reform the present ondition been resisted by those of our fellow itizens thus riigaged. that tl.ey can bardly omplain oí the Kusp c on. enteriained to a cerain extect, tb-t there exists an organized com)inatiou alj ato&g tbe lice to maintain their aovantage. We are in the mulst of ctntennial celebraions and witb becoming pride we rejoice in American skill and infrenuity, in American enrgy and enternrise, and itj the wonderful natural advanúigcs and resources devcloped by a century s National growth. Yet wben an attempt is mútle to ustify a t-cheme which permits a tax to be aid upon evury consumer in the land for tbt jeneüt of our munutacturers, quite beyond a eason&ble domand for governmental regard, t buits tbe purposes of advocacy to cali our manufactures infant industries, still needing be higbest and greatest degree of favor and ostering care that can be wrung írom Federal egislation. It is also said that the increase in the price of domestic manufactures resultlng írom be present tariff is necessary in order that higher wages may be paid to our workingmen employed in manufactories than are paid for wbat is called the pauper labor of Europe. All will acknowiedge the force of an argument which involves the welfare and liberal oompensation ot our laboring people. Our labor is honorable in he eyes of every American Citizen, and as it ies at the foundation of our development and jrogress, it is enlitled, without affectation or ïypocrisy. to the utmost regard. The Standard of our laborers' life should not be measured by that of any other country less favored, and they are entitled to their iull share of all our advantages. By the last census it ia made to appear that of the 17,392.009 of our population engaged In all kinds of iadustries. T,(!?,i,49á are employed n agrieulture, 4,074,2-18 in professional and personal service (2.934,876 of wbom are domestic servants and laborers), while 1,610,850 are employed in traáe and transportaron and 3,887,112 are classed as employed in manufacturing and min ing, For present purposes, however, the lastnnmer given shoula be considerably reduced. Without attempting to enumérate all, it will ae conceded that there should be deducted from those which it Includes 875,143 carpenters and joiners, 2H5.401 milliners, dressmakers and seamstressc-E. :7ü,7eblacksmiths, 183,756 tailors and tailoresses, 102,478 masons, 76,241 butchers, 41,809 bakers, A.,083 plasterers, and 4,8S1 engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements, amounting in the aggregate to 1,814,023, leaving 2,62,3,089 persons employed in sucb manufacturing industries as are claimed to be beneflted by a high tariff. To these the appeal is made to save their employment and maintain their wages by resisting a change. There should be no disposltion to answersuch suggestions by the allegation that they are in a minority among those who labor, and therefore should forego an advantage, in the interest of low prices for the majority; their compensation, as it may be affected by the operation of tariff laws, sbould at all times be scrupulously kept In view; and yet with slight reflection they will notoverlook the fact that they are consumers with the rest; that they, too, have their own wants and those of their families to supply from their earnings, and that the price f the necessaries of life, as well as the amount of their wages. will regúlale the measure of their welfare and comfort. But the reduction of tazation demanded should be so measured as not to necessitate or Justify either the loss of employment by the workingman nor the lessening cf his wages ; and the pronts stil! remaining to the manufacturer after a necessary readjustment, should furnish EO excuse for the sacrifice of the interests of his employés either in their opportunity to work or in the diminution of their compensation. Nor can the worker in manufactures fail to understand that while a high tanff Is claimed to be necessary to allow the payment of remunerativo wages, it certainly resnlts in a very large increase in the prico of nearly all sorts of manufactures, which, in almost countless forms, he needs for the use of bimself and his family. He receives at the desk of his employerhis wages, and perhaps before he reaches his home is obliged, in a purchase for family uee of an article which embraces his own labor, to return, in the payment of the increase in price which the tariff permits, the hard-earned compecsation of many days of toil. The farmer and the asrlculturíst who manufacture nothing, but who pay the increased price which the tariff imposes, upon every agricultural implement, upon all he wears and upon all he ueeB and owns, except the Increase of his flocks and herds and such things as his husbandry produces from the soil, is invited to ald in maintainlng the present situation and he ie told that a bigh duty on imported wool is necessary for the benefit of those who have sheep to sbear, in order that the price of their wool may be increased. They, of course, are not remlnded that the farmer who has no sheep íb b Ihis scheme obliged in his purchases of clothteg and woolen goods, to pay a tribute to his fellow farmer as well as to the manufacturer and merchant; nor is any mention made of the fact that the sheep-owners themselves and their housenolds must wear olothíng and use other articles manufactured from the wool Ihey sell at tariff pr.ces, and thus, as consumere, must return their share oi this increased price to the tradesmnn. I thlnk it may be fairly assumed that a larc proportion of the sheep owned by the farmers lorougho'jt tbe country are found in smal! frockg numberlng trom twenty-flvc to flfty. The duty on tho grade of iuiported wool which ti.tse sheep yield ,is 10 cents eacrj jound if of the valuo of SO cents or leu, and cents if of the valae of more taan 80 cents, If he liberal estímate of six pounds oe allowed or cach fleece, the duty thereon would be sixty or seventy-two cents, and this mar be taken as he utmost enhancement of its price to the armer liy reason of thls duty. Eighteen dolars would thus represent the increased price of the wool from twenty-flve sheep, aml HU hat from the wool of flfty sheep, and at present values this addltion would minuut to ibout one-third of its price. If, upon its sale, he farmer recoives this or a loss turiff proflt, he wool leaves his bands charged with precisely that sum, which in all its chances will adhereto t, until it reaohee the consumer. When manuaoturcd inti cloth and other goeds and material for use. its cost is not on y increased to he exteiit of the larmer's tarirï protit, but a urther sum has been added for the benetlt of the manufaeturer under the operation of other ariff laws. In the meantime, the day arrivés when the farmer ttnds it necessary to purehase woolen gooüs and material to clothe himself and family for the winter. When he faces the trades'man for that purpose he discovers hat he is ooliged not only to return, in the way of inereased prices, his tar ff proüt on the wool he sold. and which then perhaps lies beore him ir. manufacturad form, but that h must add a considerable sum thereto to meet a further ineitust in cost caused by a tariff duty on the manufacture. Thus in the end he is. aroused to the íact that he has paid upon a moderate purchnse. as a result of the tariff scheme - which, when he sold his wool, seemed o profitablc an increase in price- more than mftlcii-nt to sweep away all the tariff proflt he received upon the wool he produced and sold. Whan the nuniber of farmers engaged in wool-raising is compared wlth Bil the farmers i. tbe country, and the small proportion they ear to our population is considered; when it s made apparent tha4., in the case of a large part of those who ewn sheep, the eneflt of the present tariff on wool is 11U8ory; and, above all, when it must be conceded that the Increase of the cost of livng caused by iuch tariff becomes a burden upon those with moderate means and the poor, he employed and unemployed, the slck and well, and the young and old, and that it constitutes a tax which, with relentless grasp, is astened upon the nlothing of every man, woman and child in the land, reasons are suggested why the removal or reduction of this duty should be includcd in a revisión of our tariff aws. In speaking of the increased cost to the coneumer of our home manufactures, resultlng rom a duty lnid upon imported articles of tbe same description. the fact is not overlooked that competition amonjr our domestie producers foroet mes has the effect of keeping the price of their product-e below the hlghest limit allowed y such duty. But it f notoiïous that this cometition ík too oíten strangled by eombinationsluite prevülent at this time und frequently ■ulied trusts, which have for their object the regulation of the supply and price of commodiies made and sold by members of thecombinatlon. The people can hardly hope for any conslderation in the operation of these selflsh BCbemeB. If, however, in the absence of such combination, a healthy and free competition reduces he price ot any particular dutiable article of home production below the limit which itmight otherwise reach under our tariff luws, and if, with such reduced price. its manufacture oninues to thrive, it is entirely evident that one thing has been discovered which should be carefully scrutiniied in an effort to reduce taxaion. The necessitv of combination to maintain the price of any commodity to the tarifl point furushes prooi that some one is wiliing to accept ower prices for euch commodity. and that such irices are remunerativo and lower prices proluced by competition nrove the same .thing. Thus. wlu-re either of these eonditions exist a case woulii scem to be presented for an easy reduction of taxation, The considerations which have been presented touching our tariff laws are intended only to enforce an earnest recommendafon that the surplus revei.ues of the Government be prevented by the reduction of our customs duties, &nd,at the san,'1 time, to emphasize a suggestion that, in this purpose, we may lischarge a doublé duty to our people bygrantng to thern a measure of reliet from tariff taxution in qu;iners where it is most needed and rom sourepï whire il oan be most tairly and U6tly accordd. Nor can the presentation nade of such considerations be. with any dejree of fairnc. reyarded as evidence of un'riendliness toward our manufacturing interests, or of any lack of appreciation of their value and lmitortanoe. These interests constitutea leading and most substantial element of our National greatness and furnish the proud proof of our country's arogress. But if. in the emergency thatpresses upon us. our manufacturera are asked to surrender something for the public good and to avert disaster their patnotism, as well as a grateful recognition of advantages already afforded, should lead them to willing co-operation. Ho demand is made that they shall fore;o all the beneftts of governmental regard; but hey can not fail to be admonished of their duty, as well as their enlightened self-interest and safety. when they are reminded of the fact that Inancial panic and collapse. to which the present conditiontends, afford no greater shelter or ?rotection to our manufactures than to our other important enterprises. Opportunity for safe, careful and delibérate reform is now of[ered, and none of us should be unmindful of a time when an abused and irritated people, heedless of tbose who have resisted timely and reasonable relief, may insist upon a radical and sweeping rectification of their wrongs. Tbe dimculty attending a wise and fair revisión of our tariff laws is not underestimated. [t will on the part of the Congress great labor and care. and especially broad and National contemplation of the subject, and apatriotic dieregard of such local and seltish claims as are unreasonahle and reckless of the welfare of the entire country. Under the present laws more than four thousand article; are subject to duty. Many of these do not in any way compete with our own manufactures, and many are hardly worth attentiou as subject? of revenue. A considerable reduction can be made in the aggiegate by adding them to the free list. The taxation of luxuries presente no features of hardship; but the necessaries of life used aud consumed by all the people. the duty upon which adds to the cost of living in every home, should be greatly cheapened. The radical reduction of the duties imposed upon raw;material used In manufactures, or its free lmportation, is of course an important factor in any effort to reduce the price of these necessaries; it would not only relieve them from the increased cost caused by the tariff on such material, but the manufactured product, being thus cheapened, that part of the tarifl now laid upon such product as a compensatlon to our manu factures for the present price of raw material could be accordingly modifled. Such reduction, or free importation, would serve beside to largely reduce the revenue. It is not apparent how such a chance can have any injurious effect upon our manufactures. On the contrary, it would appear to give them a better chance in foreign markets -.vith the manufacturers of other countnes who encapen their wares by free material. Thus our people might have the opportunity of extending their sales beyond the limits of home consumption, saving them from the depression, interruption in business and loss caused by a glutted domestic market, and affording their employés more certalD and steady labor, with its resulting quiet and contentment. The question thus imperatively presented for soiution should be approached in asp:rt higher than partisanship, and considered in the light of that regard for patriotic duty which should characterize the action of those intrueted with the weal of a conflding people. But the obligation to declared party policy and prinoipal is not wanting to urge prompt and effective action. Both of the great political parties now represented in the Government have, by repeated and authoritative declarations, condemned the condition of our laws which permit the collection from the people of unnecessary revenue, and bare, in the most solemn manner, promised its correction ; and neither as citizens or partisans are our countrymen in a mood to condone tbe delibérate violation of these pledges. Our progress toward a wlse conclusión wlll not be improved by dwelling upon the theories of protection and fre trade. This savors too much of bandylng epithets. It is a condition whicb confronts us, not a theory. Relief from thls condition may involve a slight reduction of the advantages which we award our home productions; but the entire withdrawnl of such advantages should not be contemplated. The question of free trade Is absolutely irrelevant; and the persistent claim made in certain quarters, that all efforts to relieve the people from unjust and unnecesssry taxation are scheinesof so-called free-traders, is mischievous and (ai removed from any consideration the for public good. The simple and plain duty which we owe tbe people is to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the Government, and to restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the treasury, through the perversión of governmental power. These things can and should be done with safet.y toali our industries, without danger to the opi ortunity for remunerative labor which our working-men need, and with benefit to them and all our people, by cheapening their means of subsistence and increasing the measure of their comforts. The constitution provides that the President "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the state of the Union." It has been the custom of the Executive, in compliance with this provisión, to annually exhibit to tha Coogress, at the o jxnlng ef its session, the ges eral coniUtion of the ooun'ry, and to detall, wtth some particularity, tue operations of tha diflerent exeeutive depirtments. It would be especially agreaable to follow this course at 'the present time, and to cali attention to the valuable aecomplishments of these departnients duriiig the last fiscal year. But I aniso much impresse.l with the paramount importanco of the subject to whicto this coiiiniiiiH':itioM has thus far bcen devoted, thai 1 Bhall forego the add.tion of any other topic, and only urge uponyour immedlate oonsideration the "state of the L'nion" as Bhown in the present condition of our Treasury and our general fiscal situation, upon which every element of our safety aml prosperity dopends. The reports of the hea;!s of departments which w;ll be submitted, contain full and explicit infornmt .uu touching the transaction of the business intrusted to them, and such recommendatious relating to legislation in the public interests as they deern advisable. I ask for these reports and recommendations the delibérate examination and action of the legislativa branch of the Government. There are other subjects not embraced in the departmental reports demanding legislativo consideration, and which I should be glad to submit. Some of them, however, have been earnestly presented in pruvious messages, and as to them I beg loave to repeat prior recommendations. As the law makes no provisión for any report from the Department of State, a brief history of tbe transactions of that important department, together w th other maners which it may nereafter be deemed esssential to commend to the attention of the Congress, may lurnish the occasion for a future communication. Washington. December 6, 188".