Part 35

The contingency then feared has reached us, and the withdrawals of gold since the communication referred to and others that appear inevitable threaten such a depletion in our Government gold reserve as brings us face to face to the necessity of further action for its protection. This condition is intensified by the prevalence in certain quarters of sudden and unusual apprehension and timidity in business circles.

We are in the midst of another season of perplexity caused by our dangerous and fatuous financial operations. These may be expected to recur with certainty as long as there is no amendment in our financial system. If in this particular instance our predicament is at all influenced by a recent insistence upon the position we should occupy in our relation to certain questions concerning our foreign policy, this furnishes a signal and impressive warning that even the patriotic sentiment of our people is not an adequate substitute for a sound financial policy.

Of course there can be no doubt in any thoughtful mind as to the complete solvency of our nation, nor can there be any just apprehension that the American people will be satisfied with less than an honest payment of our public obligations in the recognized money of the world. We should not overlook the fact, however, that aroused fear is unreasoning and must be taken into account in all efforts to avert possible loss and the sacrifice of our people's interests.

The real and sensible cure for our recurring troubles can only be effected by a complete change in our financial scheme. Pending that the executive branch of the Government will not relax its efforts nor abandon its determination to use every means within its reach to maintain before the world American credit, nor will there be any hesitation in exhibiting its confidence in the resources of our country and the constant patriotism of our people.

In view, however, of the peculiar situation now confronting us, I have ventured to herein express the earnest hope that the Congress, in default of the inauguration of a better system of finance, will not take a recess from its labors before it has by legislative enactment or declaration done something not only to remind those apprehensive among our own people that the resources of their Government and a scrupulous regard for honest dealing afford a sure guaranty of unquestioned safety and soundness, but to reassure the world that with these factors and the patriotism of our citizens the ability and determination of our nation to meet in any circumstances every obligation it incurs do not admit of question.

I ask at the hands of the Congress such prompt aid as it alone has the power to give to prevent in a time of fear and apprehension any sacrifice of the people's interests and the public funds or the impairment of our public credit in an effort by Executive action to relieve the dangers of the present emergency.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 30, 1895_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, relative to the refusal of the Turkish Government to grant exequaturs to the vice-consuls of the United States at Erzerum and Harpoot, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 10, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate resolution of December 18, 1895, addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officer, with the accompanying correspondence, in relation to the arrest and imprisonment of Victor Hugo McCord at Arequipa, Peru, requested by said resolution.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1896_.

_To the Congress_:

I desire to invite attention to the necessity for prompt legislation in order to remove the limitation of the time within which suits may be brought by the Government to annul unlawful or unauthorized grants of public lands.

By the act of March 3, 1887 (24 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 556), the Secretary of the Interior is directed to adjust each of the railroad land grants which may be unadjusted, and it is provided, if it shall appear upon the completion of such adjustment or sooner that the lands have been from any cause erroneously certified or patented by the United States to or for the use of a company claiming under any of said grants, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to demand a reconveyance of the title to all lands so erroneously certified or patented, and on failure of the company to make such reconveyance within ninety days the Attorney-General is required to institute and prosecute in the proper courts necessary proceedings to restore title to said lands to the United States. The demands made under this act have been numerous, and in some cases have resulted in the reinvestment of title to the lands in the United States upon demand, but in most cases the demand has been refused and suits have been necessary.

The work of adjustment has been unavoidably slow. The said act makes provision for the reinstatement of entries erroneously canceled on account of railroad withdrawals, and, upon certain conditions, provides for the confirmation of titles derived by purchase from the companies of lands shown to be excepted from the grants. It contemplates a disposition of every tract, described by the granting act, situated within the primary or granted limits; an inspection of each tract certified or patented to the company within such limit, to determine whether such certification or patenting was proper; the listing of those tracts shown to be erroneously certified, and the determination for what tracts lost to the grant indemnity is to be allowed.

It is necessary in making such an adjustment that all questions of conflicting claims, either between settlers and the road or between two roads the grants for which conflict or overlap, be finally disposed of, so that a proper disposition of the land can be shown in the adjustment. While adjustments have proceeded with the utmost rapidity consistent with a due regard for the rights of the settlers, of the United States, and the railroad companies, and while to this end the force of adjusters has been largely augmented in the General Land Office, many of the grants yet remain unadjusted.

In some of the grants, notably the corporation grants, the lack of surveys up to the present time made the completion of the work impossible.

Decisions rendered by the Interior Department in numerous conflicts have been carried into the courts. The construction of the Interior Department has generally been sustained when final determination has been reached, but many of the cases are still pending in the courts, not yet having been decided. Some of these cases, while involving immediately the title to only one particular tract, will when decided furnish a rule of construction to control the disposition of the title to thousands of acres of other lands in the same situation. Until the courts pass upon these questions final adjustments can not be made.

By section 8 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 1099), it is expressly enacted that suits by the United States to vacate and annul any patent theretofore issued "shall only be brought within five years from the passage of this act." This period of five years will expire on the 3d of March, 1896. Of course no suit by the United States to secure the cancellation of a patent in this class of cases after that date would be effective. Indeed, it is now too late to initiate proceedings looking to any such suit, inasmuch as demand has to be first made on the company, and thereafter ninety days must be allowed for compliance or refusal, in accordance with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1887. Before the expiration of this period the statute would bar the right of recovery by the Government, and the benefits of anticipated favorable decisions of the courts would be lost so far as they might determine the character and disposition of grants similar to those directly involved in pending cases.

It will be readily seen that if this act of limitations is to remain on the statute books the portion of the adjustment act referred to would be rendered nugatory. Indeed, there would be but little use in continuing the adjustment of many of the land grants, inasmuch as ascertained rights of the United States or of settlers could not be enforced by law.

Legislation establishing limitations against the right of the Government to sue is an innovation not entirely consistent with the general history of the rights of the Government, for it has uniformly been held that time did not bar the sovereign power from the assertion of a right.

The early adjudications of the Land Department construed the grants with a degree of liberality toward the grantees which later decisions of the courts and of the Department have not sustained. It seems clear that the further progress of adjustments will develop facts and transactions in connection with these land grants which ought to be the subjects of legal examination and scrutiny before they are allowed to become final and conclusive. The Government should not be prevented from going into the courts to right wrongs perpetrated by its agents or any other parties, and by which much of the public domain may be diverted from the people at large to corporate uses.

In these circumstances it seems to me that the act of 1891 should be so amended as not to apply to suits brought to recover title to lands certified or patented on account of railroad or other grants; and I respectfully urge upon Congress speedy action to the end suggested, so that the adjustment of these grants may proceed without the interposition of a bar, through lapse of time, against the right of recovery by the Government in proper cases.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 20, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28, 1895, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, relating to certain speeches made by Thomas F. Bayard, ambassador of the United States to Great Britain.

In response to that part of said resolution which requests information as to the action taken by the President concerning the speeches therein referred to, I reply that no action has been taken thereon by the President except such as is indicated in the report and correspondence herewith submitted.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 22, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28, 1895, a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of all the correspondence of record in the Department of State in relation to the schooner _Henry Crosby_, fired upon while at anchor at Azua, Santo Domingo, December 10, 1893.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 22, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution adopted by the Senate on December 16, 1895, respecting what action had been taken in regard to the payment of the appropriation for the bounty on sugar contained in the sundry civil bill approved March 2, 1895, I herewith transmit a communication received from the Secretary of the Treasury, which contains all the information I have upon the subject.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 23, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, requesting information in regard to the treatment of naturalized citizens of the United States of Armenian origin, and their families, by the Turkish Government.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 27, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of all correspondence of record relating to the failure of the scheme for the colonization of negroes in Mexico, necessitating their return to their home in Alabama.

I referred to this matter in my message to Congress at the beginning of the present session, and for the reasons then given[29] I again urge the propriety of making an appropriation to cover the cost of transportation furnished by the railroad companies.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

[Footnote 29: See p. 634.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 30, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying the reports of the consuls of the United States on trade and commerce. In view of the evident value of this compilation to our business interests, I indorse the recommendation of the Secretary that Congress authorize the printing of a special edition of 10,000 copies of the General Summary of the Commerce of the World for distribution by the Department of State, and of 2,500 copies of Commercial Relations (including this summary) to enable the Department to meet the increasing demand for commercial information.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 3, 1896_.

_To the Congress_:

In my last annual message allusion was made to the lawless killing of certain Italian laborers in the State of Colorado,[30] and it was added that "the dependent families of some of the unfortunate victims invite by their deplorable condition gracious provision for their needs."

It now appears that in addition to three of these laborers who were riotously killed two others, who escaped death by flight, incurred pitiable disabilities through exposure and privation.

Without discussing the question of the liability of the United States for these results, either by reason of treaty obligations or under the general rules of international law, I venture to urge upon the Congress the propriety of making from the public Treasury prompt and reasonable pecuniary provision for those injured and for the families of those who were killed.

To aid in the consideration of the subject I append hereto a report of the Secretary of State, accompanied by certain correspondence which quite fully presents all the features of the several cases.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

[Footnote 30: See p. 633.]

_To the House of Representatives_:

Pursuant to the request made in a House resolution passed on the 30th day of January, 1896, I herewith transmit the report, with accompanying maps and exhibits, of the board of engineers under the provisions of chapter 189 of laws of 1895, for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility, permanence, and cost of the construction and completion of the Nicaragua Canal by the route contemplated and provided for by the act which passed the Senate January 28, 1895, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua,' approved February 20, 1889."

GROVER CLEVELAND.

FEBRUARY 7, 1896.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 10, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 18, 1895, a report by the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence touching the establishment or attempted establishment of post routes by Great Britain or the Dominion of Canada over or upon United States territory in Alaska; also as to the occupation or attempted occupation by any means of any portion of that territory by the military or civil authorities of Great Britain or of Canada.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 10, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification, a convention signed at Washington the 8th instant between the Governments of the United States of America and of Her Britannic Majesty, providing for the settlement of the claims presented by Great Britain against the United States in virtue of the convention of February 29, 1892, and of the findings of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration pursuant to article 8 of said convention, as well as of the additional claims specified in paragraph 5 of the preamble of the present convention.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 9, 1895, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence and other papers in regard to the case of John L. Waller, a citizen of the United States, at present in the custody of the French Government.

It will be seen upon examination, as would of course be expected, that there is a slight conflict of evidence upon some of the features of Mr. Waller's case. Nevertheless, upon a fair and just consideration of all the facts and circumstances as presented, and especially in view of Mr. Waller's own letters, the conclusions set forth in the report of the Secretary of State do not appear to admit of any reasonable doubt nor to leave open to the Executive any other course of action than that adopted and acted upon as therein stated.

It is expected that Mr. Waller's release from imprisonment will be immediately forthcoming.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

[A similar message was sent to the House of Representatives in answer to a resolution of that body of December 28, 1895.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 11, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28 last, as follows--

_Resolved_, That the Secretary of State be directed to communicate to the House of Representatives, if not inconsistent with the public interests, copies of all correspondence relating to affairs in Cuba since February last--

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State and such portions of the correspondence requested as I deem it not inconsistent with the public interests to communicate.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 7, 1896, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying report of the special agent of the United States sent to the Fiji Islands to investigate the claims of B.H. Henry and other American citizens for compensation for certain lands alleged to have been owned by them and claimed to have been appropriated by the British Government.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, with the accompanying papers, a report from the Secretary of State, answering the resolution of the Senate of January 16, 1896, addressed to him, calling for information concerning the claims against Peru of Thomas W. Sparrow, N.B. Noland, and others, members of the commission known as the Hydrographic Commission of the Amazon, employed by the Government of Peru, for compensation for their services on said commission.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1895.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 14, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 1, 1896, a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence of record in the Department of State in relation to the exclusion of life-insurance companies of the United States from transacting business in Germany.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 18, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, I return herewith Senate bill 879, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to grant to the Gainesville, McAlester and St. Louis Railroad Company a right of way through the Indian Territory.'"

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1896_.

_To the Senate:_

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolutions of the Senate of the 18th and 19th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, in regard to the claim of A.H. Lazare against the Government of Hayti.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 9, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 24th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, in relation to the claim of the legal representatives of Lieutenant George C. Foulke against the Government of the United States.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 9, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate's resolution of February 6, 1896, addressed to the Secretary of State, copies, in translation, of the decrees or orders of the Governments of Germany, France, Belgium, and Denmark placing restrictions upon the importation of certain American products.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 13, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the Senate of March 2, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence touching the arrest in Havana of Marcus E. Rodriguez, Luis Someillau y Azpeitia, and Luis Someillau y Vidal, citizens of the United States.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 13, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 13, 1896, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, relating to the claim of Bernard Campbell against the Government of Hayti.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 14, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring, I return herewith the enrolled joint resolution (S.R. 116) authorizing the Public Printer to print the Annual Report of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in quarto form and to bind it in one volume.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 15, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of March 24, 1896, requesting that the Senate be furnished with the correspondence of the Department of State between November 5, 1875, and the date of the pacification of Cuba in 1878 relating to the subject of mediation or intervention by the United States in the affairs of that island, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, forwarding such papers as seem to be called for by the resolution in question.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 30, 1896_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th instant, addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officer, accompanied by copies of the correspondence in regard to the imprisonment of Mrs. Florence E. Maybrick.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 16, 1896_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the Senate dated the 9th instant and addressed to the Secretary of State, a report of that officer, accompanied by copies of printed documents containing the information desired respecting the historical archives deposited in the Department of State.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, May 23, 1896_.

_To the Senate of the United States_: