Chapter 19

I transmit herewith a communication of the 6th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill "to accept and ratify an agreement with the confederated tribes of the Flathead, Kootenay, and Upper Pend d'Oreille Indians for the sale of a portion of their reservation in the Territory of Montana required for the use of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and for other purposes."

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the 4th instant, submitting, with accompanying papers, draft of a bill "to accept and ratify the agreement submitted by the Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheepeaters of the Fort Hall and Lemhi reservations, in Idaho, May 14, 1880, for the sale of a portion of their land in said Territory and for other purposes, and to make the necessary appropriations for carrying out the same."

The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting a draft of a bill "providing for allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians residing upon the Chehalis Reservation, in Washington Territory, and granting patents therefor," with accompanying report from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs upon the subject.

The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the 3d instant, with accompanying papers, submitting a draft of a bill for the relief of the Nez Percé Indians in the Territory of Idaho and of the allied tribes residing on the Grande Ronde Indian Reservation, in the State of Oregon.

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the 4th instant, submitting, with accompanying papers, draft of a bill to accept and ratify certain agreements made with the Sioux Indians and to grant a right of way to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company through the Sioux Reservation in Dakota.

The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter from the Secretary of War, dated December 13 instant, inclosing one from the Surgeon-General of the Army submitting a special estimate for funds in the sum of $200,000 for the erection in this city of a suitable fireproof building to contain the records, library, and museum of the Medical Department of the Army, together with preliminary plans for said building and copies of reports, etc., in relation to the subject.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, dated the 10th instant, inclosing a letter from the Surgeon-General of the Navy respecting the advisability of providing for representation on the part of the United States in any international convention that may be organized for the purpose of establishing uniform standards of measure of color perception and acuteness of vision.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 3d instant from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill for the payment of the value of certain improvements made by certain settlers on the Round Valley Indian Reservation, in the State of California, as appraised under the act approved March 3, 1873.

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 12th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of December 8, 1883, and accompanying papers, on the subject of the "Old Settler" or "Western" Cherokees.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 17, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 4th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, with draft of a bill to accept and ratify an agreement made with Chief Moses and other Indians for the relinquishment of certain lands in Washington Territory, and to make the necessary appropriations for carrying the same into effect, with accompanying papers.

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter from the Secretary of War, dated the 15th instant, inclosing one from the Quartermaster-General setting forth the necessity for the construction of a fireproof building in this city for the storage of the public records.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, inclosing a copy of a communication from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs setting forth the necessity of a deficiency appropriation of $78,110 for the purchase of supplies for the balance of the present fiscal year for the Crow Indians.

CHESTER A ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 19, 1883_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, in response to the Senate resolution of the 18th instant, a report of the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, relating to the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed April 19, 1850.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1883_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of War, dated December 14, 1883, upon the subject of abandoned military reservations, and renewing his former recommendation for such legislation as will provide for the disposal of military sites that are no longer needed for military purposes.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 19, 1883_.

_To the Senate of the United States of America:_

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of extradition between the United States of America and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, concluded at Berlin on the 29th of October, A.D. 1883.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 24, 1883_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

The House of Representatives having adopted on the 19th instant a resolution in the following words--

_Resolved_, That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby, requested to furnish for the information of this House, without delay, if not incompatible with the public service, all communications, documents, and papers in his possession relating to the trial, conviction, and execution of the late Patrick O'Donnell by the British Government--

I transmit herewith a report made to me by the Secretary of State, with the papers enumerated in the subjoined list, as answering said resolution.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 7, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the 19th ultimo, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill providing for the allotment of lands in severalty to the Arickaree, Gros Ventre, and Mandan Indians on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, in Dakota, and the granting of patents therefor, and for other purposes.

The matter is presented for the action of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 7, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the 19th ultimo, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill "to allow Indian homestead entries in certain cases without the payment of fees and commissions."

The matter is presented for the consideration and action of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 7, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter from the Secretary of War, dated the 2d instant, inclosing copies of official correspondence, reports, etc., in relation to the military post of Fort Sullivan, Me., and recommending such legislation as will authorize the sale of the site to the highest bidder after public advertisement, the same being no longer needed for military purposes.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 8, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I submit a communication from the governor of the State of Illinois, with a copy of an act of the general assembly of that State tendering to the United States the cession of the Illinois and Michigan Canal upon condition that it shall be enlarged and maintained as a national waterway for commercial purposes.

The proposed cession is an element of the subject which Congress had under consideration in directing by the act of August 2, 1882, a survey for a canal from a point on the Illinois River at or near the town of Hennepin by the most practicable route to the Mississippi River at or above the city of Rock Island, the canal to be not less than 70 feet wide at the water line and not less than 7 feet in depth of water, and with capacity for vessels of at least 280 tons burden; and also a survey of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and an estimate of the cost of enlarging it to the dimensions of the proposed canal between Hennepin and the Mississippi River.

The surveys ordered in the above act have been completed and the report upon them is included in the last annual report of the Secretary of War, and a copy is herewith submitted. It is estimated in the report that by the enlargement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the construction of the proposed canal by the shortest route between Hennepin and the Mississippi River a direct and convenient thoroughfare for vessels of 280 tons burden may be opened from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan at a cost of $8,110,286.65, and that the annual charge for maintenance would be $138,600.

It appears from these papers that the estimated yield of corn, wheat, and oats for 1882 in the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska was more than 1,000,000,000 bushels. It is claimed that if the cheap water transportation route which is now continuous from the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago is extended to the Upper Mississippi by such a canal a great benefit in the reduction of freight charges would result to the people of the Upper Mississippi Valley, whose productions I have only partly noted, not only upon their own shipments, but upon the articles of commerce used by them, which are now taken from the Eastern States by water only as far as Chicago.

As a matter of great interest, especially to the citizens of that part of the country, I commend the general subject to your consideration.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 8, 1884_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, respecting the alleged distribution of circulars in some of the Departments asking contributions for political purposes, I hereby transmit the reply of the Secretary of State.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 8, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a communication from the Secretary of War, submitting the annual report of the Mississippi River Commission.

I take this occasion to invite the early attention of Congress to the continuation of the work on the Mississippi River which is being carried on under the plans of the commission. My sense of the importance of the improvement of this river, not only to the people of the Northwest, but especially to the inhabitants of the Lower Mississippi Valley, has already been expressed in a special communication to the last Congress. The harvests of grain and cotton produced in the region bordering upon the Mississippi are so vast as to be of national importance, and the project now being executed for their cheap transportation should be sufficiently provided for.

The commission report that the results due to the still uncompleted works have been remarkable, and give the highest encouragement for expecting the ultimate success of the improvement.

The act of August 2, 1882, appropriated $4,123,000 for the work on that part of the river below Cairo. The estimates of the commission already transmitted to Congress call for $3,000,000 for the continuation of the work below Cairo, and it appears from their report that all of the last appropriation available for active operations has been exhausted and that there is urgently needed an immediate appropriation of $1,000,000 to continue the work without loss of time, in view of the approach of the flood season, with its attendant dangers.

I therefore recommend to Congress the early passage of a separate bill on this subject.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 9, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter from the Secretary of War of the 7th instant, inclosing a copy of one from the Quartermaster-General of the Army submitting plans and estimates for the construction of walls, etc., at the Schuylkill Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pa., rendered necessary by the opening of Peltz street, and recommending that an appropriation be made of the amount estimated to be requisite for the work referred to.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, an estimate of appropriation in the sum of $25,000 for the settlement under existing treaties of certain freedmen and their descendants upon lands known as the Oklahoma district, within the Indian Territory.

The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 11th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, an item of appropriation in the sum of $3,000 for the location and survey of boundary lines of certain lands purchased by the United States from the Creek Indians for the use of the Seminole Indians in the Indian Territory.

The matter is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 14, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a draft of a bill "for the relief of the Mission Indians in the State of California."

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 15, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, calling for the correspondence on file upon the subject of discriminating duties upon commerce between the United States and Cuba and Puerto Rico, I transmit herewith a report made to me by the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a copy of a letter from the secretary of state of the State of Pennsylvania, dated November 26, 1883, inclosing a duly authenticated copy of an act of the legislature of that State entitled "An act to provide for the preservation, use, custody, and disposition of the marine hospital at Erie, and making an appropriation for the repair of the same," approved July 5, 1883, and tendering to the United States Government, on behalf of the governor, in pursuance of the provisions of the act, the said marine hospital for use as a soldiers' and sailors' home.

The papers having upon their receipt been referred by me to the Secretary of War, I inclose also a copy of his letter of the 12th instant returning the same, together with a copy of the report of Captain Edward Maguire, Corps of Engineers, dated the 10th ultimo, giving a description of the property referred to and expressing his views as to its adaptability for a soldiers and sailors' home.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 16, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, dated the 11th instant, suggesting further action by Congress in the matter of granting leases of bath houses and bath-house sites at the Hot Springs Reservation, Ark.

The subject is presented for the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, on the subject of an expedition for the relief of Lieutenant A.W. Greely and his party, composing what is known as the "Lady Franklin Bay Expedition," which was sent to the arctic regions in 1881 under the provisions of the acts of Congress approved May 1, 1880, and March 3, 1881.

In the plans for the relief of this party, as arranged with Lieutenant Greely, it was contemplated that an effort would be made to communicate with him and furnish him any needed assistance in 1882 and again in 1883.

Subsequently legislation was enacted which required the expedition of 1883 to bring the party home. It was a part of the arrangement that if communication should not be made with him on or before the 1st of September, 1883, he should, with his party, abandon his station at Lady Franklin Bay not later than the above-mentioned date and proceed south-ward, and would find a well-supplied relief station at the entrance to Smiths Sound, a point where it would not be difficult to reach him during a part of each year. The expeditions of 1882 and 1883 were sent, but neither one of them was able to communicate with Lieutenant Greely; and the last one failed to accomplish any part of its object beyond leaving a very small quantity of stores in the neighborhood of the entrance to Smiths Sound.

The situation of Lieutenant Greely and his party under these circumstances is one of great peril, and in presenting the preliminary views of the board appointed by me to take into consideration an expedition for their relief I urgently recommend prompt action by Congress to enable the recommendations of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to be carried out without delay.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 22, 1884_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolution of the House dated January 11, 1883, a letter, dated the 21st instant, from the Secretary of War, together with a report submitted to him by the Chief of Engineers, embodying the information, so far as the same can be furnished from the records of his office, and a statement prepared in the Treasury Department, respecting the expenditures for rivers and harbors, called for by the said resolution.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 28, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit to Congress a communication from the Secretary of War, in relation to the necessity of an immediate appropriation of not less than $42,000 to enable the engineer in charge to make next autumn the explosion required for the removal of Flood Rock, in the East River, New York. The importance of the work is well known, and as it appears that without a speedy appropriation a delay of a year must follow, accompanied by large expenses to protect from injury the work already done, I commend the subject to the early and favorable consideration of Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 30, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In further response to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, calling for the correspondence on file upon the subject of discriminating duties upon commerce between the United States and Cuba and Puerto Rico, I transmit certain papers additional to the papers which accompanied the report sent to you on the 15th instant.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a communication of the 29th instant from the Secretary of the Interior, submitting, with accompanying papers, a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs upon the subject of the right of way of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company through the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, in Dakota.

The subject is commended to the consideration of the Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1884_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_

I transmit herewith, in response to the resolutions of the House of Representatives, the following report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, relative to the restrictions upon the importation of American hog products into Germany and France.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 6, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a communication, under date of the 2d instant, from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting the last annual report of the Government directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company.

The report accompanying the Secretary's communication has been sent to the House of Representatives.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 7, 1884_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th ultimo, respecting the arrest and imprisonment of John E. Wheelock in Venezuela in 1879.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 7, 1884_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant [ultimo], a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in relation to the reported arrest at Lodz, in Russian Poland, of Reinhardt Wagner, a citizen of the United States.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1884_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to its ratification, an agreement concerning trade-marks between the United States and Italy, signed June 1, 1882, provided the terms thereof commend themselves to the Senate.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 11, 1884_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_