Chapter 19

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

During our recent war with Spain the United States naval force on the North Atlantic Station was charged with varied and important duties, chief among which were the maintenance of the blockade of Cuba, aiding the army, and landing troops and in subsequent operations, and particularly in the pursuit, blockade, and destruction of the Spanish Squadron under Admiral Cervera.

This naval campaign, embracing objects of wide scope and grave responsibilities, was conducted with great ability on the part of the commander-in-chief, and of the officers and enlisted men under his command. It culminated in the annihilation of the Spanish fleet in the battle of July 3, 1898, one of the most memorable naval engagements in history.

The result of this battle was the freeing of our Atlantic coast from the possibilities to which it had been exposed from Admiral Cervera's fleet, and the termination of the war upon the seas.

I recommend that, following our national precedents, especially that in the case of Admiral Dewey and the Asiatic Squadron, the thanks of Congress be given to Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, United States Navy, and to the officers and men under his command for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy, and in carrying on the blockade and naval campaign on the Cuban coast, resulting in the destruction of the Spanish fleet at Santiago de Cuba July 3, 1898.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress and with a view to its publication in suitable form, if such action is deemed desirable, a special report of the United States Board on Geographic Names, relating to geographic names in the Philippine Islands, and invite attention to the recommendation of the Board:

"That in addition to the usual number, there be printed 15,000 copies: 2,000 copies for the use of the Senate, 3,000 copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and 10,000 copies for distribution by the Board to the Executive Departments and the public."

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 26, 1901_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, in connection with my message of January 29, 1901, relative to the lynching of certain Italian subjects at Tallulah, La., a report by the Secretary of State touching a claim for $5,000 presented by the Italian ambassador at Washington on behalf of Guiseppe Defina, on account of his being obliged to abandon his home and business.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1898 (U.S. Stat. L., vol. 30, pp. 645, 646), the report of Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, commissioner-general of the United States to the International Exposition held at Paris, France, during the year 1900.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 1, 1901_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith, without approval, House bill No. 3204, entitled "An act to refer certain claims for Indian depredations to the Court of Claims."

General relief has been extended to citizens who have lost property by reason of Indian depredations by the act of March 3, 1891, conferring jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine such cases. That act provides for payment for damages growing out of depredations committed by any Indian or Indians belonging to a band, tribe, or nation in amity with the United States, excluding from consideration all claims which originated during the existence of actual hostilities between the United States and the Indian tribe.

In making this discrimination the act of 1891 follows the general principle which has been asserted in all general legislation which has ever been enacted for the payment of claims for property destroyed by Indians. The first act which promised such indemnity, that of May 19, 1796, contained the same restriction, and it was reported in every subsequent general act of Congress dealing with the subject. This policy, which has been clearly manifested from the beginning, is in accord with the recognized principle that the nation is not liable for damage to the private property of its citizens caused by the act of the public enemy. This statute has been thoroughly considered by the Court of Claims and by the Supreme Court and its interpretation fixed, and it has been declared to be in accord not only with the policy of Congress as expressed through the legislation of the century, but with the general principles of international law.

I am informed that the records of the Court of Claims show that the claims of four of the five beneficiaries named in the present bill have been presented to that court under the general law and decided adversely, the court having held that a state of war existed between the United States and the Sioux Indians in the year 1862 when the claims arose. The remaining claim, which originated under the same circumstances and at the same time, would, of course, be subject to the same defense if presented.

The bill provides that these claims shall be sent back to the Court of Claims for trial according to the principles and rules which governed the commission appointed under the act of February 16, 1863. That act, which was a special act relating to losses occurring during the hostilities of the previous year, did not, of course, impose the requirement of amity, the claims allowed by the commission being paid out of the funds belonging to the hostile Indians sequestered by the statute. The effect of this bill, if it became a law, would be to provide for the payment out of the Treasury of the United States of these claims which were not presented for payment out of the Indian funds and which have been rejected by the courts under the general law. There are many hundreds of cases, aggregating a large amount claimed, which have been filed in the Court of Claims, but which are excluded from its jurisdiction for the same reason which necessitated the dismissal of the petitions filed by these claimants. There is no legal obligation on the part of the United States, and no promise, express or implied, for the payment of such claims.

The measure of governmental liability is fulfilled by the passage of the act of March 3, 1891, and the prompt payment of the judgments rendered thereunder. To single out for payment a few claims of this large class to the exclusion of all others would, in my judgment, be unjust; and such action would also with reason be cited as a precedent for extending governmental aid in all similar cases.

For the reasons given I am constrained to withhold my approval from the bill.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 7, 1901_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 19, 1901, requesting him to furnish that body "all the information in the possession of the State Department relating to the shipment of horses and mules from New Orleans in large numbers for the use of the British army in the war in South Africa."

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 2, 1901_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith, without approval, House bill No. 321, entitled "An act for the relief of the legal representative of Samuel Tewksbury, deceased."

This bill provides for the payment to the legal representative of Samuel Tewksbury, late of Scranton, Allegheny County, Pa., the sum of $5,697 in full compensation for the use and occupation by the United States Government of the brick building and premises owned by him in the city of Scranton, Pa., as a depot or barracks for United States troops by the Provost Marshal of the United States from June, 1862, to June, 1865, inclusive.

The records of the War Department show that about April 26, 1865, Col. J.G. Johnson, Chief Quartermaster, forwarded to the office of the Quartermaster-General a claim of Samuel Tewksbury for use of a building at Scranton, Pa., from February 24, 1864, to February 3, 1865, Stated at $1,133.33, and damage to said building at $1,400, total $2,533.33.

In forwarding these papers Colonel Johnson states as follows:

In the spring of 1864 Mr. Samuel Tewksbury presented to me through his agents a claim against the United States Government for use of the premises mentioned in the enclosed account accompanying the papers.

I learn from Mr. S.N. Bradford, Provost Marshal of the Twelfth District of Pennsylvania at Scranton, that lodgings were furnished to persons in military service at that place by Gardiner and Atkinson under a contract with the Provost Marshal, also that the contractors rented the building used for the above purpose from Mr. Tewksbury.

Considering it a matter entirely between that gentleman and his tenants, Messrs. Gardiner and Atkinson, I at that time refused to take any action in the matter whatever.

The claim was again submitted to the office of the Quartermaster-General on September 30, 1865, by Major W.B. Lane, and was returned on May 1, 1866, with the information that the United States had already paid for lodging of the troops under the control of the Provost Marshal at Scranton, Pa., during the time for which charge for rent is made.

The claimant was referred to the officer or person by whom the building was taken for compensation for its use. No other record of this case is found in the War Department, although it will be observed that the bill covers a period from June, 1862, to June, 1865, inclusive, while the claim as originally presented to the War Department was for occupancy of the building at Scranton, Pa., from February 24, 1864, to February 3, 1865.

It thus appears that when this claim was originally presented it was examined by the proper representative of the Government, and was rejected; that no such use and occupation as the United States Government had of claimant's building was under a contract between the Government and the tenants of claimant, and that payment therefor was duly made by the Government. Now after a lapse of some thirty-seven years the period of use and occupation covered by the claim has increased threefold, and the compensation asked therefor has more than doubled. Under the circumstances of this case I do not feel at liberty to approve the bill.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

_My Fellow-Citizens_:

When we assembled here on the 4th of March, 1897, there was great anxiety with regard to our currency and credit. None exists now. Then our Treasury receipts were inadequate to meet the current obligations of the Government. Now they are sufficient for all public needs, and we have a surplus instead of a deficit. Then I felt constrained to convene the Congress in extraordinary session to devise revenues to pay the ordinary expenses of the Government. Now I have the satisfaction to announce that the Congress just closed has reduced taxation in the sum of $41,000,000. Then there was deep solicitude because of the long depression in our manufacturing, mining, agricultural, and mercantile industries and the consequent distress of our laboring population. Now every avenue of production is crowded with activity, labor is well employed, and American products find good markets at home and abroad.

Our diversified productions, however, are increasing in such unprecedented volume as to admonish us of the necessity of still further enlarging our foreign markets by broader commercial relations. For this purpose reciprocal trade arrangements with other nations should in liberal spirit be carefully cultivated and promoted.

The national verdict of 1896 has for the most part been executed. Whatever remains unfulfilled is a continuing obligation resting with undiminished force upon the Executive and the Congress. But fortunate as our condition is, its permanence can only be assured by sound business methods and strict economy in national administration and legislation. We should not permit our great prosperity to lead us to reckless ventures in business or profligacy in public expenditures. While the Congress determines the objects and the sum of appropriations, the officials of the executive departments are responsible for honest and faithful disbursement, and it should be their constant care to avoid waste and extravagance.

Honesty, capacity, and industry are nowhere more indispensable than in public employment. These should be fundamental requisites to original appointment and the surest guaranties against removal.

Four years ago we stood on the brink of war without the people knowing it and without any preparation or effort at preparation for the impending peril. I did all that in honor could be done to avert the war, but without avail. It became inevitable; and the Congress at its first regular session, without party division, provided money in anticipation of the crisis and in preparation to meet it. It came. The result was signally favorable to American arms and in the highest degree honorable to the Government. It imposed upon us obligations from which we cannot escape and from which it would be dishonorable to seek escape. We are now at peace with the world, and it is my fervent prayer that if differences arise between us and other powers they may be settled by peaceful arbitration and that hereafter we may be spared the horrors of war.

Intrusted by the people for a second time with the office of President, I enter upon its administration appreciating the great responsibilities which attach to this renewed honor and commission, promising unreserved devotion on my part to their faithful discharge and reverently invoking for my guidance the direction and favor of Almighty God. I should shrink from the duties this day assumed if I did not feel that in their performance I should have the co-operation of the wise and patriotic men of all parties. It encourages me for the great task which I now undertake to believe that those who voluntarily committed to me the trust imposed upon the Chief Executive of the Republic will give to me generous support in my duties to "preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution of the United States" and to "care that the laws be faithfully executed." The national purpose is indicated through a national election. It is the constitutional method of ascertaining the public will. When once it is registered it is a law to us all, and faithful observance should follow its decrees.

Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country. We are reunited. Sectionalism has disappeared. Division on public questions can no longer be traced by the war maps of 1861. These old differences less and less disturb the judgment. Existing problems demand the thought and quicken the conscience of the country, and the responsibility for their presence, as well as for their righteous settlement, rests upon us all--no more upon me than upon you. There are some national questions in the solution of which patriotism should exclude partisanship. Magnifying their difficulties will not take them off our hands nor facilitate their adjustment. Distrust of the capacity, integrity, and high purposes of the American people will not be an inspiring theme for future political contests. Dark pictures and gloomy forebodings are worse than useless. These only becloud, they do not help to point the way of safety and honor. "Hope maketh not ashamed." The prophets of evil were not the builders of the Republic, nor in its crises since have they saved or served it. The faith of the fathers was a mighty force in its creation, and the faith of their descendants has wrought its progress and furnished its defenders. They are obstructionists who despair, and who would destroy confidence in the ability of our people to solve wisely and for civilization the mighty problems resting upon them. The American people, intrenched in freedom at home, take their love for it with them wherever they go, and they reject as mistaken and unworthy the doctrine that we lose our own liberties by securing the enduring foundations of liberty to others. Our institutions will not deteriorate by extension, and our sense of justice will not abate under tropic suns in distant seas. As heretofore, so hereafter will the nation demonstrate its fitness to administer any new estate which events devolve upon it, and in the fear of God will "take occasion by the hand and make the bounds of freedom wider yet." If there are those among us who would make our way more difficult, we must not be disheartened, but the more earnestly dedicate ourselves to the task upon which we have rightly entered. The path of progress is seldom smooth. New things are often found hard to do. Our fathers found them so. We find them so. They are inconvenient. They cost us something. But are we not made better for the effort and sacrifice, and are not those we serve lifted up and blessed?

We will be consoled, too, with the fact that opposition has confronted every onward movement of the Republic from its opening hour until now, but without success. The Republic has marched on and on, and its step has exalted freedom and humanity. We are undergoing the same ordeal as did our predecessors nearly a century ago. We are following the course they blazed. They triumphed. Will their successors falter and plead organic impotency in the nation? Surely after 125 years of achievement for mankind we will not now surrender our equality with other powers on matters fundamental and essential to nationality. With no such purpose was the nation created. In no such spirit has it developed its full and independent sovereignty. We adhere to the principle of equality among ourselves, and by no act of ours will we assign to ourselves a subordinate rank in the family of nations.

My fellow-citizens, the public events of the past four years have gone into history. They are too near to justify recital. Some of them were unforeseen; many of them momentous and far-reaching in their consequences to ourselves and our relations with the rest of the world. The part which the United States bore so honorably in the thrilling scenes in China, while new to American life, has been in harmony with its true spirit and best traditions, and in dealing with the results its policy will be that of moderation and fairness.

We face at this moment a most important question--that of the future relations of the United States and Cuba. With our near neighbors we must remain close friends. The declaration of the purposes of this Government in the resolution of April 20, 1898, must be made good. Ever since the evacuation of the island by the army of Spain the Executive, with all practicable speed, has been assisting its people in the successive steps necessary to the establishment of a free and independent government prepared to assume and perform the obligations of international law which now rest upon the United States under the treaty of Paris. The convention elected by the people to frame a constitution is approaching the completion of its labors. The transfer of American control to the new government is of such great importance, involving an obligation resulting from our intervention and the treaty of peace, that I am glad to be advised by the recent act of Congress of the policy which the legislative branch of the Government deems essential to the best interests of Cuba and the United States. The principles which led to our intervention require that the fundamental law upon which the new government rests should be adapted to secure a government capable of performing the duties and discharging the functions of a separate nation, of observing its international obligations of protecting life and property, insuring order, safety, and liberty, and conforming to the established and historical policy of the United States in its relation to Cuba.

The peace which we are pledged to leave to the Cuban people must carry with it the guaranties of permanence. We became sponsors for the pacification of the island, and we remain accountable to the Cubans, no less than to our own country and people, for the reconstruction of Cuba as a free commonwealth on abiding foundations of right, justice, liberty, and assured order. Our enfranchisement of the people will not be completed until free Cuba shall "be a reality, not a name; a perfect entity, not a hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of failure."