Chapter 5

The act of Congress, approved July 19, 1897, entitled "An act making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for prior years, for other purposes," provided for the acceptance by the Government of the United States of the invitation extended by the Republic of France to participate in an international exposition to be held at Paris, from April 15 to November 15, 1900, and authorized the President to appoint a special commissioner with a view to securing all attainable information necessary to a full and complete understanding by Congress in regard to the participation of this Government in that exposition.

Maj. Moses P. Handy of Chicago, was appointed such special commissioner, and I now enclose his report, giving the details of his mission. It is a comprehensive and clear presentation of the situation. He recommends that an appropriation of $919,600 be granted, so that a creditable exhibit on behalf of the United States may be made. The details of this report will show how this appropriation may be profitably expended.

Besides securing a much larger amount of space than had been reserved, Major Handy obtained the gratifying assurance that the United States will be placed on a footing with the most favored nations, and "that in the installation of every important department the United States will have a location commensurate with the dignity and importance of the country and adjoining in every case countries of the first rank."

In view of the magnitude and importance of the approaching exposition, and of our standing among the nations which will be there represented, and in view also of our increased population and acknowledged progress in arts, science, and manufactures, I earnestly commend the report of Major Handy to your consideration, and trust that a liberal appropriation may be made.

Moreover, the magnificent exhibit of the French Republic at Chicago in 1893, on which a million dollars were expended, should be a strong incentive to reciprocal liberality on the part of the Government of the United States, and suggests to our citizens the necessity as well as the propriety of installing at the Paris Exposition an exhibit on a par with that of the Government and people of France at Chicago, and in keeping with the scope and extent of the preparations which are being made by nearly all the important nations of the earth for their proposed exhibits in that exposition.

I suggest that the subject be given timely and favorable consideration.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 14, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State in regard to the award of the commissioners appointed pursuant to the stipulations of the convention of February 8, 1896, between the United States and Great Britain, providing for the settlement of the claims presented by the latter against the former in virtue of the convention of February 29, 1892.

The report of the Secretary of State presents a clear epitome of the award and renders unnecessary any extended observations on my part further than to say that I cordially coincide with his recommendation and that our treaty obligations demand prompt and favorable action by Congress, which I urgently hope may be taken, to the end that these long-pending questions may be finally and satisfactorily terminated.

The total amount necessary to satisfy the award of the commissioners is $473,151.26, which I recommend be appropriated.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 18, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, touching the lynching in 1895 at Yreka, Cal., of Luis Moreno, a Mexican citizen, and the demand of the Mexican Government for an indemnity for his relatives on account thereof.

Following the course adopted in the case of the lynching of three Italian subjects at Hahnville, La., on August 8, 1896, I recommend the appropriation by Congress, out of humane consideration and without reference to the question of liability of the Government of the United States in the premises, of the sum of $2,000 to be paid by the Secretary of State to the Government of Mexico, to be by that Government distributed among the heirs of the above-named Luis Moreno.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 26, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and accompanying papers presenting the claim of Capt. B. Tellefsen, of the Norwegian steamer _Albert_, against the Government of the United States, for $998.96, being the expenses incurred by him in consequence of a violation of Article XIII of the treaty of commerce and navigation of 1827 between the United States and Sweden and Norway.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 22, 1898_.

_To the Senate_:

In connection with Senate Document No. 39, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, and in further response to the resolution of the Senate of July 12, 1897, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with additional papers, relating to postal telegraphs, telephones, and postal savings banks in Austria.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 31, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of Agriculture covering a detailed report showing the present condition of the beet-sugar industry in this country and the results of experiments made by the Department of Agriculture in the production of sugar from beets in the United States during the past year.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 4, 1898_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 17, 1898, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence exchanged between Henry Woodruff, trustee and of counsel for the holders of a majority of the first-mortgage bonds of "The Railway of the East," of Venezuela, _et al._, and the Department of State, and by a list of claims of citizens of the United States presented after August 1, 1898, and, so far as appears, not settled by Venezuela, nor disposed of by the commission of 1889-90.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 7, 1898_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of February 26, 1898, requesting the President "if not incompatible with the public interest, to transmit to the Senate the proceedings of the international commission authorized in the concurrent resolution of Congress of April 29, 1890, and a subsequent international convention between the United States and Mexico of May 6, 1896, and also the correspondence relating thereto with Mexico by the Department of the Interior, Department of War, and Department of Justice, as well as the Department of State, relating to the equitable distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande River, including the draft of an incomplete treaty between said Governments, negotiated between the late Secretary of State, Mr. Olney, on the part of the United States, and Mr. Romero, on the part of Mexico, and all the correspondence between said officials relating thereto," I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Attorney-General, with accompanying papers.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 15, 1898_.

_To the Senate_:

In connection with Senate Document No. 39, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, and in further response to the resolution of the Senate of July 12, 1897, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers relating to postal telegraphs, telephones, and postal savings banks in the colony of Victoria.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 27, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and accompanying papers relating to the claim against the United States of the Russian subject, Gustav Isak Dahlberg, master and principal owner of the Russian bark _Hans_, based on his wrongful and illegal arrest and imprisonment by officers of the United States district court for the southern district of Mississippi, and in view of the opinion expressed by the Department of Justice that the said arrest and detention of the complainant were wrongful and without authority of law, I recommend the appropriation by Congress of the sum of $5,000 to reimburse the master and owners of the vessel for all losses and damages incurred by reason of his said wrongful and illegal arrest and detention.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 16, 1898_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying the annual reports of the consuls of the United States upon foreign industries and commerce. In view of the value of these reports to the business interests of the country, I indorse the recommendation of the Secretary of State that Congress authorize the printing of a special edition of 10,000 copies of the general summary entitled "Review of the World's Commerce," and 5,000 copies of Commercial Relations (including this summary), to enable the Department of State to meet the demands for such information.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 16, 1898_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, House bill No. 2219, entitled "An act for the relief of the administrators of Isaac P. Tice, deceased, and others," without my approval.

The object of this bill is to confer upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to retry and determine a case brought by the representatives of Isaac P. Tice against the United States in the Court of Claims in the year 1873 to recover from the Government the sum of $25,000, the alleged value of certain meters invented by Isaac P. Tice for the purpose of measuring the quality and strength of distilled spirits.

It was claimed that this amount, together with the sum of $733.33 for storage of said meters, was due to the claimant under a contract made between Tice and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in pursuance of section 15 of the act of March 2, 1867 (14 Stats., 481). From the report of the case in 13 Court of Claims Reports, 112, it appears that the matter was fully and deliberately tried and argued both on behalf of the claimant and of the United States, and that at December term, 1877, the Court of Claims rendered a decision adverse to the claimant, expressly stating that the claimants had failed to establish their claim both in law and on the facts. Not satisfied with this conclusion of the Court of Claims, the claimants took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the case was again argued and was decided, October term, 1878, the judgment of the Court of Claims being declared to be in accordance with the law and therefore affirmed. In these two decisions the law and the facts pertaining to the claim were fully set forth and discussed.

The bill further confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to try and determine certain alleged claims of said Tice and others for money collected on account of the Tice meters, but not paid over to him or them under the regulations of the Treasury.

The amount of the latter claim, according to the report of the committee of the House of Representatives to which this bill was referred, is $140,000. It does not appear from the report of the committee, nor from any documents to which I have access, who are the other persons by whom this latter sum is claimed. The claim for $140,000 must have accrued prior to July, 1871, and therefore at this time is of at least twenty-seven years' standing.

It will thus be perceived that the object of the bill is to remove from the pathway of the claimants two legal bars to the prosecution of their claim in the courts--one, the bar of the statute of limitations, which requires all claimants against the Government to present their claims and bring actions thereon within six years from the time the cause of action accrues; and the other, that bar of estoppel which arises by reason of a former adverse judgment, rendered in a court of competent jurisdiction. This is not a general modification of the law in these respects, but a special application of it to these particular claimants.

If the principle on which the statute of limitations is founded is wise and beneficent, then the effect of it ought not to be impaired by special legislative exemptions in favor of particular persons or cases except upon very clear and just grounds, where no lack of diligence in the prosecution of the claim is apparent. I cannot find in the papers submitted to me any sufficient grounds to justify a special exception from the ordinary rule in favor of these claimants. As to the claim for $140,000, no reason is stated why it was not included in the original suit nor why action upon it was not brought against the Government within the six years allowed by the statute for that purpose. To permit such an action to be brought now is simply, without any reason of a special nature, to grant a privilege to these claimants which is denied to all other citizens of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of the general statute of limitations. The principle underlying statutes of limitations and the reasons for the maintenance of such a rule of litigation are much more cogent when applied to claims against the Government than when applied to claims against individuals.

These claims do not differ in their character from ordinary business transactions such as transpire every day between private persons or business corporations. The Government can only defend itself against claims of this nature through its public officers and with the use of such public records as the Departments may furnish. Great difficulties are experienced by it in contesting fraudulent and unjust claims, and it is only fair in the interest of the public that a rigorous adherence to some rule of limitation should be maintained.

The provision of the bill which practically directs a new trial of the claim for $25,000, decided adversely to the claimants more than twenty years ago, is still more objectionable. These parties had their day in court. They produced their witnesses and were heard both originally and upon appeal, and upon the case they were then able to make the court decided they had no claim against the Government. It is now suggested that other witnesses have been discovered who can supply the lack of proof which was produced on the former trial. Such a ground for a new trial would never be considered in any court of law in the land in a case between private parties where such a length of time had intervened since the former trial. No explanation of a satisfactory nature is furnished for the failure of the claimants to produce these witnesses upon the original trial.

The bill further provides that upon a retrial of the original claim, or upon the trial of the new claim, the claimants shall be at liberty to offer in evidence the depositions of witnesses now on the files of any of the committees of Congress in relation to the aforesaid matters, which may be introduced as evidence in case of the death or disability of the deponents.

This provision will enable the claimants to present _ex-parte_ affidavits, prepared by the claimants or their attorneys, without opportunity being afforded to the Government to cross-examine, provided the claimants can show that the deposing witnesses are either dead or under disability, by which, no doubt, is intended any such disability by reason of absence, illness, and the like, as may render them legally incapable of being produced in person to testify upon the retrial. Such a provision as this is most dangerous to the interests of the Government.

I fail to see any reason in the facts connected with these claims for granting to these parties relief of this extraordinary nature.

The Treasury of the United States ought to be very carefully guarded against attacks of those who come forward with stale claims, and especially from the attacks of those who have already been fully heard according to the methods prescribed by the statutes.

To approve this bill would be to furnish a very dangerous precedent which would open the door to demands upon Congress in other cases which have been fully heard and determined.

For these reasons I am constrained to withhold my approval from this bill.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 14, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith (having reference to Senate Document No. 4, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session) a report made by Thomas W. Cridler, Third Assistant Secretary of State, who, upon the death of Maj. Moses P. Handy, I designated to continue the work as special commissioner, under the act of Congress approved July 19, 1897, in relation to the acceptance by the Government of the United States of the invitation of France to participate in the International Exposition to be held at Paris from April 15 to November 5, 1900.

I cordially renew my recommendation that a liberal appropriation be immediately granted.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1898_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior relative to Senate resolution of June 10, 1898, requesting the President "to make such arrangements as may be necessary to secure at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition to be held in the city of Omaha, Neb., the attendance of representatives of the Iroquois tribes and Delawares of Canada and of the Abenakis of St. Francis and Becaucourt, and such other Indian nations as have emigrated from the territory now of the United States to Canada."

To carry out this resolution, if it shall be found agreeable to the Government of Canada, it will be necessary for this Government to send an agent to visit the tribes and secure their assent, organize the representative delegations, escort them to the exposition, take charge of and care for them while there and until they are returned to their respective tribes.

The resolution seems to presuppose that there are funds which may be lawfully used to defray the expenses which must necessarily be incurred in the premises. By reference to the Secretary's report, it will be seen that there are no moneys lawfully available for that purpose.

It is not to be presumed that the Senate, under such circumstances, would desire the Executive to take the action indicated in the resolution, and I am therefore constrained to await the requisite appropriation by Congress for the payment of the expenses that must be necessarily incurred in the accomplishment of the proposed objects.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 6, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, the report of the Hawaiian Commission appointed in pursuance of the "Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," approved July 7, 1898, together with a copy of the civil and penal laws of Hawaii.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of Agriculture on the work and expenditures of the agricultural experiment stations established under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, in accordance with the act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the said fiscal year.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1899_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of December 21, 1898, requesting the President, "If it be not inconsistent with the public service, to inform the Senate whether authentic information is in possession of the Government as to the alleged dissolution of the Government of the United States of Central America." I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State with accompanying papers.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 6, 1899_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 15, 1898, a communication from the Secretary of State covering a preliminary report from the Nicaraguan Canal Commission, dated December 26, 1898, relative to its progress in investigating the question of the proper route, the feasibility, and cost of construction of the Nicaragua Canal.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 6, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, inclosing the annual report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics, with accompanying documents. In view of the improved condition and increasing usefulness of the Bureau, to which I have already called attention in my annual message, and the welcome assurances of greater activity on the part of the other American republics in support of its purposes, I cordially indorse the recommendations of the Secretary of State. It will doubtless be as gratifying to Congress as it is to me to be informed that the Argentine Republic has decided to renew its relations with the Bureau, and that there are grounds for hoping that the International American Union, created by the impressive conference of the representatives of our sister republics and those of the United States in Washington in 1889-90, will soon be perfected by the adhesion of the Republic of Chile to the compact for the support of the Bureau as the organ of the union. The interest of the United States in giving the fullest possible effect to the laudable desire of the international conference to promote not only trade intercourse but a closer fellowship among the various republics of this hemisphere is so evident that I am satisfied the progress made by the bureau, as a practical agency for attaining these objects, will receive the commendation and support of Congress.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 11, 1899_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of June 6, 1898, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, inclosing copies of all papers on file in the Department of State relating to the case of Hugo O. Loewi, including those printed in Document No. 186, Senate, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

It will be remembered that in the month of October, 1897, reports were received here of the probable loss of the whaling fleet in the Arctic regions, and of the likelihood that nearly 300 men, composing the officers and crews of the fleet, would perish from hunger unless succor could reach them early in the spring.

The revenue cutter _Bear_ was known to be _en route_ from the Arctic Ocean to Puget Sound, Washington. Her arrival was anxiously awaited, as no other suitable Government vessel could be made available for Arctic work. That ship arrived at Seattle, Wash., on the 6th of November, after a six-months' cruise in the Arctic, and I at once ordered an expedition prepared for the relief of the imperiled whalemen.