Speech Transcript:

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In coming before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this
great nation, it is with gratitude to the Giver of All Good for the
many benefits we enjoy. We are blessed with peace at home, and are
without entangling alliances abroad to forebode trouble; with a
territory unsurpassed in fertility, of an area equal to the abundant
support of 500,000,000 people, and abounding in every variety of
useful mineral in quantity sufficient to supply the world for
generations; with exuberant crops; with a variety of climate adapted
to the production of every species of earth's riches and suited to
the habits, tastes, and requirements of every living thing; with a
population of 40,000,000 free people, all speaking one language; with
facilities for every mortal to acquire an education; with institutions
closing to none the avenues to fame or any blessing of fortune that
may be coveted; with freedom of the pulpit, the press, and the
school; with a revenue flowing into the National Treasury beyond the
requirements of the Government. Happily, harmony is being rapidly
restored within our own borders. Manufactures hitherto unknown in our
country are springing up in all sections, producing a degree of
national independence unequaled by that of any other power.

These blessings and countless others are intrusted to your care and
mine for safe-keeping for the brief period of our tenure of office.
In a short time we must, each of us, return to the ranks of the
people, who have conferred upon us our honors, and account to them
for our stewardship. I earnestly desire that neither you nor I may be
condemned by a free and enlightened constituency nor by our own
consciences.

Emerging from a rebellion of gigantic magnitude, aided, as it was, by
the sympathies and assistance of nations with which we were at peace,
eleven States of the Union were, four years ago, left without legal
State governments. A national debt had been contracted; American
commerce was almost driven from the seas; the industry of one-half of
the country had been taken from the control of the capitalist and
placed where all labor rightfully belongs--in the keeping of the
laborer. The work of restoring State governments loyal to the Union,
of protecting and fostering free labor, and providing means for
paying the interest on the public debt has received ample attention
from Congress. Although your efforts have not met with the success in
all particulars that might have been desired, yet on the whole they
have been more successful than could have been reasonably
anticipated.

Seven States which passed ordinances of secession have been fully
restored to their places in the Union. The eighth (Georgia) held an
election at which she ratified her constitution, republican in form,
elected a governor, Members of Congress, a State legislature, and all
other officers required. The governor was duly installed, and the
legislature met and performed all the acts then required of them by
the reconstruction acts of Congress. Subsequently, however, in
violation of the constitution which they had just ratified (as since
decided by the supreme court of the State), they unseated the colored
members of the legislature and admitted to seats some members who are
disqualified by the third clause of the fourteenth amendment to the
Constitution--an article which they themselves had contributed to
ratify. Under these circumstances I would submit to you whether it
would not be wise, without delay, to enact a law authorizing the
governor of Georgia to convene the members originally elected to the
legislature, requiring each member to take the oath prescribed by the
reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are ineligible under
the third clause of the fourteenth amendment.

The freedmen, under the protection which they have received, are
making rapid progress in learning, and no complaints are heard of
lack of industry on their part where they receive fair remuneration
for their labor. The means provided for paying the interest on the
public debt, with all other expenses of Government, are more than
ample. The loss of our commerce is the only result of the late
rebellion which has not received sufficient attention from you. To
this subject I call your earnest attention. I will not now suggest
plans by which this object may be effected, but will, if necessary,
make it the subject of a special message during the session of
Congress.

At the March term Congress by joint resolution authorized the
Executive to order elections in the States of Virginia, Mississippi,
and Texas, to submit to them the constitutions which each had
previously, in convention, framed, and submit the constitutions,
either entire or in separate parts, to be voted upon, at the
discretion of the Executive. Under this authority elections were
called. In Virginia the election took place on the 6th of July, 1869.
The governor and lieutenant-governor elected have been installed. The
legislature met and did all required by this resolution and by all
the reconstruction acts of Congress, and abstained from all doubtful
authority. I recommend that her Senators and Representatives be
promptly admitted to their seats, and that the State be fully
restored to its place in the family of States. Elections were called
in Mississippi and Texas, to commence on the 30th of November, 1869,
and to last two days in Mississippi and four days in Texas. The
elections have taken place, but the result is not known. It is to be
hoped that the acts of the legislatures of these States, when they
meet, will be such as to receive your approval, and thus close the
work of reconstruction.

Among the evils growing out of the rebellion, and not yet referred
to, is that of an irredeemable currency. It is an evil which I hope
will receive your most earnest attention. It is a duty, and one of
the highest duties, of Government to secure to the citizen a medium
of exchange of fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a
specie basis, and no substitute for it can be devised. It should be
commenced now and reached at the earliest practicable moment
consistent with a fair regard to the interests of the debtor class.
Immediate resumption, if practicable, would not be desirable. It
would compel the debtor class to pay, beyond their contracts, the
premium on gold at the date of their purchase and would bring
bankruptcy and ruin to thousands. Fluctuation, however, in the paper
value of the measure of all values (gold) is detrimental to the
interests of trade. It makes the man of business an involuntary
gambler, for in all sales where future payment is to be made both
parties speculate as to what will be the value of the currency to be
paid and received. I earnestly recommend to you, then, such
legislation as will insure a gradual return to specie payments and
put an immediate stop to fluctuations in the value of currency.

The methods to secure the former of these results are as numerous as
are the speculators on political economy. To secure the latter I see
but one way, and that is to authorize the Treasury to redeem its own
paper, at a fixed price, whenever presented, and to withhold from
circulation all currency so redeemed until sold again for gold.

The vast resources of the nation, both developed and undeveloped,
ought to make our credit the best on earth. With a less burden of
taxation than the citizen has endured for six years past, the entire
public debt could be paid in ten years. But it is not desirable that
the people should be taxed to pay it in that time. Year by year the
ability to pay increases in a rapid ratio. But the burden of interest
ought to be reduced as rapidly as can be done without the violation of
contract. The public debt is represented in great part by bonds having
from five to twenty and from ten to forty years to run, bearing
interest at the rate of 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. It
is optional with the Government to pay these bonds at any period
after the expiration of the least time mentioned upon their face. The
time has already expired when a great part of them may be taken up,
and is rapidly approaching when all may be. It is believed that all
which are now due may be replaced by bonds bearing a rate of interest
not exceeding 4 1/2 per cent, and as rapidly as the remainder become
due that they may be replaced in the same way. To accomplish this it
may be necessary to authorize the interest to be paid at either of
three or four of the money centers of Europe, or by any assistant
treasurer of the United States, at the option of the holder of the
bond. I suggest this subject for the consideration of Congress, and
also, simultaneously with this, the propriety of redeeming our
currency, as before suggested, at its market value at the time the
law goes into effect, increasing the rate at which currency shall be
bought and sold from day to day or week to week, at the same rate of
interest as Government pays upon its bonds.

The subjects of tariff and internal taxation will necessarily receive
your attention. The revenues of the country are greater than the
requirements, and may with safety be reduced. But as the funding of
the debt in a 4 or a 4 1/2 per cent loan would reduce annual current
expenses largely, thus, after funding, justifying a greater reduction
of taxation than would be now expedient, I suggest postponement of
this question until the next meeting of Congress.

It may be advisable to modify taxation and tariff in instances where
unjust or burdensome discriminations are made by the present laws,
but a general revision of the laws regulating this subject I
recommend the postponement of for the present. I also suggest the
renewal of the tax on incomes, but at a reduced rate, say of 3 per
cent, and this tax to expire in three years.

With the funding of the national debt, as here suggested, I feel safe
in saying that taxes and the revenue from imports may be reduced
safely from sixty to eighty millions per annum at once, and may be
still further reduced from year to year, as the resources of the
country are developed.

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury shows the receipts of the
Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, to be
$370,943,747, and the expenditures, including interest, bounties,
etc., to be $321,490,597. The estimates for the ensuing year are more
favorable to the Government, and will no doubt show a much larger
decrease of the public debt.

The receipts in the Treasury beyond expenditures have exceeded the
amount necessary to place to the credit of the sinking fund, as
provided by law. To lock up the surplus in the Treasury and withhold
it from circulation would lead to such a contraction of the currency
as to cripple trade and seriously affect the prosperity of the
country. Under these circumstances the Secretary of the Treasury and
myself heartily concurred in the propriety of using all the surplus
currency in the Treasury in the purchase of Government bonds, thus
reducing the interest-bearing indebtedness of the country, and of
submitting to Congress the question of the disposition to be made of
the bonds so purchased. The bonds now held by the Treasury amount to
about seventy-five millions, including those belonging to the sinking
fund. I recommend that the whole be placed to the credit of the
sinking fund.

Your attention is respectfully invited to the recommendations of the
Secretary of the Treasury for the creation of the office of
commissioner of customs revenue; for the increase of salaries to
certain classes of officials; the substitution of increased
national-bank circulation to replace the outstanding 3 per cent
certificates; and most especially to his recommendation for the
repeal of laws allowing shares of fines, penalties, forfeitures,
etc., to officers of the Government or to informers.

The office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue is one of the most
arduous and responsible under the Government. It falls but little, if
any, short of a Cabinet position in its importance and
responsibilities. I would ask for it, therefore, such legislation as
in your judgment will place the office upon a footing of dignity
commensurate with its importance and with the character and
qualifications of the class of men required to fill it properly.

As the United States is the freest of all nations, so, too, its
people sympathize with all people struggling for liberty and
self-government; but while so sympathizing it is due to our honor
that we should abstain from enforcing our views upon unwilling
nations and from taking an interested part, without invitation, in
the quarrels between different nations or between governments and
their subjects. Our course should always be in conformity with strict
justice and law, international and local. Such has been the policy of
the Administration in dealing with these questions. For more than a
year a valuable province of Spain, and a near neighbor of ours, in
whom all our people can not but feel a deep interest, has been
struggling for independence and freedom. The people and Government of
the United States entertain the same warm feelings and sympathies for
the people of Cuba in their pending struggle that they manifested
throughout the previous struggles between Spain and her former
colonies in behalf of the latter. But the contest has at no time
assumed the conditions which amount to a war in the sense of
international law, or which would show the existence of a de facto
political organization of the insurgents sufficient to justify a
recognition of belligerency.

The principle is maintained, however, that this nation is its own
judge when to accord the rights of belligerency, either to a people
struggling to free themselves from a government they believe to be
oppressive or to independent nations at war with each other.

The United States have no disposition to interfere with the existing
relations of Spain to her colonial possessions on this continent.
They believe that in due time Spain and other European powers will
find their interest in terminating those relations and establishing
their present dependencies as independent powers--members of the
family of nations. These dependencies are no longer regarded as
subject to transfer from one European power to another. When the
present relation of colonies ceases, they are to become independent
powers, exercising the right of choice and of self-control in the
determination of their future condition and relations with other
powers.

The United States, in order to put a stop to bloodshed in Cuba, and
in the interest of a neighboring people, proposed their good offices
to bring the existing contest to a termination. The offer, not being
accepted by Spain on a basis which we believed could be received by
Cuba, was withdrawn. It is hoped that the good offices of the United
States may yet prove advantageous for the settlement of this unhappy
strife. Meanwhile a number of illegal expeditions against Cuba have
been broken up. It has been the endeavor of the Administration to
execute the neutrality laws in good faith, no matter how unpleasant
the task, made so by the sufferings we have endured from lack of like
good faith toward us by other nations.

On the 26th of March last the United States schooner Lizzie Major was
arrested on the high seas by a Spanish frigate, and two passengers
taken from it and carried as prisoners to Cuba. Representations of
these facts were made to the Spanish Government as soon as official
information of them reached Washington. The two passengers were set
at liberty, and the Spanish Government assured the United States that
the captain of the frigate in making the capture had acted without
law, that he had been reprimanded for the irregularity of his
conduct, and that the Spanish authorities in Cuba would not sanction
any act that could violate the rights or treat with disrespect the
sovereignty of this nation.

The question of the seizure of the brig Mary Lowell at one of the
Bahama Islands by Spanish authorities is now the subject of
correspondence between this Government and those of Spain and Great
Britain.

The Captain-General of Cuba about May last issued a proclamation
authorizing search to be made of vessels on the high seas. Immediate
remonstrance was made against this, whereupon the Captain-General
issued a new proclamation limiting the right of search to vessels of
the United States so far as authorized under the treaty of 1795. This
proclamation, however, was immediately withdrawn.

I have always felt that the most intimate relations should be
cultivated between the Republic of the United States and all
independent nations on this continent. It may be well worth
considering whether new treaties between us and them may not be
profitably entered into, to secure more intimate relations--friendly,
commercial, and otherwise.

The subject of an interoceanic canal to connect the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans through the Isthmus of Darien is one in which commerce
is greatly interested. Instructions have been given to our minister to
the Republic of the United States of Colombia to endeavor to obtain
authority for a survey by this Government, in order to determine the
practicability of such an undertaking, and a charter for the right of
way to build, by private enterprise, such a work, if the survey proves
it to be practicable.

In order to comply with the agreement of the United States as to a
mixed commission at Lima for the adjustment of claims, it became
necessary to send a commissioner and secretary to Lima in August
last. No appropriation having been made by Congress for this purpose,
it is now asked that one be made covering the past and future expenses
of the commission.

The good offices of the United States to bring about a peace between
Spain and the South American Republics with which she is at war
having been accepted by Spain, Peru, and Chile, a congress has been
invited to be held in Washington during the present winter.

A grant has been given to Europeans of an exclusive right of transit
over the territory of Nicaragua, to which Costa Rico has given its
assent, which, it is alleged, conflicts with vested rights of
citizens of the United States. The Department of State has now this
subject under consideration.

The minister of Peru having made representations that there was a
state of war between Peru and Spain, and that Spain was constructing,
in and near New York, thirty gunboats, which might be used by Spain in
such a way as to relieve the naval force at Cuba, so as to operate
against Peru, orders were given to prevent their departure. No
further steps having been taken by the representative of the Peruvian
Government to prevent the departure of these vessels, and I not
feeling authorized to detain the property of a nation with which we
are at peace on a mere Executive order, the matter has been referred
to the courts to decide.

The conduct of the war between the allies and the Republic of
Paraguay has made the intercourse with that country so difficult that
it has been deemed advisable to withdraw our representative from
there.

Toward the close of the last Administration a convention was signed
at London for the settlement of all outstanding claims between Great
Britain and the United States, which failed to receive the advice and
consent of the Senate to its ratification. The time and the
circumstances attending the negotiation of that treaty were
unfavorable to its acceptance by the people of the United States, and
its provisions were wholly inadequate for the settlement of the grave
wrongs that had been sustained by this Government, as well as by its
citizens. The injuries resulting to the United States by reason of
the course adopted by Great Britain during our late civil war--in the
increased rates of insurance; in the diminution of exports and
imports, and other obstructions to domestic industry and production;
in its effect upon the foreign commerce of the country; in the
decrease and transfer to Great Britain of our commercial marine; in
the prolongation of the war and the increased cost (both in treasure
and in lives) of its suppression could not be adjusted and satisfied
as ordinary commercial claims, which continually arise between
commercial nations; and yet the convention treated them simply as
such ordinary claims, from which they differ more widely in the
gravity of their character than in the magnitude of their amount,
great even as is that difference. Not a word was found in the treaty,
and not an inference could be drawn from it, to remove the sense of
the unfriendliness of the course of Great Britain in our struggle for
existence, which had so deeply and universally impressed itself upon
the people of this country.

Believing that a convention thus misconceived in its scope and
inadequate in its provisions would not have produced the hearty,
cordial settlement of pending questions, which alone is consistent
with the relations which I desire to have firmly established between
the United States and Great Britain, I regarded the action of the
Senate in rejecting the treaty to have been wisely taken in the
interest of peace and as a necessary step in the direction of a
perfect and cordial friendship between the two countries. A sensitive
people, conscious of their power, are more at ease under a great wrong
wholly unatoned than under the restraint of a settlement which
satisfies neither their ideas of justice nor their grave sense of the
grievance they have sustained. The rejection of the treaty was
followed by a state of public feeling on both sides which I thought
not favorable to an immediate attempt at renewed negotiations. I
accordingly so instructed the minister of the United States to Great
Britain, and found that my views in this regard were shared by Her
Majesty's ministers. I hope that the time may soon arrive when the
two Governments can approach the solution of this momentous question
with an appreciation of what is due to the rights, dignity, and honor
of each, and with the determination not only to remove the causes of
complaint in the past, but to lay the foundation of a broad principle
of public law which will prevent future differences and tend to firm
and continued peace and friendship.

This is now the only grave question which the United States has with
any foreign nation.

The question of renewing a treaty for reciprocal trade between the
United States and the British Provinces on this continent has not
been favorably considered by the Administration. The advantages of
such a treaty would be wholly in favor of the British producer.
Except, possibly, a few engaged in the trade between the two
sections, no citizen of the United States would be benefited by
reciprocity. Our internal taxation would prove a protection to the
British producer almost equal to the protection which our
manufacturers now receive from the tariff. Some arrangement, however,
for the regulation of commercial intercourse between the United States
and the Dominion of Canada may be desirable.

The commission for adjusting the claims of the " Hudsons Bay and
Puget Sound Agricultural Company" upon the United States has
terminated its labors. The award of $650,000 has been made and all
rights and titles of the company on the territory of the United
States have been extinguished. Deeds for the property of the company
have been delivered. An appropriation by Congress to meet this sum is
asked.

The commissioners for determining the northwestern land boundary
between the United States and the British possessions under the
treaty of 1856 have completed their labors, and the commission has
been dissolved.

In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a proposition was
early made to the British Government to abolish the mixed courts
created under the treaty of April 7, 1862, for the suppression of the
slave trade. The subject is still under negotiation.

It having come to my knowledge that a corporate company, organized
under British laws, proposed to land upon the shores of the United
States and to operate there a submarine cable, under a concession
from His Majesty the Emperor of the French of an exclusive right for
twenty years of telegraphic communication between the shores of
France and the United States, with the very objectionable feature of
subjecting all messages conveyed thereby to the scrutiny and control
of the French Government, I caused the French and British legations
at Washington to be made acquainted with the probable policy of
Congress on this subject, as foreshadowed by the bill which passed
the Senate in March last. This drew from the representatives of the
company an agreement to accept as the basis of their operations the
provisions of that bill, or of such other enactment on the subject as
might be passed during the approaching session of Congress; also, to
use their influence to secure from the French Government a
modification of their concession, so as to permit the landing upon
French soil of any cable belonging to any company incorporated by the
authority of the United States or of any State in the Union, and, on
their part, not to oppose the establishment of any such cable. In
consideration of this agreement I directed the withdrawal of all
opposition by the United States authorities to the landing of the
cable and to the working of it until the meeting of Congress. I
regret to say that there has been no modification made in the
company's concession, nor, so far as I can learn, have they attempted
to secure one. Their concession excludes the capital and the citizens
of the United States from competition upon the shores of France. I
recommend legislation to protect the rights of citizens of the United
States, as well as the dignity and sovereignty of the nation, against
such an assumption. I shall also endeavor to secure, by negotiation,
an abandonment of the principle of monopolies in ocean telegraphic
cables. Copies of this correspondence are herewith furnished.

The unsettled political condition of other countries, less fortunate
than our own, sometimes induces their citizens to come to the United
States for the sole purpose of becoming naturalized. Having secured
this, they return to their native country and reside there, without
disclosing their change of allegiance. They accept official positions
of trust or honor, which can only be held by citizens of their native
land; they journey under passports describing them as such citizens;
and it is only when civil discord, after perhaps years of quiet,
threatens their persons or their property, or when their native state
drafts them into its military service, that the fact of their change
of allegiance is made known. They reside permanently away from the
United States, they contribute nothing to its revenues, they avoid
the duties of its citizenship, and they only make themselves known by
a claim of protection. I have directed the diplomatic and consular
officers of the United States to scrutinize carefully all such claims
for protection. The citizen of the United States, whether native or
adopted, who discharges his duty to his country, is entitled to its
complete protection. While I have a voice in the direction of affairs
I shall not consent to imperil this sacred right by conferring it upon
fictitious or fraudulent claimants.

On the accession of the present Administration it was found that the
minister for North Germany had made propositions for the negotiation
of a convention for the protection of emigrant passengers, to which
no response had been given. It was concluded that to be effectual all
the maritime powers engaged in the trade should join in such a
measure. Invitations have been extended to the cabinets of London,
Paris, Florence, Berlin, Brussels, The Hague, Copenhagen, and
Stockholm to empower their representatives at Washington to
simultaneously enter into negotiations and to conclude with the
United States conventions identical in form, making uniform
regulations as to the construction of the parts of vessels to be
devoted to the use of emigrant passengers, as to the quality and
quantity of food, as to the medical treatment of the sick, and as to
the rules to be observed during the voyage, in order to secure
ventilation, to promote health, to prevent intrusion, and to protect
the females; and providing for the establishment of tribunals in the
several countries for enforcing such regulations by summary process.

Your attention is respectfully called to the law regulating the
tariff on Russian hemp, and to the question whether to fix the
charges on Russian hemp higher than they are fixed upon manila is not
a violation of our treaty with Russia placing her products upon the
same footing with those of the most favored nations.

Our manufactures are increasing with wonderful rapidity under the
encouragement which they now receive. With the improvements in
machinery already effected, and still increasing, causing machinery
to take the place of skilled labor to a large extent, our imports of
many articles must fall off largely within a very few years.
Fortunately, too, manufactures are not confined to a few localities,
as formerly, and it is to be hoped will become more and more
diffused, making the interest in them equal in all sections. They
give employment and support to hundreds of thousands of people at
home, and retain with us the means which otherwise would be shipped
abroad. The extension of railroads in Europe and the East is bringing
into competition with our agricultural products like products of other
countries. Self-interest, if not self-preservation, therefore dictates
caution against disturbing any industrial interest of the country. It
teaches us also the necessity of looking to other markets for the
sale of our surplus. Our neighbors south of us and China and Japan,
should receive our special attention. It will be the endeavor of the
Administration to cultivate such relations with all these nations as
to entitle us to their confidence and make it their interest, as well
as ours, to establish better commercial relations.

Through the agency of a more enlightened policy than that heretofore
pursued toward China, largely due to the sagacity and efforts of one
of our own distinguished citizens, the world is about to commence
largely increased relations with that populous and hitherto exclusive
nation. As the United States have been the initiators in this new
policy, so they should be the most earnest in showing their good
faith in making it a success. In this connection I advise such
legislation as will forever preclude the enslavement of the Chinese
upon our soil under the name of coolies, and also prevent American
vessels from engaging in the transportation of coolies to any country
tolerating the system. I also recommend that the mission to China be
raised to one of the first class.

On my assuming the responsible duties of Chief Magistrate of the
United States it was with the conviction that three things were
essential to its peace, prosperity, and fullest development. First
among these is strict integrity in fulfilling all our obligations;
second, to secure protection to the person and property of the
citizen of the United States in each and every portion of our common
country, wherever he may choose to move, without reference to
original nationality, religion, color, or politics, demanding of him
only obedience to the laws and proper respect for the rights of
others; third, union of all the States, with equal rights,
indestructible by any constitutional means.

To secure the first of these, Congress has taken two essential steps:
First, in declaring by joint resolution that the public debt shall be
paid, principal and interest, in coin; and, second, by providing the
means for paying. Providing the means, however, could not secure the
object desired without a proper administration of the laws for the
collection of the revenues and an economical disbursement of them. To
this subject the Administration has most earnestly addressed itself,
with results, I hope, satisfactory to the country. There has been no
hesitation in changing officials in order to secure an efficient
execution of the laws, sometimes, too, when, in a mere party view,
undesirable political results were likely to follow; nor any
hesitation in sustaining efficient officials against remonstrances
wholly political.

It may be well to mention here the embarrassment possible to arise
from leaving on the statute books the so-called "tenure-of-office
acts," and to earnestly recommend their total repeal. It could not
have been the intention of the framers of the Constitution, when
providing that appointments made by the President should receive the
consent of the Senate, that the latter should have the power to
retain in office persons placed there by Federal appointment against
the will of the President. The law is inconsistent with a faithful
and efficient administration of the Government. What faith can an
Executive put in officials forced upon him, and those, too, whom he
has suspended for reason? How will such officials be likely to serve
an Administration which they know does not trust them?

For the second requisite to our growth and prosperity time and a firm
but humane administration of existing laws (amended from time to time
as they may prove ineffective or prove harsh and unnecessary) are
probably all that are required.

The third can not be attained by special legislation, but must be
regarded as fixed by the Constitution itself and gradually acquiesced
in by force of public opinion.

From the foundation of the Government to the present the management
of the original inhabitants of this continent--the Indians--has been
a subject of embarrassment and expense, and has been attended with
continuous robberies, murders, and wars. From my own experience upon
the frontiers and in Indian countries, I do not hold either
legislation or the conduct of the whites who come most in contact
with the Indian blameless for these hostilities. The past, however,
can not be undone, and the question must be met as we now find it. I
have attempted a new policy toward these wards of the nation (they
can not be regarded in any other light than as wards), with fair
results so far as tried, and which I hope will be attended ultimately
with great success. The Society of Friends is well known as having
succeeded in living in peace with the Indians in the early settlement
of Pennsylvania, while their white neighbors of other sects in other
sections were constantly embroiled. They are also known for their
opposition to all strife, violence, and war, and are generally noted
for their strict integrity and fair dealings. These considerations
induced me to give the management of a few reservations of Indians to
them and to throw the burden of the selection of agents upon the
society itself. The result has proven most satisfactory. It will be
found more fully set forth in the report of the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs. For superintendents and Indian agents not on the
reservations, officers of the Army were selected. The reasons for
this are numerous. Where Indian agents are sent, there, or near
there, troops must be sent also. The agent and the commander of
troops are independent of each other, and are subject to orders from
different Departments of the Government. The army officer holds a
position for life; the agent, one at the will of the President. The
former is personally interested in living in harmony with the Indian
and in establishing a permanent peace, to the end that some portion
of his life may be spent within the limits of civilized society; the
latter has no such personal interest. Another reason is an economic
one; and still another, the hold which the Government has upon a life
officer to secure a faithful discharge of duties in carrying out a
given policy.

The building of railroads, and the access thereby given to all the
agricultural and mineral regions of the country, is rapidly bringing
civilized settlements into contact with all the tribes of Indians. No
matter what ought to be the relations between such settlements and the
aborigines, the fact is they do not harmonize well, and one or the
other has to give way in the end. A system which looks to the
extinction of a race is too horrible for a nation to adopt without
entailing upon itself the wrath of all Christendom and engendering in
the citizen a disregard for human life and the rights of others,
dangerous to society. I see no substitute for such a system, except
in placing all the Indians on large reservations, as rapidly as it
can be done, and giving them absolute protection there. As soon as
they are fitted for it they should be induced to take their lands in
severalty and to set up Territorial governments for their own
protection. For full details on this subject I call your special
attention to the reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The report of the Secretary of War shows the expenditures of the War
Department for the year ending June 30, 1869, to be $80,644,042, of
which $23,882,310 was disbursed in the payment of debts contracted
during the war, and is not chargeable to current army expenses. His
estimate of $34,531,031 for the expenses of the Army for the next
fiscal year is as low as it is believed can be relied on. The
estimates of bureau officers have been carefully scrutinized, and
reduced wherever it has been deemed practicable. If, however, the
condition of the country should be such by the beginning of the next
fiscal year as to admit of a greater concentration of troops, the
appropriation asked for will not be expended.

The appropriations estimated for river and harbor improvements and
for fortifications are submitted separately. Whatever amount Congress
may deem proper to appropriate for these purposes will be expended.

The recommendation of the General of the Army that appropriations be
made for the forts at Boston. Portland, New York, Philadelphia, New
Orleans, and San Francisco, if for no other, is concurred in. I also
ask your special attention to the recommendation of the general
commanding the Military Division of the Pacific for the sale of the
seal islands of St. Paul and St. George, Alaska Territory, and
suggest that it either be complied with or that legislation be had
for the protection of the seal fisheries from which a revenue should
be derived.

The report of the Secretary of War contains a synopsis of the reports
of the heads of bureaus, of the commanders of military divisions, and
of the districts of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, and the report
of the General of the Army in full. The recommendations therein
contained have been well considered, and are submitted for your
action. I, however, call special attention to the recommendation of
the Chief of Ordnance for the sale of arsenals and lands no longer of
use to the Government; also, to the recommendation of the Secretary of
War that the act of 3d March, 1869, prohibiting promotions and
appointments in the staff corps of the Army, be repealed. The extent
of country to be garrisoned and the number of military posts to be
occupied is the same with a reduced Army as with a large one. The
number of staff officers required is more dependent upon the latter
than the former condition.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy accompanying this shows the
condition of the Navy when this Administration came into office and
the changes made since. Strenuous efforts have been made to place as
many vessels "in commission," or render them fit for service if
required, as possible, and to substitute the sail for steam while
cruising, thus materially reducing the expenses of the Navy and
adding greatly to its efficiency. Looking to our future, I recommend
a liberal, though not extravagant, policy toward this branch of the
public service.

The report of the Postmaster-General furnishes a clear and
comprehensive exhibit of the operations of the postal service and of
the financial condition of the Post-Office Department. The ordinary
postal revenues for the year ending the 30th of June, 1869, amounted
to $18,344,510, and the expenditures to $23,698,131, showing an
excess of expenditures over receipts of $5,353,620. The excess of
expenditures over receipts for the previous year amounted to
$6,437,992. The increase of revenues for 1869 over those of 1868 was
$2,051,909, and the increase of expenditures was $967,538. The
increased revenue in 1869 exceeded the increased revenue in 1868 by
$996,336, and the increased expenditure in 1869 was $2,527,570 less
than the increased expenditure in 1868, showing by comparison this
gratifying feature of improvement, that while the increase of
expenditures over the increase of receipts in 1868 was $2,439,535,
the increase of receipts over the increase of expenditures in 1869
was $1,084,371.

Your attention is respectfully called to the recommendations made by
the Postmaster-General for authority to change the rate of
compensation to the main trunk railroad lines for their services in
carrying the mails; for having post-route maps executed; for
reorganizing and increasing the efficiency of the special-agency
service; for increase of the mail service on the Pacific, and for
establishing mail service, under the flag of the Union, on the
Atlantic; and most especially do I call your attention to his
recommendation for the total abolition of the franking privilege.
This is an abuse from which no one receives a commensurate advantage;
it reduces the receipts for postal service from 25 to 30 per cent and
largely increases the service to be performed. The method by which
postage should be paid upon public matter is set forth fully in the
report of the Postmaster-General.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior shows that the quantity
of public lands disposed of during the year ending the 30th of June,
1869, was 7,666,152 acres, exceeding that of the preceding year by
1,010,409 acres. Of this amount 2,899,544 acres were sold for cash
and 2,737,365 acres entered under the homestead laws. The remainder
was granted to aid in the construction of works of internal
improvement, approved to the States as swamp land, and located with
warrants and scrip. The cash receipts from all sources were
$4,472,886, exceeding those of the preceding year $2,840,140.

During the last fiscal year 23,196 names were added to the pension
rolls and 4,876 dropped therefrom, leaving at its close 187,963. The
amount paid to pensioners, including the compensation of disbursing
agents, was $28,422,884, an increase of $4,411,902 on that of the
previous year. The munificence of Congress has been conspicuously
manifested in its legislation for the soldiers and sailors who
suffered in the recent struggle to maintain "that unity of government
which makes us one people." The additions to the pension rolls of each
successive year since the conclusion of hostilities result in a great
degree from the repeated amendments of the act of the 14th of July,
1862, which extended its provisions to cases not falling within its
original scope. The large outlay which is thus occasioned is further
increased by the more liberal allowance bestowed since that date upon
those who in the line of duty were wholly or permanently disabled.
Public opinion has given an emphatic sanction to these measures of
Congress, and it will be conceded that no part of our public burden
is more cheerfully borne than that which is imposed by this branch of
the service. It necessitates for the next fiscal year, in addition to
the amount justly chargeable to the naval pension fund, an
appropriation of $30,000,000.

During the year ending the 30th of September, 1869, the Patent Office
issued 13,762 patents, and its receipts were $686,389, being $213,926
more than the expenditures.

Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant, vol. 6,
p.3995

I would respectfully call your attention to the recommendation of the
Secretary of the Interior for uniting the duties of supervising the
education of freedmen with the other duties devolving upon the
Commissioner of Education.

If it is the desire of Congress to make the census which must be
taken during the year 1870 more complete and perfect than heretofore,
I would suggest early action upon any plan that may be agreed upon. As
Congress at the last session appointed a committee to take into
consideration such measures as might be deemed proper in reference to
the census and report a plan, I desist from saying more.

I recommend to your favorable consideration the claims of the
Agricultural Bureau for liberal appropriations. In a country so
diversified in climate and soil as ours, and with a population so
largely dependent upon agriculture, the benefits that can be
conferred by properly fostering this Bureau are incalculable.

I desire respectfully to call the attention of Congress to the
inadequate salaries of a number of the most important offices of the
Government. In this message I will not enumerate them, but will
specify only the justices of the Supreme Court. No change has been
made in their salaries for fifteen years. Within that time the labors
of the court have largely increased and the expenses of living have at
least doubled. During the same time Congress has twice found it
necessary to increase largely the compensation of its own members,
and the duty which it owes to another department of the Government
deserves, and will undoubtedly receive, its due consideration.

There are many subjects not alluded to in this message which might
with propriety be introduced, but I abstain, believing that your
patriotism and statesmanship will suggest the topics and the
legislation most conducive to the interests of the whole people. On
my part I promise a rigid adherence to the laws and their strict
enforcement.

Ulysses S. Grant