Speech Transcript:

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In submitting my eighth and last annual message to Congress it seems
proper that I should refer to and in some degree recapitulate the
events and official acts of the past eight years.

It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief
Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17
I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential
campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of
them was I eligible as a voter.

Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that errors
of judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences of
opinion between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict
performance of his duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen.
It is not necessarily evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive
because there are these differences of views. Mistakes have been made,
as all can see and I admit, but it seems to me oftener in the
selections made of the assistants appointed to aid in carrying out
the various duties of administering the Government--in nearly every
case selected without a personal acquaintance with the appointee, but
upon recommendations of the representatives chosen directly by the
people. It is impossible, where so many trusts are to be allotted,
that the right parties should be chosen in every instance. History
shows that no Administration from the time of Washington to the
present has been free from these mistakes. But I leave comparisons to
history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a
conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the
law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures
have been errors of judgment, not of intent.

My civil career commenced, too, at a most critical and difficult
time. Less than four years before, the country had emerged from a
conflict such as no other nation had ever survived. Nearly one-half
of the States had revolted against the Government, and of those
remaining faithful to the Union a large percentage of the population
sympathized with the rebellion and made an "enemy in the rear" almost
as dangerous as the more honorable enemy in the front. The latter
committed errors of judgment, but they maintained them openly and
courageously; the former received the protection of the Government
they would see destroyed, and reaped all the pecuniary advantage to
be gained out of the then existing state of affairs, many of them by
obtaining contracts and by swindling the Government in the delivery
of their goods.

Immediately on the cessation of hostilities the then noble President,
who had carried the country so far through its perils, fell a martyr
to his patriotism at the hands of an assassin.

The intervening time to my first inauguration was filled up with
wranglings between Congress and the new Executive as to the best mode
of "reconstruction," or, to speak plainly, as to whether the control
of the Government should be thrown immediately into the hands of
those who had so recently and persistently tried to destroy it, or
whether the victors should continue to have an equal voice with them
in this control. Reconstruction, as finally agreed upon, means this
and only this, except that the late slave was enfranchised, giving an
increase, as was supposed, to the Union-loving and Union-supporting
votes. If free in the full sense of the word, they would not
disappoint this expectation. Hence at the beginning of my first
Administration the work of reconstruction, much embarrassed by the
long delay, virtually commenced. It was the work of the legislative
branch of the Government. My province was wholly in approving their
acts, which I did most heartily, urging the legislatures of States
that had not yet done so to ratify the fifteenth amendment to the
Constitution. The country was laboring under an enormous debt,
contracted in the suppression of rebellion, and taxation was so
oppressive as to discourage production. Another danger also
threatened us--a foreign war. The last difficulty had to be adjusted
and was adjusted without a war and in a manner highly honorable to
all parties concerned. Taxes have been reduced within the last seven
years nearly $300,000,000, and the national debt has been reduced in
the same time over $435,000,000. By refunding the 6 per cent bonded
debt for bonds bearing 5 and 4 1/2 per cent interest, respectively,
the annual interest has been reduced from over $130,000,000 in 1869
to but little over $100,000,000 in 1876. The balance of trade has
been changed from over $130,000,000 against the United States in 1869
to more than $120,000,000 in our favor in 1876.

It is confidently believed that the balance of trade in favor of the
United States will increase, not diminish, and that the pledge of
Congress to resume specie payments in 1879 will be easily
accomplished, even in the absence of much-desired further legislation
on the subject.

A policy has been adopted toward the Indian tribes inhabiting a large
portion of the territory of the United States which has been humane
and has substantially ended Indian hostilities in the whole land
except in a portion of Nebraska, and Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana
Territories--the Black Hills region and approaches thereto.
Hostilities there have grown out of the avarice of the white man, who
has violated our treaty stipulations in his search for gold. The
question might be asked why the Government has not enforced obedience
to the terms of the treaty prohibiting the occupation of the Black
Hills region by whites. The answer is simple: The first immigrants to
the Black Hills were removed by troops, but rumors of rich discoveries
of gold took into that region increased numbers. Gold has actually
been found in paying quantity, and an effort to remove the miners
would only result in the desertion of the bulk of the troops that
might be sent there to remove them. All difficulty in this matter
has, however, been removed--subject to the approval of Congress--by a
treaty ceding the Black Hills and approaches to settlement by
citizens.

The subject of Indian policy and treatment is so fully set forth by
the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
and my views so fully expressed therein, that I refer to their reports
and recommendations as my own.

The relations of the United States with foreign powers continue on a
friendly footing.

Questions have arisen from time to time in the foreign relations of
the Government, but the United States have been happily free during
the past year from the complications and embarrassments which have
surrounded some of the foreign powers.

The diplomatic correspondence submitted herewith contains information
as to certain of the matters which have occupied the Government.

The cordiality which attends our relations with the powers of the
earth has been plainly shown by the general participation of foreign
nations in the exhibition which has just closed and by the exertions
made by distant powers to show their interest in and friendly
feelings toward the United States in the commemoration of the
centennial of the nation. The Government and people of the United
States have not only fully appreciated this exhibition of kindly
feeling, but it may be justly and fairly expected that no small
benefits will result both to ourselves and other nations from a
better acquaintance, and a better appreciation of our mutual
advantages and mutual wants.

Congress at its last session saw fit to reduce the amount usually
appropriated for foreign intercourse by withholding appropriations
for representatives of the United States in certain foreign countries
and for certain consular officers, and by reducing the amounts usually
appropriated for certain other diplomatic posts, and thus
necessitating a change in the grade of the representatives. For these
reasons, immediately upon the passage of the bill making
appropriations for the diplomatic and consular service for the
present fiscal year, instructions were issued to the representatives
of the United States at Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, and to the
consular officers for whom no appropriation had been made, to close
their respective legations and consulates and cease from the
performance of their duties; and in like manner steps were
immediately taken to substitute charge's d'affaires for ministers
resident in Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, and Paraguay.

While thoroughly impressed with the wisdom of sound economy in the
foreign service, as in other branches of the Government, I can not
escape the conclusion that in some instances the withholding of
appropriations will prove an expensive economy, and that the small
retrenchment secured by a change of grade in certain diplomatic posts
is not an adequate consideration for the loss of influence and
importance which will attend our foreign representatives under this
reduction. I am of the opinion that a reexamination of the subject
will cause a change in some instances in the conclusions reached on
these subjects at the last session of Congress.

The Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, whose functions were
continued by an act of the last session of Congress until the 1st day
of January, 1877, has carried on its labors with diligence and general
satisfaction. By a report from the clerk of the court, transmitted
herewith, bearing date November 14, 1876, it appears that within the
time now allowed by law the court will have disposed of all the
claims presented for adjudication. This report also contains a
statement of the general results of the labors of the court to the
date thereof. It is a cause of satisfaction that the method adopted
for the satisfaction of the classes of claims submitted to the court,
which are of long standing and justly entitled to early consideration,
should have proved successful and acceptable.

It is with satisfaction that I am enabled to state that the work of
the joint commission for determining the boundary line between the
United States and British possessions from the northwest angle of the
Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, commenced in 1872, has been
completed. The final agreements of the commissioners, with the maps,
have been duly signed, and the work of the commission is complete.

The fixing of the boundary upon the Pacific coast by the protocol of
March 10, 1873, pursuant to the award of the Emperor of Germany by
Article XXXIV of the treaty of Washington, with the termination of
the work of this commission, adjusts and fixes the entire boundary
between the United States and the British possessions, except as to
the portion of territory ceded by Russia to the United States under
the treaty of 1867. The work intrusted to the commissioner and the
officers of the Army attached to the commission has been well and
satisfactorily performed. The original of the final agreement of the
commissioners, signed upon the 29th of May, 1876, with the original
official "lists of astronomical stations observed," the original
official "list of monuments marking the international boundary line,"
and the maps, records, and general reports relating to the commission,
have been deposited in the Department of State. The official report of
the commissioner on the part of the United States, with the report of
the chief astronomer of the United States, will be submitted to
Congress within a short time.

I reserve for a separate communication to Congress a statement of the
condition of the questions which lately arose with Great Britain
respecting the surrender of fugitive criminals under the treaty of
1842.

The Ottoman Government gave notice, under date of January 15, 1874,
of its desire to terminate the treaty of 1862, concerning commerce
and navigation, pursuant to the provisions of the twenty-second
article thereof. Under this notice the treaty terminated upon the 5th
day of June, 1876. That Government has invited negotiations toward the
conclusion of a new treaty.

By the act of Congress of March 23, 1874, the President was
authorized, when he should receive satisfactory information that the
Ottoman Government or that of Egypt had organized new tribunals
likely to secure to citizens of the United States the same impartial
justice enjoyed under the exercise of judicial functions by
diplomatic and consular officers of the United States, to suspend the
operation of the act of June 22, 1860, and to accept for citizens of
the United States the jurisdiction of the new tribunals. Satisfactory
information having been received of the organization of such new
tribunals in Egypt, I caused a proclamation to be issued upon the
27th of March last, suspending the operation of the act of June 22,
1860, in Egypt, according to the provisions of the act. A copy of the
proclamation accompanies this message. The United States has united
with the other powers in the organization of these courts. It is
hoped that the jurisdictional questions which have arisen may be
readily adjusted, and that this advance in judicial reform may be
hindered by no obstacles.

The necessary legislation to carry into effect the convention
respecting commercial reciprocity concluded with the Hawaiian Islands
in 1875 having been had, the proclamation to carry into effect the
convention, as provided by the act approved August 15, 1876, was duly
issued upon the 9th day of September last. A copy thereof accompanies
this message.

The commotions which have been prevalent in Mexico for some time
past, and which, unhappily, seem to be not yet wholly quieted, have
led to complaints of citizens of the United States of injuries by
persons in authority. It is hoped, however, that these will
ultimately be adjusted to the satisfaction of both Governments. The
frontier of the United States in that quarter has not been exempt
from acts of violence by citizens of one Republic on those of the
other. The frequency of these is supposed to be increased and their
adjustment made more difficult by the considerable changes in the
course of the lower part of the Rio Grande River, which river is a
part of the boundary between the two countries. These changes have
placed on either side of that river portions of land which by
existing conventions belong to the jurisdiction of the Government on
the opposite side of the river. The subject of adjustment of this
cause of difficulty is under consideration between the two
Republics.

The Government of the United States of Colombia has paid the award in
the case of the steamer Montijo, seized by authorities of that
Government some years since, and the amount has been transferred to
the claimants.

It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce that the joint
commission for the adjustment of claims between the United States and
Mexico under the convention of 1868, the duration of which has been
several times extended, has brought its labors to a close. From the
report of the agent of the United States, which accompanies the
papers transmitted herewith, it will be seen that within the time
limited by the commission 1,017 claims on the part of citizens of the
United States against Mexico were referred to the commission. Of these
claims 831 were dismissed or disallowed, and in 186 cases awards were
made in favor of the claimants against the Mexican Republic,
amounting in the aggregate to $4,125,622.20. Within the same period
998 claims on the part of citizens of the Mexican Republic against
the United States were referred to the commission. Of these claims
831 were dismissed or disallowed, and in 167 cases awards were made
in favor of the claimants against the United States, amounting in the
aggregate to $150,498.41.

By the terms of the convention the amount of these awards is to be
deducted from the amount awarded in favor of our citizens against
Mexico, and the balance only to be paid by Mexico to the United
States, leaving the United States to make provision for this
proportion of the awards in favor of its Own citizens.

I invite your attention to the legislation which will be necessary to
provide for the payment.

In this connection I am pleased to be able to express the
acknowledgments due to Sir Edward Thornton, the umpire of the
commission, who has given to the consideration of the large number of
claims submitted to him much time, unwearied patience, and that
firmness and intelligence which are well known to belong to the
accomplished representative of Great Britain, and which are likewise
recognized by the representative in this country of the Republic of
Mexico.

Monthly payments of a very small part of the amount due by the
Government of Venezuela to citizens of the United States on account
of claims of the latter against that Government continue to be made
with reasonable punctuality. That Government has proposed to change
the system which it has hitherto pursued in this respect by issuing
bonds for part of the amount of the several claims. The proposition,
however, could not, it is supposed, properly be accepted, at least
without the consent of the holders of certificates of the
indebtedness of Venezuela. These are so much dispersed that it would
be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain their disposition on
the subject.

In former messages I have called the attention of Congress to the
necessity of legislation with regard to fraudulent naturalization and
to the subject of expatriation and the election of nationality.

The numbers of persons of foreign birth seeking a home in the United
States, the ease and facility with which the honest emigrant may,
after the lapse of a reasonable time, become possessed of all the
privileges of citizenship of the United States, and the frequent
occasions which induce such adopted citizens to return to the country
of their birth render the subject of naturalization and the safeguards
which experience has proved necessary for the protection of the honest
naturalized citizen of paramount importance. The very simplicity in
the requirements of law on this question affords opportunity for
fraud, and the want of uniformity in the proceedings and records of
the various courts and in the forms of the certificates of
naturalization issued affords a constant source of difficulty.

I suggest no additional requirements to the acquisition of
citizenship beyond those now existing, but I invite the earnest
attention of Congress to the necessity and wisdom of some provisions
regarding uniformity in the records and certificates, and providing
against the frauds which frequently take place and for the vacating
of a record of naturalization obtained in fraud.

These provisions are needed in aid and for the protection of the
honest citizen of foreign birth, and for the want of which he is made
to suffer not infrequently. The United States has insisted upon the
right of expatriation, and has obtained, after a long struggle, an
admission of the principle contended for by acquiescence therein on
the part of many foreign powers and by the conclusion of treaties on
that subject. It is, however, but justice to the government to which
such naturalized citizens have formerly owed allegiance, as well as
to the United States, that certain fixed and definite rules should be
adopted governing such cases and providing how expatriation may be
accomplished.

While emigrants in large numbers become citizens of the United
States, it is also true that persons, both native born and
naturalized, once citizens of the United States, either by formal
acts or as the effect of a series of facts and circumstances, abandon
their citizenship and cease to be entitled to the protection of the
United States, but continue on convenient occasions to assert a claim
to protection in the absence of provisions on these questions.

And in this connection I again invite your attention to the necessity
of legislation concerning the marriages of American citizens
contracted abroad, and concerning the status of American women who
may marry foreigners and of children born of American parents in a
foreign country.

The delicate and complicated questions continually occurring with
reference to naturalization, expatriation, and the status of such
persons as I have above referred to induce me to earnestly direct
your attention again to these subjects.

In like manner I repeat my recommendation that some means be provided
for the hearing and determination of the just and subsisting claims of
aliens upon the Government of the United States within a reasonable
limitation, and of such as may hereafter arise. While by existing
provisions of law the Court of Claims may in certain cases be
resorted to by an alien claimant, the absence of any general
provisions governing all such cases and the want of a tribunal
skilled in the disposition of such cases upon recognized fixed and
settled principles, either provides no remedy in many deserving cases
or compels a consideration of such claims by Congress or the executive
department of the Government.

It is believed that other governments are in advance of the United
States upon this question, and that the practice now adopted is
entirely unsatisfactory.

Congress, by an act approved the 3d day of March, 1875, authorized
the inhabitants of the Territory of Colorado to form a State
government, with the name of the State of Colorado, and therein
provided for the admission of said State, when formed, into the Union
upon an equal footing with the original States.

A constitution having been adopted and ratified by the people of that
State, and the acting governor having certified to me the facts as
provided by said act, together with a copy of such constitution and
ordinances as provided for in the said act, and the provisions of the
said act of Congress having been duly complied with, I issued a
proclamation upon the 1st of August, 1876, a copy of which is hereto
annexed.

The report of the Secretary of War shows that the Army has been
actively employed during the year in subduing, at the request of the
Indian Bureau, certain wild bands of the Sioux Indian Nation and in
preserving the peace at the South during the election. The commission
constituted under the act of July 24, 1876, to consider and report on
the "whole subject of the reform and reorganization of the Army" met
in August last, and has collected a large mass of statistics and
opinions bearing on the subject before it. These are now under
consideration, and their report is progressing. I am advised, though,
by the president of the commission that it will be impracticable to
comply with the clause of the act requiring the report to be
presented, through me, to Congress on the first day of this session,
as there has not yet been time for that mature deliberation which the
importance of the subject demands. Therefore I ask that the time of
making the report be extended to the 29th day of January, 1877.

In accordance with the resolution of August 15, 1876, the Army
regulations prepared under the act of March 1, 1875, have not been
promulgated, but are held until after the report of the
above-mentioned commission shall have been received and acted on.

By the act of August 15, 1876, the cavalry force of the Army was
increased by 2,500 men, with the proviso that they should be
discharged on the expiration of hostilities. Under this authority the
cavalry regiments have been strengthened, and a portion of them are
now in the field pursuing the remnants of the Indians with whom they
have been engaged during the summer.

The estimates of the War Department are made up on the basis of the
number of men authorized by law, and their requirements as shown by
years of experience, and also with the purpose on the part of the
bureau officers to provide for all contingencies that may arise
during the time for which the estimates are made. Exclusive of
engineer estimates (presented in accordance with acts of Congress
calling for surveys and estimates for improvements at various
localities), the estimates now presented are about six millions in
excess of the appropriations for the years 1874-75 and 1875-76. This
increase is asked in order to provide for the increased cavalry force
(should their services be necessary), to prosecute economically work
upon important public buildings, to provide for armament of
fortifications and manufacture of small arms, and to replenish the
working stock in the supply departments. The appropriations for these
last named have for the past few years been so limited that the
accumulations in store will be entirely exhausted during the present
year, and it will be necessary to at once begin to replenish them.

I invite your special attention to the following recommendations of
the Secretary of War:

First. That the claims under the act of July 4, 1864, for supplies
taken by the Army during the war be removed from the offices of the
Quartermaster and Commissary Generals and transferred to the Southern
Claims Commission. These claims are of precisely similar nature to
those now before the Southern Claims Commission, and the War
Department bureaus have not the clerical force for their examination
nor proper machinery for investigating the loyalty of the claimants.

Second. That Congress sanction the scheme of an annuity fund for the
benefit of the families of deceased officers, and that it also
provide for the permanent organization of the Signal Service, both of
which were recommended in my last annual message.

Third. That the manufacturing operations of the Ordnance Department
be concentrated at three arsenals and an armory, and that the
remaining arsenals be sold and the proceeds applied to this object by
the Ordnance Department.

The appropriations for river and harbor improvements for the current
year were $5,015,000. With my approval, the Secretary of War directed
that of this amount $2,000,000 should be expended, and no new works
should be begun and none prosecuted which were not of national
importance. Subsequently this amount was increased to $2,237,600, and
the works are now progressing on this basis.

The improvement of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, under
James B. Eads and his associates, is progressing favorably. At the
present time there is a channel of 20.3 feet in depth between the
jetties at the mouth of the pass and 18.5 feet at the head of the
pass. Neither channel, however, has the width required before
payments can be made by the United States. A commission of engineer
officers is now examining these works, and their reports will be
presented as soon as received.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows that branch of the
service to be in condition as effective as it is possible to keep it
with the means and authority given the Department. It is, of course,
not possible to rival the costly and progressive establishments of
great European powers with the old material of our Navy, to which no
increase has been authorized since the war, except the eight small
cruisers built to supply the place of others which had gone to decay.
Yet the most has been done that was possible with the means at
command; and by substantially rebuilding some of our old ships with
durable material and completely repairing and refitting our monitor
fleet the Navy has been gradually so brought up that, though it does
not maintain its relative position among the progressive navies of
the world, it is now in a condition more powerful and effective than
it ever has been in time of peace.

The complete repairs of our five heavy ironclads are only delayed on
account of the inadequacy of the appropriations made last year for
the working bureaus of the Department, which were actually less in
amount than those made before the war, notwithstanding the greatly
enhanced price of labor and materials and the increase in the cost of
the naval service growing out of the universal use and great expense
of steam machinery. The money necessary for these repairs should be
provided at once, that they may be completed without further
unnecessary delay and expense.

When this is done, all the strength that there is in our Navy will be
developed and useful to its full capacity, and it will be powerful for
purposes of defense, and also for offensive action, should the
necessity for that arise within a reasonable distance from our
shores.

The fact that our Navy is not more modern and powerful than it is has
been made a cause of complaint against the Secretary of the Navy by
persons who at the same time criticise and complain of his endeavors
to bring the Navy that we have to its best and most efficient
condition; but the good sense of the country will understand that it
is really due to his practical action that we have at this time any
effective naval force at command.

The report of the Postmaster-General shows the excess of expenditures
(excluding expenditures on account of previous years) over receipts
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1876, to be $4,151,988.66.

Estimated expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, are
$36,723,432.43.

Estimated revenue for same period is $30,645,165, leaving estimated
excess of expenditure, to be appropriated as a deficiency, of
$6,078,267.43.

The Postmaster-General, like his predecessor, is convinced that a
change in the basis of adjusting the salaries of postmasters of the
fourth class is necessary for the good of the service as well as for
the interests of the Government, and urgently recommends that the
compensation of the class of postmasters above mentioned be based
upon the business of their respective offices, as ascertained from
the sworn returns to the Auditor of stamps canceled.

A few postmasters in the Southern States have expressed great
apprehension of their personal safety on account of their connection
with the postal service, and have specially requested that their
reports of apprehended danger should not be made public lest it
should result in the loss of their lives. But no positive testimony
of interference has been submitted, except in the case of a mail
messenger at Spartanburg, in South Carolina, who reported that he had
been violently driven away while in charge of the mails on account of
his political affiliations. An assistant superintendent of the
Railway Mail Service investigated this case and reported that the
messenger had disappeared from his post, leaving his work to be
performed by a substitute. The Postmaster-General thinks this case is
sufficiently suggestive to justify him in recommending that a more
severe punishment should be provided for the offense of assaulting
any person in charge of the mails or of retarding or otherwise
obstructing them by threats of personal injury.

"A very gratifying result is presented in the fact that the
deficiency of this Department during the last fiscal year was reduced
to $4,081,790.18, as against $6,169,938.88 of the preceding year. The
difference can be traced to the large increase in its ordinary
receipts (which greatly exceed the estimates therefor) and a slight
decrease in its expenditures."

The ordinary receipts of the Post-Office Department for the past
seven fiscal years have increased at an average of over 8 per cent
per annum, while the increase of expenditures for the same period has
been but about 5.50 per cent per annum, and the decrease of deficiency
in the revenues has been at the rate of nearly 2 per cent per annum.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture accompanying this
message will be found one of great interest, marking, as it does, the
great progress of the last century in the variety of products of the
soil; increased knowledge and skill in the labor of producing,
saving, and manipulating the same to prepare them for the use of man;
in the improvements in machinery to aid the agriculturist in his
labors, and in a knowledge of those scientific subjects necessary to
a thorough system of economy in agricultural production, namely,
chemistry, botany, entomology, etc. A study of this report by those
interested in agriculture and deriving their support from it will
find it of value in pointing out those articles which are raised in
greater quantity than the needs of the world require, and must sell,
therefore, for less than the cost of production, and those which
command a profit over cost of production because there is not an
overproduction.

I call special attention to the need of the Department for a new
gallery for the reception of the exhibits returned from the
Centennial Exhibition, including the exhibits donated by very many
foreign nations, and to the recommendations of the Commissioner of
Agriculture generally.

The reports of the District Commissioners and the board of health are
just received--too late to read them and to make recommendations
thereon--and are herewith submitted.

The international exhibition held in Philadelphia this year, in
commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of American
independence, has proven a great success, and will, no doubt, be of
enduring advantage to the country. It has shown the great progress in
the arts, sciences, and mechanical skill made in a single century, and
demonstrated that we are but little behind older nations in any one
branch, while in some we scarcely have a rival. It has served, too,
not only to bring peoples and products of skill and labor from all
parts of the world together, but in bringing together people from all
sections of our own country, which must prove a great benefit in the
information imparted and pride of country engendered.

It has been suggested by scientists interested in and connected with
the Smithsonian Institution, in a communication herewith, that the
Government exhibit be removed to the capital and a suitable building
be erected or purchased for its accommodation as a permanent exhibit.
I earnestly recommend this; and believing that Congress would second
this view, I directed that all Government exhibits at the Centennial
Exhibition should remain where they are, except such as might be
injured by remaining in a building not intended as a protection in
inclement weather, or such as may be wanted by the Department
furnishing them, until the question of permanent exhibition is acted
on.

Although the moneys appropriated by Congress to enable the
participation of the several Executive Departments in the
International Exhibition of 1876 were not sufficient to carry out the
undertaking to the full extent at first contemplated, it gives me
pleasure to refer to the very efficient and creditable manner in
which the board appointed from these several Departments to provide
an exhibition on the part of the Government have discharged their
duties with the funds placed at their command. Without a precedent to
guide them in the preparation of such a display, the success of their
labors was amply attested by the sustained attention which the
contents of the Government building attracted during the period of
the exhibition from both foreign and native visitors.

I am strongly impressed with the value of the collection made by the
Government for the purposes of the exhibition, illustrating, as it
does, the mineral resources of the country, the statistical and
practical evidences of our growth as a nation, and the uses of the
mechanical arts and the applications of applied science in the
administration of the affairs of Government.

Many nations have voluntarily contributed their exhibits to the
United States to increase the interest in any permanent exhibition
Congress may provide for. For this act of generosity they should
receive the thanks of the people, and I respectfully suggest that a
resolution of Congress to that effect be adopted.

The attention of Congress can not be too earnestly called to the
necessity of throwing some greater safeguard over the method of
choosing and declaring the election of a President. Under the present
system there seems to be no provided remedy for contesting the
election in any one State. The remedy is partially, no doubt, in the
enlightenment of electors. The compulsory support of the free school
and the disfranchisement of all who can not read and write the
English language, after a fixed probation, would meet my hearty
approval. I would not make this apply, however, to those already
voters, but I would to all becoming so after the expiration of the
probation fixed upon. Foreigners coming to this country to become
citizens, who are educated in their own language, should acquire the
requisite knowledge of ours during the necessary residence to obtain
naturalization. If they did not take interest enough in our language
to acquire sufficient knowledge of it to enable them to study the
institutions and laws of the country intelligently, I would not
confer upon them the right to make such laws nor to select those who
do.

I append to this message, for convenient reference, a synopsis of
administrative events and of all recommendations to Congress made by
me during the last seven years. Time may show some of these
recommendations not to have been wisely conceived, but I believe the
larger part will do no discredit to the Administration. One of these
recommendations met with the united opposition of one political party
in the Senate and with a strong opposition from the other, namely, the
treaty for the annexation of Santo Domingo to the United States, to
which I will specially refer, maintaining, as I do, that if my views
had been concurred in the country would be in a more prosperous
condition to-day, both politically and financially.

Santo Domingo is fertile, and upon its soil may be grown just those
tropical products of which the United States use so much, and which
are produced or prepared for market now by slave labor almost
exclusively, namely, sugar, coffee, dyewoods, mahogany, tropical
fruits, tobacco, etc. About 75 per cent of the exports of Cuba are
consumed in the United States. A large percentage of the exports of
Brazil also find the same market. These are paid for almost
exclusively in coin, legislation, particularly in Cuba, being
unfavorable to a mutual exchange of the products of each country.
Flour shipped from the Mississippi River to Havana can pass by the
very entrance to the city on its way to a port in Spain, there pay a
duty fixed upon articles to be reexported, transferred to a Spanish
vessel and brought back almost to the point of starting, paying a
second duty, and still leave a profit over what would be received by
direct shipment. All that is produced in Cuba could be produced in
Santo Domingo. Being a part of the United States, commerce between
the island and mainland would be free. There would be no export
duties on her shipments nor import duties on those coming here. There
would be no import duties upon the supplies, machinery, etc., going
from the States. The effect that would have been produced upon Cuban
commerce, with these advantages to a rival, is observable at a
glance. The Cuban question would have been settled long ago in favor
of "free Cuba." Hundreds of American vessels would now be
advantageously used in transporting the valuable woods and other
products of the soil of the island to a market and in carrying
supplies and emigrants to it. The island is but sparsely settled,
while it has an area sufficient for the profitable employment of
several millions of people. The soil would have soon fallen into the
hands of United States capitalists. The products are so valuable in
commerce that emigration there would have been encouraged; the
emancipated race of the South would have found there a congenial
home, where their civil rights would not be disputed and where their
labor would be so much sought after that the poorest among them could
have found the means to go. Thus in cases of great oppression and
cruelty, such as has been practiced upon them in many places within
the last eleven years, whole communities would have sought refuge in
Santo Domingo. I do not suppose the whole race would have gone, nor
is it desirable that they should go. Their labor is
desirable--indispensable almost--where they now are. But the
possession of this territory would have left the negro "master of the
situation," by enabling him to demand his rights at home on pain of
finding them elsewhere.

I do not present these views now as a recommendation for a renewal of
the subject of annexation, but I do refer to it to vindicate my
previous action in regard to it.

With the present term of Congress my official life terminates. It is
not probable that public affairs will ever again receive attention
from me further than as a citizen of the Republic, always taking a
deep interest in the honor, integrity, and prosperity of the whole
land.

Ulysses S. Grant