St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 18, Number 21, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 10 December 1892 — Page 2

MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. The President’s Review of National Affairs. HINTS TO LAWMAKERS. CONCERNING THE SUBJECT OF TARIFF REVISION. ^Touches Liglitly on Election Results—Work of the Various Departments Recited— Settlement of the Chilian and Italian Controversies and Progress of Behring Sea Arbitration Described—The Interoceanie Canal Situation, Etc., Etc. The Country is Prosperous. President Harrison’s last message Was not completed in time to be delivered at the opening of Congress, but ! M ’ o— 1 -—'end I efore that body ,^ession. In submitting my annunl message to Congress, the message reads, I have great satisfaction in being able to say that the general conditions affecting the commercial and industrial interests of the United States are in the highest degree favorable. A comparison of the existing conditions with those of the most favored period in the history of the country will. I believe, show that so high a degree of prosperity and so general a diffusion of the comforts of life were never before enjoyed by our peo’’a. The total wealth of the country ]/ V X w J vOi'W z PRESIDENT HARRISON. in 1860 was $16,159,619,068; in isoo it amounted to $62,610,000,610, an increase of 287 per cent. The total mileage of railways in the United States in 1860 was 80,686; in 1890 it was 167,741, an increase of 448 percent.; and it is estimated that there will be about 4,000 miles of track added by the close of tee year 1892. The official returns of the eleventh census and those of the tenth census for seventy-five leading cities furnish the basis for the following comparisons: In 1880 the capital invested in manufacturing was $1,232,832,670. In 1890 the capital so invested was $2,000,735,884. In Isao the number of employes was 1,301,388; in 1890, 2,251,134. In »JM^he_w ages earns! ware $501.965,7^; in IgWK. Th 1 sho tnc*vKTtft! of the pfodlrbU w 4 m -11 579,801’.’ '—.ISOO, t4.m;<>.2ni:.xjT. Cens’ 1 ® ir 'fK But? after making full allowances for differences or method and deducting the returns for all industries not included in the census of TBO. there remain in the reports from the seventy-five cities, an increase in the capital employed of $1,522,745,104; in the value of the product of $2,024,236,166; in wages earned of $677,943,929, and in the number of wage earners employed of 856,029. The wage earnings not only show an increased ar gregate, but an increase per capita from $3,6 in 1880 to $547 in 1890, 41.71 per cent. The new industrial plants established since Oct. 6,1890, and up to Oct. 22, 1892, as partially reported in the American Economist, number 345, and the extension of existing plants, 108; the new capital invested amounts to .$40,449,050, and the number of additional employes to 37,285. The Textile World for July, 1892, states that during the first six months of the present calendar 135 new factoiiis were built, of which forty afe cotton mills, forty-eight knitting mills, tu enty-six woolen mills, fifteen 4^lk mills, four plush mills, and two linen mills. Os the forty cotton mills twenty-one have been built in the Southern States. A. B. Shepperson, of the New York Cotton Exchange, estimates the number of ; working spindles in the United States on Sept. 1,1892, at 15,200.000, an increase of 660,100 over the year of 1891. The consumption of cotton by American mills in 1891 was 2,396,000 bales, and in 1892, 2,584,000 bales, an increase of 188,000 bales. From the year iB6O to 1892 inclusive, there has been an increase in the consumption of cotton in Europe of 92 per cent., while during the same period the increased consumption in the United States has been about laO per cent. Tin Plate Manufactures. The report of Ira Ayer, Special Agent of the | Treasury Department, shows that at the date : of Sept. 30, 1892, there were thirty-two com- I panics manufacturing tin and terne plate in the United States and fourteen companies building new works for such manufacture. The estimated investment in buildings anil plants at the close of the fiscal year. June 30, 1893, if existing conditions were to be continued, was $5,069,060, and the estimated rate of ' production 200,000,000 pounds per annum. The I actual production for the quarter ending Sept, yj, 1892, was 10,152,725 pounds. • During the fast six months of the year 1891 and the first six months of the year 1892 the I total production of pig iron was 9,710,819 tons, | as against 9,209,703 tons in the year 1890, whiah I was the largest annual production ever at- i tained. For the same twelve months of 1891- | ’92 the productionof Bessemer ingots was 3.878,571 tons, an increase of 189,710 gross tons over the previously un- J precedented yearly production of 3,688,871 gross tons in 1890. The production of Bes- i semer steel rails for the first six months of I 1892 was 772.436 gross tons, as against 702,080 gross tons during the last six months of the year 1891. The total value of our foreign trade (exports and manufactures) during the last fiscal year was $1,857,680,610, an increase of $128,288,604 over the previous fiscal year. The average annual value of our imports and exports of | merchandise for the ten fiscal years prior to 1891 was $1,457,322,019. It will be observed that I our foreign trade for 1892 exceeded this annual j average value by $400,358,591, an increase of 27.47 per cent. The significance and value of /this Increase are shown by the fact that the excess in the trade of 1892 over 1891 was wholly in the value of exports, for there was a decrease in the value of imports of $17,513,754. I The value of our exports during the fiscal year 1892, reached the highest figure in the history of the government, amounting to $1,030,273,118, exceeding by $145,797,333 the exports of 1891, and exceeding the value of the imports by $202,875,686. A comparison of the value of oiir exports for 1892 with the annual average for the ten years prior to 1891 shows an excess of $265,142,671, or of 24.65 per cent. The value of our imports of merchandise for 1892, which was $829,402,462, also exceeded the annual average value of the ten years prior to 1891 by $135,215,940. During the fiscal year 1892, the value of imports tree of duty amounted to $457,999,658, the largest aggregate in the history of our commerce. 'The value of the imports of merchandise entered free of duty in 1892 was 55.35 per cent, of the total value of imports, as compared with 43.35 per cent, in 1891, and 33.66 per cent, in 1390. A Prosperous Nation. Another indication of the general prosperity of the country is found in the fact that the number of depositors in savings banks increased from 693,870 in 1860 to 4,258,863 in 1890, an increase of 513 per cent., and the amount of deposits from $149,277,504 in 1860 to $1,524,844,5(16 in 189 c, an increase of 921 per cent. In 1891 the amount of deposits in savings banks was $1,623,079,749. It is estimated that 90 per cent, of these deposits represent the savings of wage-earners. The bank clearances for nine months ending Sept. 30,1891, amounted to $41,04:',390,808, For the same month in 1892, they amounted to $45,189,601,947, an excess for the nine months of $4,140,211,139. There never has been a time in our history when work was so abundant or when wages were so high, whether measured by the cur-

- r rency in which they are paid or by their power to supply the necessaries and comforts of life. It is true that the market prices of cotton and wheat have been low. It is one of the unfavorable incidents of agriculture that the farmer cannot produce upon order. He must sow and reap in ignorance of the aggregate production > of the year, and is peculiarly subject to the depreciation which follows over-produc-tion. But, while the fact I have stated is true, as to the crops mentioned, the general average of prices has been such as to give to agriculture a fair participation in the general prosperity. The value of our | total farm products has increased from jl,863,646,866 in 1860 to $4,560,000,000 in 1891, as est' aated by statisticians, an increase of 230 per cent. The number of hogs January 1, 1891, was 50,625,106, and their value $210,193,925; on January 1,1892, the number was 52,398,019, and the value $241,031,415. On January!, 1891, the < number of cattle was 36,875,648, and the value $544,127,908; on January 1, 1892, the number-was 37,651,239, and the value $570,749,155. I believe that the protective system, which now for something like thirty years has prevailed in our legislation, has been a mighty instrument for the development of our national L wealth and a most powerful agency in protecting the homes of our workingmen from the i invasion of want. I have felt a most solicitr ous interest to preserve to our working people ’ rates of wages that would not only give daily ■ bread but supply a comfortable margin for those home attractions and family comforts and enjoyment without which life is neither hopeful nor sweet. They are Ameri- i can citizens—a part of the great people for whom our constitution and government were 3 framed and instituted—and it cannot be a perversion of that constitution to so legislate as p to preserve in their homes the comfort, independence, loyalty, and sense of interest in the / government which are essential to good eiti,6“ "A’" ’ll neace, and which will bring this the flag when ir 1«61. to the defense of Results of the Election. - It is not n.y purpose to renew here the argu- _ ment in favor of a pi o'.cctive tariff. The re- ■ suit of the recent electionpiust be accepted as - having introduced a new policy. We must as- . sume that the present tariff, constructed upon ' the lines of protection, is to be repealed, and ’ that there is to be substituted for it a tariff law constructed solely witii reference to rever nue; that the duty is to be higher not because the increase will keep open an • American mill, or keep up the wages of an American workman, but that "in every case such a rate of duty is to be imposed as will bring to the Treasury of the United States the largest returns of revenue. The contention has not been between schedules, but between principles, and it would be offensive to suggest that the prevailing party will not carry into effect the pledges given to the people. The tariff bills passed by the House of Representatives at its last session were, as I supposed, even in the opinion of their promoters, inadequate, and justified only by the fact that the Senate and House of Representatives were not in accord, and that a general revision could not, therefore, be undertaken. I recommend that the whole subject of tariff , revision be left to the in coming Congress. It is a matter of regret that this work must be delayed for at least three months; for the threat of great tariff changes introduces so much uncertainty that an amount, not easily estimated, of business inaction and of diminished production will necessarily result. It is possible, also, that this uncertainty may result in decreased revenues from customs duties, for our merchants will make cautious orders for foreign goods in view of the prospect of tariff reduction and the uncertainty as to when they will take effect. Those who have advocated a protective tariff can well afford to have their disastrous foraesta of a change of policy disappointed. If a system of customs duties can be framed that will set the idle wheels and I looms of Europe in motion and crowd our warehouses with foreign made goods, and at i the same time keep our own mills busy; that will give us an increased participation in the "markets of the world” of greater value than the home market we surrender; that will give increased work to foreign workmen upon products to be consumed by our people without diminishing the amount of work to be done here; that will enable the American manufacturer to pay to his workmen from 50 to a IGO per cent, more in wages than is paid in the fcriign mill and yet to compete in our market and in. foreign markets with the foreign producers; .JW AKULfartber reduce ;the cost of articles or wear; "and food without reducing the flint can bo authors ami ' promoters will be entitled to the highest praise. We have bad in our history several experiences 1 of the contrasted effect of a revenue and of a protective tariff, but this generation has not felt them, and the experience is not highly instructive to the next. The friends,of the protective system with undiminislied confidence in the principles they have advocated, will await the results of the new experiment. Effects of Labor Strikes. The strained and too often disturbed relations existing between the employers and the J employes in our great manufacturing estab- । lishments have not been favorable to a calm s consideration by the wage earner of the effect i upon wages of the protective system. The facts that his wages were the highest paid In I like callings in the world, and that a main- | tenance of this rate of wages, in the ab- I sence of protective duties upon the prod- ! net of his labor, was impossible, were ob- > scured by the passion evoked by these I contests. He may now be able to review the question in the light of his personal experi- I ence under the operation of a tariff for revenue I only. If that experience shall demonstrate that the present rate of wages are thereby maintained or increased, either absolutely so or in their purchasing power, and that the aggrogate volume of work to be done in this ! country is increased, or even maintained, so i that there are more or as many days’ work in a year at good or better wages fotthe American i workmen as has been the caseßWler the pro- I tective system, every one will rejoice. A general process of wage reduction c ot I be contemplated by any patriotic citizen .th- I out the greatest appreherslon. It may b< -indeed, I believe, is—possible for the American I manufacturer to compete successfully with his ! foreign rival in many branches of production without the defense of protective duties, if the I pay-rolls are equalized; but the conflict that ; ; stands between the producer and that result I and the distress of our working people when it is attained are not pleasant to contemplate, ] Resume of Department Reports. The reports of the heads of the several execu- ! five departments which are herewith sub- I mitted have very naturally included a resume ' ! of the whole work of the administration with ■ the transactions of the last fiscal vear. The : ; attention not only of Congress but of the coun- ! try is again invited to the methods of administration which have been pursued and to the reI suits which have been attained. Public revenues i amounting to $1,414,079,292.28 have been col- | lected and disbursed without loss from mlsI appropriation, without a single defalcation of such importance as to attract the public attention, and at a diminished per cent, of cost I for collection. The public business has been I tran acted not only with fidelity but. pro- । gresslvely, and with a view to giving to the people in the fullest possible degree the bene- I ; fits of a service established and maintained j for their protection and comfort. Our relations with other nations are now ' undisturbed by any serious controversy. The ! complicated and threatening differences with - Germany and England relating to Samoan at- । fairs, with England in relation to the seal fisheries in the Behring sea, and with Chili, i growing out of the Baltimore affair, have been adjusted. | There have been negotiated and concluded, : under section 3 of the teriff law, commercial I agreements relating to reciprocal trade with the following countries: Brazil, Dominican | Republic, Spain (for Cuba and Puerto Rico), Guatemala, Salvador, the German empire, Great Britain (for certain West Indian colonies and British Guiana), Nicaragua, Honduras, and Anstro-Hungary. Os these those with Guatemala, Salvador, the German Empire, Great Britain, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Austria-Hungary have been concluded since my last annual message. Under these trade arrangements, a free favored admission has been secured in every case for an Important list of American products. Especial carelias been taken to secure markets for farm products, in order to relieve that great underlying industry of the depression which the lack of an adequate foreign market for our surplus often brings. An opening has also been made for manufactured products that will undoubtedly, if this policy is maintained, greatly augment our export trade. The full benefits of these arrangements cannot be realized in- ; stantly. New lines of trade are to be opened; ! the commercial traveler must survey the 1 fields; the manufacturer must adapt his goods to the new markets, and facilities for exchange must be established. The Behring Sea Arbitration. A treaty providing for the arbitration of the dispute between Great Britain and the States as to the killing of seals in the Behring Sea was concluded on the 29th of February last. This treaty was accompanied by an agreement prohibiting pelagic sealing pending the arbitration, and a vigorous effort was made during this season to drive out all poaching sealers from the Behring Sea. Some seizures were made and it is believed that the catch in the Behring Sea by poachers amounted to less than 500 seals. It is true, however, that in the north Pacific, while the seal herds were on their way to the passes between the Aleutian Islands, a very large number, probably 35,000, were taken.

The existing statutes ot the United States do not restrain our citizens from taking seals in the Pacific Ocean, and perhaps should not, unless the prohibition can be extended >o the citizens of other nations. I recommend that power be given to the President by proclamation ta prohibit the taking of seals in the north Pacific by American vessels in case, either as the result of the findings of the tribunal of arbitration or otherwise, the restraints can be applied to tae vessels of all countries. Commt'rcial Relations with Canada. During the past year a suggestion was re - ceived through the British Minister that the Canadian Government would like to confer as to the possibility ot enlarging upon terms of mutual advantages, the commercial exchanges of Canada and of the United States, and a conference was held at M ashington, witu Mr. Blaine acting lor the Government, and the British Minister at this capital, and three members of the Dominion Cabinet acting as commissioners on the part of Great Britain. I The conference developed the fact that the Canadian Government was only prepared to offer to the United States in exchange for the concessions asked the admission of natural products. The .statement was frankly made that favor jd rates could not be given to the United States as against rhe mother country. This admission, which was foreseen, necessarily terminated the conference upon this question. The benefits of an exchange of natural products would he almost wholly with the people of Canada. Some other topics of interI est were consideie 1 in the conference, and have resulted in the making of a convention for examining the Alaskan boundary and the waters of the Passamaquoddy Bay, adjacent to Eastport, Me., and in the initiation of an arrangement for the protection of fish life in the coterminous and neighboring waters of our northern border. The controversy as to the tolls upon the M elland Canal, which was presented to Congress si.tbe last session by.special message, having to exexcise v .LXeAV. of July 26, 1892, and to proclaim a suspension of the free use of St. Mary’s Falls Canal to cargoes in transit to ports in Canada. The Secretary of the Treasury established such tolls as were thought’ to be equivalent to the exactions unjustly levied upon our commerce in the Canadian canals. If, as we must suppose, the political relations of Canada and the disposition of the Canadian Government are to remain unchanged, a somewhat radical revision of our trade relations should, I think, be made. Our relations must continue to be intimate, and they should be friendly. 1 regret to say. however that in many of the controversies, notably as those to the fisheries on the Atlantic the sealing interests on the Pacific, and the canal tolls, your negotiations with Great Britain have continuously been thwarted or retarded by unreasonable and unfriendly objections and protests from Canada. In the matter of the canal tolls our treaty rights were flagrantly disregarded. It Is hardly too much to say that the Canadian Pacific and other railwav lines which parallel our northern boundary are sustained by commerce having either its origin or terminus, or both, in the United States. Cana Ilan railroads compete with those of the United States for our traffic, and without the restraints of our interstate commerce act. Their cars pass almost without detention into and out of our territory. The Canadian Facile Railwav brought into the United States from China anil Japan, via British Columbia, during the year ended June 3 >, 1892, 23,239,689 pounds of freight, and it carried from the United States to be shipped to China and Japan, via British Columbia, 24,068,34:1 pounds of freight. There were also shipped from the United States over this road from Eastern ports of the United States Government to Pacific ports during the same year 13,912,013 rounds of freight, and there were received over this road at the United States eastern ports from ports on the Pacific coast 13,293,315 pounds of freight. Joseph Nimmo, Jr., former chief of the Bureau of Statistics, when before the Senate Select Committee on Relations with Canada, April 26, 1890, said that "the value of goods thus transported between different points in the United states across Canadian territory probably amour’s to $100,000,100 a year.” There is no disposition on the part ot the people or the Government of the Cnited States to interfere in the smallest degree with the political relations ot Canada. That question is wholly with her own people. It is time for us, however, to consider whether, if the present state of things and trend of things is to continue, our interchanges,, as an outlet to the sea secured by the i construction of an American canal around the ! falls of Niagara and the opening of ship corn- | munication between the great lakes and one ot ; our own sea-ports. We should not hesitate to । avail ourselves ot our great natural trade ad- I vantages. We should withdraw the support ! which is given to the railroads and steamship lines of Canada by a traffic that properly belongs to us, and no longer furnish the earnings I which lighten the otherwise crushing weight } of the enormous public subsidies that have । been given to them. The subject of the power of the treasury to deal with this matter with- : oat further legislation has been under consid- I eration, but circumstances have postponed a I conclusion. It is probable that a consideration i of the propriety of a modification or abroga- | tiou of the article of the treaty of Washington I relating to the transit of goods in bond is in- i volved in any complete solution of the ques- | tion. The President proceeds to note the amicable adjustment of the controversy with the Chilian I Government over the Baltimore affair and the ’ payment by Chili of indemnity for the attack l upon American sailors in t ie streets ot' Valpa- I ralso, and he continues: 1 have endeavored in ! every way to assure our sister republics of I Central and South America that the United i States Government and its people have only ! the most friend y disposition toward them all’, I I have believed, however, while holding j these sentiments in the greatest sincerity, that I we must insist upon a just responsibility for ‘ any injuries inflicted upon our official repro- j sentatives or upon our citizens. This issist- | ence, kindly and justly, but firmly made, will, | I believe, promote peace and mutual respect. I The-I’resident co.nmcnds the projected sub- I marine cable to Hawaii, and tells Congress ' that "we should before this have availed our- • selves of the-concession made many years ago : to this Government for a harbor anil naval sta- : tion at Pearl River.” The friendly. act of this government, the ! message continues, in expressing to the gov- ' ernnient of Italy its reprobation an I abhor- i rence of the lynching of Italian subjects in New Orleans by the payment of 125.000 francs. : or $21,330.90. was accepted by the King of Italy with every, manifestation of gracious appreciation, and the incident has been highly promotive of mutual respect and good-will. The message touches briefly upon the recent ' troubles on the Mexican border, which afforded this Government an opportunity to show < its good-will toward the sister republic, and to ’ negotiations pending v, ith Spain for the protection of American missionaries in the Caroline islands, a satisfactory termination of which is anticipated. I repeat with great earnestness the recommendation which I have made in several previous messages that prompt and adequate support be given to the American company ; engaged In the construction of the Nicaragua ! ship canal. It is impossible to overstate the • value from every standpoint of this great enterprise, and I hope that there may be time, I even in this Congress, to give it an impetus i that will insure the early completion of the canal and secure to the United States its proper relation to it when completed. Tlie Brussels Conference. The Congress has been already advised that the invitations of this government for the assembling of an international monetary conference to consider the question of an enlarged issue of silver was accepted by the nations to which the}' were issued. I have not doubted, and have taken occasion to express that belief, as well in the invitations issued for ’ this conference as in my public message I that the free coinage of silver upon an ! agreed international ratio would greatly pro- ; mote the interests of our people and equally I those of other nations. It is too early to pre- 1 diet what result may be accomplished bf the conference. If any temporary check or delay I intervenes, I believe that very soon commer- i cial conditions will compel the now reluctant governments to unite with us in this movement to secure the enlargement of the volume ! of money needed for the transaction of the I business of the world. Fiscal Condition of the Government. j The report of the Secretary of the Treasury ! will attract especial interest in view of th“ ' many misleading statements that have been i made as to the state of the public revenues i Three preliminary facts should not only 1 be stated, but emphasized, before look- ’ ing into details: First, that the public debt has been reduced since March 4, Ihso, i $259,074,200, and the annual interest charged 1 $11,684,469; second, that there have been paid : out for pensions during this administration i up to Nov. 1, 1892, $432,564,178.70, an excess of I $114,466,386.09 over the sum expended during : the period from Maich 1, 1885, to March 1, li89; i and, third, that under the existing tariff up to I Dec. 1 about $93,000,000 of revenue,which would j have been collected upon imported sugars ; if the duty hail been maintained, has gone into the pockets of the people, and not ! into the public Treasury as i efore. If there ! are any who still think that the surplus < should have been kept out of circulation by । hoarding it in the treasury, or deposited in । favored banks without interest, while the | Government continued to pay to these very I banks interest upon the bonds deposited as ;

security for the deposits or who think that | the extended pension legislation was a public : robbery, or that the duties upon sugar should have been maintained, I am content to leave the argument where it now rests, while we wait to see whether these criticisms will take the foim of legislation. The revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30,1892, from all sources were $425,868,260.22, and the expenditures for all purposes v ere $415,9’3,806.56, leaving a balance of 914,453.66. ± here was paid during the year upon the public debt $40,570,467.98. The surplus in the treasury and bank redemption fund, passed by the act of July 14, 1890, to the general fund, furnished in large part the cash available and used for the payments made upon the public del t. Compared with the y< ar 1891, our receipts from customs duties fell oft $42,069,241.08, while our receipts from internal revenue increased f com $8,284,823.13; leaving the net loss of revenue from these principal sources, $33,784,417,95. The net loss of revenue from all j sources was $32,675,972.81. The revenues, esi tlmatedand act lai, for the fiscal year ending ! June 30, 1893, are placed by the Secretary f4:>3,336,350,44. and the expenditure i at $461, i 350.44. showing a surplus of receipts over expenditures cf s2jw,coo. The cash balance in the treasury at the end of the fiscal year, it is estimated, will be 520,992,377.03. So far as these figures are based upon estimates of receipts and expenditures tor the remaining months of the current fiscal year, there are not only the usual elements of uncertainly tut some added elements. New revenue legislation, or even the expectation of it, may seriously reduce the public revenues during the period of uncertainty and 1 during the process of business adjust--1 ment to the new conditions when they become known. But the Secretary has very wisely : refrained from guessing as to the effect of : possible changes in our revenue laws, since tie scope of those changes and the time of treir taking effect can not in any degree be i firecasf or foretold by him. His estimates : j nust be based upon existing laws and upon a 1 continuance of existing business conditions, except so far as these conditions may 1 be affected by causes other than new legisla- ; tion. ! -The estimated receipts for the fiscal year 1 ending June, 30, ism, are $4!M),121,165.38, and the estimated appropriations $457,261,335.33. leaving an estimated surplus of receipts over the expenditures of s32,sin 1,030.05. This does not in- ■ elude any payment to the sinking fund. In > the recommendation of the Secretary that the sinking fund law be repealed I concur. s The- redemption of bonds since the pa- .ge ■ of the law to June 30, 1892, has already ' exceeded the requirements by the , sum of $990,510,681.49. The retirement of i bonds in the future before maturity should • be a matter of convenience, not of compulsion. I We should not collect revenue for that purpose, I but only use any casual surplus. To the bali I ance of $32,860,030.05 of receipts over expendi- > [ tures for the year 1894 should be added the i estimated surplus at the beginning of the year, $20,992,377.03, and from this aggregate there must be deducted, as stated by the Secretary, about $44,iX)0,000 of estimated unexpended appropriations. Silver Purchases. The public confidence in the purpose and ability of the Government to maintain the parity of all our money issues, whether coin or paper, must remain unshaken. The demand for gold in Europe, and the consequent calls upon us, are in a considerable degree the result of the efforts of some of the European governments to increase their gold reserves, and these efforts should be met by appropriate legislation upon our part. The conditions that have created this drain of the treasury gold are in an important degree political and not commercial. In view of the fact that a general revision of our revenue laws in the near future seems to be probably, it would be better that any changes should lie a part of that revision rather than of a temporary nature. During the last fsjal year the Secretary purchased under the act ot July 14, IS'.Hi, 54,355,748 ounces ot silver, and Issued in payment therefor $51,106,468 in notes. The total purchases since the passage of the act have been 120,459,1 991 oun. ej. and the aggregate notes issued $116,l 783.590. The average price paid for silver during | the year was 94 cents per ounce, the highest I price being $1.02q. July 1, ism, and the lowest 83 cents March 23, 1892. In view of the fact I-that the monetary conference is now sitting, . and that no conclusion has yet been reached, I | withhold any recommendation as to legislation I upon this subject. The recommendations of the Secretary of _j War that the army lie reorganized, and that nLnt’aiiU tlce is particularly ugnimendcaK - Uonrtny Claims. _ ——. _ ( The aggregate of claims pending against the : Government in the Court of Claims is enormous. Claims to the amount of nearly $400,000, gd for the taking of or injury to the prop- ; erty of persons claiming to be loyal during the l -war are now before that court forexamination. ; When the others are adde 1, the Indian depredation claim and the French spoliaI tion claims, an aggregate is reached ; that is indeed startling. In the defense | of these claims the Government is at I a great disadvantage. The claimants have preI served their evidence, whereas the Govern- , ment has to send agents to rumage the field tor I what they can find. 'This difficulty is peculiI arly great where the fact to be established is i the disloyalty of the claimant during the war. I If this great threat against our revenues is to j have no other check certainly Congress should : supi ly the d part meat ot justice with apnro- ' priations sufficiently liberal to secure the best ' legal talent in the defense of these claims, and j to pursue its vague search for evidence effectively. Building Up an American Marine. Reference is made to the report of the TostI master General, an abstract of which has already been published. The policy of conI trading with American snips for the trans- ; portation of foreign mails has borne | satisfactory results. Under the law ■ ot A! arch 3. 1.591, contracts have been ; male by tlie Postmaster (reneral for eleven mt 11 routes. The expenditure involved by । these contracts for the next fiscal year ap- . proxlmates 8954,123.33. As one of the results I already reached, sixteen American steamships 1 ot an aggregate tonnage of 57,400 tons, costing $7,460,0(0, have been built or contiaeted to be built in American shipyards. The estimated tonnage of all ’ steamships required under existing contracts is "165,902, and when the lull service required by these contracts is established there will be fortyone mail steamers under the American flag, with the probability of further necessary additions in the Brazilian and Argentine service. The contracts recently let for transatlantic scri ice will result in the construction of five ships ot 10,000 tons each, costing s9,< 00.000 or slo,uiio,otio, and will add, with the City of New York and the City of Paris, to which the Treasury Department was authorized by legislation at the last session to give American registry, seven of the swiftest vessels on the sea to our naval reserve. The contracts made with the lines sailing to Central and bouth American ports have increased the frequency and shortened the time of the trips, added new ports of call, and sustained some lines that otherwise would almost certainly have been withdrawn. The service to Buenos Ayres is the first to the Argentine republic under the American flag. The service to Southampton,Boulogne,and Antweip is also new, and is to be begun with the steamships City of New York and City of Paris in February next. I earnestly urge a continuance of the policy inaugurated by this legislation, and that the appropriations required to meet the obligations of the Government under the contracts may be made promptly, so that the lines that iiave entered into these engagements may not be embarrassed. America as a Naval Power. After noting the increase in the American navy during the past year the President directs attention to the improvement in naval construction. It is believed, he says, that as the result of new proceses in the construction of armor plate our later ships will be clothed with defensive plates 'of higher resisting power than are found in any war vessel afloat. We were without torpedoes. Tests have been made to ascer- । tain the relative efficiency of different conj situations. A torpedo has been adopted and the work ot construction is now being carried on successfully. We were without armor piercing shells and without a shop constructed and equipped lor ths con- । struction of them. \\ e are now making what is believed to be a projectile superior to any before in use. A smokeless powder has been developed and a slow burning powder for guns of large caliber. The development of a naval militia, which has been organized in eight States and brought into cordial and co-operative relation with the navy, is another important achievement. I recommend such legislation and appropriations as will encourage and develop this movement. 1 lie Pension Bureau. The work of the Interior Department is i based upon the report of the Secretary published yesterday, and the several recommendations of that official are endorsed by the President. the Indian Bureau’s efforts for the advancement of the Indians particularly eliciting commendation. The President expresses a hope that legislation will come which shall j separate the administration of Indian affairs j from-party strife, particularly in the selection of agents at the several reservations. As to pensions, the President says: I adhere ' to the views expressed in previous messages I that the care of the disabled soldiers ot the ! war of the rebellion is a matter of national !

concern and duty. Perhaps no emotion cools sooner than that of gratitude, but I cannot believe that this process has yet. reached a point with our people that would sustain the policy of remitting the care of these disabled veterans to the inadequate agencies provided by local laws. The parade on the 20th of September last upon the streets of this capital of 60,000 of the surviving Union veterans of the war of the rebellion, was a most touching and thrilling episode, and the rich and gracioui welcome extended to them by the District of Columbia, and the applause that greeted their progress from tens of thousands of people from all the States did much to revive the recollections of the grand review, when these men, and many thousands of others now in their graves, were welcomed with grateful joy as victors in a struggle in which the national unity, honor, and wealth were all at issue. The Pacific Railways. In my last annual message I called attention to the fact that some legislative action was necessary In order to protect the interests of the Government in its relations with the Union Pacific Railway. We must, deal with the question as we find it and take that course xvhich ! w ill, under existing conditions, best secure the ; interests of the United States. Quarantine Regulations. After reviewing the work of the Agricultural j Department and its bearings upon the exports of provisions and breadsiufts. the President takes up the subject of quarantine regulations, and says: The subject of quarantine regulations, inspection and control was brought suddenly to my attention by the arrival at our ports in August last of vessels infected with cholera. Quarantine regulations should be uniform at all our ports. Under the Constitution they are plainly within the exclusive Federal jurisdiction when and so far as Congress shall legislate. In my opinion, the whole subject should be taken into national control and adequate’power given to the executive to protect people against plague invasions. On the Ist of September last I approved regulations establishing a twenty-day quarantine for all vessels bringing immigrants from foreign ports. This order will be continued in force. Some loss and suffering have resulted to passengers, but a due care for the homes of our people justifies in such cases the utmost precaution. There is danger that with the coming of spring cholera will appear and a liberal appropriation should be made at this session to enable our quarantine and port officers to exclude the deadly plague. But the most careful arid stringent quar-l | antine regulations may not be sufficient abso-' 1 lutely to exclude the disease. The progress of : medical and sanitary science has been su<h, however, that if approved precautions are taken at once to put. all of our cities and towns in the best sanitary condition and a provision is made for isolating any sporadic cases and for a thorough disinfection, an epidemic can. I am sure, be avoided. We are peculiarly subject in our great ports to the spread of infectious disease by reason of the fact that unrestricted immigration brings to us out ot European cities, in the overcrowded steerages of gie.it steamships, ia large number ot persans whose surroundin ;s make them the easy victims of the plague. This consideration, as well as those affecting the political, mori.l, and industrial interests of our < ountry. lead me to renew the suggestion that admission to our country and to the high privileges of its cit izenship should be more restrict ed and more carefully guarded. We have, I think, a right and owe a duty to our own people, and especially to our working people, not only to keep out the vicious, the ignorant, the civil disturber, the pauper, and the contract laborer, but to check the too great flow of immigration now coming by further limitations. Tl-.e Worl .'s Fai.-. The report of the World’s Columbian Exposition has not been submitted. That of the Board of Management ot the Government exhibit has been received, and is herewith transmitted. The work of construction and of preparation for the opening of the Exposition in May next has progressed most satisfactorily, and upon a scale of liberality and magnificence that will worthily sustain the honor of the United States. In reviewing the recommendation xvhich I have made in three preceding annual messages that Congress should legislate for thi protection ot railroad employes against the dangers incident to the old and inadequate methods of braking and coupling cars which are still in use upon freight business, I do re with the hope that this Congress may take action on the subject. * * -It I? it has been my i > r called attention to the evils and dangers con- f ’nectcdwith our election methods and prac- > tices asTh'v are related to the choice of offi- ' e rs of the National Government. In my last 1 annual message 1 endeavored to invoke serious : attention i to the evils of unfair apportionments for Congress. I cannot closa this message without again calling attention to these grave and tl reatening evils. I had hoped that it was possible to secure a non-partisan inquiry by : means of a commission into evils the existence of which is known to all. anl that out of this might grow legislation from which all thought of partisan alvantagd should be eliminated, and only the higher! thought appear of maintaining the : freedom and purity of the ballot, and the l equality of the elector without the guaranty of which the government could ; never have been formed and without the : continuance of which it cannot continue to exist in peace and prosperity. It is time that mutual charges of unfairness and fraud between the great parties should cease and that the sincerity of those who profess a desire for pure and honest elections i should be brought to the test of their willingness to free our legislation and our election methods from everything that tends to impair : the public confidence in the announced result. The necessity for : n inquiry and for legislat : cn by Congress upen this subject is ' emphasized by t ’ e fact that the tendency of the 1 legislation in so me States in recent years has, ' in some important particulars, been away from and not toward free and fair elections and equal apportionments. Is it not time that we should come together on the high plane of patriotism while we devise methods that shall secure the right of every man qualified by law’ to cast a free ballot, and give to every such ballot an equal value in choosing our public officers and in directing the policy of the government? Outrages by Mobs. Lawlessness is not less such, but more, ' where it usurps the functions of peace officers ' and of the courts. The frequent lynching of i colored people accused of crime is without the । excuse xvhich has. sometimes been urged by । mobs for a failure to pursue the appointed ! methods for the punishment of crime, that the accused have an undue influence over courts : and juries. Such acts are a reproach to the community 1 where they occur, and so far as they can be j made the subject of Federal jurisdiction, ! the strongest repressive legislation is demanded. A public sentiment that will ; sustain the officers of law’ in restraining mobs I awl in protecting accused persons in their cus- I tody, should be promoted by every possible | means. The officer who gives his life in tlie brave discharge of this duty is worthy of special honor. No lesson needs to be so u:- I gently impressed upon our people as this, that ho worthy end or cause can be promoted by lawlessness. In Conclusion. This exhibit of the work of the Executive I Departments is submitted to Congress and to i the public in the hope that there will be ’ found in it a due sense of responsibility and ! an earnest purpose to maintain the national : honor and to promote the happiness and pros- j perity of all our people. And this brief exhib- I it of the growth and prosperity of the country will give us a level from which to note the increase or decadence that new’ legislative j policies may bring to us. There is no rea- ! son why the national Influence, power, and prosperity should not observe the same rate of increase that have characterized I the past thirty years. We carry the I great impulse arid Increase of these yeau Into the future. There is no reason why in j many lines of production we should not sur- I pass all other nations as we have already done in some. There are no near frontiers to our ! possible development. Retrogression xvould be a crime. A Theological Diagnosis. My brother, your trouble ia not with I the heart, it is a gastric disorder or a i rebellion of the liver. You need a phy- j sieian more than you do a clergyman. It is not sin that biots out your hope of heaven, but bile. It not only yellows your eyeball, and furs your tongue, and makes your head ache, but swoops upon your soul in dejections and forebodings. —Talmage. There is a difference between an aity diction an l a dictionary, but the former couldn’t exist without the latter.

DEATH OF JAY GOULD., WALL STREET WIZARD SUCCUMBS TO CONSUMPTION. All the Members of His Family at His Bedside When Death Came—Career of the Great Financier from Poverty to Wealth. Passes Peacetully Away. Jay Gould, the greatest financier the United States has ever known, died at his Fifth avenue residence in New York at 9:12 o’clock Friday morning. His end was peaceful. The troubles from which he died were diagnosed as consumption of the stomach, supplemented with a bilious attack. Twelve hours before his death he was prostrati ed by a nervous attack, and his physi- | cian, Dr. Munn, was summoned. Every member of the Gould family was also I summoned and they watched at his bedside until the end cai The death of the great financier inspired unusual regret, but it did not cause any sensational break in the RI - - JAY GOVLD Aleck market, in which, for twenty years, he was the most important figure. The market was not even shaken. It was not believed until 2 o'clock in the morning that Mr. Gould was going Ito die. He had been prostrated several times within the past three years. The attack was thought to be like ihe others, merely temporary. Sketch of the Wizard’s Career. Jay Gould was a native of Boxbury, N. Y., where he was born on the 27th of May, 1836. His early life was spent on alarm. He entered Hobart College when 14 years of age, paying for his I tuition with money earned by keeping the books of the village blacksmith during the evenings. He developed a taste for surveying and one of his earliest enterprises was the publication of a county map of his own drawing. The accuracy of the work attracted attention and he was employed by the Legislature to make a topographical survey of the State. For several years he was engaged in this work an lin making surveys of several counties in Ohio and Michigan. In 1856 he became associated with t Zadock Pratt in the management of a tannery an l conducting a large lumber- ; partner b just in time to axoid the panic of 1837. He invested his money in a bank at Stroudsburg, Pa., purchased bonds of a Vermont railroad at their loxvest price, 10 cents on the dollar, and realized fourfold from the increass in value within a year. He removed to New York City in 1853, where he became a broker, and invested largely in the stock of the Erie Boa l. He soon became President of that company and remained in the d rectory till 18/2, he and James Fisk being the controlling spirits of the corporation. He invested largely in the stock of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and a favorable opportunity occurring he obtained a controlling interest. A depression in the stock of the Western Union taking place, he was enabled to grasp control of that cor- * poration also, and he consolidated the two, not only increasing ihe value of the Atlantic and Pacific properties by a favorable alliance but also benefiting the Western Union by destroying competition. The Ameri an Union and the Mutual Union companies, both organized as competitors of the Western Union, were subse ,uently absorbed by methods knoxvn best to the stock manipulators of Wall street, and the monopoly of the telegraph business i was assured to the Western Un on. In 1887 he purchased a controlling interest in the St. Louis and San Francisco Bailroad and obtamed a joint interest wiih the Atchison, Topeka and Santa ; Fe Bailroad in the Atlantic and Pacific and the western portion of the Southern Pacific Boad. He was either bull or bear, as best suited his purpose to plu k the unwary : fool who dared attempt to trade in his favorites, and hundreds of fortunes of the too venturesome passed into his coffers. Like a giant octopus he guarded his properties and his tentacles grasped and destroyed all within reach. Compassion was an unknown quality in his breast. Friend and foe alike contributed to the gratification of his ra- ' pacity. Mr. Gould was free from the vices . that commonly attach to men of the world. He seldom indulged in wine, never used tobacco, and had no liking for gay or dissolute society. He was ! devotedly attached to his family, and the death of his wife several years ago was a severe blow to him. Since that event his daughter Helen was mistress of his household, and the two were almost inseparable, »iss Helen accompanied him on his tours over the country, sacrificing her opportunities of shining in society that she might minister to his happiness. His son George was his business confidant. He inherited much of the shrewdness of his father, and in recent years has been the active manager of some o.' the most important of the Gould properties. He married Edith Kingdon, the xvell-known actress, and they are living happily together. In Paris it is not customary for patients to wait in Hie ante-chamber of great phvsicians, but inquiry has to be made by'letters, xvhich are rarely ansxvered unless they come from some aristocratic quarter of the city. In some cases, however, numbered tickets are given out at six in the morning. The records of the New Haven Public Library show that there were foul thousand less books drawn last year than the year previous, the decrease being almost xvholly in the field of fie* tion.