634 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



able to submit to it a plan by which naval vessels can 

 be built and repairs made with great saving upon the 

 present cost. 



It can hardly be wise statesmanship in a Govern- 

 ment which represents a country with over 5,000 miles 

 of coast-line, on both oceans, exclusive of Alaska, 

 and containing 40,000,000 of progressive people, with 

 relations of every nature with almost every foreign 

 country, to rest with such inadequate means of en- 

 forcing any foreign policy, either of protection or re- 

 dress. Separated by the ocean from the nations of 

 the Eastern Continent, our navy is our only means of 

 direct protection to our citizens abroad, or for the en- 

 forcement of any foreign policy. 



The accompanying report or the Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral shows a most satisfactory working of that De- 

 partment. With the adoption of the recommenda- 

 tions contained therein, particularly those relating to 

 a reform in the franking privilege and the adoption 

 of the " correspondence <jards," a self-sustaining 

 postal system may speedily be looked for ; and at no 

 distant day a further reduction of the rate of postage 

 be attained. 



I recommend authorization by Congress, to the 

 Postmaster-General and Attorney-General, to issue 

 all commissions to officials appointed through their 

 respective Departments. At present these commis- 

 sions, where appointments are presidential, are issued 

 by the State Department. The law in all the Depart- 

 ments of Government, except those of the Post-Office 

 and of Justice, authorizes each to issue its own com- 

 missions. 



Always favoring practical reforms, I respectfully call 

 your attention to one abuse of long standing, which 

 1 would like to see remedied by this Congress. It is 

 a reform in the civil service of the country. I would 

 have it go beyond the mere fixing of the tenure of 

 office of clerks and employe's who do not require " the 

 advice and consent of the Senate " to make their ap- 

 pointments complete. I would have it govern, not the 

 tenure, but the manner of making all appointments. 

 There is no duty which so much embarrasses the 

 Executive and heads of Departments as that of ap- 

 pointments ; nor is there any such arduous and thank- 

 less labor imposed on Senators and Kepresentatives 

 as that of finding places for constituents. The pres- 

 ent system does not secure the best men, and often 

 not even fit men. for public place. The elevation and 

 purification of tne civil service of the Government 

 will be hailed with approval by the whole people of 

 the United States. 



Reform in the management of Indian affairs has 

 received the special attention of the Administration 

 from its inauguration to the present day. The ex- 

 periment of making it a missionary work was tried 

 with a few agencies, given to the denomination of 

 Friends, and has been found to work most advanta- 

 geously. All agencies and superintendencies not so 

 disposed of were given to officers of the army. The 

 act of Congress reducing the army renders army offi- 

 cers ineligible for civil positions. Indian agencies 

 being civil offices, I determined to give all the agencies 

 to such religious denominations as had heretofore es- 

 tablished missionaries among the Indians, and per- 

 haps to some other denominations who would under- 

 take the work on the same terms, i. e., as a missionary 

 work. The societies selected are allowed to name 

 their own agents, subject to the approval of the Execu- 

 tive, and are expected to watch over them and aid 

 them as missionaries, to Christianize and civilize the 

 Indian, and to train him in the arts of peace. The 

 Government watches over the official acts of these 

 agents, and requires of them as strict an accounta- 

 bility as if they were appointed in any other manner. 

 I entertain the confident hope that the policy now 

 pursued will, in a few years, bring 1 all the Indians 

 upon reservations, where they will live in houses, 

 have school-houses and churches, and will be pur- 

 suing peaceful and self-sustaining avocations, and 

 where they may be visited by the law-abiding white 



man with the same impunity that he now" visits the 

 civilized white settlements. I call your special atten- 

 tion to the report of the Commissioner of Indian 

 Affairs for full information on this subject. 



During the last fiscal year, 8,095,413 acres of public 

 land were disposed of. Of this quantity, 3,698,910.05 

 acres were taken under the homestead law, and 

 2,159,515.81 acres sold for cash. The remainder was 

 located with military warrants, college, or Indian 

 scrip, or applied in satisfaction of grants to railroads, 

 or for other public uses. The entries under the home- 

 stead law, during the last year, covered 961,545 acres 

 more than those during the preceding year. Surveys 

 have been vigorously prosecuted to the full extent of 

 the means applicable to the purpose. . The quantity 

 of land in market will amply supply the present de- 

 mand. The claim of the settler, under the homestead 

 or the preemption laws, is not, however, limited to 

 lands subject to sale at private entry. Any unappro- 

 priated surveyed public land may, to a limited 

 amount, be acquired under the former laws, if the 

 party entitled tfe enter under them will comply with 

 the requirements they prescribe in regard to the resi- 

 dence and cultivation. The actual settler's prefei- 

 ence right of purchase is even broader, and extends 

 to lands which were unsurveyed at the time of hia 

 settlement. His right was formerly confined within 

 much narrower limits, and at one period of our his- 

 tory was conferred only by special statutes. They 

 were enacted from time to time to legalize what was 

 then regarded as an unauthorized intrusion upon the 

 national domain. The opinion that the public lands 

 should be regarded chiefly as a source of revenue is 

 no longer maintained. The rapid settlement and suc- 

 cessful cultivation of them are now justly considered 

 of more importance to our well-being than is the* fund 

 which the sale of them would produce. The remark- 

 able growth and prosperity of our new States and 

 Territories attest the wisdom of the legislation which 

 invites the tiller of the soil' to secure a permanent 

 home on terms within the reach of all. The pioneer, 

 who incurs the dangers and privations of a frontier 

 life, and thus aids in laying the foundation of new 

 commonwealths, renders a signal service to his coun- 

 try, and is entitled to its special favor and protection. 

 These laws secure that object, and largely promote 

 the general welfare. They should, therefore, be cher- 

 ished as a permanent feature of our land system. 



Good faith requires us to give full effect to existing 

 grants. The time-honored and beneficent policy of 

 setting apart certain sections of public land for educa- 

 tional purposes in the new States should be continued. 

 "When ample provision shall have been made for these 

 objects, I submit, as a question worthy of serious con- 

 sideration, whether the residue of our national domain 

 should not be wholly disposed of under the provi- 

 sions of the homestead and preemption laws. 



In addition to the swamp and overflowed lands 

 granted to the States in which they are situated, the 

 lands taken under the agricultural college acts, and 

 for internal improvement purposes, under the act of 

 September, 1841, and the acts supplemental thereto, 

 there had been conveyed, up to the close of the last 

 fiscal year, by patent or other equivalent evidence of 

 title, to States and corporations, twenty-seven million 

 eight hundred and thirty-six thousand two hundred 

 and fifty-seven and sixty-three hundredths acres, for 

 railways, canals, and wagon-roads. It is estimated 

 that an additional quantity of 174,735,523 acres is still 

 due under grants for like uses. The policy of thus 

 aiding the States in building works of internal im- 

 provement was inaugurated more than forty fears 

 since in the grants to Indiana and Illinois, to aid 

 those States in opening canals to connect the waters 

 of the Wabash with those of Lake Erie, and the wa- 

 ters of the Illinois with those of Lake Michigan. 



It was followed with some modifications in the 

 grant to Illinois of alternate sections of public land 

 within certain limits of the Illinois Central Eaihvay. 

 Fourteen States and sundry corporations have re- 



