PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



635 



oeivod similar subsidies in connection with railways 

 completed or in process of OOnstrOQltQsV An tin- iv 

 served sections arc rate. I at tin- douMo minimum, the 

 sale of them nt the onliaiier.l prico law tlui*, in many 

 instances, indemnified tlio Treasury for the granted 

 lands. The construction of some of these thorough- 

 .is undoubtedly given a vigorous impulse to the 

 (lev.-l.>]imeiit of our resources, and the settlement of 

 the more distant portions of the country. It may, 

 however, bo well insisted that much of our legis- 

 lation in tliis regard has boon characterized by in- 

 discriminate and profuse liberality. The United 

 States should not loan their credit in aid of any 

 enterprise undertaken by States or corporations, nor 

 grant lands in any instance, unless the projected 

 work is of acknowledged national importance. I 

 am strongly inclined to the opinion that it is Inex- 

 pedient and unnecessary to bestow subsidies of either 

 description; Imt, should Congress determine other- 

 wise, 1 earnestly recommend that the rights of set- 

 tlers and of the public bo more effectually secured 

 and protected by appropriate legislation. 



During the year ending September 80, 1870, there 

 were filed in the Patent-Office 19,411 applications for 

 patents, 3,874 caveats, and 160 applications for the 

 extension of patents; 18,622 patents, including reis- 

 sues and designs, were issued ; 110 extended, and 

 1,089 allowed, but not issued, by reason of the non- 

 payment of the final fees. The receipts of the office 

 during the fiscal year were $186,804.29 in excess of 

 its expenditure. 



The work of the Census Bureau has been energeti- 

 cally prosecuted. The preliminary report, containing 

 much information of special value and interest, will 

 be ready for delivery during the present session. 

 The remaining volumes will DO completed with all 

 the dispatch consistent with perfect accuracy in ar- 

 ranging and classifying the returns. We shall thus, 

 at no distant clay, be furnished with an authentic rec- 

 ord of our condition and resources. It will, I doubt 

 not, attest tlio growing -prosperity of the country, 

 although during the decade Which has just closed it 

 was so severely tried by the great war waged to main- 

 tain its integrity and to secure and perpetuate our 

 free institutions. 



During the last fiscal year the sum paid to pen- 

 sioners, including the cost of disbursement, was 

 $27,780,811.11 ; 1,753 bounty land-warrants were is- 

 sued. At its close 198,686 names were on the pen- 

 sion rolls. 



The labors of the Pension-Office have been directed 

 to the severe scrutiny of the evidence submitted in 

 favor of new claims, and to'tho discovery of fictitious 

 claims which have been heretofore allowed. The ap- 

 propriation for the employment of special agents for 

 the investigation of frauds has been judiciously used, 

 and the results obtained have been of unquestionable 

 benefit to the service. 



The subjects of education and agriculture are of 

 great interest to the success of our republican insti- 

 tutions, happiness, and grandeur as a nation. In the 

 interest of one a bureau has been established in the 

 Interior Department the Bureau of Education ; and 

 in the interest of the other a separate department, 

 that of Agriculture. I believe great general good is 

 to flow from the operations of both these bureaus 

 if properly fostered. I cannot recommend to your 

 careful consideration too highly the reports of the 

 Commissioners of Education and of Agriculture, nor 

 urge too strongly such liberal legislation as to secure 

 their efficacy. 



In conclusion, I would sum up the policy of the 

 Administration to be a thorough enforcement of every 

 law ; a faithful collection of every tax provided for ; 

 economy in the disbursement of the same ; a prompt 

 payment of every debt of the nation ; a reduction of 

 taxes as rapidly as the requirements of the country 

 will admit; reductions of taxation and tariff to bo so 

 arranged as to afford the greatest relief to the greatest 

 number; honest and fair dealings with all other peo- 



ples, to the end that war, with all its blighting con- 

 Mqoeaoe*| may be avoided, but without surrendering 

 any right or obligation due to us ; a reform in thu 

 treatment of Indians and in the whole civil service 

 of the country : and, finally, in securing a pure, un- 

 trammelled ballot, where every man entitled to cant a 

 vote may do so just once at each election without fear 

 of in< ill-station or proscription on account of hU politi- 

 cal faith, nativity, or color. U. 8. UK ANT. 



Message of the President recommending Meat- 

 uresfor the Increase of the Commerce of the 

 United States. 

 To the Senate and Ifovts of Repretentativet : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., March, 23, 1870. f 

 In the Executive message of December 6, 1869, to 

 Congress, the importance of taking steps to revive 

 our drooping merchant marine wat> urged, and a 

 special message promised at a future day during the 



the labor of ascertaining v the cause of the decline of 

 American commerce" nas completed its work and 

 submitted its report to the legislative branch of the 

 Government, I deem this a fitting time to execute 

 that promise. 



The very able, calm, and exhaustive report of the 

 committee points out the grave wrongs which have 

 produced the decline in our commerce. It is a na- 

 tional humiliation that we are now compelled to pay 

 from twenty to thirty million dollars annually (ex- 

 clusive of passage-money which we should share with 

 vessels of other nations) to foreigners for doing the 

 work which should be done by American vessels. 

 American built, American owned, and American 

 manned. This is a direct drain upon the resources 

 of the country of just so much money; equal to cast- 

 ing it into the sea, so far as this nation is concerned. 



A nation of the vast and ever-increasing interior 

 respurces of the United States, extending, as it does, 

 from one to the other of the great oceans of the world, 

 with an industrious, intelligent, energetic population, 

 must one day possess its full snare of the commerce 

 of these oceans, no matter what the cost. Delay will 

 only increase this cost, and enhance the difficulty of 

 attaining the result. 



I therefore put in an earnest plea for early action 

 on this matter, in a way to secure the desired increase 

 of American commerce. The advanced period of the 

 year and the fact that no contracts for ship-building 

 will probably be entered into until this question is 

 settled by Congress, and the further fact that, if 

 there should be much delay, all large vessels con- 

 tracted for this year will fail of completion before 

 winter sets in, and will therefore be carried over for 

 another year, induce mo to request your early con- 

 sideration of this subject. 



I regard it of such grave importance, affecting 

 every interest of the country to so great an extent, 

 that any method which will gain the end will secure 

 a rich national blessing. Building ships and navi- 

 gating them utilizes vast capital at home ; it employs 

 thousands of workmen in their construction and 

 manning ; it creates a home market for the products 

 of the farm and the shop ; it diminishes the balance 

 of trade against us precisely to the extent of freights 

 and passage-money paid to American vessels, and 

 gives us a supremacy upon the seas of inestimable 

 value in case of foreign war. 



Our Navy at the commencement of the lato war 

 consisted of less than one hundred vessels of about 

 one hundred and fifty thousand tons, and a force 

 of about eight thousand men. We drew from the 

 merchant marine, which had cost the Government 

 nothing, but which had been a source of national 

 wealth, six hundred vessels, exceeding one million 



