CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



171 



Gilbert L Laws, of Nebraska, was elected to succeed James 



Amos J. OumminRS, of New York, was elected to succeed 

 Samuel S. Cox, deceased. 



Sereno E. Payne, of New York, was elected to succeed 

 Newton W. Nutting, deceased. 



Charles H. Turner, of New York, was elected to succeed 

 Frank T. Fitzgerald, resigned. . 



Burin" the session several chaneres occurred. John G-. 

 Carlisle was elected to the Senate, and was succeeded by W. 

 W. Dickerson. 



David Wilber, of New York, died. 



Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, died, and was suc- 

 ceeded by Richard Vaux; W. D^Kelley, of Pennsylvania, 

 died, and was succeeded by John E. Reyburn. 



George D. Wise, of Virginia, was unseated in favor of Ed- 

 mund Waddill, Jr. 



L. W. Turpie, of Alabama, was unseated in favor of John 



J. 0. Pendleton, of West Virginia, was unseated in favor of 

 G. W. Atkinson. 

 W. H. Gate, of Arkansas, was unseated in favor of L. P. 



Barnes Compton, of Maryland, was unseated in favor of 

 8. E. Mudd. 



J. M. Jackson, of West Virginia, was unseated in favor of 

 Charles B. Smith. 



E. C. Venable, of Virginia, was unseated in favor of John 

 M. Langston. 



William Elliott, of South Carolina, was unseated in favor 

 of T. E. Miller. 



j C. R Breckinridge, of Arkansas, was declared without title 

 !to a seat in Congress, and his seat was pronounced vacant. 



! The Territorial delegates were as follow : 

 A rizona Marcus A. Smith, D. 

 Idaho Frederick T. Bubois, R. 

 yew Mexico Antonio Joseph, D. 

 [/tortJohn T. Caine, (People's ticket). 

 Wyoming Joseph M. Carey, E. 



i The House organized by electing Thomas B. 

 ; Reed, of Maine, Speaker. He, received 166 votes 

 against 154 for John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, 

 jind one vote for Amos J. Cummings, of New 

 Y"ork. On taking the chair, Mr. Reed said : 



! Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : I thank 

 rou for the high office which your voices have be- 

 itowc'"! upon me. It would be impossible not to be 

 noved by its dignity and honor. Yet you may well 

 imagine that I am at this moment more 'impressed by 

 its responsibilities and duties. Under our system of 

 government as it has been developed, these responsi- 

 pilities and duties are both political and parliamentary. 

 jto far as the duties are political, I sincerely hope they 

 nay be performed with a proper sense of what is due 

 o the people of this whole country. So far as they 

 re parliamentary, I hope, with equal sincerity, that 

 iey may be performed with a proper sense of what 

 due to both sides of this chamber. To the end 

 iat I may satisfactorily carry out your will, I in- 

 )ke the considerate judgment and the cordial aid of 

 1 the members of the House. 

 The other officers of the House were chosen as 

 )llow : Chaplain, William H. Milburn ; Clerk, 

 dward J. McPherson ; Sergeant-at-arms, Ado- 

 iram J. Holmes ; Postmaster, James L. Wheat. 

 The Message. On Tuesday, Dec. 3, on noti- 

 cation that both Houses of Congress were ready 

 >r business, the President sent in his first an- 

 ual message as follows : 

 J o the Senate and House of Representatives : 

 There are few transactions in the administration of 

 ie Government that are even temporarily held in 

 ie confidence of those charged with the conduct of 

 ie public business. Every step taken is under the 

 nervation of an intelligent and watchful people, 

 he state of the Union is known from day to day, and 

 iggestions as to needed legislation find an earlier 

 pice than that which speaks in these annual commu- 

 tations of the President to Congress. 

 Good-will and cordiality have characterized our re- 

 itions and correspondence with other governments, 

 ud the year just closed leaves few international ques- 



tions of importance remaining unadjusted. No ob- 

 stacle is believed to exist that can long postpone the 

 consideration and adjustment of the still pending 

 questions upon satisfactory and honorable terms. 

 The dealings of this Government with other states 

 have been and should always be marked by frankness 

 and sincerity, our purposes avowed, and our methods 

 free from intrigue. This course has borne rich fruit 

 in the past, and it is our duty as a nation to preserve 

 the heritage of good repute which a century of right 

 dealing with foreign governments has secured to us. 



It is a matter ot high significance, and no less of 

 congratulation, that the first year of the second cent- 

 ury of our constitutional existence finds, as honored 

 guests within our borders, the representatives of all 

 the independent states of North and South America 

 met together in earnest conference touching the besc 

 methods of perpetuating and expanding the relations 

 of mutual interest and friendliness existing among 

 them. That the opportunity thus afforded for pro- 

 moting closer international relations and the increased 

 prosperity of the states represented will be used for 

 the mutual good of all, I can not permit myself to 

 doubt. Our people will await with interest and confi- 

 dence the results to flow from so auspicious a meet- 

 ing of allied and, in large part, identical interests. 



The recommendation of this international confer- 

 ence of enlightened statesmen will doubtless have the 

 considerate attention of Congress, and its co-operation 

 in the removal of unnecessary barriers to beneficial 

 intercourse between the nations of America. But 

 while the commercial results, which it is hoped will 

 follow this conference, are worthy of pursuit and of 

 the great interest they have excited, it is believed 

 that the crowning benefit will be found in the better 

 securities which may be devised for the mainte- 

 nance of peace among all American nations and the 

 settlement of all contentions by methods that a 

 Christian civilization can approve. While viewing 

 with interest our national resources and products, the 

 delegates will, I am sure, find a higher satisfaction 

 in the evidences of unselfish friendship which every- 

 where attend their intercourse with our people. 



Another international conference, having great pos- 

 sibilities for good, has lately assembled and is now 

 in session in this capital. An invitation was extended 

 by the Government, under the act of Congress of July 

 9, 1888, to all maritime nations to send delegates to 

 confer touching the revision and amendment of the 

 rules and regulations governing vessels at sea and 

 to adopt a uniform system of marine signals. The 

 response to this invitation has been very general and 

 very cordial. Delegates from twenty-six nations are 

 present in the conference, and they have entered upon 

 their useful work with great zeal, and with an evident 

 appreciation of its importance. So far as the agree- 

 ment to be reached may require legislation to give it 

 effect the co-operation of Congress is confidently re- 

 lied upon. 



It is an interesting, if not indeed an unprecedent- 

 ed fact, that the two international conferences have 

 brought together here the accredited representatives 

 of thirty-three nations. 



Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras are now repre- 

 sented by resident envoys of the plenipotentiary 

 grade. All the states of the American system now 

 maintain diplomatic representation at this capital. 



In this connection it may be noted that all the na- 

 tions of the western hemisphere, with one exception, 

 send to Washington envoys extraordinary and minis- 

 ters plenipotentiary, being the highest grade accred- 

 ited to this Government. The United States, on the 

 contrary, sends envoys of lower grade to some of our 

 sister republics. Our representative in Paraguay and 

 Uruguay is a minister resident, while to Bolivia we 

 send a minister resident and consul-general. In view 

 of the importance of our relations with the states or 

 the American system, our diplomatic agents in those 

 countries should be of the uniform rank of envoy 

 extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. Certain 

 missions were so elevated by the last Congress with 



