586 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



choose to move, without reference to original nation- 

 ality, religion, color, or politics, demanding of him 

 only obedience to the laws and proper respect for the 

 rights of others. 



3. Union of all the States, with equal rights, in- 

 destructible by any constitutional means. 



To secure the first of these, Congress has taken two 

 essential steps : first, in declaring by joint resolution 

 that the public debt should be paid, principal and in- 

 terest, in coin ; and second, by providing the means 

 for paying. Providing the means, however, could 

 not secure the object desired without a proper ad- 

 ministration of the laws for the collection of the reve- 

 nues, and an economical disbursement of them. To 

 this subject the Administration has most earnestly 

 addressed itself, with results, I hope, satisfactory to 

 the country. There has been no hesitation in ex- 

 changing officials in order to secure efficient execu- 

 tion of the laws sometimes, too, where in a mere 

 party view undeserved political results were likely to 

 follow nor any hesitation in sustaining efficient offi- 

 cials against remonstrances wholly political. It may 

 be well to mention here the embarrassments possible 

 to arise from leaving on the statute-books the so- 

 called tenure-of-office acts, and to earnestly recommend 

 their total repeal. It could not have been the inten- 

 tion of the framers of the Constitution, when provid- 

 ing that appointments made by the President should 

 receive the consent of the Senate, that the latter 

 should have the power to retain in office persons 

 placed there by Federal appointment against the will 

 of the President. The law is inconsistent with a 

 faithful and efficient administration of the Govern- 

 ment. What faith can the Executive put in officials 

 forced up^on him, and those, too, whom he has sus- 

 pended tor reasons ? How will such officials be like- 

 ly to serve an Administration which they know does 

 not trust them? For the second requisite to our 

 growth and prosperity, time and a firm but humane 

 administration of existing laws, amended from time 

 to time as they may prove ineffective, or prove harsh 

 and unnecessary, are probably all that are required. 

 The third cannot be attained by special legislation, 

 but must be regarded as fixed by the Constitution it- 

 self, and gradually acquiesced in by force of public 

 opinion. 



From the foundation of the Government to the 

 present time the management of the original inhabit- 

 ants of this continent, the Indians, has been a subject 

 of embarrassment and expense, and has been attend- 

 ed with continuous robberies, murders, and wars. 

 From my own experience upon the frontiers in Indian 

 countries, I do not hold either legislation or the con- 

 duct of the whites who come most in contact with the 

 Indian blameless for these hostilities. The past, 

 however, cannot be undone, and the question must 

 be met as we now find it. I have attempted a new 

 policy toward these wards of the nation (they can- 

 not be regarded in any other light than wards), 

 with fair results, so far as tried, and which, I hope, 

 will be attended ultimately with great success. The 

 Society of Friends is well known as having suc- 

 ceeded in living in peace with the Indians In the 

 early settlement of Pennsylvania, while their white 

 neighbors of other sects in other sections were con- 

 stantly embroiled. Thay were also known for their 

 opposition to all strife, violence, and war, and are 

 generally noted for their strict integrity and fair 

 dealings. These considerations induced me to give 

 the management of a few reservations of Indians to 

 them, and to throw the burden of the selection of 

 agents upon the Society itself. The result has proved 

 most satisfactory. 



It will be found more fully set forth in the report 

 of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. For Super- 

 intendent and Indian Agents not in the reservations, 

 officers of the army were selected. The reasons for 

 this are numerous: Where Indian agents are sent, 

 there, or near there, troops must be sent also. The 

 agent and the commander of the troops are inde- 



Sendent of each other, and are subject to orders from 

 ifferent departments of the Government. The army 

 officer holds a po'sition for life ; the agent at the will 

 of the President. The former is personally interest- 

 ed in living in harmony with the Indian, and in 

 establishing a permanent peace, to the end that some 

 portion of his life may be spent within the limits of 

 civilized society ; the latter has no such personal in- 

 terest. Another reason is an economic one, and still 

 another, the hold which the Government has upon 

 a life-officer to secure a faithful discharge of his duties 

 in carrying out a given policy. The building of rail- 

 roads, and the access thereby given to all the agri- 

 cultural and mineral regions of the country, are rapid- 

 ly bringing civilized settlements into contact with all 

 the tribes of Indians. No matter what ought to be 

 the relations between such settlements and the abo- 

 rigines, the fact is^, that they t do not harmonize well, 

 and one or the other has to give way in the end. A 

 system which looks to the extinction of a race is too 

 horrible for a nation to adopt without entailing upon 

 itself the wrath of all Christendom, and engender- 

 ing in the citizen a disregard for human life and the 

 rights of others dangerous to society. I see no sub- 

 stitute for such a system except in placing all the In- 

 dians on large reservations as rapidly as it can be 

 done, and giving them absolute protection there. 

 As soon as they are fitted for it they should be in- 

 duced to stake their lands in severally and to set up 

 territorial governments for their own protection. For 

 full details on this subject I call attention to the re- 

 ports of the Secretary of the Interior and the Com- 

 missioner of Indian Affairs. 



The report of the Secretary of War shows the ex- 

 penditures of the War Department for the year end- 

 ing the 30th of June, 1869, to be $80,644,042, of 

 which $23,882,310 was disbursed in the payment of 

 debts contracted during the war, and is not charge- 

 able to current army expenses. His estimate of 

 $34,531,031 for the expenses ofthe army for the next 

 fiscal year is as low as it is believed can be relied on. 

 The estimates of bureau officers have been carefully 

 scrutinized and reduced wherever it has been practi- 

 cable. If, however, the condition of the country 

 should be such, by the beginning of the next fiscal 

 year, as to admit of a greater concentration of troops, 

 the appropriation asked for will not be expended. 



The appropriations estimated for river and harbor 

 improvements and fortifications are submitted sep- 

 arately. Whatever amount Congress may deem prop- 

 er to appropriate for these purposes will be expended. 

 The recommendation ofthe General ofthe Army, that 

 appropriations be made for the forts at Boston, Port- 

 land, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San 

 Francisco, if for no others, is concurred in. I also 

 ask your special attention to his recommendation of 

 the general commanding the military division of the 

 Pacific, for the sale of the Seal Islands, of St. George, 

 and St. Paul, Alaska Territory, and suggest that it 

 either be complied with, or that legislation be had 

 for the protection of the seal fisheries, from which a 

 revenue should be derived. 



The report of the Secretary of War contains a 

 synopsis of the reports of the head of bureaus of the 

 commanders of military divisions, and of the districts 

 of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, and the report 

 ofthe General of the Army in full. The recommen- 

 dations therein contained have been well considered, 

 and are submitted for your action. I, howe'ver, call 

 special attention to the recommendation of the Chief 

 of Ordnance for the sales of arsenals and lands no 

 longer of use to the Government ; also, to the recom- 

 mendation of the Secretary of War, that the act of 

 March 3, 1869, prohibiting promotions and appoint- 

 ments on the staff corps of the army be repealed. 

 The extent of country to be garrisoned, and the 

 number of military posts to be occupied, are the same 

 with a reduced army as with a large one, and a large 

 number of staff officers required is more dependent 

 upon the latter than the former condition. 



