750 



r SITED STATES. 



taken into account, and tbe balance placed to his 

 credit. The moral view of the question should be 

 considered, and the question asked, " Cannot tbe In- 

 dian be made a useful and productive member of 

 society by proper teaching and treatment I" If tbe 

 effort is made in good faith, we will stand better be- 

 fore the civilized nations of the earth, and io our own 

 conscience, for having made it. All these things are 

 not now to be accomplished by one individual, but 

 they will receive my support, and such recommen- 

 dations to Congress as will, in inv judgment, beat 

 serve to carry them into effect. I beg your support 

 and encouragement. 



It has been and is my earnest desire to correct 

 abuses that have grown up in the civil service of 

 the country. 



To secure this, rules regulating the methods of 

 appointment and promotion were established, and 

 have been tried. My effort* for such reformation 

 shall be continued. To the best of my judgment the 

 spirit of the rules adopted will be mamtainl. 



I acknowledge before this assembly, representing 

 as it docs every section of our country, the obligation 

 I am under to my countrymen for the great honor 

 thev have conferred on me, by returning me to the 

 highest office within their gift, and the further obli- 

 gation resting on me to render to them the best ser- 

 vices within my power. This I promise, looking 

 forward with the greatest anxiety to the day when I 

 shall be released from responsibilities that at I 

 are almost overwhelming, and from whicli t scarcely 

 have had a respite since the eventful firing on Fort 

 Sumter, in April, 1861, to the present day. My ser- 

 vices were then tendered ana accepted, under tin: 

 first call for troops growing out of that event. I did 

 not ask for place or position, and was entirely with- 

 out influence, or the acquaintance of any persons of 

 influence, but was resolved to perform any part in a 

 struggle threatening the very existence of the na- 

 tion. 1 performed a conscientious duty without ask- 

 ing promotion, and without revengeful feeling tow- 

 waru any section or individual. 



Notwithstanding this, throughout the war, and 

 from my candidacy for my present otHce, in 18*8, to 

 the close of the fast presidential campaign, I have 

 been the subject of abuoc mid slander, scarcely ever 

 equaled in political history, which to-day I feel tlmt 

 I can afford to disregard, in view of your verJiet, 

 which I gratefully accept as my vindication. 



An act bad been passed during the session 

 of the Congress tbat closed on the same day, 

 by which the salaries of the Executive officers 

 and the Judiciary had been increased as fol- 

 lows: 



This act increased, likewise, the salaries of 

 members of Congress, and several subordinate 

 officers; but such portion of it was subsequent- 

 ly repealed. (See COSORKM, U. 8.) 



The only change made in the cabinet of the 

 Pr. si'lcnt was, the appointment of William M. 

 Richardson as Secretary of the Treasury, to 

 fill tbe VM I by tin- re-lunation 



'.MI! well. Mr. Richardson was 

 born at Tyngiborongh, Haas., on November -J, 



1821. He graduated at Harvard College in 

 1848. On the 8th of July, l*l<i, on motion of 

 the late Governor Andrew, of Mas-: 

 he was admitted to ' : bur. and sub- 



sequently began the practice of law in Lowell. 

 He was'prcsidciit of the Wamiset Bank, of 

 Lowell, and also of the Mechanics' Association, 

 for several years; and, in 1855, with Prof. Joel 

 Parker and A. A. Richmond, was appointed to 

 revise the General Statutes of Massachu 

 The result of his four years' labor in this direc- 

 tion was so satisfactory, that he was selected 

 to edit the revision, and it was then published 

 in a large eleven-hundred page volume, enti- 

 tled the "General Statutes of Massaclm- 

 which were subsequently enacted into a code 

 by the Legislature. The latter body, in l.'-TJ, 

 appointed Mr. Richardson and Judge Georgu 

 P. Sawyer to re-revise the statutes and tho 

 supplement. 



In 1850 he was appointed Judge of the Pro- 

 bate Court of Middlesex County ; and in 

 on tho consolidation of the offices of judge of 

 probate and judge of insolvency, he was ap- 

 pointed to the consolidated office, which he 

 held until the spring of 1872, when In- 

 signed to accept the office of Assistant Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, which he bad previously 

 filled. In 1869 he declined an appointment 

 as Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachu- 

 setts; and in 1855 he published a volume enti- 

 tled "Tho Banking Laws of Massachus. 

 In 1873, while acting as Secretary of the 

 Treasury, he prepared and published a work 

 entitled " Practical Information concerning 

 the Public Debt of the United States, and Na- 

 tional Banking Laws." His visit to Europe 

 at the request of Secretary Boutwell in 1871, 

 to negotiate a loan, was quite successful. 



The vacancy which took place in the Su- 

 preme Court, during the year, by the deatli of 

 Chief-Justice Chase, was filled by the appoint- 

 ment and confirmation of Morrison R. VYaite, 

 of Ohio. Mr. Waito was born in Lytne, Conn., 

 in 1816. He graduated at Yale College, in 

 1837. He soon removed to Maumce City, < >hio, 

 and commenced tho study and practice of law, 

 and subsequently removed to Toledo, where 

 he continued to reside. In 1849 he was a 

 member of the Ohio Legislature. He was an 

 unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1862, 

 and was one of tho counsel of the Commis- 

 sioners of the Geneva Arbitration Tribunal. 

 In 1878 he was unanimously elected a del. 

 to tho State Constitutional Convention, of 

 which he was al-<> elected to be the presiding 

 officer. This position he held until appointed 

 Chief-Justice. 



Some changes were made in the postal sys- 

 tem during tho yenr. These consisted L 

 free delivery of letters and papers in all cities 

 lining 20,000 inhabitants, and the adoption 

 of a postal card. This consists of a stamped 

 slip of pasteboard, on one side of which a brief 

 message may be written and sent through the 

 mails to any part of the country for one cent 



