PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



681 



blunder on the part of the Executive because there 

 are those differences of views. Mintuki-a have been 

 .is all can see and 1 admit, but it seurns to inu 

 in tlio scl.-.-' i 'ii- 111 i.l- <>!' the assistant* ap- 

 1 to iiiil in carrying out the various duties of 

 H. 1 imiistering tho Govoruinent in nearly every case 

 selected witliout a personal uc<iu.iintanee witu the 

 upp "intoo, but upon recommendations of the repre- 

 sentatives chosen directly by the pi- 'pic. It U im- 

 possible, where so many trusts arc to be allotted, 

 that the right parties should bo chosen in every 

 instance. History shows that no Administration, 

 from tho time of Washington to the present, has 

 been free from these mistakes. Hut I leave c mipur- 

 isons to history, claiming that I have acted in every 

 instance from a conscientious desire to do what was 

 right, constitutional within the law, and for the very 

 be-a interests of the whole people. Failures have 

 been errors of judgment, not of intent. 



My civil oarear commenced, too, at a most critical 

 and difficult time. Less than four years before, the 

 country had e.m *rged from a conflict such as no oth- 

 er nation had ever survived. Nearly one-half of the 

 States had revolted against the Government ; au<l, 

 of th >se remaining faithful to the Union, a large per- 

 cent :i>_ce of the population sympathized with the re- 

 bellion and made an " enemy in the rear," almost 

 as d-ingerous as the more honorable enemy in the 

 front. The latter committed errors of judgment, 

 but they maintained them openly and courageously ; 

 the former received the protection of the Govern- 

 ment th^y would see destroyed, and reaped all the 

 pecuniary advantage to be gained out of the then ex- 

 isting state of affairs ; many of them by obtaining 

 contracts, and by swindling the Government in the 

 delivery of their goods. 



Immediately on tne cessation of hostilities, the 

 then noble President, who had carried the country so 

 far through its perils, fell a martyr to his patriotism 

 at the hands of an assassin. 



The intervening time to my first inauguration was 

 filled up with wrunglings between Congress and the 

 new Executive as to the best mode of ' reconstruc- 

 tion," or, to speak plainly, as to whether the con- 

 trol of the Government should ba thrown immediate- 

 ly into the hands of those who had so recently and 

 persistently tried to destroy it, or whether the vic- 

 tors should continue to have an equal voic? with 

 them in this control. Raconstruction. as finally 

 arreeil up-m, maans this an 1 only this, except 

 tint the hit 13 slave was enfranchised, giving an in- 

 crease, as was supposed, to the Union-loving and 

 Union-supporting votes. If, /><?, in tho full sense 

 of tho word, they would not disappoint this expecta- 

 tion. Hence, at the beginning of my first Adminis- 

 tration, the work of reconstruction much embar- 

 rassed by the long delay virtually commenced. It 

 was the work of the legislative branch of the Govern- 

 ment. My province was wholly in approving their 

 acts, which I did most heartily, urging the Legis- 

 latures of States that had not yet done so to ratify 

 the fifteenth amsndment to the Constitution. The 

 country was laboring under an enormous debt, con- 

 tracted in the suppression of rebellion, and taxation 

 was so oppressive as to discourage production. 

 Another danger also threatened us a foreign war. 

 The lust difficulty had to be adjusted, and was ad- 

 justed, without a war, and in a manner highly hon- 

 orable to all parties concerned. Tuxes have been re- 

 duced within the last seven years nearly three hun- 

 dred millions of dollars, and the national debt has 

 been reduced in the same time over four hundred 

 and thirty-five millions of dollars. By refunding 

 the six per cent, bonded debt for bonds bearing five 

 and four and one-half per cent, interest, respectively, 

 the annual interest has been reduc-d from over one 

 hundred and thirty millions of dollars in 1869 to but 

 little over one hundred millions of dollars in 1876. 

 The balance of trade has been changed from over 

 ne hundred and thirty millions against the United 



States in 18C9 to more than one hundred and twen- 

 ty millions of dollar* in our favor in 1874. 



It is confidently believed that the balance of trade 

 in favor of the United States will mcreunc, not dimin- 

 ish, and that the pledge of Congress to resume 

 specie payments in 1879 will be easily accomplished, 

 even in the absence of much desired further legis- 

 lation rn the subject. 



A policy has been adopted toward the Indian 

 tribe.-, inhabiting a large portion of the territory of 

 the United States which has been humane, and ha 

 substantially ended Indian hostilities in tin; whole 

 land, except in u portion of Nebraska, and Dakota, 

 Wyoming, and Montana Territories the Blac.i Hills 

 region and approaches thereto. Hostilities there 

 have grown out of the avarice of the white man, who 

 has violated our treaty stipulations in his search for 

 gold. The question mignt bj asked why the Gov- 

 ernment has not enforced obedience to the terms of 

 the treaty prohibiting the occupation of the Block 

 Hills region by whites? The answer is simple: 

 The first immigrants to the Black Hills were re- 

 moved by troops, but rumors of rich discoveries of 

 gold took into that region increased numbers. Gold 

 has actually been found in paying quantity, and an 

 effort to remove the miners would only result in the 

 desertion of the bulk of the troops that might be 

 sent there to remove them. All difficulty in this 

 matter has, however, been removed subject to the 

 approval of Congress by a treaty ceding the Black 

 Hills and the approaches to settlement by citizens. 



The subject of Indian policy arid treatment is so 

 fully set forth by the Secretary of the Interior acd 

 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and my views 

 so fully expressed therein, that I refer to their reports 

 and recommendations as my own. 



The relations of the United States with foreign 

 powers continue on a friendly footing. 



Q lestions have arisen from time to time in the 

 foreign relations of the Government, but the United 

 States have been happily free during the past year 

 from the complications and embarrassments which 

 have surrounded some of the foreign powers. 



The diplomatic correspondence submitted here- 

 with contains information as to certain of the mat- 

 ters which have occupied the Government. 



The cordiality which attends our relations with 

 the powers of the earth has been plainly shown by 

 the general participation of foreign nations in the 

 exhibition which has just closed, and by the exer- 

 tions made by distant powers to show their interest 

 in and friendly feelings toward the United States in 

 the commemoration of the centennial of the nation. 

 The Government and people of the United States 

 have not only fully appreciated this exhibition of 

 kindly feeling, but it may be justly and fairly ex- 

 pected that no small benefits will result both to our- 

 selves and other nations from a better acquaintance, 

 and a better appreciation of our mutual advantages 

 and mutual wants. 



Congress at its last session saw fit to reduce the 

 amount usually appropriated for foreign intercourse 

 by withholding appropriations for representatives 

 of the United States in certain foreign countries, and 

 for certain consular officers, and by reducing the 

 amounts usually appropriated for certain other dip- 

 lomatic posts, and thus necessitating a change in the 

 grade of the representatives. For these reasons, 

 immediately upon the passage of the bill making 

 appropriations for the diplomatic and consular ser- 

 vice for the present fiscal year, instructions were 

 issued to tho representatives of the United States 

 at Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, and to the con- 

 sular officers for whom no appropriation had been 

 made, to close their respective legations and con- 

 sulates, and cease from the performance of their 

 duties; and in like manner steps were immediately 

 taken to substitute ehargft d'affaires for ministers- 

 resident in Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, 

 and Paraguay. 



