PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



711 



now quiet and orderly and self-supporting were once 

 as savage as any that at present roam over the plains 

 or in the mountains of the far West, and were then 

 considered inaccessible to civilizing influences. It 

 may be impossible to raise them fully up to the level 

 of the white population of the United States; but 

 we should not forget that they are the aborigines of 

 the country, and called the soil their own on which 

 our people have grown rich, powerful, and happy. 

 We owe it to them as a moral duty to help them in 

 attaining at least that degree of civilization which 

 they may be able to reach. It is not only our duty 

 it is also our interest to do so. Indians who have 

 become agriculturists or herdsmen, and feel an inter- 

 est in property, will thenceforth cease to be a war- 

 like and disturbing element. It is also a well-au- 

 thenticated fact that Indians are apt to be peaceable 

 and quiet when their children are at school, and I 

 am gratified to know, from the expressions of Indians 

 themselves and from many concurring reports, that 

 there is a steadily increasing desire, even among In- 

 dians belonging to comparatively wild tribes, to have 

 their children educated. I invite attention to the 

 reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the Com- 

 missioner of Indian Affairs, touching the experi- 

 ments recently inaugurated, in taking fifty Indian 

 children, boys and girls, from different tribes, to the 

 Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute, in Virginia, 

 where they are to receive an elementary English ed- 

 ucation and training in agriculture and other useful 

 work, to be returned to their tribes, after the com- 

 pleted course, as interpreters, instructors, and ex- 

 amples. It is reported that the officer charged with 

 the selection of those children might have had thou- 

 sands of young Indians sent with him had it been 

 possible to make provision for them. I agree with 

 the Secretary of the Interior in saying that u the re- 

 sult of this interesting experiment, if favorable, may 

 be destined to become an important factor in the ad- 

 vancement of civilization among the Indians." 



The question, whether a change in the control of 

 the Indian service should be made, was at the last 

 session of Congress referred to a committee for in- 

 quiry and report. Without desiring to anticipate 

 that report, I venture to express the hope that in the 

 decision of so important a question the views ex- 

 pressed above may not be lost sight of, and that the 

 decision, whatever it may be, will arrest further agi- 

 tation of this subject, such agitation being apt to 

 produce a disturbing effect upon the service as well 

 as on the Indians themselves. 



In the enrollment of the bill making appropriations 

 for sundry civil expenses, at the last session of Con- 

 gress, that portion which provided for the continua- 

 tion of the Hot Springs commission was omitted. 

 As the commission had completed the work of tak- 

 ing testimony on the many conflicting claims, the 

 suspension of their labors before determining the 

 rights of claimants threatened for a time to embarrass 

 the interests, not only of the Government, but also 

 of a large number of the citizens of Hot Springs, who 

 were waiting for final action on their claims before 



Hot Springs, and others interested in the welfare of 

 the town, the Secretary of the Interior was author- 

 ized to request the late commissioners to take charge 

 of the records of their proceedings, and to perform 

 such work as could properly be done by them under 

 such circumstances, to facilitate the future adjudica- 

 tion of the claims at an early day, and to preserve 

 the status of the claimants until their rights should 

 be finally determined. The late commissioners com- 

 plied with that request, and report that the tes- 

 timony in all the cases has been written out, ex- 

 amined, briefed, and so arranged as to facilitate 

 an early settlement when authorized by law. It is 

 recommended that the requisite authority be given 

 t as early a day in the session as possible, and that 



a fair compensation be allowed the late commission- 

 ers for the expense incurred and the labor performed 

 by them since the 25th of Juno last. 



I invite the attention of Congress to the recom- 

 mendations made by the Secretary of the Interior 

 with regard to the preservation of the timber on the 

 public lands of the United States. The protection 

 of the public property is one of the first duties of the 

 Government. The Department of the Interior should, 

 therefore, be enabled by sufficient appropriations to 

 enforce the laws in that respect. But this matter 

 appears still more important as a question of public 

 economy. The rapid destruction of our forests is 

 an evil fraught with the gravest consequences, espe- 

 cially in the mountainous districts, where the rocky 

 slopes, once denuded of their trees, will remain so 

 for ever. There the injury, once done, can not be 

 repaired. I fully concur with the Secretary of the 

 Interior in the opinion that, for this reason, legisla- 

 tion touching the public timber in the mountainous 

 States and Territories of the West should be espe- 

 cially well considered, and that existing laws,inwhich 

 the destruction of the forests is not sufficiently guard- 

 ed against, should be speedily modified. A general 

 law concerning this important subject appears to me 

 to be a matter of urgent public necessity. 



From the organization of the Government, the 

 importance of encouraging by all possible means 

 the increase of our agricultural productions has been 

 acknowledged and urged upon the attention of Con- 

 gress and the people as the surest and readiest means 

 of increasing our substantial and enduring prosperi- 

 ty. The words of Washington are as applicable to- 

 day as when, in his eighth annual message, he said : 

 " It is not to be doubted that, with reference either 

 to individual or national welfare, agriculture is of 

 primary importance. In proportion as nations ad- 

 vance in population and other circumstances of ma- 

 turity, this truth becomes more apparent, and ren- 

 ders the cultivation of the soil more and more an 

 object of public patronage. Institutions for promo- 

 ting it grow up, supported by the public purse ; and 

 to what object can it be dedicated with greater pro- 

 priety ? Among the means which have been em- 

 ployed to this end, none have been attended with 

 greater success than the establishment of boards 

 composed of proper characters, charged with col- 

 lecting and diffusing information, and enabled, by 

 premiums and small pecuniary aids, to encourage 

 and assist the spirit of discovery and improvement, 

 this species of establishment contributing doubly to 

 the increase of improvement by stimulating to en- 

 terprise and experiment, and by drawing to a com- 

 mon center the results everywhere of individual 

 skill and observation, and spreading them thence 

 over the whole nation. Experience accordingly hath 

 shown that they are very cheap instruments of im- 

 mense national benefit." 



The great preponderance of the agricultural over 

 any other interest in the United States entitles it to 

 all the consideration claimed for it by Washington. 

 About one half of the population of the United States 

 is engaged in agriculture. The value of the agricul- 

 tural products of the United States for the year 1878 

 is estimated at three thousand millions of dollars. 

 The exports of agricultural products forthe year 1877, 

 as appears from the report of the Bureau of Statistics, 

 were five hundred and twenty-four millions of dol- 

 lars. The great extent of our country, with its di- 

 versity of soil and climate, enables us to produce 

 within our own borders, and by our own labor, not 

 only the necessaries but most of the luxuries that 

 are consumed in civilized countries. Yet, notwith- 

 standing our advantages of soil, climate, and inter- 

 communication, it appears from the statistical state- 

 ment in the report of the Commissioner > of Agri- 

 culture, that we import annually from foreign lands 

 many millions of dollars' worth of agricultural pro- 

 ducts which could be raised in our own country. 



Numerous questions arise in the practice of ad- 



