CONGRESS. (PKESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



211 



Nathan Goff, Jr.. R. 

 William L. Wilson, D. 



Vermont. 

 John W. Stewart, B. William W. Grout, E. 



Virginia. 



Thomas Croxton, D. John W. Daniel, D. 



Harry Libbey, E. Charles T. O'FerralL D. 



George D. Wise, D. John S. Barbour D 



James D. Brady, E. C. F. Trigg, D. 



George C. Cabell, D. John E. Tucker, D. 



West Virginia. 



Charles P. Snyder, D. 

 Eustace Gibson, D. 



Wisconsin. 



Lucien B, Caswell, E. Eichard Guenther, E. 



Edward S. Bragg, D. Ormsby B. Thomas, B. 



Eobert M. La Follette, E. William T. Price, E> 

 Isaac W. Van Schaick, E. Isaac Stephenson, E. 

 Thomas E. Hudd, D. 



Arizona Curtis C. Bean, E. 

 Dakota Oscar S. Gifford, E. 

 Idaho John Hailey, D. 

 Montana Joseph K. Toole, D. 

 New Mexico Anthony Joseph, D. 

 Utah John T. Caine, D. 

 Washington Charles S. Voorhees, D 

 Wyoming Joseph M. Carey, E. 



The House organized by electing John G. 

 Carlisle, of Kentucky, Speaker. There were 

 178 votes cast for him against 138 cast for 

 Thomas B. Reed, of Maine. John B. Clark, 

 Jr., of Missouri, was chosen Clerk; John P. 

 Leedom, of Ohio, Sergeant-at-Arms; Lycurgus 

 Dalton, of Indiana, Postmaster; Samuel Don- 

 elson, of Tennessee, Doorkeeper ; and W. H. 

 Milburn, of New York, Chaplain. 



President's Message. The President's annual 

 message was submitted to Congress Dec. 8, 

 1885, and was as follows: 

 To the Congress of the United States: 



Your assembling is clouded by a sense of public 

 bereavement, caused by the recent and sudden death 

 of Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-Presidentofthe United 

 States. His distinguished public services, his com- 

 plete integrity and devotion to every duty, and his 

 personal virtues, will find honorable record in his coun- 

 try's history. 



Ample and repeated proofs of the esteem and con- 

 fidence in which he was held by his fellow country- 

 men were manifested by election to offices ot the most 

 important trust and highest dignity ; and at length, 

 full of years and honors, he has been laid at rest amid 

 universal sorrow and benediction. 



The Constitution which requires those chosen to 

 legislate for the people to annually meet in the dis- 

 charge of their solemn trust also requires the Presi- 

 dent to give to Congress information of the state or 

 the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 

 measures as he shall deem necessary and expedient. 

 At the threshold of a compliance with these constitu- 

 tional directions, it is well for us to bear in mind that 

 our usefulness to the people's interests will be pro- 

 moted by a constant appreciation of the scope and 

 character of our respective duties as they relate to Fed- 

 eral legislation. While the Executive may recom- 

 mend such measures as he shall deem expedient the 

 responsibility for legislative action must and should 



st upon those selected by the people to make their 



Contemplation of the grave and responsible func- 

 tions assigned to the respective branches of the Gov- 

 ernment under the Corstitution will disclose the par- 

 ;itions of power between our respective departments 

 and their necessary independence, and also the need 



r the exercise of all the power intrusted to each in 



^ Qualified March 18, 1886, in place of Joseph Eankin, died 

 2 Died Dec. 6, 1886. 



that spirit of comity and co-operation which is essen- 

 tial to the proper fulfillment of the patriotic obliga- 

 tions which rest upon us as faithful servants of the 

 people. 



The jealous watchfulness of our constituencies, great 

 and small, supplements their suffrages, and before the 

 tribunal they establish every public servant should 

 be judged. 



T-I ** is , gr ati fy in g to announce that the relations of the 

 United btates with all foreign powers continue to be 

 friendly. Our position after nearly a century of suc- 

 cessful constitutional government, maintenance of good 

 faith in all our engagements, the avoidance of compli- 

 cations with other nations, and our consistent and 

 amicable attitude toward the strong and weak alike, 

 furnish proof of a political disposition which renders 

 professions of good will unnecessary. There are no 

 questions of difficulty pending with any foreign gov- 

 ernment. 



The Argentine Government has revived the lono- 

 dormant question of the Falkland Islands, by clain? 

 ing from the United States indemnity for their loss, 

 attributed to the action of the commander of the sloop- 

 of-war " Lexington " in breaking up a piratical colony 

 on those islands in 1831, and their subsequent occu- 

 pation by Great Britain. In view of the ample justi- 

 fication for the act of the "Lexington," and the dere- 

 lict condition of the islands before and after their 

 alleged occupation by Argentine colonists, this Gov- 

 ernment considers the claim as wholly groundless. 



Question has arisen with the Government of Aus- 

 tria-Hungary touching -the representation of the Unit- 

 ed States at Vienna. 'Having, under my constitutional 

 prerogative, appointed an estimable citizen of unim- 

 peached probity and competence as minister at that 

 court, the Government of Austria-Hungary invited 

 this Government to take cognizance of certain excep- 

 tions, based upon allegations against the personal ac- 

 ceptability of Mr. Keiley, the appointed envoy, ask- 

 ing that, in view thereof, the appointment should be 

 withdrawn. The reasons advanced were such as 

 could not be acquiesced in without violation of my 

 oath of office and the precepts of the Constitution, 

 since they necessarily involved a limitation in favor 

 of a foreign government upon the right of selection by 

 the Executive, and required such an application of a 

 religious test as a qualification for office under the 

 United States as would have resulted in the practical 

 disfranchisernent of a large class of our citizens and 

 the abandonment of a vital principle in our Govern- 

 ment. The Austro-Hungarian Government finally 

 decided not to receive Mr. Keiley as the envoy of the 

 United States, and that gentleman has since resigned 

 his commission, leaving the post vacant. I have 

 made no new nomination, and the interests of this 

 Government at Vienna are now in the care of the sec- 

 retary of legation, acting as charge" d'affaires ad in- 

 terim. 



Early in March last, war broke out in Central Amer- 

 ica, caused by the attempt of Guatemala to consolidate 

 the several states into a single government. In these 

 contests between our neighboring states the United 

 States forbore to interfere actively, but lent the aid of 

 their friendly offices in deprecation of war and to pro- 

 mote peace and concord among the belligerents, and 

 by such counsel contributed importantly to the resto- 

 ration of tranquility in that locality. 



Emergencies growing out of civil war in the United 

 States ot Colombia demanded of the Government at 

 the beginning of this administration the employment 

 of armed force to fulfill its guarantees under the thir- 

 ty-fifth article of the treaty of 1846, in order to keep 

 the transit open across the Isthmus of Panama. De- 

 sirous of exercising only the powers expressly reserved 

 to us by the treaty, and mindful of the rights of Co- 

 lombia, the forces sent to the Isthmus were instructed 

 to confine their action to "positively and efficacious- 

 ly" preventing the transit and its accessories from 

 being " interrupted or embarrassed." 

 The execution of this delicate and responsible task 



