CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



221 





they were legally construed. In the case of the Dol- 

 phin, with entire justice to the contractor, an agree- 

 ment has been entered into providing for the ascer- 

 tainment by a judicial inquiry of the complete or 

 partial compliance with the contract in her construc- 

 tion, and further providing for the assessment of any 

 damages to which the Government may be entitled 

 on account of a partial failure to perform such con- 

 tract, or the payment of the sum still remaining un- 

 paid upon her price, in case a full performance is 

 adjudged. 



The contractor, by reason of his failure in business, 

 being unable to complete the other three vessels, they 

 were taken possession of by the Government in their 

 unfinished state, under a clause in the contract per- 

 mittino- such a course, and are now in process of com- 

 pletion in the yard of the contractor, but under the 

 supervision of the Navy Department. 



Congress at its last session authorized the construc- 

 tion of two additional new cruisers and two gunboats, 

 at a cost not exceeding in the aggregate $2,995,000. 

 The appropriation for this purpose having become 

 available on the 1st day of July last, steps were at once 

 taken for the procurement of such plans for the con- 

 struction of these vessels as would be likely to insure 

 their usefulness when completed. These are of the 

 utmost importance, considering the constant advance 

 in the art of building vessels of this character, and 

 the time is not lost which is spent in their careful 

 consideration and selection. 



All must admit the importance of an effective navy 

 to a nation like ours, having such an extended sea- 

 coast to protect. And yet we have not a single vessel 

 of war that could keep the seas against a first-class 

 vessel of any important power, Such a condition 

 ought not longer to continue. The nation that can 

 not resist aggression is constantly exposed to it. Its 

 foreign policy is of necessity weak, and its negotia- 

 tions are conducted with disadvantage, because it is 

 not in condition to enforce the terms dictated by its 

 sense of right and justice. 



Inspired, as I am, by the hope, shared by all patri- 

 otic citizens, that the day is not very far distant when 

 our navy will be such as befits our standing among 

 the nations of the earth, and rejoiced at every step 

 that leads in the direction of such a consummation, 1 

 deem it my duty to especially direct the attention of 

 Congress to the close of the report of the Secretary of 

 the Navy, in which the humiliating weakness of the 

 present organization of his department is exhibited, 

 and the startling abuses and waste of its present 

 methods are exposed. The conviction is forced upon 

 us, with the certainty of mathematical demonstration, 

 that before we proceed further in the restoration of a 

 navy we need a thoroughly reorganized Navy Depart- 

 ment. The fact that within seventeen years more 

 than $75,000,000 have been spent in the construction, 

 repair, equipment, and armament of vessels, and the 

 further fact that, instead of an effective and creditable 

 fleet, we have only the discontent and apprehension 

 of a nation undefended by war-vessels, added to the 

 disclosures now made, do not permit us to doubt that 

 every attempt to revive our navy has thus far, for the 

 most part, been misdirected, and all our efforts in that 

 direction have been little better than blind gropings 

 and expensive, aimless follies. 



Unquestionably, if we are content with the main- 

 tenance of a Navy Department simply as a shabby 

 ornament to the Government, a constant watchfulness 

 may prevent some of the scandal and abuse which 

 have found their way into our present organization, 

 and its incurable waste may be reduced to a mini- 

 mum. But if we desire to build ships for present 

 usefulness, instead of naval reminders of the days 

 that are past, we must have a department organized 

 for the work, supplied with all the talent and inge- 

 nuity our country affords, prepared to take advantage 

 of the experience of other nations, systematized so 

 that all effort shall unite and lead in one direction, 

 and fully imbued with the conviction that war-ves- 



sels, though new, are useless unless they combine all 

 that the ingenuity of man has up to this day brought 

 forth relating to their construction. 



I earnestly commend the portion of the Secretary's 

 report devoted to this subject to the attention of Con- 

 gress, in the hope that his suggestions touching the 

 reorganization of his department may be adopted as 

 the first step toward the reconstruction of our navy. 



The affairs of the postal service are exhibited by 

 the report of the Postmaster-General, which will be 

 laid before you. 



The postal revenue, whose ratio of gain upon the 

 rising prosperity of 1882 and 1883 outstripped the in- 

 creasing expenses of our growing service, was checked 

 by the reduction in the rate of letter-postage, which 

 took effect with the beginning of October in the latter 

 year ; and it diminished during the two past fiscal 

 years $2.790,000, in about the proportion of $2,270,- 

 000 in 1884 to $520,000 in 1885. Natural growth and 

 development have meantime increased expenditure, 

 resulting in a deficiency in the revenue to meet the 

 expenses of the department of five and a quarter mil- 

 lion dollars for the year 1884, and eight and a third 

 million in the last fiscal year. The anticipated and 

 natural revival of the revenue has been oppressed and 

 retarded by the unfavorable business condition of the 

 country, of which the postal service is a faithful in- 

 dicator. The gratifying fact is shown, however, by 

 the report, that our returning prosperity is marked by 

 again of $380,000 in the revenue of the latter half 

 of the last year over the corresponding period of the 

 preceding year. 



The change in the weight of first-class matter which 

 may be carried for a single rate of postage, from a 

 half-ounce to an ounce, and the reduction by one half 

 of the rate of newspaper-postage, which, under recent 

 legislation, begun with the present year, will operate 

 to_ restrain the augmentation of receipts which other- 

 wise might have been expected, to such a degree that 

 the scale of expense may gain upon the revenue and 

 cause an increased deficiency to be shown at its close. 

 Yet, after no long period of reawakened prosperity, 

 by proper economy, it is confidently anticipated that 

 even the present low rates, now as favorable as any 

 country affords, will be adequate to sustain the cost of 

 the service. 



The operation of the Post-Office Department is for 

 the convenience and benefit of the people ; and the 

 method by which they pay the charges of this useful 

 arm of their public service, so that it be just and im- 

 partial, is of less importance to them than the econom- 

 ical expenditure of the means they provide for its 

 maintenance and the due improvement of its agencies, 

 so that they may enjoy its highest usefulness. 



A proper attention has been directed to the preven- 

 tion of waste or extravagance, and good results ap- 

 pear from the report to have already been accom- 

 plished. 



I approve the recommendation of the Postmaster- 

 General to reduce the charges on domestic money- 

 orders of five dollars and less from eight to five cents. 

 This change will materially aid those of our people who 

 most of all avail themselves of this instrumentality, 

 but to whom the element of cheapness is of the great- 

 est importance. With this reduction the system would 

 still remain self-supporting. 



The free-delivery system has been extended to nine- 

 teen additional cities during the year, and one hun- 

 dred and seventy-eight now enjoy its conveniences. 

 Experience has commended it to those who enjoy its 

 benefits, and further enlargement of its facilities is 

 due to other communities to which it is adapted. In 

 the cities where it has been established, taken to- 

 gether, the local postage exceeds its maintenance by 

 nearly $1,300,000. The limit to which this system is 

 now confined by law has been nearly reached, and 

 the reasons given justify its extension, which is pro- 

 posed. 



It was decided, with my approbation, after a suffi- 

 cient examination, to be inexpedient for the Post- 



